Version 12.38.0
0
85
ExcellentA simple and powerful JavaScript animation library
- Weekly Downloads
- 39.6M
↑78%
- Bundle (gzip)
- 57.7 KB
- Updated
- Vulns
- 0
Health Score Breakdown
Maintenance
100
Popularity
100
Quality
50
Security
100
Stability
70
Framer-motion vs Gsap
Side-by-side NPM package comparison
Quick Verdict
Smallest Bundle
Gsap
26.6 KB gzipped
Most Popular
Framer-motion
39.6M weekly downloads
Best Maintained
Framer-motion
100/100 maintenance score
Highest Quality
Framer-motion
50/100 quality score
Overall Pick
Framer-motion
Best all-around based on popularity, size, maintenance & quality
Version 3.14.2
0
73
GoodGSAP is a framework-agnostic JavaScript animation library that turns developers into animation superheroes. Build high-performance animations that work in **every** major browser. Animate CSS, SVG, canvas, React, Vue, WebGL, colors, strings, motion paths,
- Weekly Downloads
- 2.3M
↑34%
- Bundle (gzip)
- 26.6 KB
- Updated
- Vulns
- 0
Health Score Breakdown
Maintenance
60
Popularity
100
Quality
50
Security
100
Stability
70
Choosing between Framer-motion and Gsap? Here's a data-driven comparison based on real npm data — downloads, bundle size, health scores, and more — to help you decide which package fits your project best.
Downloads & Popularity
Framer-motion leads with 39.6M weekly downloads — roughly 17.2x more. Gsap has 2.3M weekly downloads. Higher download counts generally indicate broader community adoption and a larger ecosystem of tutorials, plugins, and support.
Bundle Size
Gsap has the smallest gzipped bundle at 26.6 KB. Framer-motion comes in at 57.7 KB. A smaller bundle size means faster page loads, which improves user experience and Core Web Vitals scores.
Health Score Comparison
Framer-motion has an overall health score of 85/100 (very good), with strong maintenance, security, popularity scores. Gsap has an overall health score of 73/100 (good), with strong security, popularity scores. Health scores are calculated from maintenance activity, code quality, security posture, popularity, and stability metrics.
When to Choose Each
Choose Framer-motion if you value massive community and ecosystem, actively maintained, strong security track record. Choose Gsap if you value large community support, strong security track record.
Our Verdict
Both Framer-motion and Gsap are solid choices for JavaScript development. Framer-motion has the edge in overall health score (85/100), while each package brings unique strengths to the table. Evaluate them based on your project's priorities — whether that's community size, bundle efficiency, or maintenance activity — and choose the one that aligns best with your requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is framer-motion better than gsap?
- It depends on your needs. Framer-motion has a health score of 85/100 while Gsap scores 73/100. Framer-motion has more weekly downloads (39.6M), suggesting broader adoption. Consider your specific requirements — bundle size, community support, and feature set — to decide which is the better fit.
- Which has a smaller bundle size, framer-motion or gsap?
- Gsap has the smaller gzipped bundle at 26.6 KB. A smaller bundle means faster load times for your users, which can positively impact SEO and user experience.
- How many developers use framer-motion vs gsap?
- Based on npm download statistics, Framer-motion has approximately 39.6M weekly downloads and Gsap has approximately 2.3M weekly downloads. These numbers reflect package installations, not unique developers, but they indicate relative adoption levels.
- Which is better maintained, framer-motion or gsap?
- Framer-motion currently has the higher overall health score at 85/100. Framer-motion has a maintenance score of 100/100 and Gsap scores 60/100 on maintenance.
Framer Motion vs GSAP: React-Native Animations vs The Industry Standard
Framer Motion and GSAP are both capable of sophisticated web animations, but they come from very different worlds. Framer Motion was built specifically for React — its declarative API uses React props and hooks, making animations feel like a natural extension of your component code. GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) is a framework-agnostic animation powerhouse that's been the professional choice for over a decade, used in everything from banner ads to Netflix interfaces.
The bundle size comparison shows a near-tie: Framer Motion ships around 30 KB gzipped, GSAP's core is roughly 27 KB. But the real cost depends on what you need. Framer Motion includes layout animations, gesture recognition, and AnimatePresence for exit animations in that 30 KB. GSAP's 27 KB is just the core — adding ScrollTrigger, Draggable, or MorphSVG plugins increases the total significantly, though each plugin is individually tree-shakeable. For a React application needing scroll-triggered animations, Framer Motion's all-in-one package is often smaller than GSAP core plus ScrollTrigger.
Choose Framer Motion if you're building a React application and want animations that integrate seamlessly with React's component model — shared layout animations and AnimatePresence are genuinely unique capabilities. Choose GSAP if you need timeline-based orchestration, SVG morphing, physics-based animations, or need to animate elements outside React's render cycle. Many production applications use both: Framer Motion for component-level transitions and layout animations, GSAP for complex timeline sequences and scroll-driven storytelling sections.
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