EZGIF vs Adobe Express

EZGIF and Adobe Express 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.

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

EZGIF vs Adobe Express at a glance

Price
EZGIFFree, with ads
Adobe ExpressFree plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month
smooth.videoFree

As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of EZGIF and Adobe Express before you decide.

EZGIF

Account
Not needed
Watermark
Never
Makes a GIF from
An uploaded video or a set of images
Moving text
Text shown on a range of frames, without motion
Where your files go
Uploaded to its servers, kept up to an hour after last use
Compression and optimization
Yes: lossy, fewer colors, fewer frames, target file size
Format conversion
GIF, WebP, APNG, AVIF, MP4, WebM and more

When EZGIF fits better

You already have the GIF or the clip and need to do something to it: cut it, change its speed, reverse it, shrink it under a size limit, or convert it to WebP, APNG or AVIF. smooth.video makes GIFs; it doesn't edit, compress or convert them.

EZGIF vs smooth.video

Adobe Express

Built for
Every kind of design: social posts, flyers, PDFs, presentations, video
Motion
In, Loop and Out presets, with duration, speed and intensity
Transparent video
Not supported
Photoshop files
PSD and Illustrator files placed linked or converted
Where your files live
In Adobe's cloud, 5 GB on the free plan
Templates and stock
100,000+ templates and Adobe Stock
Generative AI
Firefly, with monthly credits

When Adobe Express fits better

You need matching flyers, posts and presentations from a huge library of templates and stock, you work with Photoshop and Illustrator files that stay linked, or you want AI to generate images. Animation is a finishing touch.

Adobe Express vs smooth.video

When smooth.video fits better

The GIF doesn't exist yet: an animated headline for an email, a badge for a website, a demo for a README. You want to build it from text and images, make things move, and keep your files on your computer.

The animation is the deliverable: an intro, a lower third, an animated stat, a Reel. You want to decide exactly where each element is at each moment, and a transparent export to put over video.

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 templates

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

Questions

Can I compress a GIF in smooth.video?

No. A short GIF with a modest size and few colors stays light; to shrink it further, run the exported file through a GIF optimizer such as EZGIF's.

Can I turn a video into a GIF?

Yes. Add the video to the scene, put text or stickers on top if you like, and export the whole thing as a GIF.

Are my files uploaded?

No. Everything, the GIF export included, runs in your browser, so your images and videos never leave your computer.

Can I bring my Adobe Express designs in?

Yes, as images: download your design or its parts as PNG, add them to a scene and animate them in smooth.video.

Can I animate a Photoshop file?

Yes. Drop the PSD into the editor and each layer becomes its own element, in place, ready to animate.

Is there a watermark?

No. Every export is free and clean, transparent WebM included.

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