Simulation and rendering on the GPU
The preview plays in real time, so you change a force and watch the shot respond, rather than scrubbing and waiting. Metal on Mac, Direct3D 12 on Windows — no NVIDIA card required.
How Entropy compares
Entropy is not the first particle system for After Effects. Particular and Stardust have been doing this for years, and newer tools have arrived for specific jobs. Here is how Entropy stacks up against them, feature by feature, including where they are the better pick.
What Entropy does differently
Three things set it apart from the field: the whole simulation runs on your graphics card, systems nest as deep as the idea needs, and one system can render as several different things. And you buy it once — $299, two years of updates, and the version you own keeps working when the updates stop.
Systems that go deeper than one level
A system can have children, and those children can have children, alongside other independent systems. Each layer stays its own thing you can go back and change, inside the familiar Effect Controls rather than a separate editor.
More than sprites
The same system can render as sprites, as real geometry with reflections and refracting glass, as a lit volume, or as tracers that draw every particle's path.
Feature checklist
Taken from each vendor's published material as of October 2026. "Not listed" means we could not find it documented, not that it is missing.
| Feature | Entropy | Trapcode Particular | Stardust | Furikake | Plumebus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How it is sold | Perpetual, $299 | Subscription only (Maxon One or Red Giant) | Perpetual, $249 | $239 | $129 |
| Last feature release | 1.0, 2026 | 2026.5, August 2026 | 1.6, July 2020 (fixes since) | 1.0, 2025 | Not listed |
| Runs on the GPU | Yes — simulation and rendering | GPU-accelerated | GPU-accelerated | No — CPU engine | Yes |
| Sprite and textured particles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No — smoke and fire only |
| 3D geometry as particles | Yes, with reflections and refracting glass | Yes (OBJ models) | Yes, with PBR materials | Not listed | No |
| Volumetric rendering | Yes — lit, shadowed volumes | Not listed | Yes (OpenVDB) | Not listed | Yes — path-traced smoke and fire |
| Trails and tracers | Yes | Yes (auxiliary system, streaklets) | Yes | Yes | — |
| Nested emitters | Yes — children of children | One auxiliary level | Yes, through the node graph | One child level | — |
| Emit from layers, text, masks, meshes | Yes, plus lights and formula shapes | Yes | Yes | Primitive shapes (point, box, sphere, grid) | Emitters, collides with 3D layers |
| Animated formula emitters | Yes — waves, spirals and more, driven by modulators | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | — |
| Fluid simulation | No | Yes (Dynamic Fluids) | Not listed | No | Yes — smoke and fire solver |
| Bounce and collisions | No | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Yes, against 3D layers |
| Mac and Windows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Something out of date? Write to us through support and we will correct it.
Where the others are the better pick
Entropy is not the right tool for every shot. If one of these is the job, buy the tool built for it.
Trapcode Particular
Fluid physics and bounce, and more than a decade of presets and tutorials. If you already pay for Maxon One, you already have it.
Stardust
A node-based interface, and OpenVDB volume tools with booleans and filters.
Furikake
A CPU engine with Multi-Frame Rendering, for machines where the GPU is the bottleneck.
Plumebus
Dedicated, path-traced fire and smoke. Not a general particle system, and not trying to be.
Questions
Is Entropy an alternative to Trapcode Particular or Stardust?
Yes. Entropy does the same job: it is a particle system that runs inside After Effects as an effect. It simulates and renders on the GPU, nests emitters several levels deep, and renders sprites, geometry, volumes and tracers. It is sold as a perpetual license.
Do I need a subscription to use Entropy?
No. Entropy is a perpetual license with two years of updates. When the update window ends, the version you own keeps working.
Can Entropy open presets from Particular or Stardust?
No. Entropy does not import presets or settings from other plug-ins. The concepts carry over — emitters, particle types, forces, child systems — but a look has to be rebuilt in Entropy.
Can I keep my other particle plug-ins installed?
Yes. Entropy is a separate After Effects effect and can sit in the same project as any of them.
Does Entropy need an NVIDIA graphics card?
No. Entropy uses Metal on Mac and Direct3D 12 on Windows. It is not a CUDA product. Full requirements are on the product page.
Can I try Entropy before buying?
Yes. There is a free 7-day trial for Mac and Windows.
One license. $299. Yours.
Two machine activations, and two years of updates. Nothing expires mid-project.
Trapcode and Particular are trademarks of Maxon Computer GmbH. Stardust is a product of Superluminal; Furikake and Plumebus are sold through aescripts + aeplugins. Wild Construct is not affiliated with any of them.