Comparison
An Animata alternative for animated React components
Animata is a free, open-source collection of hand-crafted animations, effects and interactions for React and Tailwind CSS that you copy into your project. beUI is also free and open source, on Tailwind CSS and Framer Motion, with more emphasis on full interface components, charts and AI agent UI. This page lays out the differences.
beUI vs Animata
| Feature | beUI | Animata |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT, free and open source | MIT, free and open source |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Install | shadcn CLI (npx shadcn@latest add @beui/<slug>) or copy the source from the page | shadcn CLI with a component URL, or manual copy-paste |
| Animation library | Framer Motion (the motion package), shared tokens in lib/ease.ts | Framer Motion (the motion package) and Tailwind CSS animation utilities |
| Styling | Tailwind CSS 4, TypeScript, React 19 | Tailwind CSS for layout; colors and fonts left to you |
| Focus | App primitives, charts, AI agent UI and composed blocks | Animations, effects and interactions to enhance an existing design |
| Charts | Yes, a Charts category (treemap, candlestick, donut, funnel, heat calendar and more) | Has a graphs and charts section (bar, donut, gauge, ring) |
| React Native | Yes, beUI Native ports with Reanimated and Gesture Handler (npx beui-native add <slug>) | Not listed on its site as of October 2026 |
| AI agent components | Yes, a dedicated AI Agents category (messages, prompt input, tool approval, streaming, citations) | Not a category on its site as of October 2026 |
What is Animata good at?
Animata is clear about its scope: it is not a full UI library like Material UI or Chakra UI, but a collection of animations and effects you add to an existing design. It uses Tailwind CSS for layout and deliberately leaves colors and fonts to you, so its pieces blend into your own look.
Its catalog is especially deep in text animations, with dozens of styles such as blur out, mask reveal, per-character rise and glitch text, plus buttons, backgrounds, bento grids, a marquee and simple charts. Components install with the shadcn CLI using a component URL, or by copying the code.
Where does beUI differ from Animata?
beUI is closer to a full interface kit. Alongside motion effects it ships complete controls with state and keyboard handling: select, combobox, tooltip, popover, context menu, tabs, sliders, date range picker, OTP input and more. Larger components support controlled and uncontrolled state.
Its Charts category goes further into data views such as treemap, candlestick, funnel and heat calendar, and its AI Agents category covers chat messages, prompt input, tool approval and streaming responses. beUI is in shadcn's official registry directory as @beui, so installs use a short namespaced name instead of a URL.
- Shared motion tokens for consistent springs and easing
- Movement gated behind useReducedMotion
- React Native versions of many components through beUI Native
How do I install a beUI component?
Run the shadcn CLI with the @beui namespace. This example adds the donut chart, a composable share ring with legend rows and a center readout.
# once per project, if components.json does not exist yet
npx shadcn@latest init
npx shadcn@latest add @beui/donut-chartCan I use Animata and beUI together?
Yes. Both are Tailwind CSS and Framer Motion source you copy into your project, so they combine without a shared runtime. Animata's text and button effects pair well with beUI's controls, charts and agent components on the same screen.
When swapping one component for the other, install the beUI version, update the imports and props where it is used, then remove the old file.
When is Animata the better pick?
Animata is the better pick when you already have a design system and only want effects layered on top, especially a wide choice of text animations that inherit your own colors and fonts. Pick beUI when you need complete, stateful controls, richer charts, AI agent interfaces or React Native versions.
Components in this guide
Text Animation
Animated text primitives for spring reveals, chromatic sweeps, shimmer loading states, letter-cascade swaps and character scrambles.
Donut Chart
Rounded share segments with a linked center readout and legend.
Composition Chart
Stacked bar and area shares with period tooltips and a compact interactive legend.
Marquee
Infinite horizontal or vertical scroll with pause-on-hover.
Button
Spring-pressed Button plus StatefulButton, MagneticButton, and MetallicButton variants.
Loader
Loading indicator with seventeen variants: spinner, dots, bars, dot-matrix, dither, morph, comet, scramble, metaballs, newton, helix, percent, and five terminal-style ascii spinners. Scales from one size prop, uses currentColor, and reduced-motion swaps every transform for a calm opacity pulse.
FAQ
- Is Animata free and open source?
- Yes. Animata describes itself as a free and open-source collection, and its repository uses the MIT license. beUI is free and MIT licensed as well.
- Can I install Animata and beUI with the shadcn CLI?
- Yes. Animata pages give a shadcn command with a component URL. beUI uses its registry namespace: npx shadcn@latest add @beui/donut-chart, for example.
- Is beUI a full UI library?
- beUI covers interface primitives such as select, combobox, tooltip and tabs, plus charts, AI agent components and blocks, so it can serve as more than an effects collection.
- Does beUI have text animations like Animata?
- Yes. beUI includes spring word and character reveals, chromatic sweep, shimmer, letter cascade and scramble text components.
- Does beUI work with React Native?
- Yes. beUI Native provides React Native versions of many components, installed with npx beui-native add.
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