How to install EffectCraft on macOS, Windows and Linux
Which EffectCraft 0.8.0 file to download for your OS and CPU, how to verify it, and how to build EffectCraft from source. Based on the official README and the v0.8.0 release.
Updated 2026-10-11 · EffectCraft 0.8.0
EffectCraft is the ArtCraft team's open-source motion graphics and VFX compositor, modeled on the Adobe After Effects workflow. The latest release is v0.8.0, published on 2026-10-11. Its README calls the project alpha, so keep backups of important work.
Main window
Screenshot from EffectCraft (MIT OR Apache-2.0) · ATTRIBUTION
Where to download
The EffectCraft README recommends the EffectCraft page on getartcraft.com as the easiest way to install. Every build is attached to the latest GitHub release, and our download page links to the same files. The tables below list the actual files in v0.8.0.
macOS
| Build | File |
|---|---|
| App, universal (Apple silicon + Intel) | effectcraft-0.8.0-macos-universal.dmg |
| Command-line tool, universal | effectcraft-cli-0.8.0-macos-universal.zip |
Windows
| Build | Installer | Portable |
|---|---|---|
| x64 (64-bit Intel/AMD) | effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-x64.msi | effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-x64-portable.zip |
| arm64 (ARM PCs) | effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-arm64.msi | effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-arm64-portable.zip |
| x86 (32-bit) | effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-x86.msi | effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-x86-portable.zip |
Linux
| Format | x86_64 | aarch64 |
|---|---|---|
| AppImage | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage |
| Flatpak | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-aarch64.flatpak |
| Debian/Ubuntu (.deb) | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-x86_64.deb | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-aarch64.deb |
| Fedora/RHEL/openSUSE (.rpm) | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-x86_64.rpm | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-aarch64.rpm |
| Tarball (.tar.gz) | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz | effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-aarch64.tar.gz |
Other builds
effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-riscv64.tar.gz, effectcraft-0.8.0-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz, effectcraft-web-0.8.0.zip (RISC-V Linux, FreeBSD x86_64, and the static web build).
For Flatpak, the README gives flatpak install --user <file>. For example:
flatpak install --user effectcraft-0.8.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak
Verify the download
The release includes SHA256SUMS.txt with a checksum for every file:
shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing # macOS
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing # Linux
Get-FileHash .\effectcraft-0.8.0-windows-x64.msi -Algorithm SHA256 # Windows
Build from source
You need Rust 1.95 or newer (per the README). These commands come from the README:
git clone https://github.com/storytold/effectcraft
cd effectcraft
cargo run --release -p effectcraft # the app (add `-- --demo` to open the demo project)
cargo run --release -p effectcraft-cli -- render --out intro.mp4 # render the demo headless
Gentoo (community package)
The README notes that the community ::snakebyte overlay packages the Linux release as media-video/effectcraft-bin, and that it is not maintained by the EffectCraft team.
Windows on ARM
According to the README, the Windows ARM64 build runs natively on Windows on ARM, without x64 emulation.
Next
Sources
Every factual claim in this article is taken from these upstream files. If something here disagrees with them, the upstream source wins.
PhotoCraft Hub is an unofficial community site. PhotoCraft is made by the ArtCraft team; screenshots are from the PhotoCraft repository (MIT OR Apache-2.0) and show public-domain artwork.
NextEffectCraft: a free, open-source Adobe After Effects alternative