Data · Updated 2026-06-30
State of Web Animation 2026
Almost the entire web animates with CSS, and almost nobody reaches for a JavaScript animation library: 91.7% of mobile pages use a CSS transition, while just 18.4% load any JS animation library (HTTP Archive Web Almanac, 2024). This is what the numbers say about how the web actually moves in 2026, and where crafted GSAP motion sits.
The headline numbers
91.7% of mobile pages use a CSS transition, but only 18.4% load a JavaScript animation library.
Source: HTTP Archive Web Almanac, 2024
GSAP runs on roughly 2.2% of all websites, and about 2.8% of sites whose JavaScript library is detectable.
Source: w3techs.com, 2026
Webflow made GSAP 100% free, all plugins and commercial use included, fully live on April 30, 2025.
Source: webflow.com, 2024-2025
Non-composited, jank-prone animations appear on 40% of mobile pages and 44% of desktop pages.
Source: Web Almanac, 2025
Only 48% of mobile origins pass all three Core Web Vitals; INP scores good on 77% of mobile vs 97% of desktop, a gap driven by heavier mobile JavaScript.
Source: Web Almanac, 2025 (CrUX)
React is used by 69.9% of developers vs Vue at 44.8%, and Vue is the #2 framework at about 19% of the framework market.
Source: State of JS 2025; w3techs, 2026
84% of developers use or plan to use AI tools, yet trust fell to 29% and 66% are slowed by AI code that is almost right but not quite.
Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 2025
prefers-reduced-motion adoption jumped from 34% of sites in 2022 to over 50% of mobile sites in 2024, the most-adopted user-preference query.
Source: Web Almanac, 2024
What developers actually copy
Annnimate publishes 53 production GSAP components, and the library skews the way real brand sites do: toward scroll. Scroll-driven motion is the largest category by a wide margin, which tracks the broader shift to scroll storytelling now that CSS scroll-driven animations reached roughly 85% browser support (Safari 26, September 2025).
- Scroll22 components · 42%
- UI Components10 components · 19%
- Buttons7 components · 13%
- Experimental7 components · 13%
- Shaders3 components · 6%
- Menus3 components · 6%
- Sections1 components · 2%
Source: Annnimate library, 2026
The GSAP and React/Vue gap
GSAP went fully free in 2025 and runs framework-agnostic, but the overwhelming majority of component-driven sites are built in React (69.9% developer usage) and Vue (44.8%, the #2 framework). On npm, framer-motion pulls about 33.5M weekly downloads to GSAP's 2.15M, though framer-motion ships inside many React UI kits as a transitive dependency, so that count overstates hand-authored adoption. The result: production-ready, framework-idiomatic GSAP components for React and Vue remain structurally underserved.
Source: State of JS 2025, npmtrends 2026
Motion, performance, and AI
Performance is the tax on motion: non-composited animations hit 40% of mobile pages, and only 48% of mobile origins pass all three Core Web Vitals. Of those vitals, INP is the one animation most directly threatens, scoring good on 77% of mobile sites versus 97% of desktop. Meanwhile AI tooling has commoditized generic UI, yet developer trust in it fell to 29% and two-thirds are slowed by output that is almost right but not quite. The premium on motion that is actually crafted, debugged, and accessible is rising, not falling, and prefers-reduced-motion is now honored by over half of mobile sites.
Source: Web Almanac 2024-2025, Stack Overflow 2025
Methodology
External figures are drawn from primary sources: the HTTP Archive Web Almanac (2024-2025), w3techs, the State of JS and Stack Overflow developer surveys (2025), and npm download trackers (2026). Each statistic is dated and attributed inline. Library figures are Annnimate's own live published-component counts. External figures refreshed yearly as the underlying surveys re-run.
Cite this: Annnimate, State of Web Animation 2026, https://annnimate.com/state-of-web-animation
