Published Updated
Latest version 0.18.0, released 2026-10-28
effectcraft-0.18.0-windows-x64.msi · 56.5 MB
effectcraft-0.18.0-macos-universal.dmg · 73.1 MB
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage · 66.3 MB
Windows
effectcraft-0.18.0-windows-arm64-portable.zip
SHA-256 1a57e8eaf828b8fd3afd9114697da09bc111bb025ac594add11f3496db187e09
effectcraft-0.18.0-windows-arm64.msi
SHA-256 21f3e48722b3a4f616088434e92eb36b72a3ce1ae6b37a546c0ffc49679fe467
effectcraft-0.18.0-windows-x64-portable.zip
SHA-256 142d7c76400658edc192625464deadedc83e9bc11635d72c31660cb557881e91
effectcraft-0.18.0-windows-x86-portable.zip
SHA-256 85fee61437c59d86e1ed573233640d240704293ef53dd42821e7d4f86ad43732
effectcraft-0.18.0-windows-x86.msi
SHA-256 d13164cb76fa9dbadd78b2563ec83bb5ae2856cb784e8053c3ecda0586cb71e6
macOS
effectcraft-cli-0.18.0-macos-universal.zip
SHA-256 e47937e21c060c1f7435669526e44ebb458ef3c762e904d701b733212bd8584d
Linux
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage
SHA-256 bee3a7f8d720869df9f9276b3df2f8e7f54e8b9e961ab296665f24a7078b6d48
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-aarch64.deb
SHA-256 e23201bc927b33a6bbd1affc45baeebd097ab0d6a76b700f29c89e1e69e711a4
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-aarch64.flatpak
SHA-256 dcf7ac3e85167100838ee8d9091f416cf4f448f90411f9bcc70ba18a3dbc7ef8
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
SHA-256 115e4e27b0265e4c93b27b82e80306fd7e93c6a9cc1e4248bb5e7cefb1bfb559
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-aarch64.rpm
SHA-256 c4d37f5a5902245b1091fede5e35ae997c446ee79156ce3140919dacdc4f896e
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-aarch64.tar.gz
SHA-256 16afef1cf2e8ff1e48712f462f7f9732696d81f7f81978c0a7ac0f7c092aa5a8
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-riscv64.deb
SHA-256 6c488ed32a15e10064d7681f2d159959934cd4d9a40473e047d6e72cec62aaca
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-riscv64.rpm
SHA-256 1c65675f3e95e72b5de435d718cf98c567e19729dced7bff8ffe068d39a30442
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-riscv64.tar.gz
SHA-256 f0700e5124a9ce4d09aed5047cd98d98de3ce69bc46ba44f7079dd31a9c2e1ad
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-x86_64.deb
SHA-256 20d8f076d9be954c7dd66b477488c56c68f1af49c683ce64b3caa7534adc6208
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak
SHA-256 6da71e78759f02aa5c97b04728973eb334cd6070cd3c961d576ffa8664dcc45e
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
SHA-256 7d040eec75d629fcd6552b0d7a80412bb972847e1586d14f4af33b0b87f1eef4
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-x86_64.rpm
SHA-256 4de4a6f48f4cbe3769e5e0bc82f6189bcf9937200e4273d34bed92facfc62e66
effectcraft-0.18.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
SHA-256 94d1d85691d54ba57fa86e04872fbcc426c33d1bd364f1fc976b1f607344880b
FreeBSD
effectcraft-0.18.0-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz
SHA-256 c80f86b5266103412c63030f1f035507af3ce9e03d31da37f5b1a3eaf5b15920
Web
effectcraft-web-0.18.0.zip
SHA-256 cc3326670a37a62499b132d20773016d20f576714aaf6b4946744ae6876fa2aa
Every button downloads the official file from the project's GitHub release. GenGrades does not host or change it.
How to installAll versions and release notes on GitHubAll checksums (SHA256SUMS.txt)
In one or two sentences, before anything else.
