Imgflip vs Remotion

Imgflip 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.

Open the editorFree, no signup, nothing to install

Imgflip vs Remotion at a glance

ImgflipRemotionsmooth.video
PriceFree, or Pro at US$11.95 a month billed yearlyFree for individuals and companies of up to 3 people, then a company licenseFree, no paid plan

As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Imgflip and Remotion before you decide.

Imgflip

Watermark
imgflip.com on free GIFs, removed with Pro
GIF size
Up to 360×360 from a video and 500×500 from images, on the free plan
Text and images
1 text and 1 image per GIF on the free plan
Motion
Text and images moved at points in time
Where your files go
Hosted on imgflip.com, public unless marked private
Meme templates, YouTube links
Yes

When Imgflip fits better

You're making a meme: a classic template or a clip from a YouTube video with a caption, posted to Imgflip's community in a minute. smooth.video has no meme library and doesn't read links.

Imgflip vs smooth.video

Remotion

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.video

When smooth.video fits better

The GIF isn't a meme: a product announcement, an animated banner, a sticker for a newsletter. It needs to be bigger than 500 pixels, carry more than one line of text, and come out clean.

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 editor

Start from a template

See all 172 templates

Questions

Can I make memes?
You can put a caption over any image or video you add, but there's no library of meme templates: bring your own picture.
Can my GIF have sound?
No, a GIF file can't hold sound. For an animation with music, export an MP4: the audio you added is included.
Is there a limit on text or images?
No. Add as many texts, images and shapes as the animation needs.
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.