Top 15 Animation Libraries for React & Modern Javascript Apps

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Animations can take your web applications from good to great by making them more engaging and interactive. They provide visual feedback, guide users through the interface, and add a touch of personality to your projects.

There are a lot of animation libraries from simple, CSS-based libraries to powerful JavaScript libraries capable of creating complex animations. In this article, we’re diving into the top 15 animation libraries for React and modern web apps.

From the well-known React Spring and Framer Motion to specialized libraries like Vivus and Three.js, you’ll find something here to make your web projects shine. Let’s explore these libraries and see how they can transform your website user experience!

Animate.css

Animate.css is a popular CSS library that provides a wide range of pre-defined animations, making it easy to apply animations to any web project. With over 80.2k stars on GitHub and millions of npm downloads, Animate.css is a go-to choice for quick and simple animations.

npm install animate.css

import 'animate.css';

<div class="animate__animated animate__bounce">An animated element</div>

Animate.css is best suited for simple animations that need to be implemented quickly without the need for JavaScript.

Easy to use, lightweight, large variety of animations.

Limited to CSS animations, less control over animation behavior.

React Spring

React Spring is a popular animation library for React, providing a powerful and flexible way to create animations based on spring physics. It has over 27.8k stars on GitHub and is widely used in the community.

npm install @react-spring/web

import React from 'react';
import { useSpring, animated } from '@react-spring/web';

const App = () => {
    const springs = useSpring({
        from: { x: 0 },
        to: { x: 100 }
    });

    return (
        <animated.div
            style={{
                width: 80,
                height: 80,
                background: '#ff6d6d',
                borderRadius: 8
            }}
        />
    );
};

export default App;

Creating complex animations with fine-tuned control over transitions and interactions.

Highly flexible, supports advanced animations, good community support.

Learning curve can be steep for beginners.

Framer Motion

Framer Motion is a powerful animation library known for its ease of use and comprehensive features. It has over 22.8k stars on GitHub and is widely praised for its intuitive API.

npm install framer-motion

import React from 'react';
import { motion } from 'framer-motion';

const App = () => {
    return (
        <motion.div initial={{ opacity: 0 }} animate={{ opacity: 1 }} transition={{ duration: 1 }}>
            Hello, Framer Motion!
        </motion.div>
    );
};

export default App;

Creating smooth and visually appealing animations with minimal code.

Intuitive API, supports keyframe animations, great documentation.

Slightly larger bundle size compared to other libraries.

Anime.js

Anime.js is a lightweight JavaScript animation library with a powerful API. It has over 49.2k stars on GitHub and is widely used for creating complex and highly customizable animations.

npm install animejs

import anime from 'animejs/lib/anime.es.js';

anime({
    targets: 'div',
    translateX: 250,
    rotate: '1turn',
    duration: 800
});

Creating intricate and detailed animations with precise control.

Lightweight, versatile, highly customizable.

Requires JavaScript knowledge, can be complex for simple animations.

GSAP

GSAP is a powerful JavaScript animation library known for its high performance and rich feature set. It has over 19.2k stars on GitHub and is widely used in both web and mobile applications.

npm install gsap

import { gsap } from 'gsap';

gsap.to('.box', { rotation: 27, x: 100, duration: 1 });

High-performance animations and complex sequences.

Extremely powerful, robust, high performance.

Larger bundle size, requires learning time.

Popmotion.io

Popmotion is a functional, flexible JavaScript animation library. It powers the animations in Framer Motion. It has over 19.9k stars on GitHub and offers a range of tools for creating animations and interactions.

npm install popmotion

import { animate } from 'popmotion';

animate({
    from: 0,
    to: 100,
    onUpdate: (latest) => {
        console.log(latest);
    }
});

Creating low-level, complex interactions and highly customizable animations.

Functional API, flexible, scalable and tiny bundle.

Can be complex for simple use cases.

Mo.js

Mo.js is a motion graphics toolbelt for the web. It has over 18.3k stars on GitHub and offers a variety of tools for creating animations.

npm install @mojs/core

import { Mojs } from '@mojs/core';

const bouncyCircle = new mojs.Shape({
    parent: '#bouncyCircle',
    shape: 'circle',
    fill: { '#F64040': '#FC46AD' },
    radius: { 20: 80 },
    duration: 2000,
    isYoyo: true,
    isShowStart: true,
    easing: 'elastic.inout',
    repeat: 1
});

bouncyCircle.play();

Creating complex motion graphics and animations.

Versatile, powerful, great for motion graphics.

Steeper learning curve, larger bundle size.

Remotion

Remotion allows you to create videos programmatically using React. It’s a unique library with over 19.6k stars on GitHub, enabling developers to leverage React’s power for video content creation.

# new project
npx create-video@latest

# install to existing project
npm i --save-exact [email protected] @remotion/[email protected]

export const MyComposition = () => {
    return null;
};

import React from 'react';
import {Composition} from 'remotion';
import {MyComposition} from './Composition';

export const RemotionRoot: React.FC = () => {
  return (
    <>
      <Composition
        id="Empty"
        component={MyComposition}
        durationInFrames={60}
        fps={30}
        width={1280}
        height={720}
      />
    </>
  );
};

import { registerRoot } from 'remotion';
import { RemotionRoot } from './Root';
registerRoot(RemotionRoot);

Programmatically generating videos using React.

