Imgflip vs Rive
Imgflip 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.
Imgflip vs Rive at a glance
| Imgflip | Rive | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, or Pro at US$11.95 a month billed yearly | Free plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearly | Free, no paid plan |
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Imgflip and Rive 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.videoRive
- Exports on the free plan
- None
- Account
- Required
- 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.videoWhen 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.
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.
Open the editorStart from a template
See all 172 templatesQuestions
- 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 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.