Premation vs Cavalry
Cavalry is a 2D animation and motion design application for macOS and Windows, built around procedural tools: rig control, duplicators, dynamics and shapes connected to data. Canva owns it and made it free for individuals in 2026.
Across the 9 areas below, Cavalry is ahead on 3, the two are level on 3, and Premation is ahead on 3. The 3 are listed first: a comparison you can trust is one that says where it loses.
Pick Cavalry if
- Your work is procedural 2D: patterns, generative layouts, shapes connected to other shapes, many duplicates driven by one rule. Cavalry is built around that, and Premation's repeater, modifier stacks and expressions do not match it.
- You animate from data at scale. Cavalry connects a spreadsheet to a design; Premation fills template fields from a CSV, one row per render.
- You want a tool that has been shipping since 2020. Premation is pre-1.0, and 0.9.0 is the first release on its new engine.
Pick Premation if
- You come from After Effects and want the same model: compositions, layers, pre-comps, text animators, the same shortcuts, and .aep files opened as a conversion.
- You need 3D layers with cameras, lights and depth of field. Cavalry is a 2D tool.
- You want open-source software you can build yourself, and a build that runs with no account. Cavalry is free but needs a Canva sign-in.
Feature by feature
- Procedural animation
- CavalryRig control, duplicator, dynamics, shapes connected to each other
- PremationRepeater, nine path operators, modifier stacks and expressions on a keyframed layer timeline
- Cavalry
- This is the reason to pick Cavalry. Premation is a keyframe-and-layer tool with procedural helpers, not a procedural system.
- Data-driven design
- CavalryConnect a spreadsheet and animate at scale
- PremationTemplate fields filled from a CSV, in the app or from the command line; media columns are skipped
- Cavalry
- Maturity
- CavalryReleased versions since 2020
- PremationPre-1.0; 0.9.0 is the first release on the native engine
- Cavalry
- Rigging
- CavalryRig control and rubber-hose limbs
- PremationBones, IK / FK chains, controllers, auto-rig presets, puppet mesh with painted weights
- Even
- Lottie
- CavalryLottie export
- PremationLottie in and out (vector shapes and transforms)
- Even
- Where it runs
- CavalrymacOS and Windows; an internet connection is needed to sign in
- PremationmacOS and Windows; the installers use a free sign-in, a build from source makes no network calls
- Even
- 3D
- Cavalry2D only
- PremationClassic 3D with cameras, lights, shadows, glTF meshes, depth of field
- Premation
- Coming from After Effects
- CavalryIts own model and interface
- PremationAfter Effects' model and shortcuts; .aep and .aepx open as a conversion with a report
- Premation
- The conversion is partial: shape-layer contents do not come across yet.
- Price and licence
- CavalryFree for individuals with a Canva account; enterprise plan priced on enquiry
- PremationFree, AGPL-3.0, source on GitHub
- Premation
- Both cost nothing. The difference is the licence: Premation's source is open.
The Premation column is checked against the editor’s source at v0.9.0. The Cavalry column describes the product as its own site and documentation presented it on 2026-10-05; if something there has changed, tell us and this page changes.