• Synfig Studio is a free 2D Animation Software tool for Mac devices. This tool comes with lots of editing options and resources which help to create high-quality 2D animated works. Animation Paper – Most Popular Software.
• The Best Free Animation Software app downloads for Mac: Lego Digital Designer Cartoon Animator Gif Maker Giphy Capture Anime Studio Pro Recordit Stykz.

It is common knowledge that there are a lot of options available in the market for animation software purchase, but you still have to go for the one that suits your needs. From price range to whether it is 3D, stop-motion, or 2D, there are a few things to consider. Here’s a list we came up with for Best Animation Software For Windows And Mac. Runner-up, Best 2D Animation Software for Mac: Adobe Animate Adobe is one of the successors to perhaps one of the most popular 2-D animation software is available. At the core of Animate are the flash tools that have been working to create high-quality animations since the early days of the Internet.

From action scenes to snappy dialogue, everything can be captured in a great storyboard.

The entertainment industry needs quality storyboard artists and those artists need great software. If you search around you’ll find plenty of options but they each have a range of features, benefits, and prices(some free!)

So what kind of software is best for storyboarding? And which programs offer the best features to support your creative projects?

I’ll go through all the best options in this post and get you started on the path to magnificent digital storyboards.

Storyboarder

Price: Free
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux

The team at Wonder Unit has developed some really cool stuff for filmmakers. One of their coolest projects is Storyboarder, a free app made for visualizing stories.

This runs on all 3 major operating systems and it’s 100% free to download and use forever. At that price who can complain?

I’d think if you’re a newbie to storyboarding then you’d want to save money at every turn. That is why Storyboarder makes such a great choice for beginners who need a simple application to practice their boards.

From a single screen you can draw each shot, add dialogue/stage directions, and even port the entire thing into Adobe Photoshop if you need a larger toolset.

Also Storyboarder comes with a play feature so you can demo your boards in a slideshow preview much like a real animatic for animation.

An excellent program for presenting to clients, or just for mucking around and practicing on your own. And you can’t beat that price tag.

Toon Boom Storyboard Pro

Price: $60/mo or $999 one-time fee
Platforms: Mac, Windows

Looking at the complete opposite of free we’ll find Toon Boom Storyboard Pro. To my knowledge this is the most expensive storyboarding software on the market and it’s also the industry standard.

A good majority of studios use Toon Boom for boarding & animating so this is something you may want to learn if you want to break into the industry.

Now with that said, it does offer a cheaper monthly fee that most people could afford compared to the upfront cost.

This monthly fee gives you a chance to test the waters and see what you think of Toon Boom without committing to a massive single use license.

So what exactly does this program give you?

Really it’s a combo of both sketching and animating together. It’s a way to sketch your boards and see how they’d animate, all while tracking your script to make sure your scenes are on target.

Toon Boom is definitely more of an animator’s program.

It can work well for ad agencies or for board artists doing small skits. But the Story Flow tool makes it a breeze for writers to switch between board & script to follow each sequence, each scene, and each act.

You can also create dynamic camera movements along with some experimental 3D features that work nicely for 3D animators. Easily import scripts from Final Draft or export your layered panels for Photoshop. Plenty of support across all the typical art industry programs.

To put it bluntly: Toon Boom Storyboard is really the professional’s program. It is not necessary to buy this in order to create a pro-level board. However it would be worth learning if you want to work in animation someday.

Adobe Photoshop

Price: $9.99/mo
Platforms: Mac, Windows

Good ol’ Photoshop.

It’s been around for 20+ years and I don’t see it going away anytime soon.

Although isn’t it funny how much Photoshop gets used for other things besides photo editing? We see it used for digital painting, pixel art, and of course for storyboarding.

You can draw digitally just as well in PS as you can in other programs. In fact, I’d argue there’s even more support now with tons of brushes for the PS environment.

Not to mention all the free storyboard templates you can get in PSD format specifically for Photoshop.

I don’t think there’s much to say about this program because every artist knows about it already.

The biggest downside is the lack of support for Linux users.

