Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Anime.js VS Three.js

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

Anime.js logo Anime.js

Lightweight JavaScript animation library

Three.js logo Three.js

A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.
  • Anime.js Homepage
    Homepage //
    2024-07-18
  • Three.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-05

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.

Three.js features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Three.js simplifies the complex task of 3D rendering with an intuitive API, making it accessible to developers who may not have deep expertise in 3D graphics.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Three.js is built upon WebGL, ensuring compatibility across modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    The library offers extensive documentation, examples, and an active community, which helps in quickly resolving issues and understanding implementation.
  • Integration with HTML and CSS
    Three.js can be easily integrated with HTML and CSS, allowing for the blending of 2D and 3D elements in web applications.
  • Extensive Features
    It supports a wide range of features including cameras, lights, materials, shaders, and post-processing effects, making it highly versatile for various 3D projects.

Possible disadvantages of Three.js

  • Performance Overhead
    Despite its powerful capabilities, Three.js can have significant performance overhead, especially for complex scenes, which might require optimization.
  • Learning Curve
    While easier than raw WebGL, Three.js still has a learning curve, particularly for those new to 3D graphics, requiring time to become proficient.
  • Limited Built-in Advanced Tools
    Although feature-rich, Three.js lacks some advanced tools out-of-the-box compared to more specialized or industry-standard 3D engines, necessitating custom solutions for certain tasks.
  • Dependency on WebGL
    Three.js relies on WebGL, meaning it cannot be used in environments where WebGL is not supported, which can limit accessibility and compatibility.
  • Frequent Updates
    The library is actively developed, which is generally positive, but frequent updates can mean breaking changes, requiring developers to frequently refactor their code.

Anime.js videos

Intro to Anime.js - The JavaScript Animation Engine

Three.js videos

Getting Started With Three.js

More videos:

  • Review - Ricardo Cabello (Mr doob) - 5 years of three.js

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Anime.js and Three.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
35 35%
65% 65
Charting Libraries
46 46%
54% 54
Flowcharts
0 0%
100% 100
Development
100 100%
0% 0

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 Three.js

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

Three.js Reviews

Top 20 Javascript Libraries
Cross-browser JS library and API that allows for the creation of beautiful animations, Three.js relies on WebGL rather than conventional browser-plugins. Through its library utilities, developers can include complex 3D animations on their website without much effort. Three.js include many features like geometry, lights, materials, shaders, effects, scenes, data loaders,...
Source: hackr.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Three.js should be more popular than Anime.js. It has been mentiond 247 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 (49)

  • ✨"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 / 15 days 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 / 20 days ago
  • AnimeJs v4 Is Here
    You can leave your email in the footer of the landing page > https://animejs.com/#site-footer. - Source: Hacker News / 29 days ago
  • Celebrate 50 years of Microsoft with the company's original source code
    Funny cause just today this made it to the front page of HN https://animejs.com/ It has way fancier animations and scrolls like butter. - Source: Hacker News / 28 days ago
  • Enhance Your Web Projects with Sphere Animations Using EldoraUI 🚀
    Animations have become an essential part of modern web design, adding life and interactivity to static interfaces. In this post, I’ll walk you through creating a Sphere Animation component using the lightweight and versatile Anime.js library. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced developer, this guide will help you integrate visually captivating animations into your projects. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

Three.js mentions (247)

  • Turn your phone into a wireless Joy-Con with SyncoPath
    The phone in the codepath sample got rendered using Three.js. For fun, I also added some beep sound generated using ZZfx when you tap. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • How to Build a Portfolio Website with React
    Also, to make your portfolio stand out to recruiters and clients, you can add some creative and interactive animations to it. The following libraries can help you easily do this: Framer Motion, tsParticles, and Three.js. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Rant: state of generative AI in code generation.
    In my experience with AI code generation, in visual projects like UI development or JavaScript based animation (using three.js or p5.js) etc. AI tools work pretty well. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • My son (9 yrs old) used plain JavaScript to make a game, and wants your feedback
    After he's done with v2, might I propose... THE GAMEY GAME 3D ?? https://threejs.org/ I started coding at 9 as well (which was a long time ago now), so I was very happy to play and see this today. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Optimizing Three.js: 4 Key Techniques
    But code can also create something visually stunning, something everyone can appreciate. This is where tools like Three.js shine. However, Three.js can be heavy, especially when used in a dynamic web page accessed by devices with varying computational power. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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

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

PixiJS - Fast and flexible WebGL-based HTML5 game and app development library.

GSAP - GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) is a suite of JavaScript tools for high-performance animations that work in all major browsers.

Substance - A JavaScript library for web-based content editing

Paper.js - Open source vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas.