The Best Free Adobe After Effects AlternativesTop Motion Graphics Software & Animation Makers like Adobe After Effects

The best free alternative to Adobe After Effects is Natron, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Adobe After Effects and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Adobe After Effects are Blender, Blackmagic Design Fusion, NUKE and OpenToonz.

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Adobe After Effects alternatives are mainly Video Editors, but if you're looking for Motion Graphics Software or VFX Software you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Free, Windows + Free, Linux, Windows, Mac and Mac + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Adobe After Effects.
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Alternatives list

  1. Natron icon

    Natron

     223 likes

    Natron is an open source, cross platform nodal compositing application. It is built around industry standard open source tech such as OpenFX, OpenEXR, OpenColorIO and OpenImageIO. The feature set includes realtime playback/RAM cache, multi-threaded rendering, 2d tracking...

    21 Natron alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • FreeBSD
    • Flathub
    Natron screenshot 1
     
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    9
    Natron vs Adobe After Effects Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Paul
    4

    Free and open-source node based alternative to After Effects. It's pretty similar to Nuke, but doesn't cost anything.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    10

    Awful documentation (blank page); The versions change so much that the old tutorials don't help at all; Difficult to learn by just messing around; High learning curve.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    ahmed52
    Positive
    2

    free ,open source a bit hard to use at first

    3 of 9 comments
    • Natron is Free and Open SourceAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  2. Blender icon

    Blender

     1820 likes

    A comprehensive open-source 3D software suite for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, and animating. It supports renderings, simulations including fluid and cloth dynamics, complex compositing, video editing, and Python scripting, running across all major operating systems.

    147 Blender alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Steam
    • Flatpak
    Splash Artwork for Blender 4.3
     
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    30
    Blender vs Adobe After Effects Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    sas_ja
    5

    Blender is has a bit different workflow, that doesn't make it worse than AE. People think that Blender is only a 3D program, but it fact it has greasepencil (2d animation tool), and it also includes node-based compositing, video editing and video tracking. With Blender you can combine 2d animations, 3d renderings and video footage without using any external program.

    Top Negative Comment
    danielmichel
    49

    AE's main purpose: Video effect editing. Blender has a whole range of possibilities, but it's hard to get into and it's not designed to be used solely for video effect editing.

    Avoyt
    Negative
    0

    Comparing Blender with After Effects is wild to me. I regularly use both for work, and I can't fathom using one for the other. Like, sure, you can do video editing in both, but neither excel at that.

    3 of 30 comments
    • Blender is Free and Open SourceAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
    • Blender is Customizable, Lightweight and Privacy focusedAdobe After Effects is not according to our users
  4. Blackmagic Design Fusion icon

    Blackmagic Design Fusion

     53 likes

    Fusion is the world’s most advanced compositing software for visual effects artists, broadcast and motion graphic designers and 3D animators.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Blackmagic Design Fusion screenshot 1
     
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    6
    Blackmagic Design Fusion vs Adobe After Effects Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Paul
    4

    Great software and well integrated with DaVinci Resolve.

    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Great node-based alternative if you require an advanced control over your compositions. It supports OFX plugins, macros, and software-specific plugins/scripts(Lua & Python)

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    7

    High level composition software.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 6 comments
    • Blackmagic Design Fusion is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  5. Ad
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    CapCut icon
    CapCut

    Free video editor offering multi-track timeline, trimming, splitting, speed adjustments, advanced filters, stickers, backgrounds removal, licensed music, speech-to-text, stabilization, customizable 4K 60fps export, and direct sha...

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    Learn More
  6. NUKE icon

    NUKE

     36 likes

    NUKE is a powerful compositing application that delivers unparalleled speed, an efficient multi-channel scanline rendering engine, and a first-class feature set that is unrivalled in the desktop market.

    19 NUKE alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    NUKE screenshot 1
     
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    1
    NUKE vs Adobe After Effects Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    8

    There is a free commercial version, nuke is also more industry standard for compositing

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • NUKE is Free Personal and ProprietaryAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  8. OpenToonz icon

    OpenToonz

     136 likes

    Open-source 2D animation software supporting raster and vector workflows, node-based compositing, plug-in extensions, anti-aliased painting, and support for major platforms, developed in collaboration with Studio Ghibli and suitable for commercial projects.

    44 OpenToonz alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    OpenToonz screenshot 1
     
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    1
    OpenToonz vs Adobe After Effects Comments
    shay
    Negative
    3

    while this has video creation functionality, it is intended for animation rather than video editing and compositing. an ae user would find it difficult to do their type of work in this program

    • OpenToonz is Free and Open SourceAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
    • OpenToonz is Privacy focusedAdobe After Effects is not according to our users
  9. Friction icon

    Friction

     37 likes

    Friction is a powerful and versatile motion graphics application that allows you to create vector and raster animations for web and video platforms with ease.

    10 Friction alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Friction screenshot 1
     
  10. OpenCut icon

    OpenCut

     27 likes

    Open-source video editor for Windows, macOS, and Linux offering non-linear multi-track editing, timeline tools, and advanced features like templates, no watermarks, fast exports, extensive format support, subtitles, user-friendly interface, and offline functionality.

    75 OpenCut alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    OpenCut screenshot 1
     
  11. CapCut icon

    CapCut

     76 likes

    Free video editor offering multi-track timeline, trimming, splitting, speed adjustments, advanced filters, stickers, backgrounds removal, licensed music, speech-to-text, stabilization, customizable 4K 60fps export, and direct sharing to social platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

    206 CapCut alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    CapCut screenshot 1
     
  12. enve icon

    enve

     41 likes

    Enve is a free and open-source 2D animation app. It can create both vector and raster animations and even use sound and video files. It has been created with flexibility and expandability in mind.

    58 enve alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Official Enve Screenshot
     
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    1
    Discontinued

    The GitHub repo hasn't had updates since September 2022. There's already been 2 threads discussing the discontinued state of the program without any comment from the original dev:https://github.com/MaurycyLiebner/enve/issues/315https://github.com/MaurycyLiebner/enve/issues/336

    enve vs Adobe After Effects Comments
    groundjet
    Positive
    0

    Free and open source, much easier on the memory; still a lot of bugs and features missing but it is an absolutely amazing piece of software that will hopefully one day do to Adobe what Blender did to Autodesk.

    • enve is Free and Open SourceAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  13. Cavalry icon

    Cavalry

     17 likes

    Cavalry makes 2d animation smarter, easier and faster to produce. Design in real-time for advertising, mobile, data visualisation, web, broadcast, UI, generative art, experiential, games and more.

    18 Cavalry alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    Cavalry screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Cavalry vs Adobe After Effects Comments
    Mosrod
    Positive
    0

    Wow! Cavalry is one of the closest free softwares I have seen with a similar interface and flow to After Effects. Although Cavalry doesn't contain all the bells and whistles of After Effects, it is a great and free software that allows you to create advanced compositions. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to composite within 2d and doesn't want to pay the expensive fee of After Effects.

    • Cavalry is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  14. Pikimov icon

    Pikimov

     18 likes

    Pikimov is a free web based motion design and video editor.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Pikimov composition editor
     
  15. TiXL icon

    TiXL

     18 likes

    TiXL is an open-source solution for creating interactive 3d content and animations. It combines the best aspects of animation, compositing, and coding into a lightweight and intuitive UI. Your designs can be shared as executable or rendered to movies.

    10 TiXL alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    TiXL screenshot 1
     
12 of 54 Adobe After Effects alternatives