EffectCraft is a free, open-source motion graphics and compositing app from the ArtCraft team (GitHub: storytold) that rebuilds the Adobe After Effects workflow in pure Rust, with compositions, layers, keyframes, expressions, 3D and a render queue. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD and in the browser, and the project calls it alpha software.
What it can do, one sentence each, and whether we actually tested it.
Project, Composition, Timeline, Effect Controls, Effects & Presets, Character, Paragraph, Align, Preview and Render Queue panels, docked as in After Effects, with its property shortcuts (A, P, S, R, T and the rest, plus their double presses).
Solids, shapes, text, footage, nested compositions, nulls, adjustment layers, cameras and lights, with parenting, track mattes, all 38 blend modes and motion blur; shape layers get trim paths, repeaters and more, and masks are drawn with the pen tool.
Linear, Bezier, hold, auto and continuous Bezier and roving keyframes, Easy Ease (F9) and a Graph Editor with value and speed graphs; plus time remapping, time stretch, time-reverse and freeze frame.
The README counts 306 effects, including every one of After Effects' 298, each with its parameter names, order and defaults, plus all nine Layer Styles with Global Light.
The project says behaviour still differs from After Effects in places and has not been measured yet.
JavaScript expressions with the After Effects object model (wiggle, loopOut, thisComp.layer, vector maths on arrays), an inline editor and the pick-whip.
3D layers with material options, one- and two-node cameras with depth of field, parallel, spot, point and ambient lights with soft ray-traced shadows, and layers that intersect correctly.
Render Settings and Output Modules for H.264 MP4, ProRes MOV (Proxy to 4444 XQ, with alpha), HEVC and AV1 MP4, WebM (VP9 or AV1, with alpha), PNG, JPEG, TIFF and 32-bit EXR sequences, animated GIF and WAV/AIFF, all with pure-Rust encoders. The same queue runs from the command line.
File ▸ Export ▸ Lottie JSON… writes a composition as .json or .lottie and lists anything Lottie cannot express; File ▸ Import ▸ Lottie… opens one as a new composition.
The people it helps and the problems it solves, and where it ranks.
Built for
Problems it solves
What the project's documentation says you can do with it.
Case 1
Input
A new composition with a text layer: set Position keyframes at 0 and 2 seconds, select them and press F9 for Easy Ease, shape the curve in the Graph Editor, then add the comp to the Render Queue as H.264 MP4.
What the docs say
The README says keyframes, Easy Ease and the Graph Editor behave as in After Effects, and the Render Queue writes H.264 MP4 with its own encoders. Caveat: the project says behaviour still differs from After Effects in places.
Case 2
Input
A composition of shape and text layers with eased keyframes: choose File ▸ Export ▸ Lottie JSON… and save it as .json or .lottie.
What the docs say
The README says the exporter writes precomps, shape, solid, image, text and null layers, eased and spatial keyframes, masks, track mattes, blend modes and time remapping, and lists anything Lottie cannot express. Caveat: whatever is on that list does not carry over to the Lottie file.
Case 3
Input
A folder of shot_0001.png to shot_0250.png: choose File ▸ Import ▸ File…, pick one numbered file and turn on PNG Sequence in the Import Image Sequence dialog.
What the docs say
docs/footage.md says the run arrives as one footage item that plays like a movie, missing frames show colour bars, and File ▸ Reload Footage fills them in once the files are there. Caveat: in the web app you have to pick all the frames at once.
Case 4
Input
effectcraft-cli render --comp Main --out main.mp4, or effectcraft-cli mcp to give an MCP-capable agent the app's commands.
What the docs say
The README says every menu action is a command with an id, reachable from the CLI with JSON output, a JSON control channel and an MCP server over stdio. Caveat: on a Mac the command-line tool is a separate download, effectcraft-cli-<version>-macos-universal.zip.
What it does badly, with the evidence, and what we could not settle.
Weak
Alpha software with a short history
Evidence: The README says the first commit was on 1 October 2026 and calls EffectCraft alpha: about 91% of After Effects' features exist, but the project estimates it is about 45% of the way to replacing After Effects for professional work.
Cannot open After Effects projects or run its plug-ins
Evidence: README, Where it stands: EffectCraft can't open .aep or .aepx files, and After Effects plug-ins don't run.
