You want to create animated videos, but you don’t know which software to trust (or what’s actually free).
This list solves that.
We’ve tested and reviewed the best free animation software in 2025, covering 2D drawing, 3D modeling, and AI tools that animate for you in just a few clicks.
Some tools are perfect for beginners. Others support complex animations used by studios. All are either fully free or offer a solid free tier!
No hype. No confusion. Just the best tools to help you start animating today.
This section covers the best free 2D animation software for artists, animators, and storytellers, whether you're drawing frame-by-frame or working with vector rigs.
Blender offers one of the most advanced 2D animation software experiences available today, completely free.
Its Grease Pencil tool lets you draw, rig, and animate directly inside a 3D space, giving 2D creators full access to camera motion, lighting, and compositing tools.
Many professional animators on Reddit call it a "hidden gem" for 2D work, especially when projects demand a mix of hand-drawn style and modern motion graphics.
The interface can feel overwhelming for first-time users, but once you get past the learning curve, Blender offers everything you need to create animated videos, from frame-by-frame scenes to complex animations with rigging and effects.
It’s also ideal for developers exploring AI in industrial automation, thanks to its support for Python scripting and API-level customization.
Key Features of Blender (2D Mode) include:
If you're looking for free animation software that delivers near-professional results, OpenToonz is one of the most advanced options available. This is the same software that powers iconic Studio Ghibli films (now available for anyone, at no cost).
OpenToonz supports both raster and vector animation, allowing artists to combine hand-drawn and digital workflows in one timeline.
Reddit users often compare it to Toon Boom, saying it offers “90% of the tools without the bill.” It’s ideal for character animation, storyboarding, and complex animations with a hybrid of frame-by-frame and rigged assets.
OpenToonz also features a plugin SDK, enabling integrations with generative AI and color-fill automation.
Key Features of OpenToonz are:
Synfig Studio is purpose-built for 2D animation with automation at its core. Unlike frame-by-frame editors, Synfig uses keyframe animation and vector graphics to interpolate motion, perfect for users who want efficiency and precision.
It’s especially loved by indie creators who want to create animations with fewer repetitive steps.
One standout Reddit tip: enable “Link to Spline” to produce smoother camera pans and character movement. The software may take some time to get used to, but once you learn the logic, it can speed up your animation process significantly.
It’s also a strong fit for technical users or teams building pipelines with AI Workflow Automation, thanks to its command-line render support, which allows it to plug into larger automated systems.
Key Features of Synfig Studio include:
Originally built for digital painting, Krita has evolved into a powerful 2D animation software with a clean, user friendly interface and advanced layer control.
It’s an ideal choice for artists who want to create animations frame by frame without giving up the quality of their brushwork.
Its animation features are baked into the same system that supports painting, so you can storyboard, animate, and polish scenes all within one workflow. Krita supports both raster and vector tools and even includes a storyboard docker and onion skin overlays for traditional animating.
For teams exploring custom pipelines (especially those involved in generative AI art workflows) Krita can be a handy tool for prototyping visual frames and testing integration with custom AI model development environments.
Key Features of Krita include:
Pencil2D is a minimalistic 2D animation software that focuses on hand-drawn, frame-by-frame workflows, perfect for students, hobbyists, and first-time users.
The interface is clean and distraction-free, making it easy to learn how to animate without getting lost in menus. Pencil2D supports both bitmap and vector layers, basic sound scrubbing, and a 60 FPS timeline.
It’s especially helpful for short-form animated videos, personal projects, or teaching environments where simplicity matters more than high-end features.
Many educators and animation learners also mention Pencil2D in YouTube tutorials and beginner forums, often pairing it with free tools for video editing or voice-over.
Key Features of Pencil2D are:
Animation Paper is designed for traditional animators who still love the feel of pencil-on-paper workflows just digitized.
Rewritten from the older Plastic Animation Paper, this tool replicates the classic animation process with a focus on timing, clean drawing tools, and simple interface design. It’s built for speed, offering smooth playback even on older hardware.
While not packed with video editing or post-processing features, Animation Paper is ideal for professional animators and students doing early-stage pencil tests. The interface is stripped down but intuitive, allowing you to focus solely on the drawings and timing, without distractions.
Because of its focus on frame-by-frame sketching and timing over polish, it’s not intended for complete animated video production, but it shines in the rough stages of any project or AI PoC & MVP workflow for motion design.
Key Features of Animation Paper include:
TupiTube was built with one purpose: to help kids and beginners create animations in a safe, easy-to-use environment.
It features a user friendly interface tailored for schools and learning spaces, with tools designed to introduce animation without overwhelming users. The software supports 2D animation via vector drawing and basic rotoscoping.
One standout feature is the built-in gallery, which allows students to share their work safely within a school-controlled environment. Teachers often use TupiTube to introduce the animation process as part of digital art or storytelling curriculums.
