Canva vs Cavalry
Canva and Cavalry 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
Canva vs Cavalry at a glance
| Canva | Cavalry | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, with many templates and features in Canva Pro | Free for individuals | Free, no paid plan |
| Account | Required | Canva account required | Not needed |
| Transparent video | Not available | WebM, ProRes 4444, plus APNG, GIF and WebP | Free, as WebM |
- Price
- CanvaFree plan, with many templates and features in Canva Pro
- CavalryFree for individuals
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
- Account
- CanvaRequired
- CavalryCanva account required
- smooth.videoNot needed
- Transparent video
- CanvaNot available
- CavalryWebM, ProRes 4444, plus APNG, GIF and WebP
- smooth.videoFree, as WebM
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Canva and Cavalry before you decide.
Canva
- Built for
- Every kind of design: social posts, slides, print, documents, video
- Motion
- Animation presets and timing per element
- Where your files live
- In your Canva account
- Library
- A huge library of templates, photos and graphics
When Canva fits better
You need a flyer, a presentation and a social post that all match, drawn from a huge library of templates, photos and brand assets, with animation as a finishing touch.
Canva vs smooth.videoCavalry
- Install
- Desktop app for Mac and Windows
- How you animate
- Keyframes plus procedural tools: duplicators, falloffs, behaviors
- Animation driven by spreadsheets
- Yes
- Rigging, dynamics, scripting
- Yes
- Lottie and SVG export
- Yes
When Cavalry fits better
You build complex motion design: hundreds of shapes driven by one rig, charts animated from a spreadsheet, dynamics, scripts, or Lottie and ProRes deliverables. smooth.video has none of that.
Cavalry vs smooth.videoWhen smooth.video fits better
The animation is the deliverable: a YouTube intro, a lower third, an animated stat, a Reel. You want exact control over timing, a transparent export to put over video, and no account.
You need an animated title, a logo reveal or a social post today, on any computer, including one where you can't install software, and you don't need procedural systems to get there.
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 bring my Canva designs in?
Yes, as images: download your design or its parts from Canva, add them to a smooth.video scene and animate them there.
Does smooth.video have templates?
Yes, a gallery of ready-made animations, from YouTube intros to sale banners. Each one opens in the editor with every element editable.
Is there a watermark?
No. Every export is free and clean, transparent WebM included.
Can I animate a chart from a spreadsheet?
No. In smooth.video a chart is built from shapes, and its numbers are texts you type, which can count up as they appear. That suits a handful of figures; for charts built from real data, Cavalry is the better fit.
Can I open Cavalry projects?
No. smooth.video opens its own .smooth files and imports images, video, audio and layered PSD files.
Do I need to install anything?
No. The editor and every export run in your browser.
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