But in general Photoshop is well-supported and managed by a trusted brand. Not to mention if you already use Photoshop for digital painting then you’ll know how to use it for boarding.

Storyboard Fountain

Price: Free
Platforms: Mac

Storyboard Fountain is a newer program that I found just recently. It’s exclusive to MacOS only so it’s not an option for Windows or Linux users.

That said, if you do wanna give it a shot you’ll be impressed.

You can download the program totally free of charge from the main website. It’s currently in beta so there are many features still being worked out and smaller bugs in the process.

Once it does reach its v1.0 release I think it’ll stay free because the entire project is on GitHub. This means the source code is freely available and I doubt the creators would end up charging for it.

I really like the interface and the sidebar flow works incredibly well at presenting scenes in a linear fashion. You can quickly spot scenes that need work and rearrange them without messing up the rest of the story.

Take a peek at their preview video to see this software in action.

Considering it’s limited to Mac users this will have a smaller audience. But I’m really pleased with the GUI and the many complex features of Storyboard Fountain—especially given the $0 price.

Boords

Price: $12-$24/mo
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux

Online SaaS products are quickly becoming “the norm” for software. I don’t think desktop programs will go away but we are seeing more web-based programs like Boords that offer great solutions.

Boords works as a native storyboarding platform that gives you tons of free templates and collaboration tools.

If you’re working with clients they can log into your project space and drop comments on the work right from their computer.

You can also setup team accounts with multiple users if you’re working on a group project.

Boords has flexible frame sizes, tons of free templates, and a really cool animatic tool for presenting your storyboards before animating.

The monthly price is definitely affordable and this can work on every major operating system. Not many programs can offer this much functionality for so cheap.

Anyone looking for a collaborative solution should check out Boords. It may not suit your needs but it does offer a free trial period to see if you like it or not.

FrameForge

Price: $199
Platforms: Mac, Windows

Typically I see FrameForge referenced more in the live action world. It’s still a great program but may not be the #1 choice for animators.

Still, the art of storyboarding is not explicitly for animation. Plenty of marketing agencies need storyboards for commercials or small teaser videos. Same goes for complex movie scenes or indie filmmakers.

The nice thing with FrameForge is that you can work just like any other program, but with a heavier focus on the script.

It supports importing from the most common script writing programs like FadeIn and Final Draft. Plus you can easily jump back & forth between scenes to get an overview of the whole story.

I’d recommend this program more for artists with an interest in directing and cinematography.

It’s also fantastic for indie artists or aspiring filmmakers who want to get a new project off the ground without a huge budget.

Prolost Boardo for After Effects

Price: $29
Platforms: Mac, Windows

So this isn’t technically a piece of software, but rather a complex add-on to the Adobe After Effects program.

Yet I think Prolost Boardo still belongs in this list because it almost feels like its own program. Not to mention plenty of TV & film artists will know the After Effects interface so it’s one of the best programs to work with.

This add-on lets you easily tilt, pan, zoom, and handle many other camera directions with a few presets. And you have the power of After Effects to alter anything else you place on the screen.

Add life to your boards with shaking motions and export everything into one final animatic, all from AE. Pretty cool!

This add-on does cost money but it’s a one-time fee of $29. That does not include the price of the After Effects software but if you already have a license for that you won’t need to worry.

Clip Studio Paint

Price: $49
Platforms: Mac, Windows

Many artists use Clip Studio Paint for drawing their comics and custom manga pages. These work well because CSP has tools that help you structure pages with boxes in a comic-esque style.

This also works nicely for storyboards since they take on a very similar look.

You can design a CSP template page and use that many times over to design your storyboards quickly. Or you could download a PSD template and import that into the software.

Best Free 3d Animation Software For Mac

We recently covered a bunch of tutorials on Clip Studio Paint and it’s pretty easy to learn if you already do some digital artwork.

It also comes at a reasonable price considering it’s one of the better digital drawing/painting programs out there.

Will this work for everyone? Probably not.

But I do think it’s a viable option similar to Photoshop where you have one piece of software that gives you everything you need: drawing, painting, sketching, and boarding.

StoryboardThat

Price: $9.99/mo
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux

I want to include Storyboard That even though it’s not made specifically for artists.

