head to head · open source
manim vs benchup
manim has 96,534 GitHub stars, 7,929 forks, 500 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. benchup has 881 stars, 57 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. manim leads on adoption by 10,857% (96,534 vs 881 stars). manim is written in Python under MIT; benchup is written in Rust under MIT. manim has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, benchup 6%. benchup 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
| manim | benchup | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 881 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.9K | ⑂ 57 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick manim if
- You weight community size — 97K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick benchup if
- You want the benchup feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and benchup fits your workflow better
About manim
Manim is an engine for precise programmatic animations, designed for creating explanatory math videos. Note, there are two versions of manim. This repository began as a personal project by the author of 3Blue1Brown for the purpose of animating those videos, with video specific code available here. In 2020 a group of developers forked it into what is now the community edition, with a goal of being more stable, better tested, quicker to respond to community contributions, and all around friendlier to get started with. See this page for more details. Installation [!Warning] WARNING: These instructions are for…
read the full manim overview →
About benchup
BenchUp Download for desktop A free, open source 3D modeling app for woodworking and furniture design, written in Rust. Plan individual boards, wood joints, and complete assemblies with exact measurements before heading to the workshop. The same editor runs as a native Windows, macOS, or Linux application and in a desktop browser through WebAssembly. The workspace includes Select, Line, Rectangle, Circle, Polygon, Freehand, Push/Pull, Scale, Offset, Move, Rotate, Paint, Tape Measure, Protractor, Dimensions, a Union flyout, Router, Erase, and Orbit, automatic geometry snapping, filled planar faces, measured…
read the full benchup overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is manim or benchup more popular?
manim has 96,534 GitHub stars and benchup has 881. manim has the larger community by that measure.
Are manim and benchup free?
Both are open source. manim is licensed under MIT and benchup under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between manim and benchup?
manim is written in Python and benchup in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, manim or benchup?
Choose manim if you want the larger community (96,534 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose benchup if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.