Results can differ from After Effects
Evidence: README: behaviour still differs from After Effects in places, and nothing yet compares EffectCraft's renders with After Effects automatically.
Windows and Linux are less reliable than macOS
Evidence: README: macOS is the most tested platform; Linux and Windows users have hit basic interaction bugs, which the team is fixing first.
No file drag-and-drop on native Wayland
Evidence: README, Downloads: the current native Wayland backend does not deliver file-drop events, so on Hyprland and other native Wayland sessions files come in through the File menu or XWayland.
The interface is only partly translated
Evidence: The roadmap measures Simplified Chinese at 29% of interface strings (menus and part of the panels) and Japanese at 27%, and says no language has had native-speaker review.
Not for client work yet
Evidence: The README says plainly that EffectCraft isn't yet a replacement for After Effects on client work. Motion designers with deadlines, or anyone who has to open .aep files from others, should not switch to it yet.
Uncertain
How closely effects and keyframes match After Effects
Why unsure: The project says nearly every feature exists, but existing is not the same as behaving exactly like After Effects and it hasn't measured that yet; neither have we.
How good Roto Brush and face tracking are
Why unsure: Both rely on optional downloadable models (MobileSAM for Roto Brush, Google's MediaPipe Face Landmarker for face tracking), and the README says neither is compared with After Effects yet.
How well the Windows ARM64 build works
Why unsure: CI installs the ARM64 MSI on Windows 11 ARM64 hardware and runs the command-line tool there, but the README says it doesn't open the app's window or run the test suite natively on ARM64 yet.
Speed on long or 4K compositions
Why unsure: The roadmap lists benchmarks at 1080p and 4K and real-time cached playback as upcoming work, so no measured numbers exist yet, and we have not measured it.
The facts, each with its source and the date we checked it.
| Spec | Value | Note and source |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 0 USD | Free and open source Source: github.comchecked |
| License | MIT or Apache-2.0 | Dual-licensed, at your option; GitHub's license field shows Apache-2.0 Source: github.comchecked |
| Written in | Rust | No FFmpeg inside; video and audio codecs are pure Rust, partly shared with FilmCraft Source: github.comchecked |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, web | Windows x64, ARM64 (native) and 32-bit; macOS universal (Apple silicon and Intel); Linux x86_64 and aarch64, plus riscv64; FreeBSD x86_64; a WebAssembly web build Source: github.comchecked |
| Code signing | Windows code-signed; macOS signed and notarized | Source: github.comchecked |
| Project file | .ecproj (versioned JSON) | Cannot open After Effects .aep or .aepx files Source: github.comchecked |
| Export | H.264, ProRes, HEVC, AV1, WebM, PNG/JPEG/TIFF/EXR sequences, GIF, WAV/AIFF | ProRes and WebM with alpha; Lottie export as .json or .lottie Source: github.comchecked |
| Agent control | CLI, JSON control channel, MCP server | effectcraft-cli mcp speaks MCP over stdio, headless or bridged to the running app Source: github.comchecked |
| Privacy | No telemetry | No network access unless you ask for it Source: github.comchecked |
| Interface languages | English, plus partial Chinese, Japanese and others | Per the roadmap: Simplified and Traditional Chinese 29%, Japanese 27%, Portuguese (Brazil) 26%; Spanish, French and German menus only; no native-speaker review yet Source: github.comchecked |
Answer first, then why, an example, the limits and what to do next.
EffectCraft is free and open source, under the MIT or Apache-2.0 license at your choice.
Why
The ArtCraft team publishes the source code and every build on GitHub, and the README describes the Crafting Apps as free, open-source creative tools.
EffectCraft's official builds are published on its GitHub releases page and getartcraft.com, and they are signed: Windows installers and executables are code-signed, and the Mac app is signed and notarized.
Why
Each release includes SHA256SUMS.txt with a checksum for every file, and the README says the app has no telemetry and no network access unless you ask for it.
Limits
We have not audited the code or run the builds ourselves.
