Adobe Express vs Rive
Adobe Express and Rive 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 Rive at a glance
| Adobe Express | Rive | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month | Free plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearly | Free, no paid plan |
- Price
- Adobe ExpressFree plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month
- RiveFree plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearly
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Adobe Express and Rive 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.videoRive
- Exports on the free plan
- None
- Account
- Required
- Output
- .riv files for runtimes, plus video and images
- Interactivity and state machines
- Yes
- Runtimes for apps, websites and games
- Yes
- Rigging, meshes, real-time collaboration
- Yes
When Rive fits better
The animation lives in a product and reacts to people: a button that responds to hover, a character that follows the cursor, a loading state driven by your app's data. That takes a runtime, and smooth.video doesn't have one.
Rive 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 ends up in a video, a post, an email or a slide, and plays the same way every time: a logo reveal, a product teaser, an animated stat, a GIF.
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 export Lottie or .riv files?
No. It exports video (MP4 and WebM), GIF and images.
Can I put a smooth.video animation on a website?
Yes, as a video or a GIF. It plays the same way for everyone, without reacting to the cursor or to clicks.
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