Red Giant

Red Giant is a professional suite of 50+ VFX and motion design plugins created by Maxon for After Effects, Premiere Pro, and video apps. Includes Trapcode (particles, lens flares, lights), Universe (transitions, effects), color tools, and specialized toolsets. Ships with monthly updates and Maxon Studio (templates).

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About

In practice. What you can do with Red Giant.

Red Giant bundles four historically separate plugin suites (Trapcode, Universe, Magic Bullet and VFX) into one subscription, now installed through a single Maxon installer. It runs inside a host video app, mainly Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, and adds particle systems, transitions, color grading, keying and cinematic VFX that would otherwise take custom scripting to replicate.

The suite is strongest for solo motion designers and small studios that live inside the Adobe ecosystem and want a wide, ready-made effects library rather than assembling one from many smaller plugin vendors. The tradeoff is a recurring cost that only makes sense if several of the four suites get used regularly, and a plugin-dependent workflow: without a host app and an active subscription, none of it works and existing project files become unusable.

Practical uses

Adding organic particle effects, light flares and 3D-aware motion graphics to an After Effects compositionTrapcode.
Dropping stylized transitions and generators from Universe into a Premiere Pro edit to speed up turnaround on client videos.
Color grading footage and matching skin tonesMagic Bullet before final delivery.

Features & use cases

Motion design

For. What works in its favour.

Very wide coverage of VFX/motion design needs (particles, transitions, color, keying) in one bundle.
Deep, native-feeling integration inside After Effects and Premiere Pro's own effects panel.
Single unified installer and regular version updates keep all four suites current together.

Pays off from

1 h 20saved a month

Red Giant costs $53/month. If your hour is worth $40, those 1 h 20 cover it.

Your hour is worth$40/h

Against. What to plan for.

Subscription-only pricing with no perpetual license option, unlike some competitors.
Requires a compatible host app to function at all; it is not usable as standalone software.
Poor value for someone who only needs one narrow effect category, since the price covers the whole 50+ plugin bundle.

Too expensive if

You use it less than once a month
DaVinci Resolve (free) already covers the essentials for occasional use

Pricing. What does Red Giant cost ?

Red Giant (complet, avec Universe)

$53/mo

Billed annually · $85/mo billed monthly. Per user.

Includes the full Red Giant suite: Trapcode, Magic Bullet, VFX, Universe, and Maxon Studio project templates, installed via a single unified installer.
Monthly billing is $85/month with no commitment
Annual billing is $639/year (about $53/month)
The officially cheaper option

Checked on September 25, 2026Official pricing

Part of Maxon One

Alternatives. What could replace Red Giant?

Motion Bro3.6/5 · Very goodFreeFree plugin for After Effects and Premiere Pro giving one-click access to paid transition and preset packs.

Magic Bullet3.0/5 · GoodA color grading and film emulation plugin for video editors, bundled inside the Red Giant Complete subscription at an unpublished price.

DaVinci Resolve3.6/5 · Very goodFreeFree editing, color grading, VFX and audio software, with a $295 one-time Studio license for higher-bit-depth professional delivery.

Other direct substitutes

Our verdict. What to know about Red Giant.

How the score breaks down

Added value

At $53-85/month for a bundle of 50+ plugins the price is fair for studios using several suites, but steep for a freelancer who only needs one or two tools (e.g. just Universe transitions).

Simplicity

Installation is now unified through a single Red Giant installer, but the suite still spans dozens of plugins across four toolsets, so the overall menu and settings surface stays large.

Fit for purpose

Once installed, the plugins integrate directly into After Effects/Premiere Pro's native effects panel and timeline, which keeps the day-to-day workflow familiar for existing users of those apps.

Performance

Red Giant's Trapcode (particles), Universe (transitions) and Magic Bullet (color) suites are long-established, well-regarded tools in the motion design and VFX industry, covering a very wide range of effect categories.

Reversibility

Subscription-only; effects are baked into host-app project files as plugin-dependent layers, so projects become unusable or need re-editing if the subscription lapses, and there is no standalone export format to take the work elsewhere.

Decided? Visit Red Giant or compare alternatives

Works with

Red Giant is a plugin for

Adobe After Effects

Adobe's visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application (Windows/macOS).

Frequently asked questions. What people ask about Red Giant.

What is Red Giant used for?

How much does Red Giant cost?

Red Giant costs $53/month (Red Giant (complet, avec Universe) plan). Price verified on September 25, 2026.

Is Red Giant suitable for beginners?

Freelance motion designers and video editors who already work inside After Effects or Premiere Pro and want a broad, ready-made toolkit for particles, transitions, color grading, and VFX shots without building custom effects from scratch.

Is Red Giant worth the price?

If you're using fewer than two of the four bundled suites on a regular basis, a narrower plugin (e.g. Universe alone, or a single Trapcode tool) is usually more cost-effective.

What are the best alternatives to Red Giant?

The main alternatives to Red Giant are: Motion Bro, Magic Bullet, DaVinci Resolve. Free alternatives: Motion Bro, Magic Bullet, DaVinci Resolve.

Is there a free alternative to Red Giant?

Yes, DaVinci Resolve is a free alternative to Red Giant.

Red GiantFrom $53/mo

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