Left Angle's Autograph, a long waited After Effects competitor, launches later this month. The developers have taken their time about things. The last video below was from a conference a year ago. The three above it, including the top beginner's intro, are from the past few weeks, as Left Angle prepares to release it. The UI has a lot in common with After Effects, but has a number of new tricks and polishes.
Left Angle's official site notes that the software is intended for both motion graphics and VFX artists, but the initial preview videos are mograph heavy. I intend to check things out when it launches (and I'm no expert), hopefully others will do the same when it's available. Purchase or sub pricing has not been listed yet.
I currently have an AE sub but there's a ridiculous number of threads on both Reddit and the Adobe site detailing the current buggy / crashy state of AE. I have occasional freezes and crashes, but reading the numerous reports of same from experienced users is a bit of a downer. Autograph is all new code and is optimised for Apple Silicon. If it's not too expensive I'll buy it, and if they only offer a fairly priced sub, I'll likely sub. Curious what others will think if and when they check this new software out.
I would be fine sticking with AE if they'd shown smooth progress in updating and optimising the software, but I've been waiting for Adobe to do this for many years and am not getting any younger. So I'm open to being impressed by Autograph if they can do a lot of the same things.