Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Picknplace.js, an alternative to drag-and-drop

I find that the drag and drop experience can quickly become a nightmare, especially on mobile. To tap, hold, drag, and scroll, all at the same time, is both difficult to achieve, and prone to errors. I've always had in mind this 2-step approach, where picking an element and placing it were two separate steps. So I implemented this basic version to showcase my idea. While it might take more time than a regular drag and drop, the benefit is for people who struggle with holding down the mouse button. With picknplace.js, you only need two clicks and some scrolling. This solution is meant as an…

Picknplace.js is a JavaScript library that replaces drag-and-drop with a two-step interaction model: pick an element, then place it. Designed for users who find traditional drag-and-drop cumbersome, especially on… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

1. 1
   Draggable by Shopify▲602

   The Drag & Drop library your grandparents warned you about.

   2017 · shopify.github.io · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Umbrella JS, a 2.5kb jQuery alternative▲132

   :umbrella: Lightweight javascript library for DOM manipulation and events

   2018 · umbrellajs.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   A cool Drag-and-Drop implementation for Svelte▲141

   An action based drag and drop container for Svelte - isaacHagoel/svelte-dnd-action

   2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Dropflow, a CSS layout engine for node or <canvas>▲404

   For the last 5 years I've been working on a layout engine that targets CSS2 and some more modern properties. Live demo: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;chearon.github.io&#x2F;dropflow&#x2F; It matches browsers in all cases I can find where they agree, and it's fast. It supports `position`, `inline-block`, `z-index`, and complex properties like `float` and `vertical-align`. It doesn't support high-level layout like flexbox or grid yet, but you can get intrinsics to easily divide space yourself and paint multiple layout trees. It has a great text layout implementation, and supporting non-Latin scripts is a…

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Drag-and-drop library for 2D, resizable and responsive lists▲92

   2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   A drag drop webpage builder in 10k HTML/JS/CSS▲69

   Compare the best Texas sports betting sites in 2026. Find top online sportsbooks with bonuses, competitive odds, mobile apps, and secure betting.

   2011 · 10k.aneventapart.com · its alternatives →

7. 7JL
   JS library to make your website instant▲426

   http:&#x2F;&#x2F;instantclick.io&#x2F; It seems the internet architecture won't bring us instant websites anytime soon. So here is a hack. I released this JS library last month (today is version 2.0 release, fixing v1.0's rough edges), it makes use of HTML5's pushState and preloading to make a website instant. It works like this: before clicking on a link, you'll hover over it. And there's a delay of 200-300 ms between these two events. InstantClick uses this delay to preload a page, when you click on a link it will display instantly in most case. (You can test on the website.) That's…

   2014 · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Pivot▲302

   Drag and drop real-time HTML page building

   2015 · mediumra.re · its alternatives →

9. 9
   A React drag-and-drop library▲76

   react wrapper components for smooth-dnd. Contribute to kutlugsahin/react-smooth-dnd development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10WJ
    Wiv.js – A library for a more wiggly div▲265

    2018 · jjkaufman.github.io · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Elementor▲410

    Advanced drag & drop live page builder for WordPress.

    2016 · trk.elementor.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Beaver Builder▲233

    A drag and drop design system for WordPress

    2017 · wpbeaverbuilder.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Anime.js – Polyvalent JavaScript Animation Engine▲283

    A fast, multipurpose and lightweight JavaScript animation library

    2016 · anime-js.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    SurveyJS▲95

    Extensible JS libraries to create forms right in your app

    2024 · surveyjs.io · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Lax.js▲343

    Create beautiful & smooth animations when you scroll

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16BJ
    Bounce.js – A tool for generating CSS3 animations▲172

    2014 · bouncejs.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Walkway.js▲121

    An easy way to animate simple SVG elements

    2014 · connoratherton.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Contentbuilder.js▲126

    Drag & Drop Feature for Content Editing in your Webapp/CMS .

    2014 · innovastudio.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Drag and drop sorting and reordering script for nested structures▲8

    Drag and Drop script for complex nested html structures

    2017 · supraniti.github.io · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Puck 0.18 adds drag-and-drop for CSS grid and Flexbox▲51

    Hey HN! I just released Puck 0.18 with a new drag-and-drop engine for CSS grid and flexbox support. You can now use Puck to create a page builder that behaves like a design tool, but embedded within your own app and using your own React components. To use it, just add `display: flex` (or grid, etc) to your DropZone and Puck will gracefully handle drag-and-drop across all dimensions. Shout out to the dnd-kit maintainer Claudéric for the collaboration and support (if you’re reading this, I just sponsored you on GitHub!) and as always, a huge thanks to my wonderful community for all the testing…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Gappsy▲156

    No code mobile app builder like Bubble with faster drag/drop

    2020 · gappsy.com · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Tiny jQuery alternative with inline Locality of Behavior▲30

    🗿 Mini jQuery alternative. Dependency-free animations. Locality of Behavior. Use one element or arrays transparently. Pairs with htmx. Vanilla querySelector() but better! - gnat/surreal

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Swap.js – a JavaScript micro-framework (HTML fragments over the wire)▲127

    Hi HN! I created this lib in the need of a simple and tiny framework to easily do AJAX-style navigation &#x2F; replacement of fragments in the page, in a web application. For people who don't want to use client-side-rendering and complex frameworks à la React, there are nowadays a few "HTML-over-the-wire" libraries, like HTMX, Unpoly or this super-tiny one Swap.js :) One other key thing is that no external tool is needed: no bundler, no webpack, no TypeScript compiler, no minification needed. Just write HTML, JS (+ your preferred server-side language: PHP, Python, etc.) and it works. The…

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

24. 24VJ
    Velocity.js – Accelerated JavaScript animation▲160

    Velocity.js: An incredibly fast animation engine for motion designers.

    2014 · velocityjs.org · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →