Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Animate.css VS Shape.so

Compare Animate.css VS Shape.so and see what are their differences

Animate.css logo Animate.css

Animate.css is a cross-browser library of CSS animations.

Shape.so logo Shape.so

1350+ icons, illustrations exportable to SVG, React & Lottie
  • Animate.css Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-06
  • Shape.so Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17

Animate.css features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Animate.css provides a wide range of preset animations that can be easily implemented by adding class names to HTML elements. This eliminates the need for custom CSS animations or JavaScript, thus saving time and effort.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    The animations in Animate.css work across all modern browsers, ensuring a consistent and reliable experience for users regardless of the browser they use.
  • Open Source
    Animate.css is an open-source library, meaning it's free to use and contributions from the community help keep it updated and improve its functionality over time.
  • Lightweight
    The library is relatively lightweight, especially if you only include the specific animations you need, which helps keep page load times low.
  • Customizable
    Although it comes with a wide range of preset animations, Animate.css allows for customization. Developers can easily modify the CSS to fit their specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of Animate.css

  • Limited to CSS Animations
    Animate.css only includes CSS-based animations. For more complex interactions or animations that require JavaScript, another library or custom code would be necessary.
  • Overhead for Unused Animations
    By importing the entire library, you might include many animations that are not used, leading to unnecessary overhead. Selective imports or custom builds are required to avoid this.
  • Performance
    Frequent or complex animations can lead to performance issues, especially on lower-end devices. Developers need to be mindful of how often animations are triggered and their impact on performance.
  • Limited Control
    Using pre-defined animations means less control over specific nuances of the animations. For more intricate or highly customized animations, a more flexible solution may be needed.
  • Potential Conflicts
    There can be potential conflicts with existing CSS in your project, especially if the same class names are used, leading to unintended side effects.

Shape.so features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Shape.so is known for its user-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily generate professional-quality SVG icons, even if they have little to no design experience.
  • Customizability
    Users can customize icons to fit their specific needs, including changing colors, sizes, and other design elements, allowing for greater flexibility in design projects.
  • Quality of Icons
    The platform offers high-quality, vector-based SVG icons that are scalable without losing resolution, ensuring that designs remain sharp and clear on all screen sizes.
  • Library Size
    Shape.so provides access to a large and continuously updated library of icons, giving users a wide range of choices for their projects.
  • Integration Capabilities
    Shape.so can be integrated with popular design tools like Figma and Sketch, streamlining the workflow for designers who use these applications.

Possible disadvantages of Shape.so

  • Cost
    Using Shape.so might require a subscription or a one-time payment, which could be a barrier for freelancers or small businesses with limited budgets.
  • Limited Free Options
    While Shape.so offers some free icons, the most unique and desirable icons are often behind a paywall, limiting access without a subscription.
  • Learning Curve
    Although it's easy to use, users who are new to design tools might encounter a slight learning curve when first starting out with Shape.so, particularly when it comes to advanced customization features.
  • Dependence on Internet
    Shape.so requires an internet connection to access its library and tools, which could be a limitation for users in areas with unreliable internet.
  • Niche Utility
    While very useful for designing icons, Shape.so might not be as comprehensive for other types of graphics or design needs, necessitating additional tools for other tasks.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Animate.css and Shape.so)
Design Tools
39 39%
61% 61
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Web Icons
0 0%
100% 100
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Animate.css seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Animate.css mentions (1)

  • 3 Easy Ways to Add Animation to your Angular Applications
    An advantage of this approach is that it lets us utilize any CSS animation library that works off of the same concept of adding and removing classes. Some of the more popular libraries that work this way are animate.css and magic.css. Chris Coyier has an amazing article on CSS Tricks that lists more of these if you are interested. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago

Shape.so mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Shape.so yet. Tracking of Shape.so recommendations started around Oct 2022.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Animate.css and Shape.so, you can also consider the following products

Material UI - A CSS Framework and a Set of React Components that Implement Google's Material Design

Blobmaker - Create organic svg shapes in just a few seconds

Bootstrap - Simple and flexible HTML, CSS, and JS for popular UI components and interactions

Icons8 - Free app for Mac & Windows already containing 39,800 icons. Allows to search and import icons…

Anime.js - Lightweight JavaScript animation library

Feather Icons - Simply beautiful open source icons