Because it's open source software, schools and nonprofits can also adapt it to their needs, making it a flexible tool for digital education programs.
Key Features of TupiTube include:
Stykz is a no-frills animation tool for simple animations, storyboards, or rough mock-ups using stick figures.
It’s especially helpful for first-time users or writers/creators who want to visualize motion before handing it off to designers or animators.
Despite its simplicity, Stykz includes smart features like onion-skinning, pose libraries, and timeline sequencing. It’s a great choice for quick animatics, fight scenes, or explainer videos where basic blocking is more important than polish.
You don’t need to install anything complex. Just download and start animating.
Many users pair Stykz with more advanced tools for post-work. It’s also used in classrooms for storyboarding and basic character animation studies before moving into more advanced animation software.
Key Features of Stykz are:
FlipaClip is one of the most popular mobile-first 2D animation apps, especially for hobbyists, students, and creators on the go.
It brings the feel of traditional flipbook-style animation to touch devices with a user friendly interface optimized for finger or stylus input.
Used by millions of aspiring animators worldwide, FlipaClip lets you draw, animate, and edit directly on your phone or tablet. It supports audio syncing, pressure-sensitive drawing, and frame-by-frame playback.
There's even a built-in social platform where users share animations and get feedback instantly, turning it into a global mobile animation community.
While it lacks the advanced rigging or visual effects of desktop tools, it’s one of the best animation software options for mobile sketching and quick projects.
Key Features of FlipaClip include:
Powtoon is a cloud based animation software tailored for marketers, educators, and business teams who need polished explainer videos fast.
It’s built around drag-and-drop templates and pre-animated elements, so you can focus on the message, not the mechanics.
With its intuitive interface and ready-made scenes, Powtoon is ideal for making presentations, onboarding videos, product explainers, and more. The free version has basic exports (720p, watermark, 3-min limit), which works well for testing ideas or internal use.
It’s widely used in enterprise environments and schools undergoing digital transformation in BPM (business process management), as it saves time and reduces reliance on external agencies.
Here’s what makes Powtoon stand out:
Animaker is one of the most user-friendly animation tools for beginners and non-designers.
Its main draw is its blend of pre-built animated assets and AI-assisted features that speed up content creation, like auto lip-sync, voice-to-text, and subtitle generation.
Built for teams that need to create animations for marketing, training, or YouTube videos, Animaker supports drag-and-drop scenes, character creation, and motion presets.
It’s frequently used by startups and marketers working on low-budget campaigns or product launches, especially where data analytics & AI insights are used to guide messaging and engagement.
Its cloud based animation software model makes it accessible from anywhere, and despite being freemium, the feature depth is impressive.
Key Features of Animaker are:
Canva is a go-to platform for fast graphic design, and it now supports animated videos too. While not a full animation software, Canva’s animation features are ideal for short-form social content, presentations, and online ads.
With its huge library of templates, stock graphics, and animated elements, Canva makes it easy to build scroll-stopping motion graphics, even if you’ve never edited a video before.
It’s especially useful for brands and influencers creating daily content that looks polished with minimal effort.
Marketers also use Canva alongside free AI animation tools to scale branded motion content without hiring designers. Its drag-and-drop interface is one of the most intuitive available online.
Key Features of Canva include:
If you're building worlds, rigging characters, or animating for games or film, you’ll need tools that go beyond 2D.
These free 3D animation software options offer powerful features for artists and creators (without the price tag of commercial suites).
We mentioned Blender earlier in the ‘2D Tools’ section, but now we’re going to discuss Blender in its full 3D glory.
Blender offers a complete, professional-grade 3D production suite that rivals even the most expensive software, but is entirely free.
Blender is trusted by professional animators, studios, and indie creators alike. It’s used in real-world projects for game design, visual effects, short films, and simulations.
Tools like geometry nodes and physics simulation let you create everything from cinematic scenes to real-time animations.
Its flexibility makes it ideal for building custom pipelines or integrating with AI workflows, for example, studios using data sets in machine learning or AI in sports automation can extend Blender through scripting and plugins.
Key Features of Blender (3D Mode) are:
Clara.io is a lightweight but surprisingly capable cloud-based 3D animation software.
It runs entirely in the browser and supports modeling, rigging, and keyframe animation making it perfect for quick iterations, education, or team-based prototyping.
Its user interface is modern and approachable, though best suited for creators with a bit of 3D experience.
Since it's cloud-native, Clara.io enables real-time collaboration and easy link-sharing ideal for teams building prototypes or reviewing assets while providing software development services.
Though it won’t replace a full 3D pipeline like Blender, it’s great for testing ideas and preparing characters or background elements for larger scenes.
Key Features of Clara.io are:
Houdini Apprentice is a free edition of one of the most respected tools in the visual effects industry.
It’s widely used in film, TV, and gaming for simulations like explosions, fire, water, and procedural destruction making it a must-learn tool for aspiring professional artists.