This free web-based program is made for quick informative boards and organizing stories fast. It does not directly support drawing beyond their pre-existing library of graphics.

Or at least, I didn’t see a way to draw judging from their free plan. To use this program you’d need to pay a monthly fee and that grants you unlimited boards with far nicer tools.

All that said I’d like to restate that I do not think this works well for animators. At least not in the serious scripting phase.

Use this more for planning compositions quickly or just getting ideas down. Even if you don’t have any artistic ability, Storyboard That can work well.

But I’d really recommend this program for anyone designing webcomics or small tidbits of visual information in a frame-by-frame format.

Certainly a nice program for marketing agencies or anyone working with an ad company that requires storyboards.

OpenToonz

Price: Free
Platforms: Mac, Windows

The more I look around the more impressed I get with free art software. It seems like the open source movement really has grown rapidly with no end in sight.

OpenToonz is a very nice open source program for storyboarding.

I still personally like Storyboard Fountain a little more if we’re talking about free options, but with OpenToonz you can run Mac or Windows which is nice.

The software is based on an original 2D drawing program Toonz which was used and customized by Studio Ghibli. OpenToonz is the free open source alternative to that.

It’s still under active development but it does have a lot of neat features. I specifically like the visual story mapping that lets you connect different scenes together and organize your storyline in a flow chart.

With that said, I do think the painting features need some work. OpenToonz doesn’t even come close to a powerhouse like Photoshop in regards to digital painting so it may not suit all your needs.

But for a free program it works very well. Especially if you’re just sketching boards and organizing a small story from scratch.

Krita

Price: Free
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux

Totally free, open source, and surrounded by a loving community of artists. What more could you ask for?

Krita has to be the fastest-growing open source painting program on the market. It’s got hundreds of free brushes along with tons of handy tutorials for beginners to learn the ropes.

That said, Krita is not really a storyboarding program. It’s a digital drawing & painting program.

But here’s why Krita makes the list: it’s totally free and easy to learn!

Many storyboard artists like to draw or paint their work in color. And most storyboard artists enjoy just being artists, whether that’s drawing their own characters or doing some digital paintings for fun.

Krita lets you do all of this from one program with one set of tools, all at no charge.

And it runs on every operating system so there’s plenty of support for everyone. If your drawing tablet has working drivers you’re good to go.

As of this writing I have not found any Krita storyboard templates that match the dozens of PSD templates out there. But you can export a PSD into a PDF file and import that into Krita yourself.

Not the simplest option but it’s a great way to bring templates into a Krita workflow.

In general I’m a huge fan of Krita and really do recommend giving this a try if you need a free painting program. This software will be around for years and it’s only getting better with time.

Plot

Price: $10/mo
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux

Plot makes visual storytelling super easy. For $10/mo you get unlimited boards, unlimited projects, and unlimited add-on users.

It’s basically the web-based equivalent of a beginner’s storyboarding app with some nice features that apply to animators too.

With this program you can run any operating system and still get access to a drawing pane. This way you can easily draw your frames and import them directly to your project, along with added dialogue and stage directions.

Since the app is visual you can easily change scenes just by clicking and dragging different pieces around the page. Easy peasy.

I also think the collaboration features are exquisite and far beyond other programs of this price range.

Now if you can work out your drawings in a desktop program you’ll definitely have more control. Then you can always import those drawings into Plot and organize them accordingly. This way you’ve still got collaboration features with very detailed drawings all managed online.

You can try Plot’s free demo if you visit the homepage and click “create free storyboard”. Might be worth a quick test run.

Mischief

Price: $25
Platforms: Mac, Windows

Mischief is custom art software made for drawing and sketching. You can find out more on their homepage and in this piece published by ArtStation.

Suffice it to say this program is pretty darn cool. It is not designed explicitly for storyboarding, however it is designed for continuous drawing and rough sketching without excessive tools getting in the way.

Because of its simplicity you can easily dive into Mischief and start boarding ideas fast. Almost no learning curve here.

