head to head · open source
anime vs OpenTimelineIO
anime has 73,742 GitHub stars, 4,985 forks, 118 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. OpenTimelineIO has 2,032 stars, 360 forks, 211 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. anime leads on adoption by 3,529% (73,742 vs 2,032 stars). anime is written in JavaScript under MIT; OpenTimelineIO is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. anime has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, OpenTimelineIO 18%. OpenTimelineIO was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (animation), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| anime | OpenTimelineIO | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 74K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-08-21 | 2026-10-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 360 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick anime if
- You weight community size — 74K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenTimelineIO if
- You want the OpenTimelineIO feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and OpenTimelineIO fits your workflow better
About anime
Anime.js Anime.js is a fast, multipurpose and lightweight JavaScript animation library with a simple, yet powerful API. It works with CSS properties, SVG, DOM attributes and JavaScript Objects. Sponsors Anime.js is 100% free and is only made possible with the help of our sponsors. Help the project become sustainable by sponsoring us on GitHub Sponsors . Platinum sponsors Silver sponsors Get featured here by becoming a GitHub Sponsor . Usage Anime.js V4 works by importing ES modules like so: V4 Documentation The full documentation is available here. V3 Migration guide You can find the v3 to v4 migration guide…
read the full anime overview →
About OpenTimelineIO
OpenTimelineIO ======= ============== Links Main web site: Documentation: Wiki (more documentation): GitHub: Discussion group Slack channel To join, create an account here first: Presentations DEVELOPMENT STATUS OpenTimelineIO is a mature framework widely deployed across the film and television industries. It is natively supported in most non linear editing applications, and has deep integration in game engines, digital content creation tools and adjacent industries as well. The API for OpenTimelineIO is considered stable, but is still undergoing active development, refinement and bug fixes. Work is underway to…
read the full OpenTimelineIO overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is anime or OpenTimelineIO more popular?
anime has 73,742 GitHub stars and OpenTimelineIO has 2,032. anime has the larger community by that measure.
Are anime and OpenTimelineIO free?
Both are open source. anime is licensed under MIT and OpenTimelineIO under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between anime and OpenTimelineIO?
anime is written in JavaScript and OpenTimelineIO in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, anime or OpenTimelineIO?
Choose anime if you want the larger community (73,742 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose OpenTimelineIO if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.