Which is Better JavaScript Animation Libraries?
gsap vs animejs vs velocity-animate
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What's JavaScript Animation Libraries?

JavaScript animation libraries provide developers with tools to create dynamic and visually appealing animations on web pages. These libraries simplify the process of animating elements, enhancing user experience by making interfaces more engaging. They offer various features such as easing functions, timeline control, and support for complex animations, allowing developers to implement animations without having to write extensive custom code. Choosing the right library depends on the specific requirements of the project, including performance, ease of use, and the complexity of animations needed.

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gsap519,96019,8673.97 MB2010 months agoStandard 'no charge' license: https://gsap.com/standard-license. Club GSAP members get more: https://gsap.com/licensing/. Why GreenSock doesn't employ an MIT license: https://gsap.com/why-license/
animejs195,06150,345109 kB231a year agoMIT
velocity-animate191,05017,294-416 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: gsap vs animejs vs velocity-animate

Performance

  • gsap: GSAP is renowned for its exceptional performance, especially in complex animations. It minimizes layout thrashing and optimizes rendering, making it the go-to choice for high-performance animations in professional applications. GSAP can handle thousands of elements with ease, maintaining smoothness even under heavy loads.
  • animejs: Anime.js is lightweight and optimized for performance, making it suitable for animating multiple properties simultaneously without significant overhead. It uses requestAnimationFrame for smooth animations, ensuring that performance remains high even with complex sequences.
  • velocity-animate: Velocity.js improves upon jQuery's animation performance by using CSS transitions and transforms where possible. It provides a significant speed boost over jQuery animations, especially for larger animations, but may not match GSAP's performance in highly complex scenarios.

Ease of Use

  • gsap: GSAP has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive feature set, but once mastered, it provides unparalleled control over animations. Its timeline feature allows for intricate sequencing, but it may require more time to learn compared to simpler libraries.
  • animejs: Anime.js offers a simple and intuitive API that allows developers to create animations with minimal code. Its declarative syntax makes it easy to understand and implement, making it a great choice for beginners or those looking for quick implementations.
  • velocity-animate: Velocity.js maintains a jQuery-like syntax, making it easy to adopt for those already familiar with jQuery. It combines the simplicity of jQuery with enhanced performance, making it accessible for developers transitioning from jQuery.

Animation Capabilities

  • gsap: GSAP excels in handling complex animations, including timelines, staggered animations, and advanced easing options. It supports a variety of formats, including CSS, SVG, and canvas, making it highly adaptable for different animation needs.
  • animejs: Anime.js supports a wide range of animation types, including CSS properties, SVG, DOM attributes, and JavaScript objects. It allows for complex animations with keyframes and easing functions, making it versatile for various projects.
  • velocity-animate: Velocity.js focuses on CSS properties and offers a straightforward approach to animations. It supports color animations and transforms, but its capabilities are more limited compared to GSAP's extensive feature set.

Community and Support

  • gsap: GSAP boasts a large, active community and extensive documentation, including tutorials and forums. The GreenSock team provides excellent support, making it a reliable choice for developers needing assistance or resources.
  • animejs: Anime.js has a growing community and good documentation, making it relatively easy to find resources and examples. However, it may not have as extensive a support network as more established libraries.
  • velocity-animate: Velocity.js has a smaller community compared to GSAP but still offers decent documentation and resources. Its jQuery-like syntax helps users find help more easily, especially if they are familiar with jQuery.

Extensibility

  • gsap: GSAP is highly extensible with a robust plugin architecture that allows developers to add custom functionality or use existing plugins for additional effects. This makes it suitable for complex projects requiring specialized animations.
  • animejs: Anime.js provides a flexible API that allows for easy integration with other libraries and frameworks. Its modular approach makes it extensible for custom animations and interactions.
  • velocity-animate: Velocity.js is less extensible than GSAP but can be integrated with jQuery plugins. Its focus on performance may limit some extensibility options compared to more feature-rich libraries.
How to Choose: gsap vs animejs vs velocity-animate
  • gsap: Choose GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) when you require high-performance animations with fine control over timing and sequencing. GSAP is ideal for complex animations and provides extensive features like timelines, easing, and plugins for additional functionality. It's particularly well-suited for professional-grade animations in larger projects.
  • animejs: Choose Anime.js for lightweight animations and if you need a simple, easy-to-use API for complex animations without the overhead of a larger library. It excels in handling multiple properties and offers a straightforward syntax that is great for quick implementations.
  • velocity-animate: Choose Velocity.js if you want a jQuery-like syntax for animations but with better performance. It's a good choice for projects that already use jQuery and need to enhance animations without a complete rewrite. Velocity offers a balance between ease of use and performance, especially for simple animations.
Similar Npm Packages to gsap

