An After Effects alternative that sets the keyframes for you
Kario is an AI motion graphics agent with an editor built on the ideas you know from After Effects: compositions, layers, nulls, keyframes, easing curves, track mattes, trim paths and a camera. The difference is who does the keyframing. You write a brief, Kario builds the comp, and you edit it the way you would in After Effects, or by describing the change.
Kario is not a replacement for compositing, VFX or .aep pipelines.
From $19 a video · Updated October 11, 2026
After Effects concepts, and where they are in Kario
| After Effects | Kario | Edit by hand? |
|---|---|---|
| Compositions and precomps | Boards; drop one board onto another to nest it as a comp | Yes |
| Layers, nulls, parenting | Layer tree with nulls and groups; drag a layer into a null to parent it (no pick whip) | Yes |
| Keyframes | Keyframe toggle on 51 properties: transform, opacity, fill, stroke, trim, text, crop, effects, camera. Drag to retime on the timeline | Yes |
| Graph editor | Per-keyframe cubic-bezier editor with hold, auto bezier and overshoot. No speed graph | Yes |
| Track mattes | Alpha, alpha inverted, luma, luma inverted. No drawn masks | Yes |
| Trim paths | Start, end, offset and feather, all keyframable | Yes |
| 3D camera | Zoom, rotation X and Y, dolly, lens perspective, aperture (lens blur), grain. Layers rotate in X and Y | Yes |
| Effects | Blur, glow, shadow, inner shadow, backdrop blur, liquid glass, noise and displacement, water ripple, goo, light sweep, edge sheen, bevel and extrude, wipe, dissolve, chromatic aberration, motion blur, depth of field, 3D cards and rings, shape morphs, animated gradients, particles, text on a path, track mattes | Yes |
| Repeater and particles | Repeater (linear, grid, radial) and a particle emitter | Yes |
| Text animators | Per-glyph, per-word and per-line animators with range selectors | Kario sets them; no panel yet |
| Motion blur | Per-layer shutter angle and samples | Kario sets it; no panel yet |
| Expressions | Constraints that link one layer's property to another's. No expression language | Kario sets them; no panel yet |
| Blend modes | Normal, screen, add | Yes |
A note instead of re-keying
When a camera push crops out something that matters, in After Effects that's a re-key of the camera's position and zoom. In Kario it's one sentence: widen the shot. Kario rewrites the camera keyframes and leaves every other layer alone.
The keyframes are still there to drag by hand afterwards. The AI does the first pass and the notes; it doesn't take the controls away.
Where After Effects still wins
Many teams use both: Kario for launch clips, explainers and the same video in five formats; After Effects for the hero piece a designer polishes for weeks.
- Compositing and VFX: rotoscoping, tracking, keying, live-action cleanup.
- Third-party plugins and scripts, and pipelines where .aep files are handed between people.
- Drawn masks, the expression language, and blend modes beyond the three Kario has.
Who it's for
- Motion designers who want the first pass and the versioning done so they can spend their hours on the finish.
- Marketers and founders who've opened After Effects once and closed it.
- Teams who need more motion content than their motion designer can produce.
Questions
- Can Kario replace After Effects?
- For product videos, explainers, launch and social clips, often yes. For compositing, VFX and plugin-dependent work, no.
- Does Kario have keyframes, easing curves and a timeline?
- Yes. 51 properties are keyframable, each keyframe has a cubic-bezier easing editor with hold, auto bezier and overshoot, and keyframes can be dragged to retime on the timeline.
- What can't Kario do that After Effects can?
- Drawn masks, an expression language, and more than three blend modes. Text animators, motion blur and property links exist, but Kario sets them; there is no panel to edit them by hand yet.
- Can I import or export After Effects files?
- No. Kario doesn't read or write .aep projects.
- How does the cost compare with After Effects?
- After Effects comes with an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, plus the hours of whoever animates. Kario is priced per finished video: try a single video for $19; monthly plans cost less per video.
Related
- AI motion graphics generatorKario turns a written brief into motion graphics and hands you an editable project: scenes, layers, a timeline and keyframes.
- AI product launch video generatorBrief Kario on what you're launching and get a launch video built from your real product: editable scenes, layers and keyframes, exported to MP4 or a transparent MOV or WebM..
- AI explainer video generatorKario writes the script, records the voiceover and animates an explainer timed to it, as an editable project with scenes, layers and keyframes..
- PricingPer finished video, from $19.