Best Free Animation Software for 2023

by Tony Joshie

If you have ever met an individual or a company producing any animated content, one of the significant portions of the budget goes to the software's license that will be used in designing the characters and the animation of the characters.

Even Pixar, as a company, went the extra mile to develop software for themselves, considering the amount going to license and other things relating to getting the software ready for the project. Fortunately, in any case of projects, you do not have to spend so much on acquiring software because there are free and user-friendly apps for newbies and learners. And this is the reason this article is put in place - that every individual and even organization can benefit from it.

When you hear of animation, it is mostly linked with big names like Pixar that is mentioned earlier, DreamWorks, Studio Ghibli, and Disney. This industry has been growing and even booming progressively because the animated movies are enjoyed and endorsed by almost a wide age bracket - kids, teenagers, and adult people alike. The current global value of the animation industry is estimated to be $265 Billion, according to this source, and it is projected to add another whooping 5 billion dollars in this current year making it a total of $270 billion.

More than showing on big cinemas and film houses, other communities, most especially the online communities, are also enjoying the most recent technology in the industry. In fact, "Animations and films" has been rated the fifth category on YouTube that is most popular. However, beyond being an entertainment tool, animation has been a very strategic tool in the field of education, manufacturing, medicine, and marketing.

Areas when animations are employed

Areas when animationsare employed
Areas when animations are employed
  • Education: Animation is employed in this area because of the human brain's capability to understand better what is taught graphically more than the textual contents. Animation videos then increase the level of reception of whatever is being taught.
  • Entertainment: there is no doubt this is the are people are more conversant with when it comes to the usage of animation contents. It has been employed in creating short videos and even film length videos.
  • Advertisement: in recent times, animation contents have been employed in creating commercials that have the capability of capturing the audience's imagination and luring them into buying whatever is being advertised. Some users concluded that without animation, most portion of the advertisements would be boring and non-captivating.
  • Architecture and Engineering: 3D animation has been very instrumental in the presentation and the marketing of contents from the engineering and the real estate industry. It is indispensable and useful in explaining proposed designs =, pitching ideas, and it helps in saving cost for making physical modeling and added more flexibility to the presentation.
  • Simulations: in areas where real-life visualization is impossible or even real-life training is dangerous and cannot be controlled, animation in simulation is employed. An example is the training of pilots in the military.

Other areas where animation is employed include:

  • Marketing
  • In Scientific Visualization
  • Creative Arts
  • Gaming
  • Medical
  • Retail
  • Manufacturing

Suppose you accord any credit for the remarkable feat in the animation industry. In that case, it will be straightforward to give it to the amazing ingenuity and creativity of the directors, story writers, animators, and the other crew members alike. The truth is, while they played a very memorable role and a significant factor in this production , much credit should be given to the development and design of the new animation techniques and tools, which is the primary catalyst in the breakthroughs of the animation industry. These tools are not only meant for the big studios and animators alone. Still, they are available for as many individuals that will get hold of it and will be willing to pay attention to its usage, and they are not overly expensive. And that is why this detailed list is put in place.

Summary of Best Free Animation Software for 2023

Software Key Features Price
PowToon
  • It has Standard video resolution
  • Access to a vast library of video content and templates
  • Ability to create short videos about three minutes long.
  • Integration with Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook, and more for export.
  • The choice of different aspect ratios and various sizes
Free and paid plan
Blender
  • High-end production path tracer for realistic rendering
  • Designed basically for powerful animation
  • A realistic simulation that is industry standard
  • Ability to customize the app interface
  1. Free
Synfig Studio
  • Animate bitmap images with bone system
  • Filtering and Layering features
  • Advanced functionality for advanced users
Free
OpenToonz
  • Change styles of the picture easily
  • Create wavy and curvy distortions to images
  • It has an affected incident lighting available on the app
Free
Animaker
  • Whiteboard video and infographics maker
  • an expansive library of templates and characters
  • very straightforward in usage the app through the drag and drop functionality.
Free and Paid plan

The best free animation software

PowToon - Link

PowToon
PowToon

This animation software is programmed for designing short presentations and videos. It has a very comprehensive library of royalty-free content and templates that can be customized by animators to meet the design's needs, and they can also upload their own designs and productions to the library. The app may be the perfect app for every animator. It is best for product production, idea pitches, how-to videos, company profiles, online advertisements, and infographics.

