Hi all,
In case you haven’t heard… since Webflow’s acquisition of GSAP, they have recently decide to make GSAP free, even the members only content. It can also be used for commercial projects.
Read the announcement here.
https://gsap.com/blog/3-13
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Yes, very cool and unexpected from Webflow.
I use GSAP, it’s great. Norm has said it will never be added to Blocs, but doesn’t stop the individual from doing so.
I have a few GSAP brics I started a while back, include Split Pinning. I couldn’t sell them due to licensing. But now I would be able to. The question… do I spend the time finishing them for release is there interest? and do I have the time? 
UPDATE: looks like I still can’t based on the license
Basic example:
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That’s a heptagon 
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Correct… shapes, colours and typos 
It was over a year ago, but I think I had changed the shape, but not the label. 
Was that video suppose to play or did you remove it?
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No GSAP for Blocs?? Been using Blocs since version 3 and feel like it always lacked in scrolling and animation effects and this would have really brought Blocs to the next level and I’m just finding out it will never be added. Such a bummer.
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I deleted it, because it will never be released 
Not a risk I was interested in taking. And I think we have seen how quickly these licenses can change. For now of course you and I can use Pinegrow interactions… for now 
No built in support, especially since it’s now owned by Webflow. As commented on by the developer of Blocs. (Which is understandable).
Ok, that makes sense.
I have been using Blocs since v2. The scrolling and animation effects that are there are enough for us. My experience is that the bigger our clients are, the less they need or want the animation stuff. So from my point of view it’s not an issue. The Interaction Manager brings us more…
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Hi everyone,
I know there’s a lot of enthusiasm around GSAP becoming “100% free” after the Webflow acquisition, and that’s understandable. But I’d like to share a quick clarification that might matter for those working on commercial or no-code tools.
While GSAP is now free for many personal and professional uses, the new license includes specific restrictions that prohibit its use in any tool that:
• enables users to create visual animations without code,
• competes with Webflow’s visual interface in any way,
• or helps others build a competing platform (even indirectly).
This creates a significant grey zone for commercial projects like:
• Visual site builders (e.g. Blocs…),
• Headless CMS frontends with visual editing (e.g. Payload + editor),
• UI design tools or prototyping apps (e.g. Framer, Figma with animation export),
• even open source editors like Webstudio or GrapesJS.
The wording is broad and open to interpretation, and while it’s not enforced retroactively, it does mean that future versions of such tools might fall under license violation risks if they use GSAP.
I’m not trying to raise alarms, just hoping to make sure developers building tools with visual animation features are fully informed before relying on this “free” status.
Here’s the link to the license section where it’s detailed:
https://gsap.com/community/standard-license/
Hope this helps clarify things a bit.
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That was really cool of you to take the time to inform all web developers here. 
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The big wide grey zone is the problem.
Hence I pulled the idea of being able to release those 5 Brics.
Pinegrow’s license for GSAP interactions is still being honoured based on existing terms which is great. But then it’s easy for that to change. I use interactions for a bunch of things like sliders, transitions, the visual tools make it easy.
I suspect this is more Webflow forking off GSAP for themselves and the rest being abandoned.
Hey @PeteSharp,
I completely agree with you, especially about the “GSAP fork” idea. To me, this move by Webflow feels like a strategic split: keep a public-facing version “free” to defuse community backlash, while quietly consolidating control over future development for their own platform. It’s a smart way to silence criticism without appearing hostile, but the implications are clear for anyone watching closely.
That said, I really don’t think you should abandon your Brics project because of this. If anything, moments like this are when independent developers like you become even more essential. These kinds of moves, fuzzy licenses, ecosystem capture, controlled “openness” are only going to increase, especially as AI reshapes the toolchain and big players face mounting financial pressure and debt that will never truly be repaid. Their only strategy left is lock-in.
I try to support indie developers as much as I can, because maintaining a free and open web depends on people like you. And every day, that space shrinks a bit more. Between regulations like GDPR, the AI Act, and the growing trend of governments wanting a stake in how the web works (because it’s now the dominant medium), we’re seeing a kind of slow enclosure of what used to be a shared commons. We, as citizens, are no longer allowed to build freely, at least not without oversight, approval, or constraint (try launching an AI SaaS platform today and see what happens. The regulatory overhead alone is unbearable, even for a solo developer or a small team of two. We’re not talking about building features or improving user experience; we’re talking about pure compliance costs: legal audits, documentation, data processors, GDPR, AI Act, cookie policies, security disclosures… All of it just to protect yourself from the possibility of a fine, not to add any value for your users, not to make the product better. If that’s not a form of systematic control disguised as “protection”, I don’t know what is. And now we’re also expected to verify someone’s legal age before they post a comment on a blog article, because apparently, raising children is now the responsibility of website owners. Make sure they’re at least 13 if you’re in the UK., 15 if you’re in France, and 16 I believe in New Zealand… or else you’re the negligent adult in the room🤪 well, that was quite a long digression…).
That’s exactly why we need resilient, independent tools, built on open standards, and beyond the grasp of platform interests or policy overreach. For animation, I’d suggest looking at Anime.js (for timelines, easings, and DOM/SVG work) and Popmotion (for physics-based interactivity). Both are MIT-licensed, actively maintained, and free of vendor entanglements.
More than ever, I believe it’s up to independent devs to offer a real alternative, and a bit of digital sovereignty, in a world where everything’s getting locked down.
