Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Anime.js VS Observable

Compare Anime.js VS Observable and see what are their differences

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Anime.js logo Anime.js

Lightweight JavaScript animation library

Observable logo Observable

Interactive code examples/posts
  • Anime.js Homepage
    Homepage //
    2024-07-18
  • Observable Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09

Anime.js features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Anime.js has a clear and concise API which makes it easy to use for both beginners and experienced developers.
  • Lightweight
    With a small file size, Anime.js doesn't add much overhead to your project, helping to maintain fast load times.
  • Versatility
    Anime.js provides a wide range of animation options including CSS properties, DOM attributes, SVG, and more, making it versatile for various types of projects.
  • Performance
    Anime.js is optimized for high performance, ensuring smooth animations even with complex sequences.
  • Modular Design
    Its modular nature allows developers to import only what they need, improving efficiency and reducing bloat.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    The official documentation is extensive and includes examples, which helps developers quickly understand and implement animations.
  • Community Support
    There is a growing community around Anime.js, providing forums, tutorials, and resources for additional support.

Possible disadvantages of Anime.js

  • Limited Built-in Easing Functions
    While Anime.js does support custom easing functions, the range of built-in easing functions is limited compared to some other animation libraries.
  • No Official Plugin System
    Anime.js does not have an official plugin system, which could limit extensibility and integration with other tools.
  • Learning Curve for Complex Animations
    For very complex animations or sequences, the learning curve can be steep, and the code may become hard to manage.
  • Lack of Native Support for 3D Animations
    Anime.js does not natively support 3D animations, which might require integrating other libraries for such requirements.
  • Dependency Management
    For projects already using other animation libraries, integrating Anime.js can add complexity to dependency management.

Observable features and specs

  • Collaborative Environment
    Observable allows multiple users to collaborate in real-time, making it easier for teams to work together on data visualizations and analyses.
  • Reactive Programming
    The platform supports reactive programming, where changes in data automatically trigger updates in the visualizations, enhancing interactivity and reducing the need for manual updates.
  • Built-in Data Visualization Libraries
    Observable integrates seamlessly with popular libraries like D3, Plotly, and Leaflet, providing powerful tools for creating complex and interactive data visualizations.
  • Notebook Interface
    The notebook interface is user-friendly and allows for easy documentation and sharing. Users can combine code, visualizations, and markdown text in a single document.
  • Extensive Resources and Community Support
    Observable has a rich set of tutorials, examples, and a strong community, making it easier for new users to learn and get help.
  • Customizability
    Users have the flexibility to customize their visualizations extensively, thanks to the open-ended nature of JavaScript and the supported libraries.

Possible disadvantages of Observable

  • Steeper Learning Curve for Beginners
    New users, especially those without a background in JavaScript, might find the platform challenging to learn compared to more specialized data visualization tools.
  • Performance Issues
    For very large datasets or highly complex visualizations, performance can become an issue, potentially leading to slow rendering times.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    Observable notebooks currently require an internet connection to run, which can be a limitation for users needing offline access.
  • Limited Integration with Other Tools
    While Observable is powerful, its integration with other enterprise tools and platforms is somewhat limited compared to more established data analysis tools.
  • Subscription Costs
    Access to some of Observable's more advanced features requires a paid subscription, which might be a barrier for individual users or small teams with limited budgets.

Analysis of Anime.js

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Anime.js is a good and reliable choice for developers looking to implement animations on the web. It strikes a good balance between power and simplicity, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • Anime.js is considered a versatile and powerful animation library because it provides a simple yet flexible API that makes it easy to create complex animations. It supports a wide range of properties including CSS, SVG, DOM attributes, and JavaScript objects, which gives developers a lot of creative freedom. Additionally, its lightweight nature ensures that it doesn't heavily impact the performance of web projects.

Recommended for

  • Web developers looking to create smooth and complex animations.
  • Projects that require lightweight yet powerful animation capabilities.
  • Developers who are familiar with JavaScript and prefer a straightforward API.

Analysis of Observable

Overall verdict

  • Observable is highly regarded for its user-friendly interface and powerful capabilities. It is particularly valued in environments where collaboration and interactive data exploration are essential. While it may have a learning curve for beginners, its features and community support make it a worthwhile tool for data-driven projects.

Why this product is good

  • Observable is considered good because it offers an innovative platform for data visualization and analysis. It provides an interactive, collaborative environment where users can share and explore JavaScript-based notebooks. The platform's real-time collaboration features, ease of use, and ability to integrate with various data sources make it a valuable tool for data scientists, analysts, and developers.

