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.
- Free
- No signup
- No watermark
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 |
- Price
- After EffectsFrom US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial
- AnimakerFree plan, 1080p from the Starter plan at US$19 a month billed yearly
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
- Account
- After EffectsAdobe account required
- AnimakerRequired
- smooth.videoNot 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 is 2D only, with no particles, tracking or scripting.
After Effects vs smooth.videoAnimaker
- 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.videoWhen 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- 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 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.
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