Whatever path you take, your work matters. Please don’t let this stop you from building. You’re part of what keeps the web truly alive.
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Exactly. I am not a fan of devs / companies that intentionally mis-lead or border on lying to their customers or bury things in complex legal talk. To quote the Simpsons, “you don’t win friends with salad”. You aways have to look past the marketing garnish.
I do not see the value in polishing them up for release. If I was going to wade into the grey, I would want a trusted stable platform that had support. Otherwise the risk is not worth it.
I will consider it. The good thing is Pinegrow was designed in a way, that the interactions can be adapted very easily to another library. And I have got use to utilising a visual editor lol. I can do it by hand, but it’s a lot faster when building for clients.
End of the day, we have to adapt to the industry disruptions (while not getting lost in the short term trends). AI is a huge part of it, and the builders adopting this at the core, will be the survivors.
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It appears you need to come up with other reasons “why you can’t” Pete. 
https://gsap.com/community/forums/topic/44531-new-license-2025-and-wordpress-plugin/
I removed my previous posts once I saw the direction of the discussion and wanted to see how the discussion played out.
My personal opinion is people should instead positively and accurately emphasize and credit GSAP for being the best animation framework since AS2 (nearly 20 years ago) and onward to this day.
Literally - Animate Anything. 
- https://gsap.com/
- https://gsap.com/docs/v3/
- https://gsap.com/showcase/
- https://gsap.com/community/
- https://gsap.com/blog/
- https://gsap.com/demos/
- https://gsap.com/cheatsheet
- https://www.youtube.com/@GreenSockLearning
No other animation library has been as comprehensive, managed, supported, recurrently compensating for browser specific bugs and deficiencies, continually updated, etc. No similar library is used as part of so many award winning sites or used to facilitate engaging brand awareness by companies as much as GSAP is. Let me emphasize again the fact that GSAP has always been fully and actively supported and updated since its inception.
Jack the founder is a brilliant compassionate person. So I doubt he sold the nearly two decades worth of work and effort he put into GSAP with the intention of seeing it all get dismantled. Even more so knowing what that would then mean to all the customers whom have depended upon his library all these years as the best animation platform.
Would guess instead that he secured his long term intensions for his library during negotiations to ensure GSAP would remain the best animation library available to the web in every regard, to everyone and beyond what it already is. This has been his passion for nearly 20 years and no one has executed it better.
Can’t imagine much changing, instead GSAP should only get better with Webflow’s funding and support. Most people used the previous free version anyway, so for most that is not new. Except now those people and everyone get full access to all the wonderful and powerful GSAP plugins free, even for commercial use.
I continue to look forward for many more great things to come from GSAP. That’s my take on the matter and I look forward to using GSAP through <script> code </script> indefinitely, its been a great and fun ride since the AS2 version.
Keep Coding ! 
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I am going to stick my head on the line here and give my view !
I do love what you can do using GSAP - some websites are stunning what users have created - Apple use a similar technique and use it well with great visuals and more important they make it flow.
I find 90% of websites using GSAP hard work to navigate, actually get info and see what the product is without a face spinning around or something and lack of information.
This isn’t a GSAP issue - but of course a developer / client wanting to look pretty but forgetting to be informative of the site.
On the showcase section posted above from @Blocs_User - most of the showcase sites I just turned off after 20 seconds of the page either not scrolling as it should of too much going on - maybe im old fashioned!!!
But I would love to see if anyone has done much using it with Blocs!
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^ Oh no, that gave Pete potential for another vague reason. :–)
Any showcase or award site is gonna exhibit things that are considered unparalleled or uncommon. When it comes to showcased motion, sites are gonna be more elaborate compared too many other sites people encounter. Many such sites are portfolio or microsite experiences, where boundaries are being pushed.
- https://www.awwwards.com/
- https://thefwa.com/
- etc., etc.,
People don’t literally need to animate everything, nuanced subtlety and responsibility (prefers-reduced-motion) which GSAP can handle, is certainly important and goes a long way in itself. The same can be said with Blocs existing built-in animation features.
Even Codepen is mostly people pushing features of HTML CSS etc., that will never find their way onto a site. But by doing such exploration people find creative nuanced subtleties or fullblown outcomes for production.
Even without motion the brutal website ‘movement’ could induce the same resistance against common normalcy from users.
https://brutalistwebsites.com/
Know your client, know your target, carry on.
Hi @AdieJAM
Haha yes, that post you mentioned was suspiciously well-crafted. Reads exactly like a Webflow press release: it covers all the strengths of GSAP (which are real!) but carefully avoids every single concern that’s actually being discussed.
Interestingly, there’s an almost word-for-word version of it on the Pinegrow forum, also overflowing with praise for Webflow, and from a user with… no public profile.
Ah, cross-promotion, a timeless classic, right?
That said, it’s worth noting: a good developer can replicate what GSAP does using tools like Anime.js, Popmotion, or even the Web Animations API. GSAP is great, no doubt, but it’s not sacred. It’s important we separate the technical brilliance from the licensing dynamics now shaping its future.
It’s totally fine to love a tool, as long as we keep our eyes open when the ownership and purpose behind it start to change.
@Blep I’ve been a member of the forum and respectively supporting Blocs and Pinegrow for a decade/+.
But for sake of comedy, you’re implying I planted myself here as a cicada (GSAP operative) “lying in wait” hoping for a buyout someday and the library also becoming free, just so I could come out for this very moment in time ?