As digital experiences scale across platforms and audiences, the need for performant and versatile animation formats has never been more urgent.

If your team is already working with ThorVG or managing complex motion assets across multiple platforms, it's time to take a serious look at dotLottie. Or if you’re just curious about how you can maximize animation performance here’s what you need to know and consider.

What is dotLottie (.lottie) & why does it matter to enterprises and teams?

dotLottie is a superset of Lottie, engineered for modern commercial use. It wraps multiple animations, assets, themes, and interactive states into a single, compressed dotLottie file. Think of it as Lottie with version control, asset bundling, theming, state machines, and cross-platform predictability—built-in.

This is not just an upgrade; it’s an architectural evolution for how enterprise-grade animations are built, delivered, and scaled.

Why switch from .json Lottie to dotLottie?

Traditional .json-based Lottie animations are great for lightweight use, but as your platform evolves, the cracks start to show. Here are some challenges commonly faced and how dotLottie can help.

Challenge dotLottie's Solution
Bloated bundles from repeated JSON patterns One dotLottie file supports all themes dynamically
Multiple themes = multiple files ThorVG-powered dotLottie players guarantee parity
Tedious asset management Images, fonts, and metadata bundled neatly
Limited interactivity Native support for state machines and user-triggered events

How can dotLottie reduce the animation bundle size?

The dotLottie format reduces animation bundle sizes by being super-efficient in how it stores animation data. Here’s how it works, step-by-step:

1. Compression magic

  • dotLottie files use gzip compression, which means they’re essentially zipped-up versions of the animation files.
  • This compression can shrink file sizes significantly—sometimes up to 80% smaller than the original Lottie (.json) files.
  • Think of it as taking a packed suitcase and using a vacuum to compress the clothes inside, making it much smaller!

2. Bundling all assets

  • dotLottie files pack all assets (like images, fonts, and metadata) into a single, zipped file.
  • In a typical Lottie setup, images and fonts are stored separately, which increases overall size and can slow things down. dotLottie keeps everything in one bundle, so there’s no need to fetch extra files from different sources, making it faster to load and play.

3. Storing multiple animations in one file

  • Unlike standard Lottie files, which can only hold one animation per file, dotLottie can store multiple animations within a single file.
  • By keeping everything in one place, it avoids the overhead of separate files and can share assets among animations, further reducing size.
  • You can also store multiple theming and interactivity for each animation in the dotlottie file as well.

4. Optimized file structure

  • dotLottie organizes and packages animation data more efficiently, using a binary structure instead of plain text. This makes the files much more compact.
  • Since binary data is naturally smaller than text-based JSON, it further reduces file sizes while retaining all the details.

So, dotLottie reduces animation bundle sizes by compressing, streamlining repetition, bundling assets, packing multiple animations, and using a more compact file structure. In short, it’s all about squeezing out the extra “fluff” to make animations leaner, faster, and smoother!

Here’s also a quick comparison between the two formats:

Built for teams shipping to millions

dotLottie isn’t just technically superior—it’s built for scale. Enterprises operating at global scale—across apps, websites, and embedded experiences—need more than pretty visuals. They need:

  • Performance: dotLottie files load faster, compress better, and consume less bandwidth.
  • Consistency: Whether you’re rendering on Android, iOS, or web, the output looks identical.
  • Interactivity: Built-in state machines enable animations to react to user actions or programmatic triggers—no extra frameworks needed.
  • Theming at Runtime: Run a single file that adapts based on user preferences like dark mode or locale-based variants.

Powered by ThorVG, trusted by the best

dotLottie players are powered by ThorVG, a high-performance vector graphics engine written in C++ and compiled to WebAssembly (WASM). This gives enterprises:

  • Frame-accurate rendering across platforms.
  • Native-like performance on the web
  • Reliability even for high-frequency usage in design systems, onboarding, and product UI.

If you're already using ThorVG, dotLottie is a natural fit. You gain the full fidelity of your existing animations with added structure, portability, and scalability. Its animation deployment is enterprise-ready.

Future-proof your motion pipeline

dotLottie is open-source, actively maintained by LottieFiles, and community-enhanced. New features—like a lightweight JavaScript-only player, modular rendering engines, and no-code state machine support—are already in development.

You can read how enterprises and teams are using dotLottie.

So, why dotLottie for Enterprise?

Overall dotLottie:

  • Compresses and bundles everything into a single, manageable file.
  • Guarantees consistent playback across web, iOS, and Android.
  • Supports interactivity, theming, and multiple animations in one file.
  • Built on open standards, backed by a global community.

If you’re building for millions of users, on multiple platforms, with performance, consistency, and control at the core—dotLottie is the format built for you.

Want to know more? Here’s are other dotLottie resources you can check out:

You can also explore our Enterprise and Teams plans to get started.