Animation Software reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 219 Reddit reviews across 24 subreddits and 60 posts to rank the best Animation Software brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/animation, r/learnanimation, r/Animators, r/NewTubers, r/gamedev. Top-rated brands include Blender (4.7/5), Krita (4.3/5), Opentoonz (4.3/5).
Stats
Reviews219
Subreddits24
Posts60
Brands76
Products51
219 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Blender
4.7
(39)
"Blender and krita are great for 2D and work great in combination too."
"Blender has many open tools you can use for free. It can do 2d animation."
"Blender"
"I use both. Animate in blender and render in unreal. Both are free and you can export the scene and animation easy enough."
"Blender is free and very powerful as well so it's worth mastering."
"Probably Blender."
"I’d choose Blender for a scenario like that."
"I would do it in Blender, but that’s because that’s what I’ve learned to use."
"Blender!"
"Blender"
#2
Krita
4.3
(20)
"Krita is just so easy and fun to use that I love it."
"Krita is designed for making animations and is free, making it less overwhelming for new users."
"Krita is great for beginners."
"Free and open source, available on PC, Linux, and Mac."
"Krita is an open source digital painting software with great animation capabilities."
"Very intuitive and easy to understand and lots of tutorials."
"Krita is prob your best option."
"It's free and pretty lookin, lol."
"Krita for 2D animation works really well and is beginner friendly."
"If you prefer fully hand drawn animations the other suggestions of aseprite (pixel) and krita (vector) are ideal free options."
#3
Opentoonz
4.3
(13)
"OpenToonz"
"OpenToonz is recommended for 2D animation."
"Opentoonz is fantastic."
"OpenToonz is the closest free software to professional animation tools, making it ideal for transitioning to studio environments."
"Opentoonz"
"OpenToonz is an excellent animation software that is user-friendly and powerful."
"Opentoonz is very robust in its capabilities despite being free and open source."
"OpenToonz also works with touchscreens."
"Opentoonz is an industry-level tool."
"Opentoonz is more complex."
#4
Rive
4.9
(8)
"Rive is an amazing tool for creating animations!"
"Rive is an excellent tool for creating animations and interactive content."
"Check out Rive. It's a great tool for design!"
"Rive is an amazing tool for creating animations!"
"Rive is an excellent tool for creating animations and interactive content."
"I think Rive is what you’re looking for."
"Definitely check out Rive."
"Rive is a powerful tool for creating interactive animations with a free Community edition."
#5
FlipaClip
3.9
(9)
"I use Flipaclip for all my animating."
"If your on a tablet or phone flipaclip should be a nice and simple and easy animation app"
"Draw with flipaclip"
"The transition from Flipaclip to Adobe Animate was smooth."
"There's also Flipaclip, but that one might be android only."
"Flipaclip"
"FlipaClip is a good option for beginners, it's really intuitive and basic and helped me a lot!"
"I have 3: Flipaclip for rough animation ideas/sketches"
"Flipacl...good luck finding a free pc software."
#6
Aseprite
4.3
(7)
"Aseprite: It is probably the best out there."
"Aseprite, it's not free but it's pretty cheap and a one time purchace unlike all those stupid subscription models these days."
"Lovin dat aseprite for pixel art"
"If you prefer fully hand drawn animations the other suggestions of aseprite (pixel) and krita (vector) are ideal free options."
"Aseprite is technically free if you know how to compile it yourself."
"Aseprite is excellent for pixel animations."
"Asprite. Free if you build it yourself. But there are also FOSS forks."
#7
Pencil2D
4.1
(7)
"Pencil2D is a free and user-friendly animation software."
"Try the following pencil 2d, Krita, and the morevna version of opentoons."
"Pencil2D is a straightforward 2D animation software designed specifically for hand-drawn animation."
"I want to use Pencil 2D."
"Pretty basic, which is great for starting out."
"Pencil2D is simple and effective for young animators."
"Pencil2D is much more basic."
#8
Callipeg
4.5
(6)
"I do all my animations on Ipad using Callipeg. Works great for me"
"Callipeg is better for animations on iPad."
"Callipeg has the best interface out there, imho."
"Callipeg for larger projects with lots of elements."
"Calipeg and ToonSquid have been pretty awesome. Single payment options too."
"I would recommend Callipeg, but Rough Animator is also good."
#9
Clip Studio Paint
4.3
(6)
"Clip studio"
"Clip Studio Paint is a fantastic tool for digital artists."
"A lot of anime studios use Clip Studio Paint for raster animation."
"Clip studio paint is great too"
"Has both a one-time license and a subscription model."
