# Rapier physics engine

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Rapier physics engine and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free open-source physics engine that people recommend for simulating physics in the browser through WebAssembly, and as a newer option to Bullet.

## Why people recommend it

- Runs physics in the browser (2 comments): "rigid body physics engines in wasm workers like rapier is feasible now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48802196)) "the cool kids now prefer Rapier for physics in the browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49622841))
- Preferred over Bullet (2 comments): "i love that we went from bullet being the only real option" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48748243)) "the cool kids now prefer Rapier for physics in the browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49622841))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Box3D](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box3d.md): 14 recommend
- [Box2D](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box2d.md): 12 recommend
- [MuJoCo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mujoco.md): 10 recommend
- [Jolt Physics](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jolt-physics.md): 9 recommend
- [BepuPhysics 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bepu-physics.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

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