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.
- Free
- No signup
- No watermark
Remotion vs Brush Ninja at a glance
| Remotion | Brush Ninja | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people, then a company license | Free with ads, membership at US$7 a month or US$48 a year | Free for everyone |
- Price
- RemotionFree for individuals and companies of up to 3 people, then a company license
- Brush NinjaFree with ads, membership at US$7 a month or US$48 a year
- smooth.videoFree 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.videoBrush 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.videoWhen 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.
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 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.
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