explaingit

pmndrs/react-spring

Analysis updated 2026-06-20

29,079TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A React animation library that uses spring physics to make UI transitions feel natural and fluid, supporting web, mobile, 3D scenes, and canvas rendering from one API.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((react-spring))
    What it does
      Spring physics animations
      React hooks API
      Multi-renderer support
    Tech Stack
      TypeScript
      React
      React Native
      react-three-fiber
    Use Cases
      Modal and card transitions
      Page transitions
      Interactive hover effects
    Audience
      React developers
      UI engineers
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Animate a modal, drawer, or card with a springy bounce so it feels physical rather than mechanically timed.

USE CASE 2

Create smooth page transitions in a React app where elements slide or fade with natural overshoot and settle.

USE CASE 3

Build an interactive component, like a product card, that scales and lifts on hover with a spring feel.

USE CASE 4

Add animated number counters or progress bars that ease into their final value using spring interpolation.

What is it built with?

TypeScriptReactReact Nativereact-three-fiber

How does it compare?

pmndrs/react-springheroui-inc/herouijitsi/jitsi-meet
Stars29,07929,11229,165
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyeasyeasyhard
Complexity2/52/54/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min
License not specified in the explanation.

In plain English

react-spring is an animation library for React, the popular JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. It solves the problem of making animations feel natural and fluid rather than mechanical. Most animation systems work by moving something from point A to point B over a fixed duration. react-spring instead uses spring physics, the same math that describes how a physical spring behaves, so elements overshoot slightly and settle in a way that feels alive rather than robotic. The way it works is through React hooks (reusable logic you attach to your components). You describe where something should start and where it should end up, and the library handles all the in-between frames automatically, interpolating values like opacity, position, size, or color using the spring model. You can control whether the animation runs automatically, trigger it in response to user interaction, or drive it imperatively from your own code. It works across multiple rendering targets: standard web (react-dom), mobile (react-native), 3D scenes (react-three-fiber), and canvas-based renderers (react-konva and react-zdog). You would use this when you want UI elements, menus, cards, modals, transitions between pages, to feel smooth and physical rather than flat and instant. It is written in TypeScript and installed as an npm package.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Using react-spring's useSpring hook, animate a div from opacity 0 and y=-20px to fully visible when the component mounts.
Prompt 2
Show me how to make a button scale up on hover and snap back with react-spring so it feels like pressing a physical key.
Prompt 3
With react-spring's useTrail, animate a list of items so they spring in one by one with a staggered delay on page load.
Prompt 4
Build a draggable card with react-spring that follows the cursor and springs back to its original position when released.
Prompt 5
How do I use react-spring with react-three-fiber to animate a 3D mesh's position and rotation when a state value changes?

Frequently asked questions

What is react-spring?

A React animation library that uses spring physics to make UI transitions feel natural and fluid, supporting web, mobile, 3D scenes, and canvas rendering from one API.

What language is react-spring written in?

Mainly TypeScript. The stack also includes TypeScript, React, React Native.

What license does react-spring use?

License not specified in the explanation.

How hard is react-spring to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is react-spring for?

Mainly developer.

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