Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Pixi.js VS FabricJS

Compare Pixi.js VS FabricJS and see what are their differences

Pixi.js logo Pixi.js

Fast lightweight 2D library that works across all devices

FabricJS logo FabricJS

Fabric.js is a powerful and simple Javascript HTML5 canvas library,
  • Pixi.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14
  • FabricJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20

Pixi.js features and specs

  • High Performance
    Pixi.js utilizes WebGL to deliver high-performance rendering, which is ideal for building fast and responsive web applications and games.
  • Cross-Platform
    It supports multiple platforms, allowing developers to build applications that work seamlessly across different devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
  • Extensive Documentation
    Pixi.js has comprehensive and well-documented resources that help developers understand how to use the library effectively, including tutorials and examples.
  • Rich Feature Set
    The library comes with a wide range of features such as textures, sprites, and filters, enabling developers to create visually complex and appealing content.
  • Active Community
    Pixi.js benefits from a large and active community, which means frequent updates, a wealth of plugins, and abundant community support.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source library, Pixi.js is free to use and modify, making it accessible to developers with different levels of expertise and budgets.

Possible disadvantages of Pixi.js

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its extensive documentation, beginners may find Pixi.js challenging to learn and integrate into their projects because of its extensive feature set.
  • WebGL Dependencies
    While WebGL provides high performance, it can also cause compatibility issues on older devices or browsers that do not fully support WebGL.
  • Limited 3D Capabilities
    Pixi.js is primarily a 2D rendering engine, so it may not be suitable for projects that require advanced 3D graphics and interactions.
  • Size
    Compared to simpler libraries, Pixi.js can be relatively large in terms of file size, which could impact the loading times of web applications, especially on slower networks.
  • Complex Debugging
    Debugging issues in Pixi.js can be complex, especially in large applications, as it often involves low-level graphics operations and WebGL debugging tools.

FabricJS features and specs

  • Canvas Manipulation
    FabricJS provides a powerful and easy-to-use API for canvas manipulation, allowing users to create, modify, and interact with complex canvas elements with ease.
  • Object Model
    It offers a rich object model that includes shapes, images, and text elements that can be easily manipulated on the HTML5 canvas.
  • Cross-browser Compatibility
    FabricJS is designed to work across all major modern browsers, ensuring consistent behavior and appearance of canvas applications.
  • Extensibility
    Developers can extend FabricJS functionality by adding custom shapes, objects, and handlers, which allows for a tailored interaction experience.
  • Animation Support
    The library includes built-in animation capabilities, which help create dynamic, engaging user interactions without needing additional frameworks.

Possible disadvantages of FabricJS

  • Performance
    For very large or complex scenes, FabricJS can experience performance issues, leading to slower rendering times.
  • Learning Curve
    While the API is powerful, new users may find there is a steep learning curve, especially those unfamiliar with canvas-based programming.
  • Large File Size
    FabricJS can be relatively large compared to simpler libraries, which may impact initial load times, especially on slower networks.
  • Limited 3D Capabilities
    FabricJS is primarily 2D focused and does not inherently support complex 3D operations, limiting its use for advanced graphics applications.
  • Complexity in Advanced Features
    Implementing advanced features, such as custom hit detection or event processing, can be complex and may require a deep understanding of the library’s internals.

Pixi.js videos

PixiJS Crash Course

FabricJS videos

T-shirt design using fabric js and three.js

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Pixi.js and FabricJS)
Javascript UI Libraries
67 67%
33% 33
Development
90 90%
10% 10
Flowcharts
0 0%
100% 100
Charting Libraries
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FabricJS should be more popular than Pixi.js. It has been mentiond 33 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.

Pixi.js mentions (5)

  • Release Radar • March 2024 Edition
    If you're into video game dev, then PixiJS is something you need to know about. It's a HTML5 game engine that provides a lightweight 2D library across all devices. This latest update has a new package structure, custom builds, graphics API overhaul, and lots more. You can read about all these changes in the PixiJS Migration Guide. Also big congrats to PixiJS for being part of the open source community for ten... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Advice about useful libraries to create a 2D car game (hill climb racing style)
    I would need a renderer to display the graphics of my calculations on the "backend". After some research I think pixijs which is written in TS could be a great tool. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is programming just not for me?
    And if that seems to up your alley you could look into Javascript game/renderer frameworks. They have 2D engines like https://github.com/photonstorm/phaser or https://github.com/pixijs/pixijs . Or my personal choice A-Frame which is a 3D, AR and VR engine (XR) https://github.com/aframevr/ . Source: over 2 years ago
  • Pixie – A full-featured 2D graphics library for Nim
    This has a high risk of being confused with pixi.js: https://github.com/pixijs/pixijs. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Custome game engine: what stack ?
    WebGL, I hear, has a similar API to OpenGL. (Also, WebGPU is coming at some point.) Or, you could use a thin library that handles the WebGL drawing of sprites for you. I prefer that option over using a full game engine: I find it's better to only include dependencies when they become necessary. I recently tried a web rendering library called PixiJS, and it seemed like a pretty clean and nice-sized API, and... Source: almost 4 years ago

FabricJS mentions (33)

  • Canva API: A Comprehensive Guide
    Open Source Alternatives - For those who prefer open-source tools, Libraries like SVG.js and Fabric.js offer customizable, canvas-based design functionality that can be integrated into web applications. These tools are free to use, offering high flexibility, though they may require significant development effort. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Ask HN: Framework for Quick Python or Java and Web UIs?
    I hope I'm understanding this right: You're trying to build a web UI that can let you overlay and position a QR code on top of another image? If so, I think rather than trying to build your own CLI to do this and refresh the image every time, you can do it entirely clientside with something like https://konvajs.org/docs/react/Intro.html or https://fabricjs.com/, storing the QR overlay position and alpha in state.... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • When You Need More Power Than a Lambda Provides
    In a publishing project, we utilized Fabric.js—a JavaScript HTML5 canvas library—to manage complex metadata and content layers. These complexities included spreads, pages, and templates, each embedded with fonts, text attributes, shapes, and images. As the content evolved, teams were tasked with updates, necessitating the creation of a publisher-quality PDF after each update. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Fun, Beautiful, Printable 'Story Cards' for Kids with Cloudflare AI
    This AI-powered Story Card Maker is built as a SvelteKit application with Typescript. Using Flowbite Svelte component library, the whole application was laid out. The layout for the Story Card (emulating the size of a postcard - 4" x 3") is created as an HTML Canvas using Fabric.js. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • JSON Canvas – An open file format for infinite canvas data
    The canvas in Obsidian is as the whole app very well made. I wondered what they are using as well. My guess is https://www.xyflow.com/, which is for drawing nodes. More general purpose would be http://fabricjs.com/. Or very low level https://pixijs.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Pixi.js and FabricJS, you can also consider the following products

Anime.js - Lightweight JavaScript animation library

Konva - Konva is 2d Canvas JavaScript framework for drawings shapes, animations, node nesting, layering, filtering, event handling, drag and drop and much more.

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

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

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.

GoJS - GoJS is a JavaScript library for building interactive diagrams on HTML web pages. Build apps with flowcharts, org charts, BPMN, UML, modeling, and other visual graph types.