I’d consider Mischief more of an idea program for artists. This is the best way to get your ideas down onto a page and see how they work in visual form.

No messing with templates or worrying about formalities. Also this program has a really cool feature infinite canvas which lets you just keep drawing onwards into infinity.

Your boards may feel a bit messy in this format but you won’t be hindered by any square borders or edges on the page. Keep on drawing to your heart’s content and get those ideas down!

Best of all Mischief offers two plans: one totally free with limited features and a pro upgrade for $25.

Creative Bloq published a review of this program if you wanna check out their opinion. But really it’s just a neat drawing program without limits on your creativity.

TVPaint

Price: $600
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux, Android

TVPaint is a fairly common program within the entertainment industry. However it does not have the same market share as Toon Boom so it’s not as well known or as powerful(in my opinion).

Yet many animators do enjoy TVPaint including veteran Disney animator Aaron Blaise. He publishes online art courses for animators and most of them feature TVPaint.

This program is incredibly versatile and it works exceptionally well for storyboarding. It can also be used as a true-blue animation program just like Adobe Animate or Toon Boom Animate.

Anyone who wants to do professional storyboarding would do well with TVPaint’s many awesome features geared towards boarding & animatic creation.

So why is this so far down on the list?

Mostly it’s an issue of price. For the same $600 you could basically buy Toon Boom which is, in my opinion, more powerful and a preferred choice in the animation world.

Yes there are major differences between the two programs and TVPaint does feel more like a “complete” animation package. It’s just tough to justify the price considering there are so many alternatives, even with limited features.

Now TVPaint still made the list and for good reason. It’s a great piece of software! So it’s totally worth checking out if you’ve got the scratch or if you like what you see on their website.

If you’re interested in serious 2D animation work or professional storyboarding then it’s worth looking into TVPaint. But if you’re a newbie to storyboarding I wouldn’t make this your first choice.

Absolute newbies would do better with free programs like Storyboarder, Storyboard Fountain, or even Krita if you can find some templates.

And no matter what stage you’re at with storyboarding I guarantee there’s a program in this list that’ll fit your needs.

Animation is a wild thing. From Toy Story to Flash cartoons, animation has captivated the world for years. Specifically, 2D animation has roots in history going back to the advent of movies. This also ties into gaming as well. We all love games like Braid, Metroid, and Castlevania.

However, it is one thing to sit on the sideline like me and just merely enjoy the games. It’s another thing to dive right into the animation process. Scared to get started?

Don’t be! There are tons of options for the newbie animator to get their feet wet in the industry. In fact, I’ve ranked such a list of said products just for you.

I will be ranking these programs on some criteria like ease of use, price, and quality. For example, a program that super easy to use but is extremely expensive will probably suffer in the scoring department as one that might be more difficult to use and is free to use.

Overall, I’ll use one of three rankings: Light recommend, moderate recommend, and hard recommend. Let’s get to the list instead of having me drone on! What follows first is the list of the best free 2D animation software.

Best Free 2D Animation Software

1. Synfig

First up we have Synfig, a program first released for free in 2005. This software is great because beginners can just hit the ground running.

It allows for both front end and back end design, meaning that you can design the actual content at the appearance level, not being constrained to just code behind the scenes.

Price: Free and open-source

Moderate Recommend

2. TubiTube

TupiTube is a software project focusing on the younger children’s market of animation. This is a much more casual program for animation. But sometimes, the more casual the better I say. It has great ease of access, with users being able to download it easily and get started making some videos.

Its versatility is great as well, as it can be seamlessly used between different platforms.

Its casualness may rub some more serious-minded animators the wrong way, and that’s why I’m lowering its score a bit. But if you have no idea what you’re doing at all, this software can’t steer you wrong.

Price: Free

Light Recommend

3. Pencil2D

This free program uses a great little design where it gets rid of all the complicated mumbo jumbo that might intimidate animation amateurs. Its simple design is simple yet serves a great purpose.

It’s a no-frills kind of experience, but one where even the most newbie animator can draw and create videos. Pencil2D also has a great cross-platform capability.

