Short answer: Figma Motion is a real step forward for UI animation inside Figma, but it does not replace After Effects for finished motion graphics. If you animate micro interactions and hand them to developers, Figma Motion may be all you need. If you make explainer videos, product launches or ads that need frame accurate timing, sound sync, expressions and effects, your design still has to travel from Figma to After Effects, and how it makes that trip still decides how much of your day you lose.
What Figma announced, and what it actually does
At Config 2026 in June, Figma introduced Figma Motion: a timeline that opens right on the canvas when you switch a frame into motion mode. At the time of writing (October 2026) it is in open beta. From the public coverage, here is what it does today:
- Keyframes for position, scale, rotation and opacity on your existing layers
- Easing with bezier curves or spring physics, plus a set of starter presets
- Export as code (CSS, JSON, React) for developers, inspectable in Dev Mode
- Export as video or image (MP4, WebM, GIF and animated SVG)
And what it does not do yet:
- Lottie export is on the roadmap but not in the beta
- Timing is set in seconds and milliseconds, not frames
- Expression style control is limited
- Compositing, particles, character rigs and effects work are out of scope
Figma is moving quickly, so some of this will change. The direction is clear though: Figma Motion is built for interface motion and design to development handoff. That is a different job from making a video.
Figma Motion vs After Effects, side by side
| What you need | Figma Motion | After Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Animate a button, a modal or a page transition | Excellent, no export needed | Possible, but overkill |
| Hand animation specs to developers | Excellent (CSS, JSON, React) | Needs extra tools |
| Frame accurate timing to a voiceover or music | Limited (seconds, not frames) | Industry standard |
| Expressions, rigs, data driven animation | Limited in beta | Full control |
| Effects, glows, textures, compositing | Not the goal | Full control |
| A finished explainer or ad with sound design | Not really | Yes |
The honest summary: Figma Motion shrinks the number of times you need After Effects. It does not remove the need. And every time you do need it, you are back to the oldest problem in this workflow.
The problem Figma Motion does not solve
Your design lives in Figma. Your video lives in After Effects. Getting one into the other has always been the slow, boring part: exporting SVGs, importing them one by one, watching gradients flatten, retyping text layers and rebuilding the group structure by hand. On one screen that is twenty minutes. On a full product walkthrough it is most of a day.
And then the client changes the design. The usual answer is to delete the old layers, transfer again and redo the keyframes you already set.
That is the gap a Figma to After Effects plugin exists to close, and it is exactly why the arrival of Figma Motion makes the bridge more important, not less. More designers will start animating in Figma, hit the ceiling, and need to move that same work into After Effects without starting over.
A workflow that uses both
This is how we work at Next Horizon on client explainers, and it is a good template for any team that has Figma Motion and After Effects on the same project:
- Design and storyboard in Figma. Every shot is a frame with its script line above it.
- Prototype interface motion in Figma Motion. Use it to agree on how the UI itself should move: transitions, hovers, loading states. Developers can take that straight to code.
- Send the frames to After Effects with one click. With Prism, shapes arrive as native shape layers, text stays live text, gradients stay real gradients, and blurs and shadows come through as effects you can keyframe. Frames become pre-compositions in the same nesting as your design.
- Build the film in After Effects. Timing to the voiceover, camera moves, effects, sound.
- When the design changes, re-send. Prism's Live Sync finds the layers it already created and updates their geometry, colour and text in place. Your keyframes, expressions and parenting stay where they are.
Step five is the one that saves projects. Designs always change after animation starts.
Who should use what
Product designers
Start with Figma Motion. For most interface animation it will be faster than anything else, and the code export is genuinely useful. You probably do not need After Effects for daily work.
Motion designers and video editors
After Effects stays your main tool. Use Figma Motion when a client already prototyped something there, and use a bridge to bring their design into your comp as editable layers instead of flattened images. If you finish in DaVinci Resolve, Prism can also send Figma designs into Resolve as a Fusion composition.
Startups and marketing teams
Figma Motion is great for the small animations on your site and app. For the launch video, the explainer or the ad, you still need a motion pipeline, either in house or with a motion graphics studio.
Getting started with Prism
Prism is two halves: a plugin inside Figma that reads your selection, and a panel inside After Effects that builds the layers. A single Windows installer sets up both, and the Figma plugin is published on the Figma Community. It works with After Effects CC 2019 and newer on Windows; a macOS version is in progress. A single bridge starts at $39, paid once, with no subscription. The installation guide walks through setup in a few minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Figma Motion replace After Effects?
No. Figma Motion is built for interface animation and developer handoff. After Effects is still needed for frame accurate timing, sound sync, expressions, effects and finished videos. Most teams will use both.
Can Figma Motion export to After Effects?
Not directly at the time of writing. It exports code (CSS, JSON, React) and video or image files (MP4, WebM, GIF, animated SVG). To get editable Figma layers into After Effects you still need a Figma to After Effects plugin.
Does Figma Motion support Lottie?
Lottie export is on Figma's roadmap but was not part of the open beta at the time of writing.
Will my keyframes survive if the Figma design changes?
With a normal export, no: you delete and rebuild. With Prism's Live Sync, re-sending a frame updates the existing layers in place and keeps your keyframes, expressions and parenting.
Is Prism available on Mac?
Prism currently runs on Windows. A macOS version is in progress, and you can join the waitlist from the Prism page.