gsap (GreenSock Animation Platform) is a powerful JavaScript library for creating high-performance animations in web applications. It provides a robust API for animating HTML elements, SVGs, and even canvas elements, allowing developers to create complex animations with ease. GSAP is known for its speed, flexibility, and compatibility across various browsers, making it a popular choice for animators and developers alike. With features like timelines, easing functions, and robust control over animations, GSAP enables the creation of stunning visual effects that enhance user experience.

While GSAP is a leading choice for animation, there are several alternatives worth considering:

  • animejs is a lightweight JavaScript animation library that offers a simple and powerful API for creating animations. It supports CSS properties, SVG, DOM attributes, and JavaScript objects, making it versatile for various animation needs. Anime.js is particularly known for its ease of use and flexibility, allowing developers to create complex animations with minimal code. If you're looking for a straightforward library that can handle a wide range of animation types without the overhead of a larger framework, Anime.js is an excellent option.

  • velocity-animate is another animation library that combines the best of jQuery's animation capabilities with the performance of CSS transitions. It provides a simple API for creating animations and is designed to work seamlessly with jQuery. Velocity.js is particularly useful for developers who are already familiar with jQuery and want to enhance their animations without switching to a different library. It supports color animations, transforms, and various easing functions, making it a solid choice for projects that require smooth animations.

To see how GSAP compares with Anime.js and Velocity.js, check out the comparison: Comparing gsap vs animejs vs velocity-animate.

Similar Npm Packages to animejs

animejs is a lightweight JavaScript animation library that enables developers to create complex animations with ease. It provides a simple and flexible API for animating HTML, CSS, SVG, and JavaScript objects. With its powerful features, such as timeline control, easing functions, and callbacks, animejs is a popular choice for creating engaging user interfaces and dynamic web experiences. However, there are several alternatives in the animation library space that developers may consider:

  • gsap (GreenSock Animation Platform) is a robust and widely-used animation library that offers high-performance animations for web applications. GSAP is known for its versatility and extensive feature set, including timeline control, easing, and support for various types of animations. It is particularly favored for complex animations and is often used in professional projects due to its reliability and performance. If you need a powerful animation tool that can handle intricate animations and provide smooth performance, GSAP is an excellent choice.
  • velocity-animate is another animation library that combines the best features of jQuery and CSS transitions. It provides a simple API for creating animations and is designed to be fast and efficient. Velocity is particularly useful for developers who want to animate DOM elements without the overhead of jQuery while still enjoying a straightforward syntax. If you are looking for a library that offers a balance between simplicity and performance, velocity-animate might be the right fit.

To see how animejs compares with gsap and velocity-animate, check out the comparison: Comparing animejs vs gsap vs velocity-animate.

Similar Npm Packages to velocity-animate

velocity-animate is a powerful animation engine that allows developers to create high-performance animations in web applications. It combines the best features of jQuery's animation capabilities with CSS transitions, providing a robust API for animating DOM elements. Velocity is particularly known for its speed and efficiency, making it a popular choice for developers looking to enhance user interfaces with smooth animations.

While Velocity Animate offers a solid solution for animations, there are several alternatives in the JavaScript ecosystem that also provide animation capabilities. Here are a few noteworthy options:

  • animejs is a lightweight JavaScript animation library that focuses on simplicity and flexibility. It allows developers to create complex animations with minimal code, supporting various properties, including CSS, SVG, and DOM attributes. Anime.js is particularly well-suited for creating intricate animations and transitions, making it a favorite among developers who prioritize creative control over their animations.

  • gsap (GreenSock Animation Platform) is a robust and professional-grade animation library that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for creating high-performance animations. GSAP is known for its speed, reliability, and extensive feature set, including timelines, easing functions, and advanced control over animations. It is widely used in the industry for creating complex animations in web applications, games, and interactive content.

