head to head · open source
manim vs pencil
manim has 94,045 GitHub stars, 7,724 forks, 500 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. pencil has 9,865 stars, 791 forks, 533 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. manim leads on adoption by 853% (94,045 vs 9,865 stars). manim is written in Python under MIT; pencil is written in JavaScript under GPL-2.0. manim has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, pencil 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 | pencil | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 94K | ★ 9.9K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-06-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.7K | ⑂ 791 |
| 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 pencil if
- You want the pencil feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and pencil 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 pencil
Pencil is a free and open source diagramming and GUI prototyping tool, licensed under GPL 2.0, that lets designers and developers sketch wireframes, mockups, and diagrams on the desktop without a commercial licence.
read the full pencil overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is manim or pencil more popular?
manim has 94,045 GitHub stars and pencil has 9,865. manim has the larger community by that measure.
Are manim and pencil free?
Both are open source. manim is licensed under MIT and pencil under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between manim and pencil?
manim is written in Python and pencil 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 pencil?
Choose manim if you want the larger community (94,045 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pencil if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.