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.
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 |
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 does none of that.
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 editorStart from a template
See all 172 templatesQuestions
- 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.