Recommended for

  • Data scientists and analysts who need to create and share interactive visualizations.
  • Developers looking for a platform to build and showcase data-driven projects.
  • Educational institutions that require tools for teaching data analysis and visualization.
  • Businesses looking for collaborative tools to enhance their data exploration processes.

Anime.js videos

Intro to Anime.js - The JavaScript Animation Engine

Observable videos

Observable Overview

More videos:

  • Review - observablehq.com review observable hq data analysis
  • Review - Hands-on Data Visualization with Observable Plot

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Anime.js and Observable)
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Data Visualization
0 0%
100% 100
Charting Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Data Dashboard
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Anime.js and Observable

Anime.js Reviews

Top 20 Javascript Libraries
One of the best animation libraries that makes staggering follow-through animations so simple, Anime.js is light-weight and comes with a clean yet powerful API. With Anime, timing plays an important role, and you can set various properties of CSS at different timings on the same element, and the element moves smoothly as per the transforms. Anime works with SVG, CSS, HTML,...
Source: hackr.io

Observable Reviews

Top 10 Grafana Alternatives in 2024
Observable is a Grafana alternative that enables users to visualize data via charts and dashboards using code.
Source: middleware.io
Embedded analytics in B2B SaaS: A comparison
A few options were disregarded from the start due to a hefty price tag, these were Looker, Tableau, Power BI, GoodData. A few options like Trevor.io, Preset, Observable were disregarded as they did not seem to fit our criteria (based on the evaluation matrix).
Source: medium.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Observable should be more popular than Anime.js. It has been mentiond 313 times 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.

Anime.js mentions (52)

  • 6 CSS animation libraries to bring your project to life in 2025
    Moving Letters is a CSS animations library that focuses on text animations. It uses Anime JS in the background. In principle, you can use the animations in any other element you wish, but it works best with text animations. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • Webflow makes GSAP 100% free – plus more updates
    To be fair, https://animejs.com gave me the same vibe. In the sense that the author obsesses over details, while also being very educational. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Webflow makes GSAP 100% free – plus more updates
    I keep hearing about it, but I've never used it. Why would I use it over https://animejs.com ? - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • ✨"Day 1 with Anime.js — Breathing Life into a Static Webpage"
    Hey Devs! 👋 Today marks Day 1 of my journey into learning Anime.js, a lightweight JavaScript animation library that makes adding animations to your web projects ridiculously fun and powerful. In this article, I’ll walk you through how I animated a simple landing page using Anime.js — from setup to final smooth transitions. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Anime JS , a JavaScript animation library
    Documentation Link - https://animejs.com/ Package Install by using - npm I animejs Anime.js V4 works by importing ES modules like so:. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
View more

Observable mentions (313)

  • Using elliptic curves to solve a math meme
    Using other constants in place of the ‘4’ can lead to some _really_ gigantic smallest solutions: https://observablehq.com/@robinhouston/a-remarkable-diophantine-equation. - Source: Hacker News / 15 days ago
  • Apache ECharts
    "Observable is obnoxious if you want to add a D3 pie chart to your Vue application and have to untangle calls to D3’s API from reactive cell values, which look like ordinary JavaScript, but are not, and will cause compilation and runtime errors when copied." Yep - as I wrote: "If you want to just blindly copy and paste d3 code, you may have issues with the docs being hosted on observable." If instead you learn the... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Natural occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects
    I'd imagine many nested named capturing groups may trip even the best automated system! I do like the solution though. I would've probably approached it differently, trying to first get the 'inverted' match (i.e. Not matching anything that isn't a currency like pattern) and refine from there. A bit like this one I did a while back, to parse garbled strings that may occur after OCR [0]. I imagine the approach does... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Visualizing Data Is an Art – We Should Treat It Like One
    Was looking for some mention of Mike Bostock and his epic odyssey into this space. For those who aren't familiar https://observablehq.com/@mbostock. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Ohm: A user-friendly parsing toolkit for JavaScript and TypeScript
    I experimented with an Ohm/CodeMirror bridge that would map an Ohm grammar to CodeMirror classes for marks and syntax highlighting. It might be an interesting starting point for you: https://observablehq.com/@ajbouh/editor. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Anime.js and Observable, you can also consider the following products

Pixi.js - Fast lightweight 2D library that works across all devices

D3.js - D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS.

p5.js - JS library for creating graphic and interactive experiences

RunKit - RunKit notebooks are interactive javascript playgrounds connected to a complete node environment right in your browser. Every npm module pre-installed.

Three.js - A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

Vega-Lite - High-level grammar of interactive graphics