Comparison
After Effects is for motion designers and visual effects artists who animate every layer by hand. Kinomo is for people who would rather describe the motion to an AI agent, watch it build HTML scenes on their Mac, and keep the final say on every frame.
Facts about After Effects last checked on November 8, 2026 · Sources
After Effects gives you total control and asks for hours of keyframing. Kinomo hands the first draft, and the tedious revisions, to your agent.
In After Effects, each format is a separate composition. In Kinomo, a scene’s 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 and 4:5 versions live together: the All formats view lines them up at their real resolutions, plays them in sync and lets one edit update them all, or just one.
Ask Claude Code, Codex or Cursor for a title sequence or a product walkthrough. It builds the scenes in Kinomo over MCP, layer by layer, while you watch each change appear.
Type, layouts and brand styles are web code, so they stay sharp at any size and are easy to change. Plan the video in the Storyboard, then cut it on a timeline with chapters, music and sound effects.
Share a private link, collect comments pinned on the frame, and let your agent apply them. No subscription during the beta.
Where Kinomo stands out
| Criterion | Kinomo | After Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Formats while you edit | Kinomo stands out: Every format of a scene side by side (16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:5…), each at its own resolution, playing together on one timeline; edit them all at once or one at a time | Each format is a separate composition; several Composition viewers can be opened next to each other |
| Platform | Native Mac app, macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon | Desktop app for macOS and Windows |
| How you animate | Kinomo stands out: Your AI agent builds scenes and animations over MCP; you adjust timings by hand in the scene editor | By hand, layer by layer, on a timeline |
| AI | Kinomo stands out: Works with the agent you choose: Claude Code, Claude, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI or VS Code | Built-in AI tools such as AI Object Matte, plus generative credits for Firefly features |
| Client review | Private links with comments, password and expiry, built into the app | Frame.io for Creative Cloud included with Creative Cloud Pro |
| Visual effects | Not a visual effects tool: no compositing or tracking of filmed footage | Motion design and visual effects, including compositing |
| Price | Kinomo stands out: Free during the beta | US$22.99 a month for the app alone, or US$69.99 a month for Creative Cloud Pro (annual plan, billed monthly) |
After Effects is the reference for a reason. Stay with it if one of these describes your work.
You work on filmed footage. Compositing, mattes and visual effects on live action are what After Effects is built for.
You want to set every keyframe yourself. Its timeline gives a motion designer frame-by-frame control over every property.
Your team lives in Creative Cloud. Projects move between Adobe apps, and Creative Cloud Pro includes Frame.io for review.
You work on Windows. After Effects runs on macOS and Windows; Kinomo is Mac only.
Download the beta, connect your agent and ask it for the first scene of your next video.
For motion graphics such as product videos, explainers and titles, yes: your AI agent builds the animated scenes and you refine them. For visual effects on filmed footage, After Effects remains the tool.
No. Describe what you want to your agent; it builds the scenes and animations, and you adjust timings in the scene editor if you wish.
No. Kinomo scenes are HTML and CSS built in Kinomo; there is no After Effects importer.
Kinomo is free during the beta.
Last checked on November 8, 2026
Adobe, After Effects, Creative Cloud and Frame.io are trademarks of Adobe. This page compares public information and is not endorsed by Adobe. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.