head to head · open source
manim vs OpenPencil
manim has 96,012 GitHub stars, 7,895 forks, 500 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. OpenPencil has 9,551 stars, 1,004 forks, 46 open issues and last shipped yesterday. manim leads on adoption by 905% (96,012 vs 9,551 stars). manim is written in Python under MIT; OpenPencil is written in TypeScript under MIT. manim has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, OpenPencil 11%. OpenPencil 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 | OpenPencil | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 9.6K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.9K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 OpenPencil if
- You want the OpenPencil feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and OpenPencil 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 OpenPencil
OpenPencil Open source design editor. Opens .fig and .pen design files, includes built in AI, and ships as a programmable toolkit with a headless Vue SDK for building custom editors. Status: Active development. Usable today, with some rough edges as features evolve. Try it online → · Download · Documentation · Roadmap · llms.txt Installation macOS (Homebrew): Or download from the releases page, or use the web app — no install needed. What it does Opens .fig and .pen files — read and write native Figma files, open supported Pencil documents from the app or OS file browser, copy & paste nodes between apps AI…
read the full OpenPencil overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is manim or OpenPencil more popular?
manim has 96,012 GitHub stars and OpenPencil has 9,551. manim has the larger community by that measure.
Are manim and OpenPencil free?
Both are open source. manim is licensed under MIT and OpenPencil under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between manim and OpenPencil?
manim is written in Python and OpenPencil 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 OpenPencil?
Choose manim if you want the larger community (96,012 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose OpenPencil if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.