Can I open After Effects or Premiere Pro projects?

No. smooth.video opens its own .smooth projects, and imports images, video, audio and layered PSD files.

Can I use the exports in Premiere Pro or After Effects?

Yes, as regular video files. MP4 imports everywhere; for transparency, export a WebM and check that your version reads it.

Yes. It runs in your browser with no server doing the work, so there's no subscription and no watermark.

Does smooth.video have characters?

No. It animates text, images, video, shapes and drawings. To animate a character, bring it in as an image, or as a layered PSD to move its parts separately.

Can I add a voiceover?

Yes, recorded elsewhere: add the audio file to the scene and line it up with the animation on the timeline.

Is there a limit on exports?

No. Export as many times as you want, at any size.

After Effects vs Animaker

After Effects and Animaker 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.

Open the editorFree, no signup, nothing to install

After Effects vs Animaker at a glance

	After Effects	Animaker	smooth.video
Price	From US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial	Free plan, 1080p from the Starter plan at US$19 a month billed yearly	Free, no paid plan
Account	Adobe account required	Required	Not needed

As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of After Effects and Animaker before you decide.

After Effects

Install: Desktop app
How you animate: Keyframes, graph editor, effects and expressions across compositions
Transparent video: Yes
3D, visual effects, tracking: Yes
Plugins and scripting: Yes

When After Effects fits better

You need 3D, particles, motion tracking, rotoscoping, compositing over footage, expressions or plugins, or you hand project files to a studio that works in After Effects. smooth.video does none of that.

After Effects vs smooth.video

Animaker

Watermark: On free plan exports
Export resolution: 1080p on Starter, 2K on Pro, 4K on Enterprise
Exports: Counted each month: 10 on Starter, 30 on Pro
Where your files live: In your Animaker account
Characters and lip-synced voiceover: Yes
AI video from a prompt: Yes

When Animaker fits better

Your video tells a story with characters that walk, talk and react to a voiceover, or you want an AI to draft the whole video from a prompt. smooth.video has no characters and no voiceover.

Animaker vs smooth.video

When smooth.video fits better

You need a title, a lower third, a logo sting or an animated stat for this week's video, you don't open After Effects every day, and a monthly subscription for a few seconds of animation doesn't add up.

Your video is made of text, logos, photos, shapes and numbers, you'd rather not count exports, and you want 4K or a transparent overlay without paying for a plan.

Open the editor

Start from a template

See all 172 templates

Logo reveal

1080×1080

A name that pops into place

Lower third

1920×1080

Name and title, on cue

Bold statement

1080×1920

Three lines, one point

Product drop

1080×1350

An announcement that lands

Count-up stat

1080×1080

A number that climbs

Quote card

1200×630

A line worth sharing

Questions

Can I open After Effects or Premiere Pro projects?: No. smooth.video opens its own .smooth projects, and imports images, video, audio and layered PSD files.
Can I use the exports in Premiere Pro or After Effects?: Yes, as regular video files. MP4 imports everywhere; for transparency, export a WebM and check that your version reads it.
Is it really free?: Yes. It runs in your browser with no server doing the work, so there's no subscription and no watermark.
Does smooth.video have characters?: No. It animates text, images, video, shapes and drawings. To animate a character, bring it in as an image, or as a layered PSD to move its parts separately.
Can I add a voiceover?: Yes, recorded elsewhere: add the audio file to the scene and line it up with the animation on the timeline.
Is there a limit on exports?: No. Export as many times as you want, at any size.