#2d animation software

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Note: We’ve updated and re purposed our desktop animation software alternative list to stop using the original reply we had for an unsatisfied user on a different issue. There are relatively few free (as in freedom) 2D animation packages that exist out there, but here we’ll take some time to recommend the closest alternatives for hand-drawn animation software in the market to everyone who needs this information.

Open-source (free as in freedom):

NOTE: Click the software name to visit their respective websites

Pencil2D: Originally we didn’t include ourselves, but for completeness sake here we are.

Pencil2D is a bitmap / vector animation software meant to serve as a CAD software (Computer Assisted Drawing) for traditional animation. It is geared towards ease-of-use and accessibility but it still has a lot of issues or missing features that require improvement. It’s functionality and scope is meant to complement other software as a tool for production and planning stages instead of replacing them, so keep this in mind when choosing your preferred animation tool.

User Showcase 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa9PCu_UZpg

User Showcase 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma52j9B1kEM

Friction: “Friction is a powerful and versatile motion graphics application that allows you to create vector and raster animations for web and video.”

Friction workflow is scalable and can be enhanced by power users using the included code editor to write ECMAScript based expressions for parameters and effects. To extend the software functionality however, users can choose to program with C++, Skia and the Qt framework.

Boasting a high-performance GPU/CPU vector and raster pipeline, it allows working in multiples scenes, with multiple viewers, timelines, and graphs.

Friction includes a growing library of effects for text, raster & vector grapics and even has time-based effects such as “Frame Remapping”. It also offers experimental support for custom shader effects including practical examples.

Animation properties can modified via keyframing or expressions. Has vector motion & shape “tweening”. Import / export supports various image and video formats, including SVG. 

This truly is a dark horse of FOSS for 2D animation as we’ve never seen before.

Note: Since Enve2D has not seen development for years, we’ve replaced its entry with Friction, an active fork. This means most tutorials for the ancestor app should also work with Friction.

Enve2D Introduction Playlist (YT) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb3wVIJ8v7fGVzg1hon2aH5xgMLBll8-l

Friction Documentation - Learning Resources https://friction.graphics/documentation/learning.html#tutorials

Synfig Studio: It is a vector animation program which heavily relies on “tweening” to create animation, and you draw with vector-like tools (2d shapes, pen tool) You can “draw” freehand however there’s no pressure sensitivity. It is very technical but It’s well done. Their windows builds are somewhat slow since they develop mostly for linux, but they have new development builds that address this problem with a new rendering engine. Think of an open-source anime studio.

Product Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8SF_-gJ0_w

OpenToonz: A new contender in the open-source animation arena, if there’s such a thing. It is an incredibly robust software for professional animators, an all-in-one animation suite to do all the creative process with-in your studio. It has been used by Studio Ghibli to perform the Ink & Paint process for some of their films (they still animate it all by hand in paper). A friendly reminder though, there is no hidden “animate like ghibli button”.

Use Cases: http://opentoonz.github.io/e/usecase.html

Tahoma2D This is a new fork from Opentoonz " (...)developed primarily by Jeremy Bullock, a middle school teacher in Colorado.“ This version is currently in beta stages, and unlike the so called Morevna version which sought to bring new features faster to the public, this one attempts to focus on having a simpler and more streamlined UI & workflow for animators, novice or otherwise. Behind the attempt to leave its convoluted design roots, there is an undeniable amount of hard work behind it as well as a clear vision to improve the software for a wider audience. The fresh transparency and openness is very much welcome, so we hope to see this one succeed.

TupiTube (Desk): It is also a vector program for animation this one recently got a windows version (less than 2 years) and it’s been keeping at it. It’s been mostly used in teaching environments, and relies on tweening as well. It has a more pleasing interface than Synfig, and it’s sketching tool is a bit more forgiving, no pressure support though, but that is something that I wouldn’t worry about. This is one I really think that has potential. It also has a mobile version (Android Only).

