CapCut vs Remotion
CapCut and Remotion 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.
CapCut vs Remotion at a glance
| CapCut | Remotion | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free version, with CapCut Pro for premium features | Free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people, then a company license | Free, no paid plan |
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of CapCut and Remotion before you decide.
CapCut
- Account
- Sign-up asked for in the online editor
- Export resolution
- Up to 1080p free, 4K and 60 fps with Pro
- Premium templates, effects and fonts
- Pro needed to export them
- Built for
- Editing videos: cuts, transitions, filters, effects
- Phone and desktop apps
- Yes
- AI tools, music and sticker library
- Yes
When CapCut fits better
You're editing footage: cutting clips, adding transitions, filters, trending sounds and effects, on your phone as much as on a computer. smooth.video isn't a video editor, and it has no app.
CapCut vs smooth.videoRemotion
- How you make a video
- React code
- What you need
- Node.js, a code editor and some React
- Rendering
- On your machine, a server or AWS Lambda
- Transparent video
- WebM or ProRes 4444
- Videos generated from data, at scale
- Yes
- AI assistants
- Agent skills and a Claude Code plugin
When Remotion fits better
You generate videos from data, personalize them for each user, render them on servers, embed a player in your app, or build your own video product. smooth.video has no API and no server rendering.
Remotion vs smooth.videoWhen smooth.video fits better
You need the graphics, not the edit: an animated title, a stat, a logo reveal or a lower third, in 4K or on a transparent background, and you'd rather not unlock Pro for a font or a template.
You want one video, not ten thousand: you'd rather see it and drag things into place than write components, or the person making it doesn't code.
Open the editorStart from a template
See all 172 templatesQuestions
- Can I use a smooth.video animation in CapCut?
- Yes. Export an MP4 and import it into your CapCut project like any other clip.
- Can I edit my footage in smooth.video?
- Only lightly: add a video file to the scene and put text, shapes and images on top. For cutting and arranging footage, a video editor is the better tool.
- Do I need to sign in?
- No. Your projects stay in your browser, and you can save any of them as a .smooth file.
- Can I generate many videos from a spreadsheet?
- Not automatically. A script or an AI assistant can write one .smooth file per row, but each one is opened and exported by hand in the editor.
- Can an AI assistant make the video?
- Yes. The whole format is published at smooth.video/llms.txt: point ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant at it, describe the animation, and open the file it gives you.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. The editor and the export both run in your browser.