Skip to main content

​
Choose a runtime

For web, start by choosing one of these two packages: They share the same high-level API, so switching packages does not require changing how you create a new Rive({...}) instance. The key differences are the renderer and package size; read the sections below to decide what is best for your use case, and compare package sizes on Runtime Sizes. Use @rive-app/webgl2 if you want the best rendering quality and performance in most cases. 
npm install @rive-app/webgl2
  • Uses the Rive Renderer for the best rendering performance
  • Supports Rive Renderer-only features (for example, vector feathering)
WebGL has browser limits on concurrent contexts, which can limit how many new Rive({...}) instances you can run at once. If you display many graphics on the same page, set useOffscreenRenderer: true for each Rive object. This moves rendering work to a shared offscreen WebGL context instead of creating as many separate contexts on visible canvases, which helps avoid context-limit issues and improves stability when many Rive instances are active.
Enabling the draft WEBGL_shader_pixel_local_storage extension in Chrome improves rendering performance. Without it, Rive falls back to an MSAA-based WebGL2 path. We are actively working with browser vendors to make this enabled by default.

​
@rive-app/canvas

Use @rive-app/canvas when your graphics are less complex and you want a smaller runtime package. 
npm install @rive-app/canvas
  • Uses the browser’s built-in CanvasRenderingContext2D renderer
  • Smaller package size than the WebGL2 renderer option
  • Good for simpler vector/raster graphics

​
More options after your runtime choice

For the canvas-based runtime option, you can alternatively use these variants based on packaging needs.

​
@rive-app/canvas-lite variant

The canvas version of our runtime supports a -lite variant for smaller package size.
  • Example: @rive-app/canvas-lite
  • Use this package when you want the smallest runtime footprint
  • This package variant removes some features (for example, text, layout, audio, and scripting engines)

​
@rive-app/canvas-single variant

The canvas version of our runtime supports a -single variant, which bundles rive.wasm directly into the JavaScript file.
  • Example: @rive-app/canvas-single
  • Use this package if you want to avoid a separate WASM network request
  • Expect a larger JS bundle compared to the standard package

​
Deprecated package

@rive-app/webgl is deprecated and will no longer receive updates after v2.37.0. Prefer @rive-app/webgl2.