EZGIF vs Rive

EZGIF 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.

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EZGIF vs Rive at a glance

EZGIFRivesmooth.video
PriceFree, with adsFree plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearlyFree
AccountNot neededRequiredNot needed

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

EZGIF

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 colours, 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 does none of that.

EZGIF vs smooth.video

Rive

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.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 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.

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Questions

Can I compress a GIF in smooth.video?
No. A short GIF with a modest size and few colours 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 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.
Is there a watermark?
No, on any format.