EffectCraft (v0.8.0) review: what works, what is missing, and whether it can replace After Effects yet
EffectCraft is a free motion-graphics and compositing app with After Effects' layout: compositions, layers, keyframes, 306 effects, expressions, 3D cameras and lights, and a render queue. Its authors call it alpha and about 45% ready for real work.
Last checked 11 Oct 2026. Independent site; not affiliated with ArtCraft or Adobe.
What works today
- Compositions with nesting and precomposing, layers with transform, masks drawn with the pen tool (with modes), track mattes and blend modes.
- Keyframes with easing and the graph editor, expressions, text and shape layers with animators, repeaters, trim paths, wiggle and merge paths.
- 306 effects and layer styles with Global Light; 3D layers, cameras and lights.
- Preview plays audio in sync with meters and waveforms.
- Export: ProRes MOV (Proxy to 4444 XQ, with alpha), HEVC (Main and Main 10) and AV1 MP4, WebM (VP9 or AV1, with alpha), PNG, JPEG, TIFF and 32-bit EXR sequences, animated GIF, WAV and AIFF.
- Lottie import opens as a new composition. A CLI and an MCP server drive the same engine headless.
What the project says is missing
From ROADMAP.md (10 Oct 2026): feature breadth ≈91%, ready for real work ≈45%, essentials user ≈52%, with 350 to 620 agent-hours estimated to beta. The biggest gap is the one everybody will hit first: After Effects project files (.aep) cannot be opened, so tutorials and templates do not carry over. The team also lists start-up stability, everyday fidelity bugs and preview speed as the work that dominates, and says there has been only one live fidelity measurement so far.
"Ready for real work" and "feature breadth" are the project's own published estimates from each repository's ROADMAP.md (last re-measured 10 Oct 2026). They are honest, but they are self-graded. We quote them; we did not measure them.
EffectCraft vs After Effects
| EffectCraft 0.8.0 | After Effects 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, MIT or Apache-2.0 | Subscription |
| Runs on | macOS, Windows, Linux, browser | macOS, Windows |
| Opens .aep | No | Yes |
| Third-party plug-ins | None | Large ecosystem |
| Export with alpha | ProRes 4444, WebM, EXR, PNG | Yes |
| Maturity | Alpha, ≈45% ready by its own estimate | Mature |
How to install EffectCraft
Option 1: the ArtCraft Launcher (recommended by the project)
The ArtCraft Launcher (v0.2.0) installs EffectCraft and every other Craft app, picks the right build for your computer and updates them. Get it from the official apps page or the launcher's GitHub releases.
Option 2: a standalone installer
Every release on GitHub ships these files (replace 0.8.0 with the current version):
| Platform | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | effectcraft-0.8.0-macos-universal.dmg | One file for Apple silicon and Intel. Signed and notarized, so Gatekeeper opens it without a warning. |
| Windows 10/11 (64-bit) | effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-x64.msi | Installer. A -portable.zip that runs without installing is next to it. ARM64 and 32-bit builds exist too. |
| Linux | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage | Also .deb, .rpm, .flatpak and a plain tarball, for x86_64 and ARM64. |
We never host installers. Download from GitHub or getartcraft.com only, and check the file against SHA256SUMS.txt in the same release if you want to be sure.
Questions
Can EffectCraft open After Effects projects?
Not yet. .aep import is the first item on the project's gap list. You can rebuild a composition from the source footage, or import Lottie files.
Does EffectCraft support expressions?
Yes. Expressions, the graph editor, text animators and shape operators such as repeater, trim paths and wiggle are listed as working.
Is EffectCraft free?
Yes, open source under MIT or Apache-2.0, offline, no account.
How does it compare with Blender or Natron?
Those are node-based compositors. EffectCraft deliberately copies the After Effects layer-and-timeline model, so After Effects users will feel at home faster, but it is much younger than either.