What is TupiTube?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj-h8moyDng

Krita: It is primarily a digital painting tool, very stable. After version 4+ Krita has animation support and experimental audio support (no tracks though) The timeline has very nice layer management features which is a great thing and even though the animation workflow can “feel” can be a bit clunky for veteran animators, It has enough tools to make up for it like: perspective visual aids, vector layers w/ SVG support, text & primitive shape tools, scripting features and more.

Feature Highlights: https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/

Blender (4.X): It is a very robust 3D program that has been recently bundled with a vector 2D capacity through the new “Grease Pencil” object workflow. It might be hard to get used to but the pro’s of drawing on a 3D environment are huge and often overlooked by novice artists. It’s a very complete package that tries to have an all-in-one philosophy and allows you to do: 3D Modeling, Rigging, Animation, Compositing, Video Editing, Motion Tracking, Chroma Keying. In version 2.79 and under, you could even create games with it very easily, but now this capability has been disabled and you are prompted to use an external game engine.

“HERO”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKmSdY56VtY

V-Paint: VPaint was an experimental vector graphics editor based on the Vector Animation Complex (VAC), a technology developed by a collaboration of researchers at Inria and the University of British Columbia, featured at SIGGRAPH 2015.

VPaint is now discontinued to favor its successors, VGC Illustration and VGC Animation. See www.vgc.io for more details.

EasyToon (Abandoned): This is (was) a very cherished program among web-gen Japanese animators, you still see animations done with this on closed niche animator “circles” or groups. The problem is that, even though it comes with the source to change it, it was abandoned and only works under windows OS. It’s pretty much a relic in terms of usability, but perhaps a C++ wizard might be able to update it and expand it further. License terms are unknown so watch out for that.

Web Based

Wick Editor “(...) is a free Flash-like browser-based toolkit for creating small interactive things for the Internet (...) that can run on any device with a web browser.” This one’s really good, and it’s getting better. While the animation workflow and vector handling still needs improvement to really be on par with it’s inspiration, it is highly recommended if you’re looking for an online, browser-based solution.

Ajax Animator: “Ajax Animator is a free, web-based animation suite. Its development began in March 2006 by Antimatter15, then a sixth grader. Ajax Animator was originally intended to be a free replacement to Flash MX,[3][4] but is now a general-purpose animation tool. ”

Freeware

Animation Paper: Improved version of PAP*, simply called Animation Paper Has Windows, macOSX and Linux versions. You can download the pre-release to test for free** before it releases commercially.

This software has been actually thought for animation from the start, and it’s rather functional. Despite some of its quirks becoming shortcomings to some users, people have used it for real animation production which speaks volumes about the usefulness of this application.

*PAP version was FREE, but it’s no longer being developed. You can still find it in archive.org or similar repositories at your own risk.

**Disclaimer from the creator Niels Krogh Mortensen: “When the final version is finished months from now, you'll get an offer to buy Animation Paper (no purchase required) for only $79 USD for the full license. No subscription. Thank you!”

ClipNote Studio This is a very recent clone of Nintendo’s portable animation software FlipNote Studio. Currently works only under Windows, but the developer has stated that at some point it will port the program to both MacOS & LinuxOS systems.

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro An excellent digital drawing tool for illustration. This one used to have two versions (free & paid) but it seems they unified it and made it fully free. The catch? You gotta create an account with them, despite the app being downloadable. But what about animation? This part is a bit limited to be honest. Instead of usual illustration project you need to create a special type of project called “Flipbook” which only allows you to use a maximum of 4 layers and up to 1000 frames only. But hey, it’s free and it has mobile versions.

