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Has anyone used both this and raphaeljs? How do the two compare on features, browser compatibility, performance, etc?

I haven't used Paper.js, but I've used Raphaël and the main differences I see right now is that Paper uses Canvas, while Raphaël simulates/uses SVG. As a result, Paper should be more practical for making dynamic content that uses user input or is "very dynamic".

Raphaël on the other hand, provides a simple system for making relatively "static" vector images with very good support for a lot of browsers (IE6 support, even). If you need user input, I think I would've tested out Paper and most likely ended up with that.

So basically: Raphaël for vector images that may be scaled and simple, dynamic images. Paper for animations and e.g. games.

Paper.js admits to not supporting IE < 8 (bottom of http://paperjs.org/about/). Other browser support is not even listed. I guess this means that it's not usable for most serious end-user apps now.

I'd say that not supporting browsers below IE8 (or even IE8 itself) is reasonable for many projects. I just looked at the stats for a few of our sites and total IE browser share is around 4–7% on them.

If you have a similar situation on your site/application, I think it's perfectly reasonable not to support anything other than modern browsers, but you have to look at your own stats.

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