Next step
Download only from the GitHub releases page, getartcraft.com or the buttons on this page.
EffectCraft cannot open After Effects .aep or .aepx projects, and After Effects plug-ins don't run in it.
Why
The README lists this as the main gap; the roadmap says .aep import waits on a clean-room decision by the project's owner.
Next step
Rebuild the composition in EffectCraft: per its footage guide it imports footage, image sequences and Photoshop, SVG and PDF files, and per the README it imports Lottie animations.
EffectCraft runs on macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and its web build runs in a modern browser.
Why
The Mac download is one universal app for Apple silicon and Intel, and the Windows ARM64 build runs natively, without x64 emulation.
Limits
The README says macOS is the most tested platform and that Linux and Windows users have hit basic interaction bugs.
Update EffectCraft by installing the newest release from this page; on Windows the installer reuses your install folder.
Why
The README says later Windows versions install into the same folder, and the Linux AppImage updates itself with AppImageUpdate through the .zsync files in each release.
Limits
The README does not describe an automatic updater inside the app.
EffectCraft follows After Effects' panels, keyframes and effects list closely, but its makers say it isn't yet a replacement for After Effects on client work.
Why
The README estimates that about 91% of After Effects' features exist and that EffectCraft is about 45% of the way to replacing it for professional work. It adds built-in Lottie import and export, readable JSON project files and control by AI agents.
Limits
No .aep import, no After Effects plug-ins, and renders are not yet compared with After Effects.
Step by step for each system, plus the fixes the project documents for common problems.
effectcraft-<version>-windows-x64.msi, where <version> is the version number shown in the box..msi file and follow the installer. It asks where to install EffectCraft (Program Files by default). The README says the installers and executables are code-signed.effectcraft-<version>-windows-arm64.msi or effectcraft-<version>-windows-x86.msi from Other downloads instead. The ARM64 build runs natively, without x64 emulation.effectcraft-<version>-windows-x64-portable.zip from Other downloads, unzip it and double-click effectcraft.exe. In this portable mode EffectCraft keeps its settings, shortcuts and logs in an EffectCraftData folder beside it, so you can copy the whole folder to another PC.msiexec /i effectcraft-<version>-windows-x64.msi /qn INSTALLFOLDER="D:\Apps\EffectCraft".effectcraft-<version>-macos-universal.dmg, one app for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs..dmg file. In the window that opens, drag the EffectCraft icon onto the Applications folder next to it.effectcraft-cli-<version>-macos-universal.zip, is in Other downloads; it is signed and notarized too.effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage for most PCs, or effectcraft-<version>-linux-aarch64.AppImage for ARM64. The README says the AppImage runs on any distribution.chmod +x effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage, then start it with ./effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage.sudo apt install ./effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.deb.sudo dnf install ./effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.rpm. The same .rpm is listed for openSUSE.flatpak install --user effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.flatpak.effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz anywhere and run effectcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64/bin/effectcraft.effectcraft-<version>-linux-riscv64.tar.gz, which needs glibc 2.39 or newer (for example Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 13).media-video/effectcraft-bin. The EffectCraft team does not maintain it..zsync files published in each release.If something goes wrong
DISPLAY is set, start EffectCraft through XWayland with env -u WAYLAND_DISPLAY effectcraft.effectcraft-<version>-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz from Other downloads at the top of this page./usr/local with the command from the project's FreeBSD packaging script: tar -xzf effectcraft-<version>-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz --strip-components 1 -C /usr/local.effectcraft; the command-line tool is effectcraft-cli.effectcraft-web-<version>.zip from Other downloads and unzip it..wasm files as application/wasm.https:// (or open it on localhost): WebGPU and the offline service worker only work in a secure context, and over plain HTTP the app falls back to WebGL2.python3 -m http.server 8765 inside the unzipped folder and open http://localhost:8765/ in a modern browser.EffectCraft is for animated titles, motion graphics and compositing, the kind of work people use After Effects for. You build a composition out of layers (solids, shapes, text, footage and other compositions), animate their properties with keyframes, stack effects on them and render the result. The README lists layers of every kind, keyframes with a Graph Editor, time remapping, shape layers and masks, text animators, JavaScript expressions, puppet pins, 306 effects, all nine Layer Styles, classic 3D with cameras and lights, and a Render Queue.
