# Manim

15 Hacker News commenters recommended Manim and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A Python library for generating polished math animations, often used to explain math concepts. People also like its 1:1 API compatibility in browser ports. Some find the setup too heavy for small needs.

## Why people recommend it

- Polished math animation output (3 comments): "Manim is a python library created by Grant Sanderson to create really great math animations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46549394)) "3b1b's excellent python library for generating maths visualisations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48740820)) "using the great Manim library" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47599913))
- Works with AI-generated animations (2 comments): "you can ask claude to make manim animations for you and it will" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47157066)) "Being able to create manim animations at scale is a value-add" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48965190))
- Keeps 1:1 API compatibility (2 comments): "The effort you're cloning -- manim -- did exactly that. The result was a synergistic, friendly, manim-ce." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48965497)) "Our goal is 1:1 API compatibility, so people can continue using the API they already know." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093721))

## What people warn about

- Laggy in Chrome, smooth in Firefox (1 comments): "For some reason is pretty laggy on Chrome (macbook air M1) but Firefox is super smooth." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49092006))
- Heavy setup and dependencies (2 comments): "the Manim setup was too much friction for what I needed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47192895)) "with much lighter-weight dependencies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50228807))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Manim TypeScript port](https://hackerapproved.com/p/manim-typescript-port.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Manim", https://hackerapproved.com/p/manim/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).