head to head · open source
manim vs idraw
manim has 94,418 GitHub stars, 7,751 forks, 500 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. idraw has 1,101 stars, 92 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. manim leads on adoption by 8,476% (94,418 vs 1,101 stars). manim is written in Python under MIT; idraw is written in TypeScript under MIT. manim has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, idraw 8%. manim 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 | idraw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 94K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-03-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.8K | ⑂ 92 |
| 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 idraw if
- You want the idraw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and idraw 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 idraw
iDraw.js (published on npm as idraw ) is a simple TypeScript framework for drawing 2D graphics on the web, written for developers who want to add canvas based drawing to a browser application without starting from raw drawing primitives.
read the full idraw overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is manim or idraw more popular?
manim has 94,418 GitHub stars and idraw has 1,101. manim has the larger community by that measure.
Are manim and idraw free?
Both are open source. manim is licensed under MIT and idraw under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between manim and idraw?
manim is written in Python and idraw in TypeScript. 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 idraw?
Choose manim if you want the larger community (94,418 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose idraw if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.