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Svelte VS GSAP

Compare Svelte VS GSAP and see what are their differences

Svelte logo Svelte

Cybernetically enhanced web apps

GSAP logo GSAP

GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) is a suite of JavaScript tools for high-performance animations that work in all major browsers.
  • Svelte Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27

We recommend LibHunt Svelte for discovery and comparisons of trending Svelte projects.

  • GSAP Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-11-22

Svelte features and specs

  • Performance
    Svelte shifts much of the work from runtime to compile time, resulting in faster and more efficient web applications. By compiling components to highly optimized vanilla JavaScript, it reduces the overhead and boosts performance.
  • File Size
    Due to its compile-time nature, Svelte produces smaller bundle sizes compared to other frontend frameworks like React or Angular, which can significantly improve load times and performance.
  • Simplicity
    The framework is designed to be more accessible and easier to understand. Svelte’s syntax is clean and straightforward, allowing developers to get up and running quickly with minimal boilerplate.
  • Reactivity
    Svelte provides a simple and intuitive way to handle reactivity by using built-in language constructs like assignments. This means no complicated state management libraries are necessary for many use cases.
  • Less Boilerplate
    Svelte reduces the boilerplate code typically required in other frameworks, resulting in a cleaner and more maintainable codebase. This can help accelerate development and reduce bugs.
  • Reactive Programming
    SvelteKit leverages Svelte's reactive programming model, allowing developers to write less code while achieving better functionality through automatic reactivity.
  • Integrated Router
    SvelteKit includes a built-in router, which simplifies the creation of multi-page applications and enables easy setup of dynamic routes.
  • SSR and SSG
    SvelteKit supports Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Static Site Generation (SSG) out of the box, giving developers flexibility in how they build and deploy their applications.
  • Opinionated but Flexible
    While SvelteKit provides an opinionated setup to streamline the development process, it also allows for customization to fit a developer’s specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of Svelte

  • Ecosystem Maturity
    Svelte’s ecosystem is not as mature or extensive as React’s or Angular’s. There are fewer third-party libraries, tools, and resources available, which might make it more challenging to find solutions for less common problems.
  • Learning Curve
    While Svelte itself is simpler, its approach is quite different from traditional frameworks like React and Angular. This can require a mental shift and time to learn new paradigms, especially for developers coming from those backgrounds.
  • Community Support
    Given that Svelte has a smaller user base and community compared to more established frameworks, finding community support, tutorials, and best practices can sometimes be more difficult.
  • Tooling
    While Svelte has good official tooling and support, it may lack some of the advanced tools and integrations available for other frameworks, which can slow down development for more complex applications.
  • SEO and SSR
    Although Svelte has options for server-side rendering (SSR) and improving SEO, handling these aspects is not as out-of-the-box or mature compared to frameworks like Next.js for React.
  • Community Size
    SvelteKit has a smaller community compared to other frameworks, which can affect the availability of online resources, tutorials, and community-driven support.
  • Tooling and Integration
    Some commonly used development tools and integrations may not be fully compatible with SvelteKit, necessitating workarounds or additional configuration.
  • Frequent Updates
    As a newer framework, SvelteKit undergoes frequent updates and changes, which can sometimes lead to breaking changes or require developers to frequently update their knowledge and projects.
  • Market Adoption
    SvelteKit is less adopted in the industry compared to other frameworks, which might make it a less attractive option for companies looking for widely recognized and vetted solutions.

GSAP features and specs

  • Performance
    GSAP is designed for high-performance animations and is highly optimized to handle more animations simultaneously with smoother transitions compared to other libraries.
  • Ease of Use
    It features a user-friendly API that simplifies creating complex animations with minimal code.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    GSAP ensures consistent behavior across all major browsers, including older versions, offering a reliable solution for animations.
  • Flexibility
    The library supports a wide range of animation types, including tweens, timelines, and more, making it versatile for various use cases.
  • Community and Support
    GSAP has a strong community and extensive documentation, plus active forums where users can get help and share insights.
  • Plugins
    It offers a variety of plugins, such as ScrollTrigger, MorphSVG, and Draggable, which extend its capabilities for more advanced animations.
  • Compatibility with Frameworks
    GSAP integrates well with popular JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, making it a great choice for modern web applications.

Svelte videos

SvelteKit Breaking Changes 2022 - My Reactions and What You Need to Know!

