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Create UI animations with Haiku Animator – visual timeline, interactivity, Lottie export, and full code integration.

Haiku Animator is a free, open-source animation tool built to bridge design and development. It enables designers and developers to create production-ready animations – from Sketch, Figma, or Illustrator designs to live UI components or GIF/video assets – using Airbnb’s Lottie framework. Community-maintained under AGPL, Haiku Animator offers lasting motion design utility for apps and websites.

Seamless Motion Workflow from Design to Code

Haiku lets you animate elements visually using a timeline editor with easing curve controls or fine-tune motion in built‑in code mode. It supports interactivity via spreadsheet-like expressions that let anyone with simple logic knowledge define animations behaviorally, tying design to user action.

It integrates directly with Figma, Sketch, Illustrator, and SVG exports, enabling motion designers to use familiar tools while delivering clean, shareable animations into any codebase. Compatible with React, Vue, Angular, native iOS, Android and web environments via Lottie and other runtime exports, it’s designed to fit modern development pipelines.

Why Haiku’s Open-Source Model Matters

Haiku Animator is free and open source forever, released under the AGPL license. The tool was formerly commercial but was fully open-sourced in 2021 by the Haiku team to empower anyone to continue using and extending it without subscription costs or usage limits.

Exported animations remain under your control and do not require active subscription – even older projects remain fully accessible. While certain cloud-based publishing or private sharing services were retired, local use, exporting, and embedding remain fully functional without ongoing cost.

Pros and Considerations

Strengths

  • Offers professional-level motion design with timeline and visual keyframe control.
  • Code integration: export animations to code or installable NPM packages; version control built-in. Used by developers including Evan You (Vue creator) to embed animations as components.
  • Cross-platform support including Windows, macOS, and Linux via Electron builds.
  • Open-source community driven, letting developers extend functionality and adapt the core tools themselves.

Limitations

  • As a matured open-source project, there are occasional bugs and an aging codebase – maintenance depends on community contributors.
  • Lacks some advanced motion features expected in After Effects; not ideal for high‑fidelity cinematic animation.
  • Former cloud publishing and team collaboration services are deprecated; hosting or syncing projects now relies on your own infrastructure tools.

Ideal Use Cases

  • UI/UX teams looking to add interactive animations to apps or websites with real code exports.
  • Designers and developers collaborating – animations crafted in design tools become native components.
  • Open-source developers and enthusiasts who prefer tools without vendor lock-in and full control over animation source files.

Getting Started

Download the latest release or clone the repository from GitHub. Install on macOS, Windows, or Linux and connect your preferred design tool files. Animate on Haiku’s visual timeline or code panel, preview realtime motion, and export to one of multiple formats: Lottie components, video, GIF, or embed code for web and mobile use. Your work remains entirely yours with open‑source licensing.

Haiku Animator remains a unique and effective tool for motion designers who need production‑ready animations connected directly to code. Its open‑source model ensures long-term accessibility, and its integration of design and animation workflows makes it a valuable addition to both design and development toolkits.

Explore Haiku Animator today – design motion, export components, and ship animations on your own terms.

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This is a growing collection of tools I use, test, and genuinely recommend through JKP.Agency. Some links may be affiliate links - which means if you choose to explore or purchase through them, you’re supporting the time I put into curating and maintaining this list (at no extra cost to you). Your support also helps me continue the work of our nonprofit, the Power of Listening Foundation, which is not affiliated with these tools but deeply aligned with the spirit of care, presence, and contribution. I invite you to explore, discover, and share what serves you best.

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