After Effects 2020 was developed by Adobe as that year’s annual feature release, and when it was current, it introduced genuinely useful additions: a Content-Aware Fill feature for video, extending the still-image tool from Photoshop into removing unwanted objects from moving footage, plus performance improvements to the Rotobrush tool and general rendering speed gains. Adobe Premiere Pro handles the editing side of a video pipeline, a companion tool rather than a substitute, while After Effects has always been the compositing and motion graphics half of that same workflow.
There are 2 realistic reasons someone might specifically want this older version rather than the current release: compatibility with an existing older project file built with 2020-era plugins or effects that haven’t been updated for newer After Effects builds, or working on an older machine that doesn’t meet current system requirements. Adobe does maintain access to previous Creative Cloud app versions through the desktop app’s “Other Versions” option for active subscribers specifically for this reason, project and plugin compatibility across teams and legacy work is a genuine, common need in professional post-production.
What’s genuinely lost by staying on 2020 rather than the current release is substantial at this point. Recent versions have added native 3D parametric mesh creation, Substance 3D Materials support, AI-powered Object Matte for one-click subject isolation and tracking, Depth of Field in the Advanced 3D renderer, and native Windows ARM support, none of which exist in the 2020 build. For anyone not specifically constrained by legacy compatibility, there’s little practical reason to deliberately stay on a 6-year-old version when the subscription cost is identical either way.
Key Features (2020 release, as it originally shipped)
- Content-Aware Fill for video, removing unwanted objects across a moving shot
- Improved Rotobrush 2 performance for faster object isolation
- General rendering and playback performance improvements over 2019 release
- Multi-frame rendering groundwork (fully realized in later versions)
- Standard compositing, keyframing, and motion graphics toolset
- Third-party plugin support via the After Effects SDK
ScrenShots
System Requirements (as originally specified in 2020)
- Windows 10 (64-bit) or macOS 10.13 or later
- Multi-core Intel processor with 64-bit support
- 16 GB RAM minimum, 32 GB recommended
- 8 GB GPU VRAM recommended for GPU-accelerated features
- Note: current hardware and OS versions may not be officially validated against this old release
Why I Recommend
Being direct: I wouldn’t deliberately seek out this specific version today unless you have a real compatibility reason to. The subscription cost of Creative Cloud is the same whether you’re on 2020 or the current 2026 release, so staying on the older version means paying full price while missing 6 years of genuine feature development, AI tools, 3D workflow improvements, and performance work that current subscribers get automatically.
Where staying on 2020 does make sense: a production pipeline with older, unmaintained third-party plugins that specifically require that version, or matching an existing project file’s exact software environment for a legacy client deliverable. In those cases, Adobe’s own “Other Versions” download option inside the Creative Cloud desktop app is the correct, legitimate path, not a third-party mirror.
For anyone doing motion graphics or compositing work, our Video Editing section has more current tools worth comparing against staying on an older, unsupported After Effects release.
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Technical Details
- Developer: Adobe
- Version: 2020 (17.x), 6 years old as of this writing
- Platform: Windows, macOS
- License: Full Version
- Current version: 26.3 (June 2026 release)
Download Information
Download | Size: 2.10 GB | Pass: Mazterize.in