Unique functionality, leverages React skills, powerful video creation capabilities.

Niche use case, can be complex for beginners.

Vivus

Vivus is a lightweight JavaScript library for animating SVGs. With over 15.1k stars on GitHub, it’s a great choice for creating SVG animations.

npm install vivus

import Vivus from 'vivus';

new Vivus(
    'my-svg',
    {
        type: 'delayed',
        duration: 200,
        animTimingFunction: Vivus.EASE
    },
    myCallback
);

// svg
<object id='my-svg' type='image/svg+xml' data='link/to/my.svg'></object>;

Creating drawing animations for SVGs.

Lightweight, specialized for SVGs, easy to use.

Limited to SVGs, not suitable for other types of animations.

Lottie

Lottie is a library for rendering animations created in Adobe After Effects. With over 29.9k stars on GitHub, it’s widely used for integrating complex animations.

npm install lottie-web

import lottie from 'lottie-web';
import animationData from './animation.json';

lottie.loadAnimation({
    container: document.getElementById('animation'),
    renderer: 'svg',
    loop: true,
    autoplay: true,
    animationData: animationData
});

Integrating animations created in After Effects.

High-quality animations, integrates well with After Effects.

Requires After Effects for animation creation, larger files.

ScrollReveal

ScrollReveal is a JavaScript library for easily animating elements as they enter or leave the viewport. With over 22.2k stars on GitHub, it’s perfect for scroll-based animations.

npm install scrollreveal

import ScrollReveal from 'scrollreveal';

ScrollReveal().reveal('.box', { delay: 500 });

<h1 class="headline">Widget Inc.</h1>

Adding scroll-based reveal animations.

Easy to use, lightweight, great for scroll animations

Limited to scroll-based animations.

ScrollMagic

ScrollMagic is a library for creating scroll interactions and animations. With over 14.8k stars on GitHub, it offers a robust way to handle scroll-based animations.

npm install scrollmagic

import ScrollMagic from 'scrollmagic';

const controller = new ScrollMagic.Controller();
var controller = new ScrollMagic.Controller();

// create a scene
new ScrollMagic.Scene({
    duration: 100, // the scene should last for a scroll distance of 100px
    offset: 50 // start this scene after scrolling for 50px
})
    .setPin('#my-sticky-element') // pins the element for the the scene's duration
    .addTo(controller); // assign the scene to the controller

Creating complex scroll interactions and animations.

Powerful, flexible, integrates well with GSAP.

Can be complex for simple animations, larger bundle size.

Typed.js

Typed.js is a JavaScript library that types out text, making it look like it’s being typed by a human. With over 15.1k stars on GitHub, it’s great for adding typing animations.

npm install typed.js

import Typed from 'typed.js';

const typed = new Typed('#element', {
    strings: ['<i>First</i> sentence.', '&amp; a second sentence.'],
    typeSpeed: 50
});

Creating typing animations for text.

Easy to use, lightweight, great for typing effects.

Limited to typing animations, less flexibility.

Three.js

Three.js is a powerful 3D library for JavaScript, allowing you to create complex 3D animations and visualizations. With over 101k stars on GitHub, it’s widely used for 3D web applications.

npm install three

import * as THREE from 'three';

const scene = new THREE.Scene();
const camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(75, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 1000);

const renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);

Creating advanced 3D animations and visualizations.

Extremely powerful, vast community, supports complex 3D scenes.

Steep learning curve, larger bundle size.

Theatre.js

Theatre.js is an advanced animation library for creating and controlling animations programmatically. With over 11k stars on GitHub, it provides a timeline-based approach for animations.

# r3f and its dependencies
npm install --save react three @react-three/fiber

# Theatre.js
npm install --save @theatre/[email protected] @theatre/[email protected] @theatre/[email protected]

# Three.js types (when using Typescript)
npm install --save-dev @types/three

import * as THREE from 'three'
import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
import React, { useRef, useState } from 'react'
import { Canvas, useFrame } from '@react-three/fiber'
import { getProject } from '@theatre/core'

// our Theatre.js project sheet, we'll use this later
const demoSheet = getProject('Demo Project').sheet('Demo Sheet')

const App = () => {
  return (
    <Canvas
      camera={{
        position: [5, 5, -5],
        fov: 75,
      }}
    >
      <ambientLight />
      <pointLight position={[10, 10, 10]} />
      <mesh>
        <boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial color="orange" />
      </mesh>
    </Canvas>
  )
}

createRoot(document.getElementById('root')!).render(<App />)

Creating timeline-based animations with fine control.

Powerful timeline controls, precise animation sequences.

Newer library, smaller community, complex for beginners.

Choosing the right animation library depends on your project’s needs and complexity. If you’re looking for simple, quick animations, CSS-based libraries like Animate.css are ideal. For more complex interactions and high-performance needs, consider powerful libraries like GSAP or Three.js.

Each library has its strengths, so evaluate them based on factors like ease of use, community support, and the specific features you require. You can start experimenting with these top animation libraries before implementing it to your project.

Do you have other libraries worth mentioning? dont hesitate to share them in the comment below!. If you found this post helpful, share it with your fellow developers and explore more tutorials on this website.

Thank you. Have a good day!

Source:
https://devaradise.hashnode.dev/top-15-animation-libraries-for-react-modern-javascript-apps-clyppjb22000b09l26nxe85v7