Rive

What it is for

Rive is an interactive animation engine + editor: you keep a Stage next to shader code (ShaderDemo), run a State Machine (Entry → Timeline 1), and Free is $0/seat. Use it when the job is runtime motion you start at a public $, not when you need After Effects’ film timeline or Framer’s marketing canvas only.

Soft-note: Free ships with a Rive splash screen; paid seats remove it. Distinct from Framer (the in-catalog motion/site neighbor — it is not After Effects). Also distinct from tldraw.

What makes it unique: the cover is Rive’s official editor (Hierarchy Main, Stage + ShaderDemo code, gradient swatch, Invite / Publish, Design / Animate, State Machine 1 Entry → Timeline 1 / Any State / Exit, Layer 1, assets BasicShader / ShaderDemo, console Compiled 0.4ms) from the editor viewport still — not a wordmark. The ShaderDemo pane itself is ops of Stage.

Key features

• Stage — the artboard + gradient swatch (cover still; rive.app). One desk. Cover Main Active sits here.
• ShaderDemo code — the WGSL / GPUCanvas pane (cover). A code desk, not a Cadet tile.
• State Machine — Entry → Timeline 1 (cover). A graph, not a $9 meter.
• Hierarchy / Assets — Main / BasicShader / ShaderDemo (cover). A tree, not Voyager.
• Design / Animate — the top mode switch (cover). A mode, not Enterprise.
• Layer 1 — the Search layers pane (cover). A layer, not Get Started.

Invite / Publish on the cover are CTAs (not desks). Free / Cadet / Voyager tiles stay in Pricing. Agent / CLI extras stay off Key features as AI extras.

Who it's for

Best fit: motion designers and app engineers who will stay on Free at $0/seat (splash on export) while they open a first ShaderDemo Stage, then Cadet at $9/seat/month when they need splash-free .riv (3-seat max) — not Voyager $32 first unless they need Libraries / 25 seats, and not Enterprise $120 unless they need the $10M+ revenue SKU.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) from rive.app/pricing monthly cards. Soft-note: per-seat monthly.

• Free — $0/seat/month. Editor, CLI with limits, export .riv with a Rive splash screen, 3 collaborative files, Agent with limits.
• Cadet — $9/seat/month. 3 seat max. Splash-free export, unlimited files, Agent with limits.
• Voyager — $32/seat/month. 25 seat max. Libraries, embed URL hosting, advanced Agent models, $20/seat monthly Agent credits.
• Enterprise — $120/seat/month. Card: $10M+ annual revenue. Subteams, custom S3, $40/seat Agent credits, SSO / SOC2, dedicated Slack. Do not invent a quote above $120.

Confirm checkout; taxes follow your location. No After Effects-style perpetual seat is printed.

Limitations / costs

• Free exports play a Rive splash. Shipping without it is Cadet $9.
• Cadet caps 3 seats; Voyager caps 25. Past that is Enterprise $120.
• Not After Effects. There is no in-catalog AE listing; the closest motion neighbor we link is Framer, which is a site canvas, not a film compositor.
• The product editor is not a public GitHub app. We omit a GitHub CTA (rive-app/rive 404). MIT runtimes are not the editor.

Alternatives

• Framer — a site canvas when you want Free $0 / Basic $10 / Pro $30, not Rive’s ShaderDemo State Machine (and not After Effects).
• tldraw — an infinite canvas when you want a whiteboard SDK, not .riv runtime motion.
• Whimsical — a diagram board when you want a planning canvas, not GPUCanvas shader code.

Official tutorial

Official Rive channel video: Rive Quick Start Tutorial - Interactive Menu (oEmbed author: Rive). First-party editor how-to (hierarchy / inspector / state machine); the ShaderDemo Stage still is the cover. We searched @rive_app and @Rive_app — @Rive_app is the product channel.

Written path: rive.app/pricing plus the editor viewport still.

Website

https://rive.app/

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is Rive’s official editor viewport (Stage + ShaderDemo WGSL + State Machine Entry→Timeline 1 + Publish). Dollars checked on rive.app/pricing (Free $0; Cadet $9; Voyager $32; Enterprise $120/seat/mo). Tutorial oEmbed author: Rive (@Rive_app).

Last verified

2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.