WP Plugin Animate It
Review

Animate It!

Animate It! is a WordPress plugin developed by eLEOPARD Design Studios, that was released on 2014-09-12. With over 30 000+ active installations it has established itself as a useful tool for adding dynamic CSS3 animations to posts, widgets and pages. What makes Animate It special is the wide range of animations it offers - over 50 entrance and exit effects as well as attention-seeking animations are available. This makes it easy to increase the visual appeal of websites. The ability to trigger animations on scroll, click or hover and the customizable control of duration and delay also offer high flexibility. The main target audience consists of WordPress users who want to visually enhance their content with attractive animations. The plugin is listed in the official WordPress Plugin Directory with a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars from 127 reviews. The following section takes a closer look at the plugin's specific features.

"This plugin integrates great animations and is easy to use. Top!"

Features - Diverse animation options and controls

The plugin "Animate It!" offers an impressive variety of features that set it apart from other animation plugins. In addition to the already mentioned over 50 different entrance and exit animations as well as attention-grabbing animations, the plugin also allows detailed control of animation duration and delay. Another prominent feature is support for custom CSS classes, which allows users to tailor animations individually and thus create even more diverse design possibilities. This brings a higher degree of flexibility to application development.

"This plugin is exactly what I was looking for - simple, lightweight and with many useful options."

Free Features - Comprehensive tools for free use

• Apply CSS3 animations to posts, widgets and pages - Apply animations to different content.
• 50+ entrance and exit and attention-grabbing animations - Various animation options for creative designs.
• Apply animations on scroll - Enables animations triggered by scrolling.
• Different scroll offsets for individual animation blocks - Control the start position of animations.
• Apply animations on click and hover - Interactive animations triggered by user actions.
• Delay and control functions for animation duration - Create engaging animation sequences.
• Editor button for creating animation blocks - Easily insert animations into posts.
• Apply animations to WordPress widgets - Use the Class Generator to create custom animations.
• Completely disable animations on mobile devices - Improve the mobile user experience.
• Support for Spanish and German - Multilingual support.
• Compatibility with Gutenberg blocks - Integration of animations into other block types.

License - Free use with extensive functionality

The "Animate It!" plugin is free to use, making it a financially attractive solution for many WordPress users. Despite being free, it is generally rated as very valuable by users, especially compared to some paid alternatives. This appreciation is also reflected in the many positive reviews that praise not only the functionality but also the support. Even though there is no Pro version, the free version offers an impressive amount of functionality that covers many requirements.

"This plugin is easy to use, lightweight and offers many useful options."

Technical Details - Insights for developers

When developing the "Animate It!" plugin, care was taken to integrate technical tools that are important for both developers and technically proficient users. This includes support for shortcodes, hooks and an API that allow animations to be implemented flexibly. In addition, the so-called Class Generator provides a way to efficiently create the required animation classes. This feature makes it easier for developers to manage custom animations by integrating them directly into the site's existing storage structure. Despite the many features, the advantage of the plugin lies particularly in its lean design, which keeps the code footprint minimal and thus does not unnecessarily increase page load times.

System Requirements - Compatibility overview

To successfully use the "Animate It!" plugin, it requires at least PHP version 7.4 or higher. The minimum required WordPress version is 4.7.0 or higher, ensuring that older installations can also benefit from the animation features. The plugin has been extensively tested up to WordPress version 6.8.5, providing a high degree of reliability and stability. Since the last update in 2025-11, which carries plugin version number 2.7, no significant changes to the system requirements have been made, which indicates ongoing maintenance and development.

"The plugin impresses with its versatility and runs smoothly even on older WordPress versions."

Quality - Reliability and flexibility in use

The WordPress plugin "Animate It!" impresses with its high quality, which is especially evident in the reliability and flexibility of its animation features. The ability to precisely control animation duration and delay gives animated elements a balanced blend of prominence and usability. Users appreciate the resource-efficient design of the plugin, which ensures that site performance is hardly affected even with complex animations. Another quality aspect is the support for custom CSS classes, which increases flexibility when customizing animations. Taken together, this helps users have a high-quality experience without page load times suffering. Despite occasional confusion about the distinction between free and Pro features, the plugin overall offers a reliable and flexible solution for animation needs.

"Great plugin! It creates beautiful animations without slowing the site down!"

Support - Fast help and useful community assistance

Support for the "Animate It!" plugin is highly appreciated by users, especially for its quick response times and helpful assistance. Although the plugin description does not mention specific contact options or response times, many users report positive experiences with the development team. The official support area in the WordPress Plugin Directory provides a platform for user questions and problem solving. Additionally, some users describe direct support from the developer as helpful.

"I had an issue with animations restarting after the page fully loaded. The author put a lot of effort into finding a solution. Now everything is fine."

Rating - High user satisfaction

The WordPress plugin "Animate It!" is very popular and has an impressive average rating of 4.9 from a total of 127 reviews. Users particularly praise the ease of use and the variety of animations offered. Many reviews highlight the straightforward use and the high-quality animations.

A commonly mentioned positive aspect is the time savings the plugin provides compared to manual animation. Users also appreciate the friendly and helpful developer support. The solid functionality and customization options of the plugin are regularly mentioned in reviews.

"This plugin offers great animations and is easy to use. Top!"

Despite the general satisfaction, there are also negative voices. Some users report occasional complications integrating with certain themes and the lack of advanced features that might be expected in a paid version. Another less positive feedback concerns the learning curve on first use, mostly caused by previous ambiguity in implementing the shortcodes.

"At first I was confused by the shortcodes, but the developer showed patience and helped me."

Overall, however, the positives strongly outweigh the negatives, and many users are very satisfied with the performance and the easy customization options.

"This is a really nice plugin, well documented and easy to use! The time saved compared to hand-coding these animations is amazing."

Criticism - User issues and potential improvements

The "Animate It!" plugin, while praised for its positive attributes, has also received criticism related to certain usability aspects and missing features. A frequently expressed criticism is the lack of clarity in distinguishing between basic and Pro features, which has caused confusion for some users. Furthermore, compatibility issues with the Gutenberg block editor are a major criticism, as the plugin appears to be primarily optimized for the classic editor. Users report difficulties integrating animations into the newer editor, which can limit the plugin's use.

Security concerns or specific vulnerabilities were not explicitly mentioned in the available information, suggesting this has not been a dominant issue among users so far. Nevertheless, more detailed documentation and increased transparency regarding potential security aspects of the plugin could help further strengthen confidence in its safe use.

Improvement suggestions include expanding compatibility with the block editor and clearer labeling of functionalities to avoid unwanted surprises. A more robust integration with the latest WordPress features and themes like Astra and Kadence could also be beneficial to gain broader acceptance.

"Some features are not clearly labeled as belonging to the free version or the Pro version; therefore I uninstalled it."

Conclusion - Versatility with Room for Improvement

The WordPress plugin "Animate It!" from eLEOPARD Design Studios offers an impressive variety of animation options and proves to be a valuable tool for users looking to visually enhance their websites. Notable are the flexibility and the many control options the plugin provides. Especially the support for custom CSS classes and the ability to trigger animations through various user actions set it apart from other plugins. Despite the free model, "Animate It!" offers surprising functionality that is popular with many users, even though there is occasional confusion about availability of certain features.

There is room for improvement in optimized support for the Gutenberg block editor and clearer communication of available features. Positive reviews and excellent support from the development team contribute to the plugin's popularity, which is reflected in the high user satisfaction. Overall, "Animate It!" is a suitable choice for users who want powerful and flexible animations integrated into their WordPress websites.