q5

What is q5?

q5.js WebGPU is the fastest, most beginner friendly 2D graphics library on the web!

It was designed to make creative coding fun and accessible for educators, designers, artists, and beginners.

Eliminates the need for preload and setup functions.

q5 works with popular addons.

p5.sound adds audio generation, signal analysis, and advanced mixing capabilities. See p5.sound demos.

q5play adds high quality Box2D physics simulation, better input handling, a camera, and animations.

ml5.js adds AI capabilities like hand tracking, face detection, and body pose estimation. See ml5 demos.

No installation required! Use the new q5 Web Editor.

Share your creations on the q5 community Discord.

You can use q5 offline or always get the latest version from this link:

https://q5js.org/q5.js

q5 is 100% free and open source.

If you enjoy using q5, please support the project via Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors.

Tons of modern features in a small bundle.

Does it include?	q5 v4	p5 v2
built-in video recorder	✅	❌ requires p5.capture addon which is outdated and slow
built-in display modes	✅	❌ requires custom CSS styling
built-in sound playback	✅	⚠️ requires p5.sound addon (200kb minified)
HiDPI scaling by default	✅	❌ images are not auto-scaled to display at native res
HDR colors by default	✅	❌ must be set explicitly
fast SDF shape rendering	✅	❌ slow triangle mesh rasterization
fast MSDF text rendering	✅	❌ slow triangle mesh rasterization
HTML creation	✅	⚠️ outdated API doesn't use getter/setters
async/await loading	✅	✅
easy parallel loading	✅	❌ preload system removed from p5.js v2
legacy support	✅	⚠️ can't run p5 v1 sketches without compatibility addon
file size	200kb	4400kb 1000kb minified