Price: Free

Moderate Recommend

4. Opentoonz

Opentoonz has a range of cool in-house effects that can be seamlessly used while making your animations. Opentoonz allows for extensive editing of the code, too. So, once you get good enough at animation, you can bend the toons to your whim! However, that could be difficult for some users.

Price: Free

Moderate Recommend

5. PowToon

This is entirely a web-based animation program. It’s a nifty, free little browser gem. It allows you to move scenery around, props, move your characters.

It’s primarily used by businesses to spice up their boring old meetings. But good on them for moving in the right direction!

Price: Free

Light Recommend

6. Animaker

Animaker is much like PowToon in that you set up a storyboard and animate the characters or props in that scene. It’s used by companies like Google, Verizon, and Pepsi.

It’s ideal for ad placement on websites and it’s super easy for beginners to use. They make it super-fast and easy to get lost for hours animating.

Price: Free

Light Recommend

7. Plastic Animation Paper

Plastic Animation Paper is another piece of software that deals heavily with the concept of pencil drawing.

The program is designed for quick and easy use and includes clear resolution. You can do whatever you want with your drawings and using this program could elevate them to the next level.

Price: Free

Moderate Recommend

8. Pencil

Pencil allows your drawings to come to life. It adds a little zest to your creations by allowing you to insert different image layers to your drawing, as well as integrating sound and different cartoon features.

It reminds me of a lot of GIMP and Photoshop, except with the emphasis on the actual drawing. Pencil is free to download and is a no brainer for anyone who loves pencil drawing, or who just wants to casually tool around on it.

Price: Free

Moderate Recommend

9. Adobe Flash

Ah, a classic! Back in the day, Adobe Flash ruled the animation world for beginners. Users worked day and night on their cartoon series, their fun games, and other media ideas using this program. It has a long history, and it has earned its reputation.

It’s still going strong in 2020, and you can still use it. But to be honest, I’d probably recommend one of the newer, more unique apps and software to start or continue your animation journey.

Price: Free

Light Recommend

10 Krita

This one was a little gem I dug up, and I’m glad I did. Krita is a free program created by a team of passionate artists that wants everyone to be able to have access to advanced art tools.

You can create beautiful paintings, drawings, and animation scenes using Krita. It was voted the best painting software of 2019 by TechRadar.

Price: Free

Best Free 2d Animation Software For Mac Download

Hard Recommend

Now it’s time for the more polished, paid 2D animation software. I’ll use the same scoring criteria above: Light Recommend, Moderate Recommend, and Hard Recommend.

Training for Animation Tools

Free 2D Animation Software [Infographic]

Top Paid 2D Animation Software

11. Moho

I’ve heard a lot about Moho and it’s no wonder why. It’s a comprehensive animation program where your animations are basically on the level of some of your favorite creations. Yeah, I’m talking professional-looking animation here. It’s geared toward animators looking to hone their craft.

The price can be a little steep for first-time animators, so take care. But I think there’s a lot of gold here. If you’re up to the task, (and the price), you could create some unforgettable stuff here. Not to mention they’re constantly adding updates.

Price:
$399.00

30-Day Free Trial
Hard Recommend

12. Crazy Talk Animator 3

Crazy Talk is a fun little program that requires little to no effort to make some cool animations. The company even states it’s all about ‘low effort’ when it comes to their software and the relationship to users. Want to dive right in and animate? Crazy Talk Animator 3 might be just what you needed.

Currently, the 4th version of Crazy Talk Animator is in development, so keep an eye out!

Price:
$49.00 for Standard
$99.00 for Pro
$199.00 for Pipeline

Free Trial
Hard Recommend (especially for amateur users)

13. Toon Boom Harmony

Aside from having a catchy name, Toon Boom Harmony is especially geared towards beginners. Touting itself as ‘The most powerful software ever created for animation production’, it mixes user-friendly UI with advanced animation potential. The extensive features on this thing are insane.

Detailed painting and drawing, 2D/3D integration, and even pipeline integration are all in this one package. However, the learning curve on Toon Boom Harmony might be problematic for some.

