A free alternative to Animaker
Animaker is built around animated videos with characters: a character builder, preset actions, voiceover with lip sync and an AI video generator. Its free plan adds a watermark, and paid plans count your exports each month. If you need motion graphics rather than characters, like titles, logos, charts or social posts, smooth.video makes them for free and exports as often as you want.
smooth.video vs Animaker
| smooth.video | Animaker | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no paid plan | Free plan, 1080p from the Starter plan at US$19 a month billed yearly |
| Account | Not needed | Required |
| Watermark | Never | On free plan exports |
| Export resolution | Any size, 4K included | 1080p on Starter, 2K on Pro, 4K on Enterprise |
| Exports | As many as you like | Counted each month: 10 on Starter, 30 on Pro |
| Where your files live | On your computer | In your Animaker account |
| Characters and lip-synced voiceover | No | Yes |
| AI video from a prompt | No | Yes |
Animaker as of September 2026. Plans change, so check theirs before you decide.
How it works
- 1
Open smooth.video. No account, nothing to install.
- 2
Start from a template or an empty canvas, add text, images, shapes and audio, and animate them on the timeline.
- 3
Export an MP4, a GIF or a transparent WebM, as many times as you like.
Start from a template
See all 164 templatesWhen smooth.video fits better
Your video is made of text, logos, photos, shapes and numbers, you'd rather not count exports, and you want 4K or a transparent overlay without paying for a plan.
When Animaker fits better
Your video tells a story with characters that walk, talk and react to a voiceover, or you want an AI to draft the whole video from a prompt. smooth.video has no characters and no voiceover.
Questions
- Does smooth.video have characters?
- No. It animates text, images, video, shapes and drawings. To animate a character, bring it in as an image, or as a layered PSD to move its parts separately.
- Can I add a voiceover?
- Yes, recorded elsewhere: add the audio file to the scene and line it up with the animation on the timeline.
- Is there a limit on exports?
- No. Export as many times as you want, at any size.