Entertainment · alternatives
Alternatives to Adobe After Effects
22 entertainment tools sit alongside Adobe After Effects in this directory. Below is what separates each from Adobe After Effects on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 13
- Cheaper to start
- 11
- Adobe After Effects starts at
- $22.99/month
Why people look past Adobe After Effects
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Adobe After Effects entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Adobe After Effects starts at $22.99/month. Across the 15 entertainment tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $12.99/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Adobe After Effects carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 13 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
Adobe After Effects publishes a single plan, After Effects Single App at $22.99/month. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Professional video editing, color correction, visual effects and audio post production
- Can be used without paying; Adobe After Effects cannot.
- Starts $22.99 a one-time cheaper, at Free.
- 2 tiers to Adobe After Effects's 1.
Professional video editing software
- 4 tiers to Adobe After Effects's 1.
Revolutionary video editing for Mac
- Starts $9.999999999999998 a month cheaper, at $12.99/month.
- 3 tiers to Adobe After Effects's 1.
3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software
- Can be used without paying; Adobe After Effects cannot.
- Starts $222.01 a month dearer, at $245/month.
- 5 tiers to Adobe After Effects's 1.
Ticket resale marketplace charging both buyers and sellers, with combined fees often a large share of face value
- Can be used without paying; Adobe After Effects cannot.
- Sold on a Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers model rather than subscription.
- 2 tiers to Adobe After Effects's 1.
Free ad-supported streaming from Roku, with an optional paid live TV add-on layer
- Can be used without paying; Adobe After Effects cannot.
- Sold on a Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons model rather than subscription.
- 2 tiers to Adobe After Effects's 1.
Every Adobe After Effects alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe After Effects (this page) | $22.99/month | Subscription | 1 | |
| DaVinci ResolveProfessional video editing, color correction, visual effects and audio post production | Free | - | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Adobe Premiere ProProfessional video editing software | $22.99/month | - | 4 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Final Cut ProRevolutionary video editing for Mac | $12.99/month | - | 3 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Maya3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software | Free, then $245/month | - | 5 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| StubHub | Free | Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| The Roku Channel | Free | Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| mpv | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Infuse | Free, then $1.99/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| IINA | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Castro | Free, then $24.99/year | - | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Castbox | Free | - | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Emby | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Apple TV+ | Free, then $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Crunchyroll | Free, then $7.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Dailymotion | Free | Free | 1 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Philo | $33/month | Per household per month, single plan | 1 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| fuboTV | $73.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| DirecTV Stream | $89.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Disney+ | $7.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| ESPN+ | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Discovery+ | $4.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
| Apple Music | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Adobe After Effects |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Adobe After Effects badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (13)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- DaVinci Resolve , Free
- Maya , Free, then $245/month
- StubHub , Free
- The Roku Channel , Free
- mpv , Free
- Infuse , Free, then $1.99/month
- IINA , Free
- Castro , Free, then $24.99/year
Cheaper than Adobe After Effects (11)
Entry price under Adobe After Effects's $22.99/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- DaVinci Resolve , Free
- Final Cut Pro , $12.99/month
- Infuse , Free, then $1.99/month
- Emby , Free, then $4.99/month
- Apple TV+ , Free, then $12.99/month
- Crunchyroll , Free, then $7.99/month
- Dailymotion , Free
- Disney+ , $7.99/month
What you would be giving up
Adobe After Effects is most often brought in for motion graphics creation, visual effects compositing, title sequences, commercial advertising, social media content. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Adobe After Effects is broadly right and the question is cost, the Adobe After Effects pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Entertainment category lists everything the directory holds, and best entertainment tools ranks them.
Adobe After Effects runs on windows, macos. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Adobe After Effects alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Adobe After Effects?
- 22 other entertainment tools are listed in this directory, led by DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Maya. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Adobe After Effects?
- 13 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: DaVinci Resolve, Maya, StubHub, The Roku Channel, mpv.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Adobe After Effects?
- Yes. 11 of the alternatives below start under Adobe After Effects's $22.99/month: DaVinci Resolve at Free, Final Cut Pro at $12.99/month, Infuse at Free, then $1.99/month, Emby at Free, then $4.99/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Adobe After Effects?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Adobe After Effects?
- Adobe After Effects is most often brought in for motion graphics creation, visual effects compositing, title sequences, commercial advertising, social media content. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Adobe After Effects?
- None of the entertainment tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Adobe After Effects alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Entertainment, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Adobe After Effects against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Adobe After Effects covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every entertainment tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Entertainment category, 22 tools beside Adobe After Effects. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.