Rive vs LottieFiles
Rive 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.
Rive vs LottieFiles at a glance
| Rive | LottieFiles | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearly | Free plan, then paid plans billed yearly | Free, no paid plan |
| Output | .riv files for runtimes, plus video and images | Lottie and dotLottie, plus MP4, WebM, MOV and GIF | Video and image files |
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Rive and LottieFiles before you decide.
Rive
- Exports on the free plan
- None
- Account
- Required
- 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.videoLottieFiles
- Where your files live
- In your LottieFiles workspace
- 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, recolourable with themes, or interactive. That's what Lottie is for, and smooth.video doesn't export it.
LottieFiles vs smooth.videoWhen smooth.video fits better
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.
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.
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See all 172 templatesQuestions
- 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.
- 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. Your projects stay in your browser, and you can save any of them as a .smooth file.