After Effects vs Imgflip
After Effects and Imgflip 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 Imgflip at a glance
| After Effects | Imgflip | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial | Free, or Pro at US$11.95 a month billed yearly | Free, no paid plan |
- Price
- After EffectsFrom US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial
- ImgflipFree, or Pro at US$11.95 a month billed yearly
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of After Effects and Imgflip before you decide.
After Effects
- Install
- Desktop app
- Account
- Adobe account required
- 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.videoImgflip
- Watermark
- imgflip.com on free GIFs, removed with Pro
- GIF size
- Up to 360×360 from a video and 500×500 from images, on the free plan
- Text and images
- 1 text and 1 image per GIF on the free plan
- Motion
- Text and images moved at points in time
- Where your files go
- Hosted on imgflip.com, public unless marked private
- Meme templates, YouTube links
- Yes
When Imgflip fits better
You're making a meme: a classic template or a clip from a YouTube video with a caption, posted to Imgflip's community in a minute. smooth.video has no meme library and doesn't read links.
Imgflip 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.
The GIF isn't a meme: a product announcement, an animated banner, a sticker for a newsletter. It needs to be bigger than 500 pixels, carry more than one line of text, and come out clean.
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.
Can I make memes?
You can put a caption over any image or video you add, but there's no library of meme templates: bring your own picture.
Can my GIF have sound?
No, a GIF file can't hold sound. For an animation with music, export an MP4: the audio you added is included.
Is there a limit on text or images?
No. Add as many texts, images and shapes as the animation needs.
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