  • jquery-ui is a popular library that extends jQuery with additional UI interactions, effects, and animations. While it is not as modern or lightweight as some of the other options, jQuery UI provides a straightforward way to add animations and interactions to web applications, especially for developers already familiar with jQuery. It includes various effects and widgets that can enhance user experience, making it a viable choice for legacy projects or simpler applications.

To see how velocity-animate compares with animejs, gsap, and jquery-ui, check out the comparison: Comparing animejs vs gsap vs jquery-ui vs velocity-animate.

README for gsap

GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform)

GSAP - Animate anything

GSAP is a framework-agnostic JavaScript animation library that turns developers into animation superheroes. Build high-performance animations that work in every major browser. Animate CSS, SVG, canvas, React, Vue, WebGL, colors, strings, motion paths, generic objects...anything JavaScript can touch! GSAP's ScrollTrigger plugin delivers jaw-dropping scroll-based animations with minimal code. gsap.matchMedia() makes building responsive, accessibility-friendly animations a breeze.

No other library delivers such advanced sequencing, reliability, and tight control while solving real-world problems on over 12 million sites. GSAP works around countless browser inconsistencies; your animations just work. At its core, GSAP is a high-speed property manipulator, updating values over time with extreme accuracy. It's up to 20x faster than jQuery!

GSAP is completely flexible; sprinkle it wherever you want. Zero dependencies.

There are many optional plugins and easing functions for achieving advanced effects easily like scrolling, morphing, animating along a motion path or FLIP animations. There's even a handy Observer for normalizing event detection across browsers/devices.

Get Started

Get Started with GSAP

Docs & Installation

View the full documentation here, including an installation guide.

CDN

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.12/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>

See JSDelivr's dedicated GSAP page for quick CDN links to the core files/plugins. There are more installation instructions at gsap.com.

Every major ad network excludes GSAP from file size calculations and most have it on their own CDNs, so contact them for the appropriate URL(s).

NPM

See the guide to using GSAP via NPM here.

npm install gsap

GSAP's core can animate almost anything including CSS and attributes, plus it includes all of the utility methods like interpolate(), mapRange(), most of the eases, and it can do snapping and modifiers.

// typical import
import gsap from "gsap";

// get other plugins:
import ScrollTrigger from "gsap/ScrollTrigger";
import Flip from "gsap/Flip";
import Draggable from "gsap/Draggable";

// or all tools are exported from the "all" file (excluding members-only plugins):
import { gsap, ScrollTrigger, Draggable, MotionPathPlugin } from "gsap/all";

// don't forget to register plugins
gsap.registerPlugin(ScrollTrigger, Draggable, Flip, MotionPathPlugin);

The NPM files are ES modules, but there's also a /dist/ directory with UMD files for extra compatibility.

Download Club GSAP members-only plugins from your gsap.com account and then include them in your own JS payload. There's even a tarball file you can install with NPM/Yarn. GSAP has a private NPM registry for members too. Post questions in our forums and we'd be happy to help.

ScrollTrigger & ScrollSmoother

If you're looking for scroll-driven animations, GSAP's ScrollTrigger plugin is the new standard. There's a companion ScrollSmoother as well.

ScrollTrigger

Using React?

There's a @gsap/react package that exposes a useGSAP() hook which is a drop-in replacement for useEffect()/useLayoutEffect(), automating cleanup tasks. Please read the React guide for details.

Resources

What is Club GSAP?

There are 3 main reasons anyone signs up for Club GSAP:

Learn more.

Try all bonus plugins for free!

https://gsap.com/trial

Need help?

Ask in the friendly GSAP forums. Or share your knowledge and help someone else - it's a great way to sharpen your skills! Report any bugs there too (or file an issue here if you prefer).

License

GreenSock's standard "no charge" license can be viewed at https://gsap.com/standard-license. Club GSAP members are granted additional rights. See https://gsap.com/licensing/ for details. Why doesn't GSAP use an MIT (or similar) open source license, and why is that a good thing? This article explains it all: https://gsap.com/why-license/

Copyright (c) 2008-2023, GreenSock. All rights reserved.

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