Manim (3Blue1Brown's animation engine) in the browser via WebGPU
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Grant Sanderson (3Blue1Brown) created Manim, the Python library he uses to make the math animations in his videos.We reimplemented Manim with the same Python API, but the implementation underneath is Rust, connected to Python through PyO3. The Rust code uses wgpu, so rendering happens on the GPU.To run it in the browser, we compiled the Rust parts to WebAssembly so the PyO3 extension loads in Pyodide. In the browser, wgpu targets the WebGPU API, so animations render in real time on your GPU through the browser.The editor is Monaco (the editor that powers VS Code) with a live preview: write your Manim code on one side, watch the animation update on the other.There's also a built-in AI agent if you'd rather vibe-code your animations.
HN · launched Jul 29, 2026 · 49 upvotes (top 16%) · 0 views
Niche: animation and motion graphics software · 226 launches, 24 in the last 7 days ▲ +50% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Dev tools
- Developer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 226 launches in animation and motion graphics software →
Could you build this?
No Porting Manim to run in the browser involves complex low-level Rust systems engineering, WebGPU shaders, PyO3/WASM integration, and vector graphics rendering pipeline math.
What it would actually take: Building this requires a Rust rendering engine built on wgpu with custom WGSL shaders for vector anti-aliasing, Bézier curve rasterization, and LaTeX rendering. It requires WebAssembly/PyO3 bindings to bridge Python Manim ASTs or an equivalent Python runtime in-browser, demanding deep graphics programming and WebGPU hardware acceleration expertise.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: Motion Canvas (browser animation library), Markdown (similar licensing discussion), Shadertoy and glsl.app
Concerns raised: Misleading branding using Manim/3Blue1Brown's name when product is independently built, Closed-source proprietary tool charging subscription ($20-$100/month) based on Manim-compatible API, Windows on ARM GPU compatibility issues (WebGPU support failures), Bad faith rebranding and misrepresentation of original project authorship, Safari browser compatibility issues
Feature requests: Open-source alternative to closed commercial offering
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 247 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #54 of 248 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 268 days after the earliest competitor.
- ManimGX · hn · 2026-10-10 · 10 upvotes · similarity 0.75
- I ported Manim to TypeScript (run 3b1B math animations in the browser) · hn · 2026-02-25 · 140 upvotes · similarity 0.73
- Manim Render Lab · ph · 2026-10-14 · 2 upvotes · similarity 0.62
- Mathscene · ph · 2026-09-18 · 2 upvotes · similarity 0.57
- a Rust ray tracer that runs on any GPU · hn · 2025-11-03 · 95 upvotes · similarity 0.51
- ManimFlow · ph · 2026-11-10 · 3 upvotes · similarity 0.51
- manimgx · github · 2026-10-05 · 43 upvotes · similarity 0.50
- WebGPU React Renderer Using Vello · hn · 2026-01-17 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.49
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