Renderforest vs Adobe Express
Renderforest and Adobe Express 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
Renderforest vs Adobe Express at a glance
| Renderforest | Adobe Express | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, then paid plans with monthly credits | Free plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month | Free, no paid plan |
| Where your files live | In your Renderforest account | In Adobe's cloud, 5 GB on the free plan | On your computer |
- Price
- RenderforestFree plan, then paid plans with monthly credits
- Adobe ExpressFree plan, Premium at US$9.99 a month
- smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
- Where your files live
- RenderforestIn your Renderforest account
- Adobe ExpressIn Adobe's cloud, 5 GB on the free plan
- smooth.videoOn your computer
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Renderforest and Adobe Express before you decide.
Renderforest
- Account
- Required
- Watermark
- On free plan exports
- Export resolution
- 720p on the free and Lite plans, 1080p on Pro, 4K on Business
- How you edit
- Template scenes, some with fixed, pre-rendered animation
- AI video, text-to-speech, stock footage
- Yes
- Logos and websites
- Yes, in the same account
When Renderforest fits better
You want a finished video from very little input: an AI-generated clip, a voiceover read by text-to-speech, stock footage, or a logo and a website made in the same place. smooth.video has none of those.
Renderforest vs smooth.videoAdobe Express
- Built for
- Every kind of design: social posts, flyers, PDFs, presentations, video
- Motion
- In, Loop and Out presets, with duration, speed and intensity
- Transparent video
- Not supported
- Photoshop files
- PSD and Illustrator files placed linked or converted
- Templates and stock
- 100,000+ templates and Adobe Stock
- Generative AI
- Firefly, with monthly credits
When Adobe Express fits better
You need matching flyers, posts and presentations from a huge library of templates and stock, you work with Photoshop and Illustrator files that stay linked, or you want AI to generate images. Animation is a finishing touch.
Adobe Express vs smooth.videoWhen smooth.video fits better
You want an intro, a logo sting or an animated title in full HD or 4K without buying a plan, and you'd like to change how things move, not only the text inside a scene.
The animation is the deliverable: an intro, a lower third, an animated stat, a Reel. You want to decide exactly where each element is at each moment, and a transparent export to put over video.
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 use a Renderforest template in smooth.video?
No, but smooth.video has its own gallery of intros, logo reveals and titles, and every element in them can be changed.
Is my video rendered on a server?
No. The export runs in your browser, so there's no queue and nothing to upload. A long 4K video takes a while on a slower computer.
Is there a watermark?
No, never, at any resolution.
Can I bring my Adobe Express designs in?
Yes, as images: download your design or its parts as PNG, add them to a scene and animate them in smooth.video.
Can I animate a Photoshop file?
Yes. Drop the PSD into the editor and each layer becomes its own element, in place, ready to animate.
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