Physics: Rive vs ExodeUI
Constraints vs. simulation. Two very different answers to "how should UI move?"
Direct Answer
Rive animates through rigged bones and spring-style constraints — superb for character motion and organic feel. ExodeUI runs a true GPU rigid-body simulation: gravity, springs, dampening, and collisions that respond to live user input, compiled into your app. Use Rive for authored, deterministic character motion; use ExodeUI when the interface itself should behave like a physical object.
1. Authored Motion vs. Simulated Motion
Rive's model is author-driven: you rig a character, add constraints, and the runtime interpolates deterministically. Every user sees the same motion. That predictability is a feature for brand moments.
ExodeUI's model is simulation-driven: elements carry mass and velocity, react to drag and gestures, and settle under real forces. The result feels alive in interactive UI — collapsible cards, draggable widgets, liquid transitions — and it costs no extra runtime because the physics is part of the exported component.
- GPU rigid bodies: gravity, springs, collisions at 60/120 FPS.
- Physics triggers wired directly into Logic Nodes.
- No After Effects pre-render or bone rigging required.
2. Performance Notes
Rive's custom renderer is genuinely fast — a tiny WASM footprint and GPU-accelerated vector drawing. ExodeUI's engine is also GPU-accelerated (WebGL with a Rust/WASM core), but because output is code, it tree-shakes: components you don't ship cost nothing. Both approaches comfortably hold 60 FPS; the difference is architectural, not brute-force.