After Effects vs FlipaClip

After Effects and FlipaClip 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.

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After Effects vs FlipaClip at a glance

After EffectsFlipaClipsmooth.video
PriceFrom US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trialFree with ads, FlipaClip Plus to remove themFree, no paid plan
AccountAdobe account requiredNot neededNot needed
How you animateKeyframes, graph editor, effects and expressions across compositionsFrame by frame: draw every frame, with onion skinPresets and keyframes on one timeline

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

After Effects

Install
Desktop app
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

FlipaClip

Watermark
On the free version
Platform
iPhone, iPad, Android, Chromebook and Apple silicon Macs
Drawing
Brushes, layers and stylus support
Export size
Up to 1920×1920 with Plus
Transparent export
GIF and PNG sequence

When FlipaClip fits better

You want to draw: a character that walks, a flipbook, a rotoscoped clip, frame after frame with a stylus and onion skin. smooth.video has no frame-by-frame drawing.

FlipaClip 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.

You're on a computer, and your animation is things that move rather than drawings that change: a title, a logo, a sticker, a photo, a character cut into pieces that slide and turn.

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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.
Is there a FlipaClip for PC?
FlipaClip is made for phones, tablets, Chromebooks and Apple silicon Macs, with no official web or Windows version. smooth.video runs in a recent browser, on Windows too.
Can I draw in smooth.video?
Yes, with a simple brush: the drawing becomes an image you can move, scale, rotate and fade. You can't draw a different picture on every frame.
Is there a watermark?
No, and there are no ads.