GIPHY GIF Maker vs Cavalry
GIPHY GIF Maker 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
GIPHY GIF Maker vs Cavalry at a glance
| GIPHY GIF Maker | Cavalry | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, with ads | Free for individuals | Free |
| Account | Required to create a GIF | Canva account required | Not needed |
- Price
- GIPHY GIF MakerFree, with ads
- CavalryFree for individuals
- smooth.videoFree
- Account
- GIPHY GIF MakerRequired to create a GIF
- CavalryCanva account required
- smooth.videoNot needed
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of GIPHY GIF Maker and Cavalry before you decide.
GIPHY GIF Maker
- What you get
- A GIF uploaded to your GIPHY channel, public unless you set it to private
- Starting point
- A video under 15 seconds, images, or a YouTube link
- Motion
- Captions and stickers that appear and disappear
- Sticker library
- The whole GIPHY sticker library
- Other exports
- No
When GIPHY fits better
You want your GIFs out in the world: reaction GIFs or brand stickers on a GIPHY channel people can share from, with GIPHY's sticker library at hand while you make them.
GIPHY GIF Maker vs smooth.videoCavalry
- Install
- Desktop app for Mac and Windows
- How you animate
- Keyframes plus procedural tools: duplicators, falloffs, behaviors
- Transparent video
- WebM, ProRes 4444, plus APNG, GIF and WebP
- 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
You need a GIF for an email, a website, a README or a slide, built from your own text and images, and you'd rather keep it off a public platform and skip the 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 upload my GIF to GIPHY afterward?
Yes. Export the GIF from smooth.video, then upload it to your GIPHY channel like any other GIF.
Can I make a GIF from a YouTube video?
Not from a link. Add a video file from your computer to the scene and export it as a GIF.
Is my GIF public?
No. Nothing is uploaded: the GIF is made in your browser and saved to your computer.
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