Video and audio decoding and encoding are pure Rust: FilmCraft's codecs plus EffectCraft's own VP9, AV1, HEVC and Opus encoders. There is no FFmpeg inside. The project is young: its first commit was on 1 October 2026, and it calls itself alpha.
The README estimates that about 91% of After Effects' features exist in EffectCraft and that it is about 45% of the way to replacing After Effects for professional work. It says plainly that EffectCraft is a good place to try things and report what breaks, but not yet a replacement for After Effects on client work.
The README names the main gaps. EffectCraft can't open .aep or .aepx projects, and After Effects plug-ins don't run. Behaviour still differs from After Effects in places, and nothing compares the two automatically yet. macOS is the most tested platform; Linux and Windows users have hit basic interaction bugs. Roto Brush and face tracking use optional downloadable models that have not been compared with After Effects.
EffectCraft is a clean-room project. The team works from After Effects' public documentation and how it behaves, never from Adobe's files, icons, presets or code, and the project is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Adobe.
A few things go further than the original, according to the README. Lottie import and export is built in, so animations can go to the web and apps without a plugin. Projects are saved as versioned JSON (.ecproj), so they diff cleanly in version control. Every menu item, timeline drag and property edit goes through one command registry that the effectcraft-cli command-line tool, a JSON control channel and an MCP server can all reach, so AI agents can build and render compositions. And the app is private by default: no telemetry, and no network access unless you ask for it.
EffectCraft is one of the Crafting Apps, free and open-source creative tools from the ArtCraft team, each written from scratch in Rust and each able to stand on its own. It shares its time model and text engine design with FilmCraft, the video editor, and gets its video and audio codecs from it. The others are PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, LightCraft, PdfCraft and DesignCraft. EffectCraft is dual-licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0; the ArtCraft name and logos are trademarks of the ArtCraft Team and are not covered by that license.
Sources
Changelog
Audio editor
SoundCraft is a free, open-source digital audio workstation (DAW) from the ArtCraft team: a clean-room rewrite of Avid Pro Tools in pure Rust for recording, editing and mixing audio. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD, and in a web browser.
Latest version 0.14.0, released 2026-10-28Apache-2.0
Video editor
FilmCraft is a free, open-source video editor from the ArtCraft team (GitHub: storytold) that rebuilds the Adobe Premiere Pro workflow in pure Rust, with the same panels, tools and shortcuts. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD and in the browser, and the project calls it alpha software.
Latest version 0.14.0, released 2026-10-28Apache-2.0
Word processor
WordCraft is a free, open-source word processor from the ArtCraft team that rebuilds the Microsoft Word workflow from scratch in pure Rust. It opens and saves .docx files and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD and in the browser.
Latest version 0.12.0, released 2026-10-28Apache-2.0
Vector graphics
VectorCraft is a free, open-source vector illustration app from the ArtCraft team that reimplements the Adobe Illustrator workflow from scratch in pure Rust. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD and in a web browser, and its README describes it as alpha software under active development.
Latest version 0.18.0, released 2026-10-28Apache-2.0
Photo editor
PhotoCraft is a free, open-source Photoshop clone from the ArtCraft team (storytold): a clean-room reimplementation of Adobe Photoshop, written from scratch in pure Rust with help from Anthropic's AI model Claude Opus 5.5. It opens and saves layered PSD files and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD and in the browser, but the project calls it early alpha.
Latest version 0.17.0, released 2026-10-28Apache-2.0
PDF reader and editor
PdfCraft is a free, open-source PDF app from the ArtCraft team (GitHub: storytold), a clean-room rebuild of Adobe Acrobat in Rust. It reads, searches, organizes, combines, splits and password-protects PDFs and handles comments and forms, with no account or telemetry, on Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD and the web. The project calls it alpha.
Latest version 0.15.0, released 2026-10-28Apache-2.0