Choose Reanimated for direct control over animated styles, shared values, and interaction logic; choose Moti when its declarative components make familiar view transitions easier to write; choose React Native Skia for custom-drawn 2D graphics and canvas-style rendering. Moti runs on Reanimated, while Skia addresses a different rendering problem, so these are not three interchangeable animation engines. Your React Native architecture and exact package versions can rule out an option before you start.
What each library is for
Reanimated: direct control over animation behavior
Reanimated gives developers direct access to animated styles, shared values, and animation logic. That makes it a natural fit when an effect responds to gesture or interaction state, or when the animation needs custom behavior. Compared with Moti, you express more of the animation logic yourself. Moti’s comparison illustrates the difference with a simple opacity transition: Reanimated uses an animated style, while Moti expresses the transition through a component API.
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Moti: a declarative layer built on Reanimated
Moti provides a higher-level component API for common state-driven transitions. It is not a separate animation engine: its components build on Reanimated and its API handles animated-style work for you. That can mean less boilerplate for supported patterns, but it does not remove Reanimated’s underlying setup or compatibility requirements. For heavily customized behavior, the abstraction may not make the work simpler.
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React Native Skia: graphics and drawing
React Native Skia brings the Skia graphics library into React Native. Consider it for custom shapes, paths, and canvas-like graphics. It uses a different rendering model from component-level animation APIs, so adopting it is a graphics decision—not simply a switch from Reanimated or Moti.
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Which should you use for your project?
- For a familiar view transition: First check whether Moti’s declarative API expresses the effect cleanly. Remember that it relies on Reanimated underneath.
- For gesture-driven or interaction-dependent behavior: Start with Reanimated when you need direct shared-value control or custom animation logic. Moti may still be useful, but its abstraction is less likely to simplify a highly tailored effect.
- For custom-drawn visuals: Consider Skia when the design calls for graphics such as shapes or paths that go beyond animating ordinary views.
- For an app still on React Native’s old architecture: Do not assume Reanimated 4 will work. The compatibility guide says Reanimated 4 requires the New Architecture; the latest Reanimated 3 line is the path to evaluate for old-architecture projects.
- For a project combining Skia with native Reanimated integration: Plan around Skia v2’s requirement for Reanimated 4 or newer and Worklets 0.7 or newer.
How the options differ
| Library | Best fit | What you work with | Main trade-off | Compatibility checkpoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reanimated | Direct control of animated styles, shared values, and interactions | Lower-level animation APIs | You have more direct control, but express more animation logic yourself. | Reanimated 4 requires the New Architecture and a supported React Native/Worklets combination. Check the exact patch versions in the compatibility guide. |
| Moti | Common component-level transitions using a declarative API | A higher-level layer built on Reanimated | Less boilerplate for supported patterns, while inheriting Reanimated’s requirements. | Confirm the specific Moti release against your app’s Reanimated version; its installation page describes a Reanimated 3-based setup, not a complete current compatibility matrix. |
| React Native Skia | Custom 2D graphics and canvas-style rendering | A graphics and rendering library integrated into React Native | It solves a different problem and has explicit platform and version requirements. | Skia v2 lists minimum React Native, React, iOS, and Android versions; native Reanimated integration requires Reanimated 4+ and Worklets 0.7+ in its installation guide. |
This is a comparison of documented roles and setup constraints, not an independent performance benchmark.
Check compatibility before choosing
Reanimated 4 changes the worklet setup
The Reanimated migration guide says animation logic written for versions 2 or 3 generally carries into version 4 with little to no change. However, version 4 moves worklet functionality and its Babel plugin into react-native-worklets. Install a compatible Worklets version, update plugin configuration as needed, and rebuild native apps after the migration. Read the migration guide alongside the compatibility table; support can vary by patch release.
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Skia v2 has stated platform minimums
The Skia v2 installation guide specifies React Native 0.79 or newer, React 19 or newer, iOS 14 or newer, and Android API level 21 or newer. For native Reanimated integration, it specifies Reanimated 4 or newer and Worklets 0.7 or newer. The guide says earlier React Native and React versions require an older Skia package line.
Moti’s setup needs release-specific verification
Moti’s published installation page describes a Reanimated 3-based setup and includes older, version-specific compatibility notes. Those notes are useful context for those releases, not a guarantee for every current combination. Check the exact package metadata and peer dependencies for the Moti, Reanimated, and Skia versions in your app before combining them.
A practical decision sequence
- Identify the rendering job. If you need custom graphics or canvas-like drawing, evaluate Skia. If you are animating views, compare Moti’s declarative API with Reanimated’s direct APIs.
- Identify how much control the effect needs. For gesture state, shared values, or custom behavior, Reanimated is the more direct starting point. For a familiar transition that fits Moti’s components, its higher-level API may reduce boilerplate.
- Check the app’s architecture. Confirm whether the project uses React Native’s New Architecture before selecting Reanimated 4; if it remains on the old architecture, evaluate the latest Reanimated 3 line instead.
- Verify the exact dependency combination. Check installed versions, peer dependencies, target platforms, and the official compatibility tables—especially if pairing Moti with newer Reanimated or using Skia v2’s native integration.
- For a Reanimated 4 migration, account for native rebuild work. Set up a compatible
react-native-workletsversion and plugin configuration, then rebuild the app.
Does one library run faster?
The official documentation reviewed for this comparison does not provide a dated, attributable apples-to-apples benchmark of all three libraries. A general FPS claim therefore cannot establish that one is universally faster. Choose based on the rendering task, API level, architecture, and verified compatibility rather than an unsupported speed ranking.
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