A Brush Ninja alternative without drawing every frame

Brush Ninja is a friendly, child-safe browser tool for drawing animated GIFs frame by frame, with onion skin, stickers, sound effects and lesson plans for teachers. It's free with ads, and a membership removes them and unlocks video with sound. smooth.video is free with no ads and no membership, and animates a different way: you place text, images and shapes, and move them at points in time.

Open the editor
  • Free
  • No signup
  • No watermark
The Echo title template, playing live. Open it in the editor

smooth.video vs Brush Ninja

Price
smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
Brush NinjaFree with ads, membership at US$7 a month or US$48 a year
Account
smooth.videoNot needed
Brush NinjaOnly for membership
How you animate
smooth.videoKeyframes on a timeline
Brush NinjaFrame-by-frame drawing, with onion skin
Layers
smooth.videoEvery element is its own layer
Brush NinjaNone
Video with sound
smooth.videoFree, as MP4 or WebM
Brush NinjaWebM, for members
Formats
smooth.videoMP4, WebM, GIF, PNG, JPG, WebP
Brush NinjaGIF, image sequence, and WebM for members
Lesson plans for teachers
smooth.videoNo
Brush NinjaYes

Brush Ninja as of September 2026. Plans change, so check theirs before you decide.

When smooth.video fits better

The animation is made of things that move: a title, a photo, a logo, a sticker, a chart. You want sound in the video, more than one layer, and no ads, without a membership.

When Brush Ninja fits better

You want to draw every frame, like a flipbook, in a tool made for children and classrooms, with stickers, sound effects and lesson plans ready to go.

How it works

  1. Open smooth.video. No account, no ads.

  2. Add text, photos, shapes or a drawing, and give each one an entrance or a movement on the timeline.

  3. Export a GIF, or an MP4 with the sound you added.

Start from a template

See all 203 templates

Open one, change the words, export. Every element stays editable.

Logo reveal

1080×1080

A name that pops into place

Bold statement

1080×1920

Three lines, one point

Count-up stat

1080×1080

A number that climbs

Lower third

1920×1080

Name and title, on cue

Quote card

1200×630

A line worth sharing

Product drop

1080×1350

An announcement that lands

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.

Questions

Can I draw in smooth.video?

Yes, with a simple brush: the drawing becomes an image you can move, scale, rotate and fade on the timeline. It isn't made for drawing each frame.

Can I add sound?

Yes. Add an audio file and it's included in the MP4 or WebM. A GIF can't carry sound.

Are there ads?

No, and there's nothing to join.

Brush Ninja compared with other tools

Try it before you settle on Brush Ninja.

It opens in a tab, works without an account, and exports without a watermark.

Open the editor
  • Free
  • No signup
  • No watermark