Remotion vs Brush Ninja

Remotion and Brush Ninja 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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Remotion vs Brush Ninja at a glance

RemotionBrush Ninjasmooth.video
PriceFree for individuals and companies of up to 3 people, then a company licenseFree with ads, membership at US$7 a month or US$48 a yearFree for everyone

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

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

Brush Ninja

Account
Only for membership
How you animate
Frame-by-frame drawing, with onion skin
Layers
None
Video with sound
WebM, for members
Formats
GIF, image sequence, and WebM for members
Lesson plans for teachers
Yes

When Brush Ninja fits better

You want to draw every frame, like a flipbook, in a tool made for children and classrooms, with stickers, sound effects and lesson plans ready to go.

Brush Ninja vs smooth.video

When smooth.video fits better

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.

The animation is made of things that move: a title, a photo, a logo, a sticker, a chart. You want sound in the video, more than one layer, and no ads, without a membership.

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Questions

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.
Can I draw in smooth.video?
Yes, with a simple brush: the drawing becomes an image you can move, scale, rotate and fade on the timeline. It isn't made for drawing each frame.
Can I add sound?
Yes. Add an audio file and it's included in the MP4 or WebM. A GIF can't carry sound.
Are there ads?
No, and there's nothing to join.