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What is Cavalry?
Cavalry is a free 2D animation and motion graphics application for macOS and Windows, built around real-time rendering and procedural, data-driven workflows. According to its own page, it is aimed at animators and motion designers and is "completely free to download and use" for individuals, with an enterprise tier that adds SSO through a Canva Enterprise or Canva Education account.
What it does
The page frames Cavalry around three ideas: speed, procedural control, and data. In practice that means:
- Real-time viewport — full-speed rendering while you work, rather than waiting on previews.
- Procedural systems — change one value and connected elements update together ("change it once, watch it ripple").
- Data-driven animation — connect a spreadsheet and animate many elements at scale.
- Feature set — rig control, rubber hose, shape connect, color palettes, magic easing, text animation, duplicator, data import, Lottie export, Forge dynamics, falloffs and quad tree.
Who it suits
A motion designer producing explainer graphics, UI animation, or branded social content with many repeated elements is the clearest fit: the duplicator, data import and falloffs exist to make large, repetitive scenes manageable. Someone who mainly needs frame-by-frame character animation, or who works on a tablet or Linux machine, will find the fit weaker — the page states it runs only on Mac and Windows, and notes a mobile-device message steering visitors to download on a computer.
Trade-offs to weigh
- Account requirement. The page confirms a Canva account is needed to use Cavalry, since it is now offered by Canva. If you want a tool with no account tie-in, that matters.
- Free vs. enterprise. Individual use is free with no stated restrictions; team features such as SSO sit behind Canva Enterprise or Education.
- Platform lock. macOS and Windows only, though it runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel.
- Ecosystem. Lottie export is listed, which helps if your output needs to move into web or app products.
Next step
Download it on the machine you actually animate on and rebuild one small recurring graphic you already make — a lower third or a looping logo sting. That single test will tell you quickly whether the procedural approach saves you time or adds friction. If you are evaluating it against alternatives, compare it with Blender for 3D-heavy or fully free pipelines, and Adobe After Effects if your team already standardises on Adobe files.
Is Cavalry actually free for professional use, and what are the limitations?
Yes, Cavalry is free for professional use by individuals. The FAQ on Cavalry states it is "free for individuals — and not in a watered-down way," with no restrictions or payment needed, and the download section says it is "completely free to download and use." The page lists professional features like procedural rigs, a real-time viewport, data-driven sequences, Lottie export, and dynamics as available in the free version. There is no indication on the page of a paid individual tier, watermark, time limit, or feature lock.
The practical limitations to be aware of:
- Platform: Mac and Windows only. The site explicitly says the software is not available on mobile devices. If your studio is on Linux or you work primarily on a tablet, this rules it out.
- Account requirement: You now need a Canva account to use Cavalry, because it is brought to you by Canva. That is an account dependency rather than a price, but it matters if your organization restricts third-party accounts.
- Team and enterprise use: The free offer is framed around individuals. For organizations, the page points to an Enterprise option with SSO via a Canva Enterprise or Canva Education account, handled through a sales contact. So "free for professional use" most cleanly covers a freelancer or an individual artist doing client work; a team wanting centralized sign-on and administration is directed to the enterprise route.
- Legacy licensing: If you already held a Cavalry licence from Scene Group, the page says you keep access to your legacy version, while the newest features come through the current Canva-linked arrangement.
A sensible next step: if you work solo on Mac or Windows, download it and test a real client project — for example, a data-driven lower-third sequence or a Lottie export for a web handoff — to confirm the workflow fits before committing. If you are evaluating it for a team, decide first whether you need SSO and centralized management; if you do, plan around the Enterprise path rather than assuming the individual free tier covers everyone.
Do I need a Canva account to download and use Cavalry?
Yes. Cavalry now requires a Canva account to download and use, including the free individual version. According to the product's own FAQ, your Canva account is what gives you access to Cavalry alongside other Canva products. There is no separate Cavalry-only signup path described on the page.
A few practical points:
- Free for individuals: The page states Cavalry is free for individuals, with professional features such as procedural rigs, a real-time viewport and data-driven sequences, and no restrictions or payment described.
- Platform limits: It runs on macOS and Windows only, natively on Apple silicon and Intel. Mobile devices cannot run it.
- Team use: Cavalry with SSO is available through a Canva Enterprise or Canva Education account, aimed at organizations that need centralized access.
- Legacy licences: If you held a Cavalry licence from Scene Group, the page says you keep access to that legacy version, but the latest features come through the Canva-linked route.
If you already use Canva, this adds little friction. If you don't, factor in creating a Canva account before you can animate, and check whether your organisation's Canva plan covers SSO if you need team deployment.
What data-driven animation workflows can I build with Cavalry using spreadsheets or external data?
Cavalry is designed around connecting external data to animated properties, so the main workflow is: keep your data in a spreadsheet or similar source, import it, then bind scene properties to rows and columns instead of keyframing each item by hand. Change a value in the source and the composition updates, which suits repeated or large-scale work such as charts, counters, lists, maps, lower-thirds and product variants.
Typical workflows you can build
- Row-per-item animation: one row per element (logo, name, value, image reference), with the duplicator or a rig reading each row to generate and place instances. Useful for leaderboards, credits rolls and directory-style sequences.