"A good paid one Clip Studio Paint. It's for a reasonable price."
#10
Procreate
4.0
(6)
"Procreate on the iPad is preferred for 2D animations."
"Procreate is my go-to app for animation due to its user-friendly interface."
"I think down the line it’ll be one of the best if they update it."
"It has an animation assist that is really basic but many people create interesting animations with it."
"Procreate can make animations, but Callipeg is better."
"Procreate has animation options although it's rather barebones and doesn't support stuff like audio."
#11
Adobe
4.0
(6)
"I use the latest version of pirated Animate CC. Works perfectly fine."
"Great software for animation!"
"Adobe Animate is straightforward with plenty of features and tutorials."
"Adobe Animate is surprisingly light, especially for those with lower-end PCs."
"Photoshop is a powerful tool for digital art and animation."
"Adobe Animation is not ideal for frame-by-frame animations."
#12
Gumroad
4.0
(5)
"You can find a lot of free rigs online now."
"You can find a lot of free rigs online now."
"You can find a lot of free rigs online now."
"You can find a lot of free rigs online now."
"You can find a lot of free rigs online now."
#13
Animation Paper
4.3
(4)
"It's currently available for free."
"It’s looking very promising and will only be around £80 when released."
"I've been using Animation Paper for 2D Animation. If you want frame by frame animation, I recommend watching the tutorials first."
"Meant to emulate traditional 2D animation workflow in a simple, straightforward way without an excess of bells, whistles, and bloat."
#14
ToonSquid
4.0
(4)
"Calipeg and ToonSquid have been pretty awesome. Single payment options too."
"I hear nothing but good things about ToonSquid."
"Check out toonsquid!"
"It's a solid app with a lot of tools and regularly updated."
#15
Rough Animator
4.0
(4)
"Rough Animator."
"Rough Animator is recommended for IPad."
"Good little basic iPad app, cheap, no subscription."
"It's very easy to use, super basic, and fun."
#16
Firealpaca
4.7
(3)
"I think the best one is FireAlpaca, not only is it free, but its animation setting allows you to animate with more than 2 layers."
"It's more of a drawing program but it also works for animation. Also there are a lot of tutorials online for it."
"Thank you for this amazing program, it seems that it works not only with SAI but also with any similar program that can save in .psd."
#17
Sketchbook Pro
5.0
(2)
"I recommend using sketchbook pro. in my opinion its very easy to use"
"Sketchbook Pro has a simple flip book animation tool. It’s free and simple to use."
#18
Toonboom
4.5
(2)
"Toonboom Harmony is the industry standard."
"I would encourage you to give Toonboom Harmony another shot."
#19
Paint Tool SAI
4.5
(2)
"I've been scrambling for ages to find an animation software for sai, you're a life-saver!"
"This is a huge timesaver. I'll give animation another shot with this."
#20
Sai
4.5
(2)
"I've been using Sai for a while and was also looking to get into animation, thank you so much for this!"
"Hey, thank you so much for this program. i've been looking everywhere for a simple + easy-to-use animation app."
#21
Esoteric Software
4.5
(2)
"That's easy."
"Spine is great for rigging and puppet animations."
#22
Toon Boom
2.7
(3)
"Ask them their price or Toon boom harmony."
"Toon Boom Harmony is decent but can be expensive."
"The super expensive industry standard option."
#23
Apple
4.0
(2)
"Procreate is popular if you have an iPad."
"Using the iPad with the Sidecar feature is a great way to utilize the Apple Pencil for drawing."
#24
Clipchamp
4.0
(2)
"Someone recommended Clipchamp and I tried it out. I think it's decent for landscape videos."
"I like clipchamp for easy, fairly intuitive videos."
#25
Synfig Studio
4.0
(2)
"Synfig is packaged as an AppImage, and it worked for me."
"It's a good introduction to animation with a user-friendly interface."
#26
Celsys
4.0
(2)
"I would highly recommend Clip Studio Paint for traditional animation."
"Clip Studio Paint EX is a good one-time purchase for animation."
#27
TV Paint
3.0
(2)
"It is a French software and it is only one $500 payment and you completely own it."
"The super expensive industry standard option."
#28
Source Filmmaker
5.0
(1)
"SFM"
#29
Autodesk Maya
5.0
(1)
"If you've got the money, pick Maya"
#30
Cartoon Animator 5
5.0
(1)
"Have you tried Cartoon Animator 5?"
#31
Savage Interactive
5.0
(1)
"Procreate is an excellent app for digital art, especially at a low price."
