Adobe Express vs Brush Ninja
Adobe Express and Brush Ninja side by side, as of September 2026: what each one costs, what it's made for, and when smooth.video, a free animation tool that runs in your browser with no account, does the job instead.
- Free
- No signup
- No watermark
Adobe Express vs Brush Ninja at a glance
| Adobe Express | Brush Ninja | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month | Free with ads, membership at US$7 a month or US$48 a year | Free, no paid plan |
- Price
- Adobe ExpressFree plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month
- Brush NinjaFree with ads, membership at US$7 a month or US$48 a year
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Adobe Express and Brush Ninja before you decide.
Adobe Express
- Built for
- Every kind of design: social posts, flyers, PDFs, presentations, video
- Motion
- In, Loop and Out presets, with duration, speed and intensity
- Transparent video
- Not supported
- Photoshop files
- PSD and Illustrator files placed linked or converted
- Where your files live
- In Adobe's cloud, 5 GB on the free plan
- Templates and stock
- 100,000+ templates and Adobe Stock
- Generative AI
- Firefly, with monthly credits
When Adobe Express fits better
You need matching flyers, posts and presentations from a huge library of templates and stock, you work with Photoshop and Illustrator files that stay linked, or you want AI to generate images. Animation is a finishing touch.
Adobe Express vs smooth.videoBrush Ninja
- Account
- Only for membership
- How you animate
- Frame-by-frame drawing, with onion skin
- Layers
- None
- Video with sound
- WebM, for members
- Formats
- GIF, image sequence, and WebM for members
- Lesson plans for teachers
- Yes
When Brush Ninja fits better
You want to draw every frame, like a flipbook, in a tool made for children and classrooms, with stickers, sound effects and lesson plans ready to go.
Brush Ninja vs smooth.videoWhen smooth.video fits better
The animation is the deliverable: an intro, a lower third, an animated stat, a Reel. You want to decide exactly where each element is at each moment, and a transparent export to put over video.
The animation is made of things that move: a title, a photo, a logo, a sticker, a chart. You want sound in the video, more than one layer, and no ads, without a membership.
Open the editor- Free, full stop
- No plan, no trial, no credits, no export limit.
- No account
- Open the page and the editor is already there.
- Nothing is uploaded
- Your files are read and rendered by your own browser.
- No watermark
- Every export is clean, at any size, 4K included.
Start from a template
See all 203 templatesOpen one, change the words, export. Every element stays editable.
Questions
Can I bring my Adobe Express designs in?
Yes, as images: download your design or its parts as PNG, add them to a scene and animate them in smooth.video.
Can I animate a Photoshop file?
Yes. Drop the PSD into the editor and each layer becomes its own element, in place, ready to animate.
Is there a watermark?
No. Every export is free and clean, transparent WebM included.
Can I draw in smooth.video?
Yes, with a simple brush: the drawing becomes an image you can move, scale, rotate and fade on the timeline. It isn't made for drawing each frame.
Can I add sound?
Yes. Add an audio file and it's included in the MP4 or WebM. A GIF can't carry sound.
Are there ads?
No, and there's nothing to join.
Or skip the decision.
smooth.video is free, opens in a tab and exports without a watermark. Try it while you compare.
Open the editor- Free
- No signup
- No watermark