head to head · open source
manim vs Pow
manim has 94,584 GitHub stars, 7,761 forks, 500 open issues and last shipped 26 days ago. Pow has 4,411 stars, 200 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. manim leads on adoption by 2,044% (94,584 vs 4,411 stars). manim is written in Python under MIT; Pow is written in Swift under MIT. manim has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Pow 5%. manim 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 | Pow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 95K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-04-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.8K | ⑂ 200 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick manim if
- You weight community size — 95K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Pow if
- You want the Pow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Pow 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 Pow
Pow is an open source Swift package of SwiftUI transitions and value change effects for iOS, macOS, Mac Catalyst and visionOS developers who want polished animation and haptics without writing them by hand.
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Frequently asked questions
Is manim or Pow more popular?
manim has 94,584 GitHub stars and Pow has 4,411. manim has the larger community by that measure.
Are manim and Pow free?
Both are open source. manim is licensed under MIT and Pow under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between manim and Pow?
manim is written in Python and Pow in Swift. 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 Pow?
Choose manim if you want the larger community (94,584 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Pow if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.