We test the best animation software for all budgets and expertise – and these are the ones we recommend.
The best animation software lets you bring your 2D and 3D animations to life – and these are the tools we recommend, whether you’re a professional artist or a beginner just getting started.
If you’re serious about animating, Autodesk Maya is our top choice for best animation software. It’s expensive, and best-suited to pro artists and businesses, but this incredibly powerful professional-grade software gives you all the tools and freedom you need to get creative. For a free alternative that’s still perfect for artists and beginners, we recommend Blender.
But there are loads more to choose from. Our expert review team has tested out the best free animation software and professional, paid-for apps. As part of our review process, we explored the design process, tried core features, tools, and assets, and compared system requirements and performance across Windows, Mac, and mobile devices. Best animation software overall
When we say that Maya is the best animation software you can get it, there is a caveat: this tool means business.
Maya is used to create interactive 3D applications, animated films, TV series, and visual effects. And the price-tag reflects that. Like Adobe, it’s a subscription service, but if you thought the Creative Cloud All Apps package was expensive at $60 per month, try $1875 per year for a single app.
The upside of venturing into Maya is the freedom to create anything you can imagine, as long as you know how to use it (it’s got a steep learning curve). You can create 3D characters, including realistic hair and fur, and imbue them with realistic movements. When it comes to setting the scene, your backdrops can include smoke, fire, sand, snow, explosions, and so on.
Maya runs on Windows, MacOS and Linux. It’s massive, it’s expansive (and expensive), and if you’re aiming to work in the animation industry, it might be a wise investment. For everyone else, though, it could be viewed as overkill.
^ Back to topBest free animation software
Free, open-source, and running across Windows, Mac, and Linux, Blender is massively popular with professional and beginner animators.
This is a 2D and 3D drawing and animation tool. With it, you can render intricate scenes, sculpt models, and even create special effects that can be inserted into a real-life scene thanks to accurate motion tracking and masking.
What really stands out with Blender is the customizability. Every tool can be scripted to make it do exactly what you need it to do. This level of customizability extends to the interface itself, which could lead to a confusing UI, potentially limiting your ability to jump onto another computer running Blender with a different customized layout.
If this sounds like it could be tricky to learn, you wouldn’t be wrong. But it’s an incredible, powerful tool with loads of brilliant community support and online tutorials out there for getting the best results from Blender, so it’s a strong recommendation from us.
See what our sister site Creative Bloq thought of Blender in its review.
^ Back to topBest 2D animation software
2D animation can be very versatile, and Cartoon Animator 5 is as versatile as you can get. You can bring in static images into it, apply a wireframe rig to a subject, and animate it within the confines of what you can do with a 2D image.
