After Effects vs SVGator
After Effects and SVGator 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 SVGator at a glance
| After Effects | SVGator | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial | Free plan, then Starter at US$20 and Pro at US$24 a month, billed yearly | Free, no paid plan |
| Account | Adobe account required | Required | Not needed |
| Transparent video | Yes | MOV or WebM, on Pro | Free, as WebM |
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of After Effects and SVGator before you decide.
After Effects
- Install
- Desktop app
- How you animate
- Keyframes, graph editor, effects and expressions across compositions
- 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.videoSVGator
- Watermark
- On animated exports on the free plan
- Video and GIF export
- Pro plan
- Video and audio in the scene
- No
- Animated SVG, Lottie, React Native, Flutter
- Yes, from Starter
- Interactive animations
- Yes, from Starter
When SVGator fits better
The animation goes on a website or in an app as code: a lightweight animated SVG, an icon that reacts to hover, a Lottie file or a Flutter widget. smooth.video only exports video, GIF and images.
SVGator 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 animation goes into a video, a social post, an email or a slide, uses photos, footage or music next to shapes, and you want the file without paying for a plan.
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 smooth.video export animated SVG?
- No. It exports MP4, WebM, GIF, PNG, JPG and WebP.
- Can an AI assistant make the animation?
- Yes. The .smooth format is published at smooth.video/llms.txt: give it to an assistant, describe what you want, and open the file it writes.
- Is there a watermark?
- No, on any format.