After Effects vs Motionity
After Effects and Motionity 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 Motionity at a glance
| After Effects | Motionity | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial | Free | Free, no paid plan |
| Account | Adobe account required | Not needed | Not needed |
- Price
- After EffectsFrom US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial
- MotionityFree
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
- Account
- After EffectsAdobe account required
- MotionityNot needed
- smooth.videoNot needed
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of After Effects and Motionity 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.videoMotionity
- Where your projects live
- In your browser, and as JSON files
- Updates
- No changes since September 2022
- Video export
- WebM
- Templates
- No
- Open source
- Yes, MIT license
- Lottie layers, chroma key, stock image search
- Yes
When Motionity fits better
You want to read, change or host the code yourself under an MIT license, or you need Lottie files as layers, chroma key or a built-in stock image search. smooth.video has none of those.
Motionity 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.
You liked the idea of Motionity, a free motion design tool in the browser with no account, and want one that's still updated, exports MP4 and transparent WebM, and has templates to start from.
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 open Motionity projects?
No. smooth.video opens its own .smooth files: bring your images, videos and audio over and rebuild the animation.
Where are my projects stored?
The project you're working on is autosaved in your browser, as with Motionity. Save it as a .smooth file to keep it before starting another, or to open it on another computer.
Can I export MP4?
Yes, as well as WebM with transparency, GIF, PNG, JPG and WebP.
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