It is an animation software that is user-friendly. It allows everyone to make an excellent professional looking presentation for free even though it has a paid version of it though, the free version is not very rich in features as the paid ones.

This app is perfect for online content creators as it allows them to create, share, and post their productions online. The creators can also share the productions through emails as well or through individual virtual team workspaces like the Project Management Software. It also integrates very well with social media networks like Vimeo, slideshare Facebook, and YouTube

As noted by users, the only unfavoring side with the app is that the videos exported from it contain the app's Branding, and the max length for any HD videos created with the app is set it 3 minutes. As a matter of online storage, free users get 100MB space only. To upgrade, the starter subscription plan costs around $16 for a month, which is billed annually.

Blender - Link

Blender
Blender

Blender is a very fantastic app that is very instrumental in creating animation content. It includes object tracking features, and with the app, you can quickly pan, track, tilt, and rotate the camera around the objects in 360 degrees. The app includes a Python API that allows advanced users to customize The app interface of the app.

The app integrates well into pipeline tools, which is a beautiful thing for professionals. The app also has been used for creating any award-winning animations with an example of "NextGen," a Netflix animation that was wholly created with Blender. So, to crown it all, it is a free app for anyone interested in learning its mastery.

Synfig - Link

Synfig
Synfig

Synfig is a free Open-sourced animation software that is very straightforward in usage mainly because of its timeline-based user interface and how the app works predicated on the traditional and primitive workflow for animation. Though the overall usage is not as friendly as the other ones, but with tutorials from experts and commitments, you will be able to get the most out of it. In the case of commercial use and production, you will need a very creative artistic thinking to allows the software work for you. Users have, in a way, concluded that the software looks like Microsoft PowerPoint in most ways.

The app is definitely not going to be difficult for those who have master animation production because it is very straightforward in usage relatively. The app is perfect for growing advertising companies or lean and means content department as this will help level up their work.

OpenToonz - Link

OpenToonz
OpenToonz

OpenToonz software is a software made for two-dimensional animation. And it is also an open-sourced app, and it is free of any charge for any personal use or commercial use to everyone worldwide. Advanced users of the app can re-modify the app to make it more relatively easy for them to use. It has a very straightforward interface though there are some advanced and updated tools and some other capabilities that make it a more technical app for animation.

Both novices and experts can make most of this app because it is a mid-level animation software used for any animation project. This app is perfect for content-creating departments, and it allows you to express your wonderful creativity and ingenuity without getting concerned about a very cumbersome interface. There is a paid version of the app that is named Toonz.

Animaker - Link

Animaker
Animaker

Of the list, this may be the best animation in terms of user-friendliness. The app and platform work predominantly with the drag and drop feature. It is a straightforward app and is as easy as the Microsoft PowerPoint and the Google Slides but, in this case, meant for animation. Animaker will help you create different types of videos. It also has other specialized modules that ranged from advertisements to explainer videos.

This app is handy for leveling up your content marketing needs or skills very quickly. It has an extensive and broad library of animated characters and pre-designed templates. Also, the app can be used to make 2D cartoons, whiteboard marker videos, and infographics.

Conclusion

Each of these apps has different and distinct functionalities, so it will be useful to bear the differences with the project need in mind to make the right choice of the software successfully and rightly. But if asked what the best animation app is, it is Blender, based on the fantastic functionality and yet free of all cost.

About Tony Joshie

Tony's journey as a blogger began several years ago when he discovered his love for the visual arts. Fascinated by the stories behind the masterpieces and the artistic techniques employed by renowned artists, he started sharing his thoughts and interpretations on his blog.

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