The Apprentice version gives users full access to Houdini’s features with only a few limitations: renders are capped at 720p and watermarked. But the learning value is immense.
Studios rely on Houdini’s node-based workflow for managing complex animations and simulations skills directly transferrable to professional pipelines.
Key Features of Houdini Apprentice are:
Wings 3D is a dedicated 3D modeling software known for its simplicity and efficiency. It’s ideal for blocking out character shapes or environment elements before importing into larger programs like Blender or Unreal Engine.
Though it doesn’t support rigging or animation, its clean user interface and intuitive tools make it perfect for beginners or professionals who need to model quickly without distractions.
Because it’s lightweight and open-source, it’s also a great fit for schools, hobbyists, or anyone experimenting with game asset creation or early-stage visual design.
Wings 3D stands out as one of the best free animation software tools because:
Unreal Engine 5 is one of the most advanced real-time engines for animation, game development, and virtual cinematography.
Used by both indie creators and major studios, it combines powerful features like photorealistic rendering, physics, and motion capture in one free tool (until your project crosses $1 million in revenue).
For professional animators, Unreal is a powerhouse that’s capable of real-time scene editing, live mocap, and cinematic-quality exports. With its Nanite and Lumen systems, you get next-gen lighting and detail without traditional rendering delays.
It’s also increasingly being used for AI training environments, AI trading bots, and simulations, thanks to its open support for Python scripting.
Key Features of Unreal Engine include:
Whether you're skipping manual posing or generating movement from real-world video, these free AI animation tools can save hours of manual work for indie creators and professional animators alike.
Cascadeur helps animators create life-like motion without animating every frame. Its AI engine predicts how a jump, fall, or punch should look then balances the pose for you.
With tools like auto-foot-lock and trajectory ghosting, it’s ideal for game devs, VFX artists, or creators learning the physics of motion.
Animators on Reddit say the “best part is how it fixes weight shift automatically.” It’s especially useful when paired with open source software like Blender.
Key features of Cascadeur include:
Plask turns any video into motion capture with just a few clicks (no suit or special equipment needed). Whether you're capturing a dance, walk, or action scene, just record with your phone and upload to Plask.
It’s an ideal tool for professional animators, small studios, or even educators looking to teach motion fundamentals. With a clean user interface and fast cloud processing, Plask lowers the barrier to entry for AI-powered animation.
Its AI-backed motion analysis is being used in fast content production across gaming, marketing, and software development use cases.
Key features of Plask are:
DeepMotion is a full AI-powered motion capture API. While its free tier is limited to 15 seconds of motion per day, it’s used widely for fast prototyping, virtual avatars, and low-budget 2D animation workflows.
Developers love it for building interactive animations, especially when motion data needs to be generated from simple videos.
The platform has also found a place in generative AI in cybersecurity, where human motion simulation is useful in behavioral modeling.
For anyone working on advanced animation or real-time projects with limited resources, DeepMotion bridges that gap with high-quality, AI-driven character movement.
Key features of DeepMotion include:
Choosing the right free animation software depends on what you’re making, your experience level, and the device you're using.
Here are five key questions to help you decide:
If you’re new to animation, go for beginner-friendly tools like Pencil2D or TupiTube.
These offer a clean, simple interface with just the basics perfect for first-time users. If you’re more advanced, tools like Blender or Krita give you more control and features to match your skill.
Your end goal should guide your tool. For short explainer videos, social content, or presentations, tools like Powtoon, Animaker, or Canva are ideal.
If you want to create cinematic scenes or 3D shorts, go for Blender or Unreal Engine—they offer a full animation software pipeline.
Got a low-spec laptop or no GPU? Stick to cloud-based animation software like Clara.io or Animaker—they run in your browser.
On the other hand, if your PC is powerful and you want real-time rendering, software like Unreal Engine works best (but needs a strong GPU like an RTX 2060+).
If your project involves AI-powered animation, like animating ecommerce bots or auto-motion capture, consider tools like Cascadeur or Plask.
These free AI animation tools are ideal for fast, automated posing—especially if you're also building AI chatbots.
Some tools are easier to learn because they come with large, active communities.
Tools like Blender, OpenToonz, and Krita have forums, Discord channels, and tons of free tutorials. If you want fast help or tips, a big user base can save you time and frustration.
If you’ve made it this far, you now know exactly what the best free animation software options are in 2025, whether you’re animating stick figures or cinematic 3D scenes.
For beginners, Pencil2D is still the easiest way to start. If you need browser-based speed, Clara.io and Canva offer solid no-install options.
Musa is a senior technical content writer with 7+ years of experience turning technical topics into clear, high-performing content.
His articles have helped companies boost website traffic by 3x and increase conversion rates through well-structured, SEO-friendly guides. He specializes in making complex ideas easy to understand and act on.
