Adobe Express vs LottieFiles
Adobe Express and LottieFiles 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 LottieFiles at a glance
| Adobe Express | LottieFiles | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month | Free plan, then paid plans billed yearly | Free, no paid plan |
| Where your files live | In Adobe's cloud, 5 GB on the free plan | In your LottieFiles workspace | On your computer |
- Price
- Adobe ExpressFree plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month
- LottieFilesFree plan, then paid plans billed yearly
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
- Where your files live
- Adobe ExpressIn Adobe's cloud, 5 GB on the free plan
- LottieFilesIn your LottieFiles workspace
- smooth.videoOn your computer
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Adobe Express and LottieFiles 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
- 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.videoLottieFiles
- Output
- Lottie and dotLottie, plus MP4, WebM, MOV and GIF
- Video and audio in the scene
- No
- Interactive state machines
- Yes
- Lottie players for apps and websites
- Yes
- After Effects and Figma plugins
- Yes
When LottieFiles fits better
The animation ships inside an app or a website and should stay tiny, sharp at any size, recolorable with themes, or interactive. That's what Lottie is for, and smooth.video doesn't export it.
LottieFiles 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 goes in a video, a social post, an email or a presentation rather than in an app: a logo reveal, a Reel, an animated banner, a lower third. You want a video file, maybe with photos or footage in it.
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 smooth.video open or export Lottie files?
Neither. It imports images, video, audio and layered PSD files, and exports video, GIF and images.
Can I use photos and video in my animation?
Yes. Add images, video clips and audio to the scene next to your text and shapes.
Do I need an account?
No, and there's no workspace either. Your current project is autosaved in your browser; save it as a .smooth file on your computer to keep it.
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