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.

Yes. It runs in your browser with no server doing the work, so there's no subscription and no watermark.

Can smooth.video export Lottie or .riv files?

No. It exports video (MP4 and WebM), GIF and images.

Can I put a smooth.video animation on a website?

Yes, as a video or a GIF. It plays the same way for everyone, without reacting to the cursor or to clicks.

After Effects vs Rive

After Effects and Rive 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.

Open the editorFree, no signup, nothing to install

After Effects vs Rive at a glance

	After Effects	Rive	smooth.video
Price	From US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial	Free plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearly	Free, no paid plan
Account	Adobe account required	Required	Not needed

As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of After Effects and Rive 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 does none of that.

After Effects vs smooth.video

Rive

Exports on the free plan: None
Output: .riv files for runtimes, plus video and images
Interactivity and state machines: Yes
Runtimes for apps, websites and games: Yes
Rigging, meshes, real-time collaboration: Yes

When Rive fits better

The animation lives in a product and reacts to people: a button that responds to hover, a character that follows the cursor, a loading state driven by your app's data. That takes a runtime, and smooth.video doesn't have one.

Rive 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.

The animation ends up in a video, a post, an email or a slide, and plays the same way every time: a logo reveal, a product teaser, an animated stat, a GIF.

Open the editor

Start from a template

See all 172 templates

Logo reveal

1080×1080

A name that pops into place

Lower third

1920×1080

Name and title, on cue

Bold statement

1080×1920

Three lines, one point

Product drop

1080×1350

An announcement that lands

Count-up stat

1080×1080

A number that climbs

Quote card

1200×630

A line worth sharing

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 smooth.video export Lottie or .riv files?: No. It exports video (MP4 and WebM), GIF and images.
Can I put a smooth.video animation on a website?: Yes, as a video or a GIF. It plays the same way for everyone, without reacting to the cursor or to clicks.
Is there a watermark?: No, on any format.