- Data-bound charts and counters: bind bar heights, arc sweeps or number readouts to numeric columns so a revised spreadsheet redraws the graphic rather than forcing manual re-animation.
- Parameterised templates: drive colour, text, position and timing from columns, so one setup produces many variants — for example localised titles or per-region campaign cutdowns.
- Procedural rigs fed by data: use the rig and rubber hose tools for character or shape motion, then let imported values control pose, spacing or timing across a series.
- Export pipelines: build once and export via Lottie for web and app use, keeping the data-driven structure intact for later updates.
Whose experience this reflects
The page's own copy claims "connect a spreadsheet, animate at scale," and lists Data Import and Lottie Export among its features; that is the vendor's description, not an independent test. In practice, the value shows up when the same graphic must be reissued often — a weekly results board, a sales dashboard animation, or a set of 200 name cards. If you only ever animate one bespoke title, hand keyframing in a general compositor may be simpler.
Practical next step
Take one real spreadsheet you already maintain, create a small composition that reads three columns (label, value, colour), and re-import an edited version to confirm the update path works the way you expect before committing a larger project to it. For related tools, see Airtable for structured source data, Observable for data visualisation thinking, and LottieFiles for handling exported animations.
How does Cavalry's real-time rendering and procedural rigging compare to After Effects for 2D motion design?
Cavalry is built around a real-time, procedural workflow, while After Effects is built around a layer-and-keyframe timeline that renders on demand. For 2D motion design, that difference shapes how you work more than any single feature.
Real-time rendering. Cavalry renders its viewport at full speed as you work — the page describes "Full-speed, real-time rendering. No waiting. No preview lag." In practice this means you scrub, tweak and judge motion without a preview render cycle. After Effects generally requires RAM previews or draft-quality playback for complex comps, so iteration is slower on heavy scenes. The trade-off: real-time viewports usually mean simpler shading and effects than a full compositing renderer, so Cavalry is less suited to heavy compositing or finishing work.
Procedural rigging. Cavalry's rigging is node- and rule-based. The page lists Rig control, Rubber Hose, Connect shapes, Duplicator, Forge Dynamics, Falloffs and Quad Tree, and its core promise is "Change it once, watch it ripple" — adjust a single value and dependent systems respond. That suits character rigs, generative layouts and anything with many repeated elements. After Effects rigging relies on parenting, expressions and third-party tools like Duik; it is flexible and familiar, but changes often have to be propagated manually.
Data-driven animation. Cavalry's "Connect a spreadsheet. Animate at scale" points to spreadsheet-driven sequences — useful for charts, lower thirds, sports stats or localised variants. After Effects can do this via expressions and JSON/CSV pipelines, but it takes more setup.
| Consideration | Cavalry | After Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Iteration speed | Real-time viewport | Preview renders |
| Rigging model | Procedural, node-based | Parenting, expressions, plugins |
| Data-driven work | Spreadsheet import built in | Possible, more manual |
| Ecosystem | Smaller, growing | Vast plugins, templates, tutorials |
| Best fit | Motion graphics, rigs, data | Compositing, VFX, broad pipelines |
Cavalry is free for individuals on macOS and Windows, and enterprise use with SSO runs through a Canva Enterprise or Canva Education account, so a Canva account is part of the setup.
If you are choosing: pick Cavalry for procedural, data-heavy or rig-driven 2D motion where fast iteration matters; stay with After Effects where you need deep compositing, a large plugin ecosystem or team familiarity. A practical test is to rebuild one real project — a rigged character or a data-driven title — in Cavalry and compare the time from first keyframe to final tweak. For background, see Adobe After Effects and Cavalry; community breakdowns are collected at YouTube.
Can Cavalry export Lottie files for web and app animations, and how does that workflow work?
Yes. Cavalry lists Lottie Export among its core features, so you can produce Lottie (JSON-based vector animation) files for web and app interfaces rather than only rendered video. The workflow is built around its data-driven, procedural approach: you animate in a real-time viewport, then export the composition as Lottie for playback in a browser or mobile app using a Lottie player.
How the workflow typically looks
- Build the animation on a Mac or Windows machine in Cavalry, using rigs, duplicators, text animation and easing.
- Keep the design vector-friendly and avoid effects that don't translate cleanly to the Lottie format.
- Export the composition as Lottie.
- Hand the file to a developer, who plays it in the app or site via a Lottie library.
Where Cavalry stands out for this use case
Its strengths are procedural: change one value and connected systems update, and you can drive animation from imported spreadsheet data. That matters for interface work such as animated charts, counters, list transitions, onboarding sequences or localized UI motion, where you may need many variations of the same animation. Real-time rendering also keeps iteration quick when you're tuning timing for a product team.
Trade-offs to weigh
- Platform: Cavalry runs on macOS and Windows only. A designer on Linux or ChromeOS can't use it, so team composition matters.
- Account: Cavalry is now part of Canva, and a Canva account is required to use it, per the site's FAQ.
- Format limits: Lottie is good for vector UI motion; it is not a substitute for video, heavy raster imagery or complex 3D.
- Team needs: SSO and organization-level access go through Canva Enterprise or Canva Education.
Practical next step
If you're evaluating it for app animation, download the free individual version, export one small UI animation as Lottie, and test it in your actual web or mobile stack before committing a project to it. That single test will tell you more about fit than any feature list.
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