Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Three.js VS FabricJS

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

Three.js logo Three.js

A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

FabricJS logo FabricJS

Fabric.js is a powerful and simple Javascript HTML5 canvas library,
  • Three.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-05
  • FabricJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20

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.

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.

Three.js videos

Getting Started With Three.js

More videos:

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

FabricJS videos

T-shirt design using fabric js and three.js

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Three.js and FabricJS)
Javascript UI Libraries
85 85%
15% 15
Flowcharts
71 71%
29% 29
Charting Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Org Charts
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 Three.js and FabricJS

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

FabricJS Reviews

We have no reviews of FabricJS yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Three.js should be more popular than FabricJS. 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.

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 2 months 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
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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 / 30 days 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 Three.js and FabricJS, you can also consider the following products

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

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

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

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

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

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.