Adobe After Effects Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Adobe After Effects for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Natron, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Adobe After Effects and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Adobe After Effects are Blender, Blackmagic Design Fusion, NUKE and Apple Motion.

filter to find the best alternatives

Adobe After Effects alternatives are mainly Motion Graphics Software, but if you're looking for VFX Software or Video Editors you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Free, Linux, Android, Windows + Free, Mac and Online. 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.
More about Adobe After Effects
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Adobe After Effects alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Natron icon

    Natron

     209 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...

    18 Natron alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Natron screenshot 1
     
    |
    9
    Comments about Natron as an Alternative to Adobe After Effects
    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 icon
    Natron icon
    • Natron is Free and Open SourceAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  2. Blender icon

    Blender

     1752 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.

    140 Blender alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Steam
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Splash Artwork for Blender 4.3
     
    |
    29
    Comments about Blender as an Alternative to Adobe After Effects
    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.

    Guest
    Negative
    0

    It’s not a video editor anymore, they removed that feature.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 29 comments
    Blender icon
    Blender icon
    • 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

     52 likes

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

    20 Blackmagic Design Fusion alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Blackmagic Design Fusion screenshot 1
     
    |
    6
    Comments about Blackmagic Design Fusion as an Alternative to Adobe After Effects
    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 icon
    Blackmagic Design Fusion icon
    • Blackmagic Design Fusion is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  5. Ad
  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.

    18 NUKE alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    NUKE screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Comments about NUKE as an Alternative to Adobe After Effects
    Guest
    Positive
    7

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

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    NUKE icon
    NUKE icon
    • NUKE is Paid and ProprietaryAdobe After Effects is also Paid and Proprietary
  7. Apple Motion icon

    Apple Motion

     23 likes

    Designed for video editors, Motion is a powerful motion graphics tool that makes it easy to create cinematic 2D and 3D titles, fluid transitions, and realistic effects in real time.

    27 Apple Motion alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Apple Motion screenshot 1
     
    |
    3
    Comments about Apple Motion as an Alternative to Adobe After Effects
    Guest
    Positive
    8

    Cheap, not free, and there are some plugins.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Paul
    Positive
    0

    A great software for motion design and 2D/3D animation, especially if you're already using Final Cut Pro.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    better than ae and one-time payed

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Apple Motion icon
    Apple Motion icon
    • Apple Motion is Paid and ProprietaryAdobe After Effects is also Paid and Proprietary
  8. OpenToonz icon

    OpenToonz

     126 likes

    OpenToonz is an animation program that is a free software version of Toonz, the animation software used by Studio Ghibli, amongst others.

    43 OpenToonz alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    GTS
     
    |
    1
    Comments about OpenToonz as an Alternative to Adobe After Effects
    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 icon
    OpenToonz icon
    • OpenToonz is Free and Open SourceAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
    • OpenToonz is Privacy focusedAdobe After Effects is not according to our users
  10. Friction icon

    Friction

     27 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.

    8 Friction alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Mac
    Friction screenshot 1
     
  11. CapCut icon

    CapCut

     69 likes

    This free video editing app offers features like cutting, speed adjustments, advanced filters, chroma key, and a vast music library. Enjoy non-destructive editing, keyframe animation, transitions, and 4K support across multiple devices without ads or registration.

    166 CapCut alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

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

    OpenCut

     14 likes

    The open source video editor that gets the job done. Simple, powerful, and works on any platform.

    60 OpenCut alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Docker
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    OpenCut screenshot 1
     
  13. Cavalry icon

    Cavalry

     11 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.

    16 Cavalry alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    Cavalry screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Comments about Cavalry as an Alternative to Adobe After Effects
    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 icon
    Cavalry icon
    • Cavalry is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe After Effects is Paid and Proprietary
  15. Autodesk Flame icon

    Autodesk Flame

     2 likes

    Autodesk Flame software is a powerful finishing and visual effects solution with an integrated environment that accelerates creative workflows.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Autodesk Flame screenshot 1
     
12 of 25 Adobe After Effects alternatives