Best Beginner Plugins for After Effects

Spotlight FX

freemium

2,300+ transitions, titles, overlays, elements and 20+ free workflow tools

Animation Composer

freemium

Free motion preset library with 100+ animations, transitions, and sounds

Motion Bro

freemium

Access 5,000+ transitions, presets, and sound effects inside AE and Premiere

Flow

freemium

Modern curve editor for customizing keyframe easing in After Effects

Move Anchor Point 4

freemium

Move anchor points precisely without shifting the layer position

TextBox 2

freemium

Generates auto-resizing background shapes directly on text layers

Ease and Wizz

freemium

Apply advanced easing equations to keyframes with one click

After Ease

freemium

Create bounce and elastic animations with an intuitive curve editor

Squash & Stretch

freemium

Add squash-and-stretch animations with sliders and built-in behaviors

Bodymovin

freemium

Export After Effects animations as JSON for web playback with Lottie

Deep Glow

paid

Creates cinematic glow effects with HDR tonemapping and RGB control

Quick Menu 3

freemium

Launch effects, scripts, presets, and menu commands with a keyboard shortcut

KBar3

freemium

Build custom, shareable toolbars for After Effects with drag-and-drop ease

Zorro-The Layer Tagger

freemium

Tag and organize After Effects layers into selectable groups