head to head · open source
hyperframes vs pencil
hyperframes has 77,640 GitHub stars, 7,133 forks, 200 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pencil has 9,894 stars, 794 forks, 533 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. hyperframes leads on adoption by 685% (77,640 vs 9,894 stars). hyperframes is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; pencil is written in JavaScript under GPL-2.0. hyperframes has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, pencil 8%. hyperframes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| hyperframes | pencil | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 9.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.1K | ⑂ 794 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick hyperframes if
- You weight community size — 78K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pencil if
- You want the pencil feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and pencil fits your workflow better
About hyperframes
Write HTML. Render video. Built for agents. Quickstart Showcase Playground Catalog Docs Discord HyperFrames is an open source framework for turning HTML, CSS, media, and seekable animations into deterministic MP4 videos. Use it locally with the CLI, from AI coding agents with skills, or as the rendering core behind hosted authoring workflows. Quick Start With an AI coding agent Install the HyperFrames skills, then describe the video you want: The picker opens with nothing pre selected — the Core Skills group is all you need: the /hyperframes router installs each creation workflow on demand. Agents and non…
read the full hyperframes overview →
About pencil
About The Next Version ========== Pencil V3 is a rewrite of Pencil that aims to fix major performance and scalability issues of the application. The new version is under heavy development and we are expecting GA builds in June. The following list summarizes important changes in the new version: Pencil V3 uses Electron instead of Mozilla XULRunner as the runtime. We expect that by moving into this Nodejs based environment, the Pencil source code can be much easier for all fellow developers to play with. The fact that Mozilla XULRunner is outdated is also a reason for the movement. A new, zip based file format was…
read the full pencil overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is hyperframes or pencil more popular?
hyperframes has 77,640 GitHub stars and pencil has 9,894. hyperframes has the larger community by that measure.
Are hyperframes and pencil free?
Both are open source. hyperframes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pencil under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between hyperframes and pencil?
hyperframes is written in TypeScript and pencil in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, hyperframes or pencil?
Choose hyperframes if you want the larger community (77,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pencil if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.