head to head · open source
manim vs motion
manim has 96,012 GitHub stars, 7,895 forks, 500 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. motion has 34,813 stars, 1,497 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. manim leads on adoption by 176% (96,012 vs 34,813 stars). manim is written in Python under MIT; motion is written in TypeScript under MIT. manim has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, motion 4%. motion 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
| manim | motion | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 35K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.9K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick manim if
- You weight community size — 96K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick motion if
- You want the motion feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and motion 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 motion
Motion An open source animation library for JavaScript, React and Vue Table of Contents 1. Why Motion? 2. 🍦 Platforms 3. 🎓 Examples 4. ⚡️ Motion+ 5. 👩🏻⚖️ License 6. 💎 Contribute 7. ✨ Sponsors Why Motion? Simple API: First class React, JavaScript, and Vue packages. Hybrid engine: Power of JavaScript combined with native browser APIs for 120fps, GPU accelerated animations. Production ready: TypeScript, extensive test suite, tree shakable, tiny footprint. Batteries included: Gestures, springs, layout transitions, scroll linked effects, timelines. 🍦 Platforms Motion is available for React, JavaScript and Vue…
read the full motion overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is manim or motion more popular?
manim has 96,012 GitHub stars and motion has 34,813. manim has the larger community by that measure.
Are manim and motion free?
Both are open source. manim is licensed under MIT and motion under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between manim and motion?
manim is written in Python and motion 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 motion?
Choose manim if you want the larger community (96,012 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose motion if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.