head to head · open source
manim vs draw.io
manim has 94,045 GitHub stars, 7,724 forks, 500 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. draw.io has 8,209 stars, 1,246 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. manim leads on adoption by 1,046% (94,045 vs 8,209 stars). manim is written in Python under MIT; draw.io is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. manim has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, draw.io 15%. draw.io 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 | draw.io | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 94K | ★ 8.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.7K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick manim if
- You weight community size — 94K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick draw.io if
- You want the draw.io feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and draw.io fits your workflow better
About manim
Manim is a Python animation engine for precise, programmatic rendering of explanatory mathematics videos, built for educators, mathematicians, and developers who want frame accurate control over every element of a mathematical animation instead of editing on a timeline.
read the full manim overview →
About draw.io
draw.io is a configurable, client side JavaScript diagramming and whiteboarding application, jointly owned and developed by draw.io Ltd (previously JGraph) and draw.io AG, intended for anyone who needs to draw diagrams and whiteboards in a browser or on the desktop without a login.
read the full draw.io overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is manim or draw.io more popular?
manim has 94,045 GitHub stars and draw.io has 8,209. manim has the larger community by that measure.
Are manim and draw.io free?
Both are open source. manim is licensed under MIT and draw.io under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between manim and draw.io?
manim is written in Python and draw.io 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, manim or draw.io?
Choose manim if you want the larger community (94,045 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose draw.io if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.