Rive vs Placeit
Rive and Placeit 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 Placeit at a glance
| Rive | Placeit | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, then Cadet at US$9 per seat a month billed yearly | Single purchases, or a subscription from US$89.69 a year | Free, no paid plan |
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Rive and Placeit before you decide.
Rive
- Exports on the free plan
- None
- Account
- Required
- Output
- .riv files for runtimes, plus video and images
- 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.videoPlaceit
- Watermark
- On previews, until you buy
- What you can change
- Text, colours, images and music in the template
- Formats
- MP4 for videos, PNG for designs
- Product mockups and logo generator
- Yes
When Placeit fits better
You sell merch and need photo mockups of your designs on shirts, mugs and phones, or want a logo generated for you along with matching assets. smooth.video only animates.
Placeit 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.
You need one intro or logo animation rather than a subscription, want it to move your way, or need it on a transparent background.
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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 I use my own logo?
- Yes. Import it as an image, remove its background in one click if it has one, and animate it.
- Does smooth.video make mockups?
- No. It animates: intros, logo reveals, titles and social posts. For product mockups, Placeit is the better tool.