# The Best Astro Animation Libraries in 2026 > Use Astro's built-in view transitions for page-to-page changes and CSS for hover and reveal effects. Add Motion when an interactive island needs springs or gestures. Add GSAP when you need scroll timelines and SVG morphing. Swup is an alternative only if you are not using Astro's own router. Lenis is for smooth scrolling, not for animation itself. *We make ExodeUI, which is a design tool with runtimes rather than a page-animation library. For Astro marketing pages, the options below are the better fit.* Updated November 2026. Source: https://www.exodeui.com/best-astro-animation-libraries/ Astro ships almost no JavaScript by default, and that is the point. Animation changes that, so the decision is not only which library looks best but how much JavaScript you are willing to send to keep the page fast. Some effects can stay in CSS; page transitions are built in. ## Quick picks - Page transitions between routes: **Astro view transitions** - Springs and gestures inside an island: **Motion** - Scroll timelines and SVG: **GSAP** - Momentum scrolling: **Lenis** - Hover and reveal effects with no JavaScript: **CSS** ## The 5 best Astro animation options ### Astro view transitions Best for: Animating between pages without a client-side router rewrite Platforms: Astro sites Price: Free, part of Astro Output: Page transitions handled by the browser Astro's built-in view transitions use the browser's View Transitions API and add almost nothing to your bundle. You get cross-fade and named-element morphs between routes, with a fallback for browsers that do not support it. It is the first thing to try before adding a library. Pros: Very little client JavaScript; Works with Astro's routing; Named element transitions for shared components Cons: Limited to what the browser supports; Not a component-level animation system More: [View transition libraries compared](https://www.exodeui.com/best-view-transition-libraries) ### Motion Best for: Interactive islands that need springs, layout and gestures Platforms: Any (JavaScript, React, Vue) Price: Open source; optional paid extras Output: Animation inside your island components If you have a React or Vue island that needs real interaction, Motion is the least surprising choice. Layout animations and exit animations are straightforward, and the animation only loads with the island. Keep it out of static sections, where CSS is enough. Pros: Good React and Vue integration; Layout and gesture support; Loads only where the island loads Cons: Adds client JavaScript; Overkill for a fade-in ### GSAP Best for: Scroll-driven scenes, SVG and long timelines Platforms: Any (JavaScript) Price: Free for everyone, including commercial use Output: JavaScript animation in the page GSAP handles the ambitious Astro marketing page: pinned sections, scroll-linked timelines, SVG line drawing and text splitting. It is a client-side library, so load it only on the pages that need it and be careful with layout shift before it initialises. Pros: Free, including former paid plugins; Best scroll and SVG tooling; Framework agnostic Cons: A meaningful bundle on a site built to be light; Needs careful setup for no-JS and reduced-motion ### Lenis Best for: Smooth momentum scrolling that other animations read from Platforms: Any (JavaScript) Price: Free and open source Output: Smoothed scroll values in the page Lenis does not animate anything by itself. It smooths the scroll and exposes a value that GSAP or your own code can use. Adding it is a taste decision: some users find smoothed scrolling pleasant, others find it laggy or an accessibility problem. Pros: Small and focused; Works well with GSAP ScrollTrigger; Free and open source Cons: Can feel laggy on low-end devices; Should be disabled for reduced-motion users More: [Smooth scroll libraries compared](https://www.exodeui.com/best-smooth-scroll-libraries) ### CSS animations and scroll-driven animations Best for: Hover, reveal and simple scroll effects with no dependency Platforms: Modern browsers Price: Free, built into the browser Output: CSS in your stylesheets On a site whose main selling point is speed, CSS is the right default. Transitions cover hover and focus, and scroll-driven animations cover reveals and progress indicators without JavaScript. Check support in the browsers your visitors use before relying on the newest parts. Pros: No JavaScript at all; Cheap to run and easy to audit; Reduced-motion support with one media query Cons: No sequencing or timeline composition; Browser support varies for the scroll-driven parts ## Animation and Astro's island model Astro renders static HTML and only hydrates the islands you mark. Animation that lives inside an island only costs the pages where that island appears. A global script tag, by contrast, costs every page. Decide per effect: static CSS for the page, an island for the interactive part, and a library only inside that island. ## Design the no-JavaScript version first A large share of Astro s value is that the page works before JavaScript loads. Animated content that starts at opacity zero and only appears when a script runs will look broken if the script fails or is slow. Start visible, then animate, and test with JavaScript disabled. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does Astro support animations out of the box? Astro includes view transitions between pages and lets you use any CSS or JavaScript animation inside components. It does not ship a component animation library, and that is deliberate. ### Should I use GSAP with Astro? Use it for scroll-driven scenes and SVG where CSS cannot do the job, and load it only on the pages that need it. For simple reveals, CSS is lighter and faster. ### Can I use Framer Motion in Astro? Motion, formerly Framer Motion, works inside React islands. It will not animate static Astro components, because those have no client runtime. ### How do I animate between Astro pages? Use Astro's built-in view transitions. Add transition names to elements that should morph, and provide a fallback for browsers without support. ### Does smooth scrolling hurt performance? It can. Smooth scroll libraries run on every scroll and can feel laggy on mid-range phones. Disable them for users who prefer reduced motion and test on a real device. ## Related - [View transition libraries](https://www.exodeui.com/best-view-transition-libraries) - [Page transition libraries](https://www.exodeui.com/best-page-transition-libraries) - [Smooth scroll libraries](https://www.exodeui.com/best-smooth-scroll-libraries) - [Web animation tools](https://www.exodeui.com/best-web-animation-tools) - [Scroll animation libraries](https://www.exodeui.com/best-scroll-animation-libraries)