Canva vs Rive
Canva 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.
Canva vs Rive at a glance
| Canva | Rive | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, with many templates and features in Canva Pro | Free plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearly | Free, no paid plan |
| Account | Required | Required | Not needed |
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Canva and Rive before you decide.
Canva
- Built for
- Every kind of design: social posts, slides, print, documents, video
- Motion
- Animation presets and timing per element
- Transparent video
- Not available
- 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.videoRive
- 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.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.
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 editorStart from a template
See all 172 templatesQuestions
- 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 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.