framer-motion vs motion

animation

framer-motion

motion

Framer Motion and Motion represent the evolution of a single animation ecosystem that underwent a major transformation in late 2024. Framer Motion, the beloved React animation library with 30.7k GitHub stars, rebranded and expanded into Motion—a unified animation platform offering both React-specific declarative APIs (via motion/react) and vanilla JavaScript imperative APIs. This shift makes traditional head-to-head comparisons outdated, as motion/react is essentially Framer Motion's successor under new branding, while the vanilla Motion API targets a broader audience beyond React.

The comparison now centers on choosing between Motion's React integration (motion/react) versus its vanilla JavaScript API, or understanding how the legacy Framer Motion relates to the new Motion ecosystem. React developers building interactive UIs with complex gestures, layout animations, and scroll triggers are the primary audience for motion/react, while vanilla JS developers, Vue users, or teams prioritizing minimal bundle sizes should evaluate Motion's imperative APIs. The deprecated Motion One library, previously a lightweight alternative, has been absorbed into this unified Motion platform.

Head-to-Head

Bundle Size→ motion wins

framer-motion

Framer Motion (now motion/react) weighs approximately 30-50kB gzipped with full feature set including variants, layout animations, and gesture handling. Size is justified by extensive React abstractions and advanced capabilities that eliminate need for additional libraries.

motion

Motion's vanilla JS API is significantly lighter with core animate() and spring() functions requiring minimal overhead. The imperative approach allows tree-shaking unused features more effectively, making it ideal for performance-critical PWAs where every kilobyte matters.

API Ergonomics→ framer-motion wins

framer-motion

Declarative React component props like whileHover, whileTap, layout, and variants system provide intuitive, maintainable code for complex animations. Abstracts low-level DOM manipulation, reducing bugs and boilerplate. Excellent for rapid prototyping and teams familiar with React patterns.

motion

Imperative animate() and spring() functions offer explicit control with unit-agnostic animations (px to %, color transforms). Requires manual DOM querying and event handling but provides framework-agnostic portability. More verbose for complex sequences but predictable and debuggable.

Layout Animation Support→ framer-motion wins

framer-motion

Industry-leading layout animations via the layout prop automatically animate position, scale, and reordering changes with FLIP technique. Handles shared element transitions and complex layout shifts seamlessly. No equivalent in vanilla animation libraries without significant custom code.

motion

Motion's vanilla API lacks built-in layout animation support. Developers must manually calculate position changes and orchestrate FLIP animations. While possible to implement, requires deep understanding of layout animation patterns and substantial boilerplate code.

Framework Compatibility→ motion wins

framer-motion

Tightly coupled to React with hooks (useAnimation, useMotionValue, useScroll) and component lifecycle integration. Cannot be used outside React ecosystem. Requires React 16.8+ for hooks support, limiting adoption in non-React projects or micro-frontend architectures.

motion

Framework-agnostic vanilla JavaScript works with Vue, Svelte, Angular, or no framework at all. Early Vue integration planned for 2025 with community forks like @oku-ui/motion already available. Essential for teams using multiple frameworks or migrating away from React.

Gesture Orchestration→ framer-motion wins

framer-motion

Built-in gesture recognizers for drag, hover, tap, focus, and pan with declarative props. Handles complex scenarios like drag constraints, momentum, and multi-touch. Integrates seamlessly with animation variants for sophisticated interaction patterns without external libraries.

motion

No built-in gesture handling—requires pairing with native event listeners or third-party libraries like Hammer.js. Developers must manually calculate velocities, handle touch events, and coordinate gesture state with animations. More flexibility but significantly more implementation work.

Performance Profiletie

framer-motion

Hybrid engine uses WAAPI for simple transforms/opacity (hardware-accelerated 60fps) but falls back to JS calculations for spring physics, layout animations, and gesture coordination. Slightly more JS overhead than pure WAAPI but optimized for complex scenarios. Mobile performance excellent for real-world apps.

motion

Prioritizes WAAPI with minimal JS overhead for simple animations, matching or exceeding motion/react in raw speed benchmarks for basic use cases. Lower battery drain on mobile for straightforward transitions. Less optimized for complex spring physics or multi-step sequences compared to motion/react's hybrid approach.

Verdict

Choose motion/react (formerly Framer Motion) for React applications requiring sophisticated interactions, layout animations, or gesture-driven interfaces. The declarative API, built-in layout animation support, and gesture orchestration justify the larger bundle size when building dashboards, e-commerce product configurators, or interactive marketing sites. Teams already invested in React will find motion/react's component-first approach natural and productive, eliminating need for animation utility libraries or custom gesture handlers.

Choose Motion's vanilla JavaScript API for performance-critical applications, non-React frameworks, or projects requiring minimal dependencies. The imperative approach excels in PWAs where bundle size directly impacts load times, micro-frontends mixing multiple frameworks, or simple animation needs that don't justify React's overhead. Vue and Svelte developers should adopt Motion's vanilla API now, with official framework integrations arriving in 2025. For legacy Framer Motion users, migrating to motion/react is straightforward—it's the same library under new branding with improved documentation and cross-platform momentum.

When to Use Each

If you are building a React dashboard with draggable cards and animated list reordering → use motion/react because its layout prop and drag constraints handle complex layout shifts automatically without manual FLIP calculations.

If you are building a lightweight marketing landing page with scroll-triggered fades in vanilla JavaScript → use Motion's vanilla API because animate() provides smooth WAAPI animations with 5-10kB overhead versus 30kB+ for React integration you won't utilize.

If you are creating a Vue 3 application with spring-based micro-interactions → use Motion's vanilla API (or @oku-ui/motion fork) because it provides framework-agnostic animation primitives that integrate cleanly with Vue's reactivity system without React dependencies.

If you are prototyping an interactive product configurator with hover states, gestures, and shared element transitions → use motion/react because whileHover, drag props, and layoutId eliminate hundreds of lines of gesture coordination and transition logic you'd write manually with vanilla APIs.

Learn More

framer-motion →motion →

Head-to-Head

Bundle Size→ motion wins

framer-motion

motion

API Ergonomics→ framer-motion wins

framer-motion

motion

Layout Animation Support→ framer-motion wins

framer-motion

motion

Framework Compatibility→ motion wins

framer-motion

motion

Gesture Orchestration→ framer-motion wins

framer-motion

motion

Performance Profiletie

framer-motion

motion

Verdict

When to Use Each