Price:
Annual Harmony Premium: $73/month
Annual Harmony Advanced: $38/month
Annual Harmony Essentials: $15/month

OR

Perpetual Premium: $1975
Perpetual Advanced: $975
Perpetual Essentials: $375

Free 21 Day Trial
Hard Recommend

14. CelAction2D

CelAction2D allows you to create truly unique animation projects. Its ease of use is a dream and the controls are pretty easy to pick up, even for newer animators. Not only that, but it’s heavily used making TV and movie spots, so you know it’s quality.

You’ll look—and probably wince—at the price, but there are so many features that I got to say, it could very well be worth your time and energy.

Price:
Studio Edition: $1350
Professional Edition: $949
PlusOne Module: $1599

Hard Recommend

15. Stop Motion Studio

Right off the bat, I’m drawn into Stop Motion Studio’s opening pitch, ‘Want to create movies like Wallace and Gromit or those groovy Lego shorts on YouTube? Stop Motion Studio helps you to create terrific stop action movies with a whole host of unique features.’

Now I’m a huge fan of both of those beloved franchises, so I’m in. I guess those super cool and easy to use features are great too. This is great for everyone, as it’s an easily downloadable app, and you can use it across your Apple devices. For the price and potential, how could I NOT recommend it?

Best 2d Animation Software Free

Price:
$4.99 on iOS
$9.99 for Mac

Hard Recommend

16. FlipBook

FlipBook is a great animation program that beginners can easily pick up. It teaches you the fundamentals of simple animation through the process of your creation. Watching the video about it was somewhat soothing with the simplicity and familiarity it exuded.

Just pick up your stylus and you’ll be moving on from MS Paint to the big times. Senior Disney Animator Andreas Deja had this to say about FlipBook,

“As a lover of pencil animation, I am thrilled using FlipBook, because it is so user-friendly. It completely serves my needs to experiment with some short film ideas. I highly recommend it.”

Need I say more?

Price:
Lite: $19.99
Studio: $59.99
Pro: $149.99
ProHD: $199.99

Hard Recommend

17. Toonz Premium

I like this program. As a sucker for pencil drawings, it harkens back to older days where I was an avid sketch artist. They’re determined to bridge the gap between paper animation and current as well as future animation.

Their autocorrecting software is great, always updating to make sure your drawing is up to date. Ever hear of a little show called Futurama? Toonz Premium was used for it. It’s currently in build 7.4.

Price:
You have to contact the sales department for a price on the full product.

Free Trial
Moderate Recommend

18. DP Animation Maker

Now compared to the others on this list, this program is a little simpler in its aims. You can take any 2D image and animate it, bringing it to life. It has an easy user face and no complicated jargon or code to wrestle with.

It reminds me of a lot of photo editing programs, as it has a multitude of brushes and different effects that you can add to your image.

Prices:
Free Trial
DP Animation Maker $37.77
DP Screensaver Maker $34.77
DP Wallpaper Maker $34.77

Light Recommend

19. Sprinter

Sprinter is great for animating games. I imagine if in the early-mid 2000s, if the guys over at Newgrounds, known for animating, didn’t’ use Flash, they’d use Spriter. They utilize modular animation to make your gaming dreams a reality.

Modular animation is animations built out of individual sprites. This allows for an easier time when animating, and saving you time.

Price:
$59.99 for Spriter Pro

Hard Recommend

20. RETAS!

Now here’s a unique one to us Westerners. RENAS is a special suite of programs that have to do with the creation and animation of anime. It’s highly regarded in Japan as the gold standard in animation programs.

Its sheer number of possibilities is too numerous to list, but the endorsements it garnered are a testament to its greatness.

Price:
Contact the company

Moderate Recommend

It seems to me that nearly all the paid software is pretty dependable and robust. I noticed a lot of ‘Hard Recommends’ from me. Of course, some prices are steeper than others, but it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.

For my money, I would most likely go with Toon Boom Harmony or Stop Motion Studio if I were taking up the mantle of an amateur animator.

Regardless, we are all so fortunate to have such a great little menu of animation programs to choose from in this day and age. No matter your preferences as a beginner animator, you can find a 2D animation program for you.

Top Paid 2D Animation Software [Infographic]