#32
Clip Studio
5.0
(1)
"Clip Studio Paint is a very good app for animation and drawing."
#33
Macromedia
5.0
(1)
"It's free and is literally just like Adobe Animate, just less feature-rich."
#34
MMM/MMD
5.0
(1)
"MMM/MMD is excellent for animating models and importing to Unity."
#35
XRAnimator
5.0
(1)
"It's free and allows you to import Mixamo motions as well as pose from pictures combining with your mocap."
#36
Premiere Pro
5.0
(1)
"For editing, I use Premiere Pro."
#37
Procreate Dreams
5.0
(1)
"Supposed to be incredibly beginner friendly."
#38
Animation Desk
5.0
(1)
"Animation Desk is great for beginners."
#39
Easytoon
5.0
(1)
"I put a lot of hours into it."
#40
DaVinci
5.0
(1)
"DaVinci is great for motion design."
#41
USB Light Pad
5.0
(1)
"A USB light pad is perfect for tracing and traditional animation."
#42
Pencils
5.0
(1)
"Pencils are essential for any drawing or animation project."
#43
Storyboard Pro
5.0
(1)
"Very intuitive and affordable with a student login."
#44
Flip-a-Clip
5.0
(1)
"It's accessible because it's available on mobile."
#45
Wick Editor
5.0
(1)
"Wick Editor is a fantastic tool for creating animations and interactive content."
#46
CapCut
5.0
(1)
"Super user friendly, pretty much all the tools you would need, as well as prebuilt animations you can use."
#47
VisSim
4.0
(1)
"You might want to check out software like VisSim or Dymola."
#48
Sticknodes
4.0
(1)
"Mobile then use Sticknodes or DC2."
#49
DC2
4.0
(1)
"I use Dc2."
#50
FlipAnim
4.0
(1)
"[Would this work for you?](https://flipanim.com)"
#51
Toon Boom Harmony
4.0
(1)
"Toonboom is good, or maybe a frame by frame software would be better."
#52
Toonsquid
4.0
(1)
"It's pretty robust and has symbols, and keyframing, and you can draw in it. It's the most beginner friendly program I've found on mobile."
#53
LottieLab
4.0
(1)
"LottieLab allows you to create lightweight, vector-based animations that can be easily embedded."
#54
Pencil 2D
4.0
(1)
"Pencil 2D is recommended for IPhone."
#55
IArtbook
4.0
(1)
"IArtbook is recommended for IPhone."
#56
Lost Marble
4.0
(1)
"Moho is quite intuitive after an initial learning curve and you can make very professional animations."
#57
Autodesk
4.0
(1)
"Autodesk Maya is a solid choice for something more professional, though it comes with a cost."
#58
Amazon
4.0
(1)
"For around 60 bucks, you can get a lightbox, punched paper, and a pegbar."
#59
Mixamo
4.0
(1)
"Mixamo offers a variety of free motions that are useful for animation."
#60
vTuber Technician
4.0
(1)
"Dan Sing Sing and Dance Mixer is great for stringing motions together."
#61
Warudo/Vnyan
4.0
(1)
"Warudo and Vnyan offer a high level of customization for animations."
#63
Unreal Engine
4.0
(1)
"You can animate directly in engine with control rig and sequencer. It's not a bad setup."
#64
Stop Motion Studio
4.0
(1)
"You can shoot it all with your Smartphone and the app."
#65
RoughAnimator
4.0
(1)
"RoughAnimator is a free 2D animation software that works well with drawing tablets."
#66
Trangram
4.0
(1)
"Trangram is a free, online 2D animation software with a user-friendly interface."
#67
Tahoma 2D
4.0
(1)
"Tahoma 2D can work for more advanced beginners."
#68
Adobe Animate
4.0
(1)
"Adobe Animate is a great industry-level tool."
#69
Adobe Fresco
4.0
(1)
"It has better animation capabilities than Procreate and offers vector brushes."
#70
Animate CC
4.0
(1)
"Animate CC is a solid choice for animation with a user-friendly interface."
#71
Tahoma2D
4.0
(1)
"Tahoma2D is a great free option for animation."
#72
ClipStudio
4.0
(1)
"ClipStudio is much more advanced but also an option."
#73
Synfig
4.0
(1)
"I love Synfig but it does not seem to be that popular."
#74
TVPaint
3.0
(1)
"If you go on TVPaint the upgrade is nears 500$ each year."
#75
Renderforest
3.0
(1)
"Or renderforest for more polished, but limited customization, videos."
#76
Flipaclip
1.0
(1)
"That app is so bad."
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