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Up to 4 tools, same rows for each: what it is, what it really costs, the trap, and how to wire it up. The URL carries your picks — send it to anyone.
GSAP + ScrollTriggerRive
Quick read
- Free with no card: GSAP + ScrollTrigger.
- Editor's pick: GSAP + ScrollTrigger.
| Field | GSAP + ScrollTriggergsap.com | Riverive.app |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Framework-agnostic animation engine whose differentiator is the timeline model: sequence, offset, nest, reverse and scrub complex choreography with precise control. ScrollTrigger handles scroll-driven and pinned animation; SplitText does per-character reveals. | Design tool plus lightweight runtime for interactive vector animation — the Lottie alternative. You build a state machine so the animation responds to inputs, export a tiny .riv file, and drive it from code. |
| Category | Animation & motion | Animation & motion |
| Cost tier | free | paid |
| Pricing | Free — all plugins, since 2025 | Runtimes free MIT · publishing $9/seat/mo |
| Why builders pick it | This is the scrolled-feature-article tool. Pinned photo sequences, a headline that assembles as you scroll, a timeline piece that scrubs — that is ScrollTrigger, and nothing else comes close. Webflow acquired GreenSock and made every formerly-paid plugin free in 2025. Core + ScrollTrigger + SplitText is ~49 kB gz. | Only worth it if you have three or more animations to amortize the WASM and a designer to own the files. An unowned .riv is an opaque binary nobody can edit. |
| Watch out for | Free but not OSI open source — a custom Webflow-owned licence that bars using GSAP inside competing no-code animation builders. Building scroll-driven features with it is squarely permitted. Release cadence has slowed to 2–3/year under Webflow. | Publishing moved behind a paywall in Oct 2025 — the free tier cannot export a .riv for production. And the runtime is 88 kB JS plus a 725 kB gzipped WASM binary (304 kB on canvas-lite), fetched from unpkg by default — self-host it and call RuntimeLoader.setWasmUrl(). |
| How to wire it up | npm install gsap @gsap/react | npm install @rive-app/react-canvas |
| Editor's pick | Yes | No |
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# Tool comparison — GSAP + ScrollTrigger vs Rive Source: Kbaise, a directory of tools that work with Lovable projects. Pick one and tell me why before writing any integration code. ## GSAP + ScrollTrigger (gsap-scrolltrigger) - URL: https://gsap.com/docs/v3/ - Category: Animation & motion - Cost: free — Free — all plugins, since 2025 - What it is: Framework-agnostic animation engine whose differentiator is the timeline model: sequence, offset, nest, reverse and scrub complex choreography with precise control. ScrollTrigger handles scroll-driven and pinned animation; SplitText does per-character reveals. - Why builders pick it: This is the scrolled-feature-article tool. Pinned photo sequences, a headline that assembles as you scroll, a timeline piece that scrubs — that is ScrollTrigger, and nothing else comes close. Webflow acquired GreenSock and made every formerly-paid plugin free in 2025. Core + ScrollTrigger + SplitText is ~49 kB gz. - Trap: Free but not OSI open source — a custom Webflow-owned licence that bars using GSAP inside competing no-code animation builders. Building scroll-driven features with it is squarely permitted. Release cadence has slowed to 2–3/year under Webflow. - Wiring: npm install gsap @gsap/react - Full dossier: /api/public/tools/gsap-scrolltrigger ## Rive (rive) - URL: https://rive.app/docs/ - Category: Animation & motion - Cost: paid — Runtimes free MIT · publishing $9/seat/mo - What it is: Design tool plus lightweight runtime for interactive vector animation — the Lottie alternative. You build a state machine so the animation responds to inputs, export a tiny .riv file, and drive it from code. - Why builders pick it: Only worth it if you have three or more animations to amortize the WASM and a designer to own the files. An unowned .riv is an opaque binary nobody can edit. - Trap: Publishing moved behind a paywall in Oct 2025 — the free tier cannot export a .riv for production. And the runtime is 88 kB JS plus a 725 kB gzipped WASM binary (304 kB on canvas-lite), fetched from unpkg by default — self-host it and call RuntimeLoader.setWasmUrl(). - Wiring: npm install @rive-app/react-canvas - Full dossier: /api/public/tools/rive ## Quick read - Free with no card: GSAP + ScrollTrigger. - Editor's pick: GSAP + ScrollTrigger. ## Rules 1. Prefer the free tier when no budget was stated, and say what the ceiling is. 2. Read the full dossier before integrating. 3. Fetch /api/public/models before writing any AI model ID.
Agents can fetch the same thing: GET /api/public/compare?slugs=gsap-scrolltrigger,rive