head to head · open source
anime vs motion
anime has 74,225 GitHub stars, 5,044 forks, 118 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. motion has 34,813 stars, 1,497 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. anime leads on adoption by 113% (74,225 vs 34,813 stars). anime is written in JavaScript under MIT; motion is written in TypeScript under MIT. anime has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, motion 4%. motion was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (animation), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| anime | motion | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 74K | ★ 35K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-21 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick anime if
- You weight community size — 74K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick motion if
- You want the motion feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and motion fits your workflow better
About anime
Anime.js Anime.js is a fast, multipurpose and lightweight JavaScript animation library with a simple, yet powerful API. It works with CSS properties, SVG, DOM attributes and JavaScript Objects. Sponsors Anime.js is 100% free and is only made possible with the help of our sponsors. Help the project become sustainable by sponsoring us on GitHub Sponsors . Platinum sponsors Silver sponsors Get featured here by becoming a GitHub Sponsor . Usage Anime.js V4 works by importing ES modules like so: V4 Documentation The full documentation is available here. V3 Migration guide You can find the v3 to v4 migration guide…
read the full anime overview →
About motion
Motion An open source animation library for JavaScript, React and Vue Table of Contents 1. Why Motion? 2. 🍦 Platforms 3. 🎓 Examples 4. ⚡️ Motion+ 5. 👩🏻⚖️ License 6. 💎 Contribute 7. ✨ Sponsors Why Motion? Simple API: First class React, JavaScript, and Vue packages. Hybrid engine: Power of JavaScript combined with native browser APIs for 120fps, GPU accelerated animations. Production ready: TypeScript, extensive test suite, tree shakable, tiny footprint. Batteries included: Gestures, springs, layout transitions, scroll linked effects, timelines. 🍦 Platforms Motion is available for React, JavaScript and Vue…
read the full motion overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is anime or motion more popular?
anime has 74,225 GitHub stars and motion has 34,813. anime has the larger community by that measure.
Are anime and motion free?
Both are open source. anime is licensed under MIT and motion under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between anime and motion?
anime is written in JavaScript and motion in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, anime or motion?
Choose anime if you want the larger community (74,225 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose motion if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.