turn.js alternatives

turn.js, StPageFlip, and zinejs compared

turn.js and StPageFlip are smaller because they ship only the flip effect. zinejs is larger because the reader controls, zoom, and PDF handling are part of the package, and the toolbar chunk loads only when controls are on.

The turn.js license

The turnjs.com homepage says the project is released under the BSD license. The license.txt in the GitHub repository adds a clause that limits use to personal benefit, "not for any commercial purpose or for monetary gain". The turn.js 4 files point to a separate commercial license agreement, and the site publishes no price for it.

The npm package named turn.js is a 2017 repackage by a third party, so its MIT label does not come from the author. For commercial work, the only safe route is a written license from the author, and that is hard to obtain for a project with no visible activity.

Maintenance

The last code commit on GitHub is dated 4 May 2013, and 391 issues and pull requests are open. Breakage with jQuery 3 was reported in 2016 (#562, #569), and the fix in pull request #590 has been open since March 2017. A July 2025 report (#692) says the flipbook does not work in Windows desktop browsers. The HTTPS certificate on turnjs.com had expired when we checked in October 2026.

When turn.js is still the right choice

turn.js flips any HTML element, so pages can hold forms, links, and video. It also runs in very old browsers, including IE8 through a separate html4 build. A non-commercial jQuery site where turn.js already works has little reason to move, and the plugin still has more tutorials and Stack Overflow answers than any newer library.

StPageFlip: the free replacement

StPageFlip is a dependency-free TypeScript library under the MIT license. It flips HTML elements or images, switches between one and two pages by orientation, and is the most downloaded page-flip package on npm at about 138,000 installs a week. The React wrapper, react-pageflip, adds another 87,000.

However, StPageFlip has had no release since April 2021. It has no right-to-left mode, no zoom, no PDF support, and the npm package ships no TypeScript declarations. The StPageFlip comparison covers these gaps in detail.

zinejs: the replacement for PDF and image books

zinejs renders PDFs through @zinejs/pdf, which wraps pdf.js, and image books through ImageSource. It ships an optional toolbar with search, thumbnails, outline, print, download, share, and fullscreen, plus pinch and wheel zoom, right-to-left reading, and shareable page links. Page turns use a WebGL2 curl and fall back to CSS when WebGL2 is not available. The book is keyboard operable and announces page changes to screen readers.

zinejs has real limits as a turn.js replacement. It renders images and PDF pages only, so HTML pages with live forms or video do not carry over. Commercial use needs a $20 license per site. It also reached 1.0.0 in September 2026, so its user base is small next to turn.js or StPageFlip.

Migrating from turn.js

turn.js reads its pages from the children of the container:

$('#flipbook').turn({ width: 800, height: 600 })

zinejs takes a source instead of child elements:

import { Zine, ImageSource } from '@zinejs/core'

const book = new Zine(document.getElementById('flipbook'), {
  source: new ImageSource(['/pages/1.jpg', '/pages/2.jpg']),
})

book.flipNext() // turn.js: $('#flipbook').turn('next')

HTML pages have to be exported to images or a single PDF first. That export is the main migration cost; the rest maps closely, with flipNext(), flipPrev(), and flipTo(page) in place of the turn() commands. See getting started for install steps.

WordPress sites

On WordPress, a plugin with an admin screen saves the integration work entirely. The free DearFlip plugin has over 200,000 active installs and a 98/100 rating on wordpress.org. zinejs has no WordPress plugin yet; the DearFlip comparison covers when the library route still makes sense.

Which to pick

• HTML pages, free commercial use: StPageFlip, accepting that it is unmaintained.
• PDF or image books with reader controls, RTL, or keyboard access: zinejs.
• WordPress without code: DearFlip.

turn.js is a poor base for new work: the license blocks commercial use without a separate deal, and the code has not moved since 2013.

Questions

Related comparisons

• StPageFlip vs zinejs
• DearFlip vs zinejs

Sources

• turn.js repository and license.txt (GitHub)
• turn.js licensing history, issue #548
• turn.js jQuery 3 pull request #590
• turn.js on npm (third-party repackage)
• StPageFlip repository
• page-flip on npm
• 3D FlipBook: DearFlip Lite on wordpress.org