FLIXITY

May 22, 2026

Top 10 Free After Effects Plugins You Should Be Using Right Now

Plugins can completely change what's possible in After Effects. The problem is, most of the really good ones cost money and when you're just starting out, spending $200 on a single plugin doesn't exactly feel realistic.

The good news? There are some genuinely great free plugins out there. I've been using After Effects for a while now, and these are the ones I actually keep installed and use regularly. No fluff, no "technically free but you need to pay for features" - just real free tools that work.

1. Motion Bro (Free Version)

Motion Bro is essentially a plugin manager for After Effects. The free version lets you organize and preview your presets and extensions directly inside After Effects without hunting through folders. If you use a lot of presets, this alone will save you a ton of time. It's one of those tools where you don't realize how much you needed it until you start using it. If You link it you can purchase it from Official Website

2. SABER by Video Copilot

SABER is one of the most downloaded free plugins for After Effects — and for good reason. It creates energy beams, lightsabers, portals, neon glows, and all kinds of sci-fi style effects. The quality is genuinely impressive for something that costs nothing. Video Copilot released it for free and it's been a community favorite ever since.

If you've ever seen a YouTube video with glowing energy effects and thought "how did they do that?" - there's a good chance SABER was involved.

You link it you can purchase it from Official Website

3. Twitch by Video Copilot

Another one from Video Copilot (they're generous with free stuff). Twitch creates glitch-style effects screen flickers, color distortion, jitter, blur pulses. It's perfect for music videos, horror-themed content, or anything where you want a raw, chaotic energy.

It's old but it still works, and nothing really replicates what it does for free.

4. Animation Composer (Free Starter Pack)

Animation Composer by Misterhorse is a fantastic tool for animating text and objects quickly. The free starter pack comes with a solid set of presets that you can apply in seconds. It's beginner-friendly and has a visual interface that makes animation much less intimidating.

If you've ever struggled with keyframes and wanted an easier way to animate things, this is worth trying.

5. BCC Lite (Free Version of Boris FX Continuum)

Boris FX offers a free lite version of their Continuum package. You don't get everything, but what you do get includes some useful filters and effects. It's a good way to get a taste of professional-grade Boris FX tools without paying for the full suite.

6. Duik Bassel

If you ever want to do character animation in After Effects, Duik Bassel is the plugin you need. It's a rigging and animation tool that lets you create bones, inverse kinematics, and proper character rigs. The fact that it's completely free is honestly remarkable - this kind of tool would easily cost hundreds of dollars elsewhere.

It has a learning curve, but there are tons of tutorials online that walk you through it.

7. GifGun (Free Trial / Affordable)

Technically not fully free, but GifGun is worth mentioning because it's extremely affordable and solves a real problem - exporting GIFs from After Effects without going through Media Encoder. The free trial lets you test it out, and the paid version is very reasonably priced.

8. Ease and Wizz

Easing is everything in animation. The difference between animation that looks robotic and animation that looks smooth and natural often comes down to how your keyframes ease in and out. Ease and Wizz gives you a huge variety of easing types - bouncy, elastic, exponential - all with a simple interface.

This is a must-have for anyone who takes animation seriously.

9. Ray Dynamic Color

If you work with a lot of colors in your projects and hate manually updating them across multiple layers, Ray Dynamic Color is a lifesaver. It creates a color palette system inside After Effects so you can control colors centrally. Change one color in the palette and it updates everywhere. Super practical for projects with consistent branding.

10. Flow by Motion Array

Flow is similar to Ease and Wizz but with a more visual, curve-based interface. It lets you control your animation curves in a more intuitive way than After Effects' built-in graph editor. If you've ever struggled with the graph editor, Flow makes the whole process feel a lot more manageable.

Where to Download These Safely

Always download plugins from the official developer website. Avoid random download sites - some of them bundle malware with plugin installers. Stick to:

• aescripts.com - one of the most trusted sources for After Effects scripts and plugins
• videohive.net - for presets and templates
• Official developer websites - always the safest option

Final Thoughts

You don't need to spend a lot of money to make great work in After Effects. These free plugins cover a wide range of needs - from animation to effects to color management. Start with SABER and Ease and Wizz if you're just beginning, and work your way through the list as you get more comfortable.

The best plugin is always the one you actually understand how to use - so take your time learning each one before moving to the next.