More videos:

  • Review - Svelte vs React vs Angular vs Vue
  • Review - Why Svelte is the best JS "framework"
  • Tutorial - SvelteKit Crash Course Tutorial #1 - What is SvelteKit?
  • Review - Oh crap, here comes *another* JavaScript framework || SVELTE || Sveltejs

GSAP videos

GSAP 3.0 Crash Course - JavaScript Animation Library

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started with GSAP TweenMax (Tutorial) - Animating a Landing Page

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Svelte and GSAP)
Javascript UI Libraries
79 79%
21% 21
JavaScript Framework
100 100%
0% 0
Charting Libraries
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
81 81%
19% 19

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Svelte and GSAP

Svelte Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
SvelteJS is a modern JavaScript framework that is useful for building static web apps that are fast, lean, and fun. You can use Svelte to build single, reusable components and large or even small-scale projects. Svelte has started gaining attention because of its ability to produce smaller code bundles that run faster in web browsers.
Source: solguruz.com
Top 10 Next.js Alternatives You Can Try
This web development framework can help you perform the easiest tasks to develop the interface components that users can interact with within their browsers, such as the comment section. Moreover, it has SvelteKit to render the components of the entire page with best practices and developments. You can utilize this platform effortlessly to add basic functionalities and...
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Cruise into the Svelte ecosystem with Sapper, a framework that takes all the brilliance of Svelte and dials it up for app building. It’s like Svelte’s outgoing cousin, optimizing for an even smoother ride from development to go-live.
10 Best Next.js Alternatives to Consider Today
SvelteKit, the official framework for Svelte, streamlines the development of Svelte applications. With an intuitive API, SvelteKit simplifies the creation of server-side rendered (SSR) and statically generated (SSG) applications while retaining the reactive nature that makes Svelte unique. If you're seeking a framework that marries simplicity with powerful capabilities,...
The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
The next of these Laravel alternatives is Svelte. It cuts through the complexity, snipping off any excess, pre-compiling its magic to keep your app lightweight without shedding any muscle. The end result? Lightning strikes in web performance.

GSAP Reviews

We have no reviews of GSAP yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Svelte should be more popular than GSAP. It has been mentiond 389 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.

Svelte mentions (389)

  • Plain Vanilla Web – Guide for de-frameworking yourself
    In theory, “de-frameworking yourself” is cool, but in practice, it’ll just lead to you building what effectively is your own ad hoc less battle-tested, probably less secure, and likely less performant de facto framework. I’m not convinced it’s worth it. If you want something à la KISS[0][0], just use Svelte/SvelteKit[1][1]. Nowadays, the primary exception I see to my point here is if your goal is to better... - Source: Hacker News / 1 day ago
  • Why I’m Learning Vue.js After Six Years in React
    When I teased this series on LinkedIn, one comment quipped that Vue’s been around since 2014—“you should’ve learned it by now!”—and they’re not wrong. The JS ecosystem churns out UI libraries like Svelte, Solid, RxJS, and more, each pushing reactivity forward. React’s ubiquity made it my go-to for stability and career momentum. Now I’m ready to revisit new patterns and sharpen my tool-belt. - Source: dev.to / 3 days ago
  • Hyper – Outperform React on every metric
    What is the advantage over Svelte (https://svelte.dev/)? Especially since Svelte is already established and has an ecosystem. - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
  • SVQK - A Web Application Development Platform Using Svelte + Quarkus
    At Project Au Lait, we are developing and publishing an open-source asset called SVQK, which combines Svelte (Frontend) and Quarkus (Backend) for web application development. The asset includes automated testing tools and source code generation tools. This article introduces an overview of SVQK. (For instructions on how to use SVQK, refer to the Quick Start.). - Source: dev.to / 21 days ago
  • Why Svelte Might Be the Best Framework You Haven't Tried Yet 🚀
    Embrace the Ecosystem: Explore tools like SvelteKit for full-fledged app development. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

GSAP mentions (80)

  • Webflow makes GSAP 100% free – plus more updates
    GSAP – A wildly robust JavaScript animation library built for professionals [https://gsap.com]. - Source: Hacker News / 11 days ago
  • Bring Your Scroll to Life: A Beginner’s Guide to Scroll-Based Animations with GSAP
    I'm using a component-based framework (like Astro) along with Tailwind CSS classes and GSAP to build our animation experience. Here’s a quick overview of our file structure:. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Some platforms to post your animations on the web
    You can use web technologies directly themselves to create very rich animations for the web. Sometimes only CSS alone is all you need. Many examples online. Sometimes a library like Motion or GASP can help speed web animations. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • 8 Essential Tools Every Modern Web Developer Should Know
    GSAP stands as the gold standard for web animations. This JavaScript animation library offers unprecedented control over HTML elements, SVGs, and Canvas animations. What sets GSAP apart is its exceptional performance and cross-browser compatibility. Whether you're creating simple transitions or complex, timeline-based animations, GSAP provides a robust API that makes smooth, professional animations achievable... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • p5.js
    GSAP[1] is pretty much the industry standard, I think. You have to pay for some of its more advanced features. There's also Anime.js[2] and Scene.js[3] - but I've never played with them so can't vouch for their usefulness. Both have had code updates in the past year. (Self-promotion time) I had a lot of fun adding an animation/tween system to my canvas library[4] a while back. Building out the code to run such... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Svelte and GSAP, you can also consider the following products

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Anime.js - Lightweight JavaScript animation library

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

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

Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.

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