Adobe After Effects vs Apple Motion
Adobe After Effects
adobe.com
Apple Motion
apple.comSide by side
| Figure | Adobe After Effects | Apple Motion |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19.99/mo | $12.99/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 4 |
| Spec score · Visual Effects Software | 8.3 (#6) | 8.0 (#13) |
| Spec score · Motion graphics software | 8.4 (#4) | 7.9 (#11) |
| Spec score · Motion Tracking Software | 8.4 (#10) | 8.0 (#19) |
| Spec score · Animation Software | 8.3 (#31) | 7.8 (#63) |
| Spec score · Video Creation And Editing Software | 8.4 (#12) | 7.9 (#23) |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Purpose | After Effects is motion design and visual effects software for animating text, graphics, and illustrations and compositing effects for film, TV, video, and the web. | Motion is a motion graphics tool for creating and animating images, cinematic titles, transitions, and effects in real time. |
| System requirements | The current requirements page lists Windows and macOS and says internet access and registration are required for activation, subscription validation, and online services. | Motion requires macOS 15.6 or later, 8 GB memory (16 GB recommended), a Metal-capable graphics card on Intel-based Macs, and 5.2 GB available disk space. |
Plans
Adobe After Effects
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachers$19.99 a month
- After Effects$22.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro$34.99 a month
- After Effects for teams$37.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro for teams$99.99 a month
Apple Motion
- Motion$49.99 a month
- Motion$49.99, paid once
- Apple Creator Studio$12.99 a month
- Motion$49.99, paid once
In their own words
Adobe After Effects
Adobe After Effects is motion design and visual effects software for animating text, illustrations, and graphics and compositing effects for film, TV, video, and the web. It can animate still images for title sequences and credits, and its 3D workspace combines animated 3D shapes with 2D graphics. AI Object Matte isolates a moving subject, with refinement brushes for stray pixels; object tracking and Content-Aware Fill can remove unwanted elements across frames. Compositions can move into Premiere through Adobe Dynamic Link without intermediate rendering, and layered Photoshop files keep their layers on import. Render projects in the app’s Render Queue or with Adobe Media Encoder. Adobe recommends a dedicated video editor such as Premiere for editing clips. The software runs on macOS and Windows; activation, subscription validation, and online services require internet access and registration. A seven-day trial is available, but there is no free plan. Adobe also provides free training guides and instructor-led video courses.
Apple Motion
Apple Motion has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.