Renderforest vs LottieFiles

Renderforest and LottieFiles 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 editor
  • Free
  • No signup
  • No watermark
The YouTube intro template, playing live. Open it in the editor

Renderforest vs LottieFiles at a glance

Price
RenderforestFree plan, then paid plans with monthly credits
LottieFilesFree plan, then paid plans billed yearly
smooth.videoFree, no paid plan
Where your files live
RenderforestIn your Renderforest account
LottieFilesIn your LottieFiles workspace
smooth.videoOn your computer

As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Renderforest and LottieFiles 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.video

LottieFiles

Output
Lottie and dotLottie, plus MP4, WebM, MOV and GIF
Video and audio in the scene
No
Interactive state machines
Yes
Lottie players for apps and websites
Yes
After Effects and Figma plugins
Yes

When LottieFiles fits better

The animation ships inside an app or a website and should stay tiny, sharp at any size, recolorable with themes, or interactive. That's what Lottie is for, and smooth.video doesn't export it.

LottieFiles vs smooth.video

When 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 goes in a video, a social post, an email or a presentation rather than in an app: a logo reveal, a Reel, an animated banner, a lower third. You want a video file, maybe with photos or footage in it.

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 templates

Open 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 smooth.video open or export Lottie files?

Neither. It imports images, video, audio and layered PSD files, and exports video, GIF and images.

Can I use photos and video in my animation?

Yes. Add images, video clips and audio to the scene next to your text and shapes.

Do I need an account?

No, and there's no workspace either. Your current project is autosaved in your browser; save it as a .smooth file on your computer to keep it.

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