Web-based

ToonZoom Animate: “ToonZoom Animate is a free web based animation app with tons of features. It helps you turn your artwork into 2D cartoons, animated / non-animated diagrams, GIFs, flow charts, stop motion, flip book and claymation style animated video shorts, slide shows and many other things. ”

Commercial & Professional (Paid)

We can also suggest a few commercial & professional options that are cheap compared to the standard software used in the animation industry (within the budget of a college student / middle-class family):

RoughAnimator This is a relatively new animation software that has been doing some rounds on professional animator circles. It seems pretty good and simple to use based on their videos, plus it’s very affordable. According to the vendor you can export your projects directly into After Effects, Toonboom Harmony & Anmate CC.

Desktop Version (Win & macOS) USD $4.99

Mobile Version (Android & iOS) USD $4.99

Animation Desk: “Animation Desk is an animation app for Windows 10 (UWP), macOS, iOS & Android that allows you to create hand-drawn frame animation“

Animation Desk (Free + Ads on mobile)

Animation Desk Pro: The pricing scheme is a bit confusing. Seems like the pro features are behind the “Creativity 365″ suite subscription for USD $9.99 / month; some stores () say it’s less ($3.99), but it’s not clear.

Procreate “(...) has everything you need to create expressive sketches, rich paintings, gorgeous illustrations and beautiful animations. Procreate is the complete art studio you can take anywhere, packed with unique features and intuitive creative tools. ” Procreate 5 recently added a set of well-rounded animation capabilities that have been tested ever since by many professional artists around the world. So far the consensus is that it’s very good, and even though it still lacks some key features in contrast to desktop counterpart, it is an excellent choice for professionals and hobbyists alike.

Pro Version USD $9.99 ONLY FOR iPAD (iOS)

CalliPeg  Callipeg is a 2D animation application that takes inspiration on the basics of traditional hand-drawn animation designed for the iPad and the Apple Pencil. In 2025 it now has support for Android tablets and are working towards a desktop compatible version.

Callipeg (iPad / Android Tablets) USD $15. Offers In-App Purchases

Callipeg Mini (iPhone) $4.99

Digicel Flipbook: (Bitmap) The most similar to Pencil2D in it’s interface, but prettier. This piece of software has been used by Disney Animators in the past to create their stuff. I recall Eric Goldberg (of Aladdin’s Genie fame) to have animated some scenes from the Princess & the Frog with it. They also now have a mobile version (iPad) called Digicel FlipPad check it out.

https://digicel.net/pricing/

Perpetual Licenses (Desktop)

FlipBook Lite USD $19.99 | 800x600, 2 Layers

FlipBook Studio USD $49.99 | 800x600, 6 Layers

FlipBook Pro USD $99.99 | 1080p, 100 Layers, Automatic Highlights & Shadows

FlipPad iPad version of the software. $0.99 + In app purchase to upgrade (FlipPad Pro)

Clip Studio Paint [is] “fully equipped with all the features required for illustration, design, and comic/manga production, including page management tools. Also includes features for full-length professional 2D animation.”

Perpetual Licenses (V4.x)

CSP Pro:  US$ 58.50 (Download Version) (You can only use up to 24 frames per project; yes 24)

CSP EX:  US$258.00 (Download Version) (Unlimited Frame Works)

Anime Studio / Moho: (Vector) In the past it has been a heavy hitter in the cut-out animation market, but now it has incorporated frame-by-frame animation ease of use. Look at the trailer below.

Pro Version USD$399.99 (Allows for frame-by-frame animation with new fbf layer and reworked viewer. It has various new features)

Debut Version (limited) USD $59.99 You can always upgrade to Pro later on. (doesn’t have frame by frame animation easily available)

What can Moho do? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWoMpKDUI8

Product Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcSPAa3ZOGg

https://moho.lostmarble.com/pages/features

CACANi: (Vector) A relatively new, but rather good sofware, it has an incredible potential for limited and even full animation. It has a powerful auto-inbetweening feature, but it needs a skilled animator nonetheless to use it properly.

Perpetual License: USD $499 / 1 Year License (Sub) USD $180

Product Showcase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3R59FjENWM

Toon Boom Harmony Essentials: (Vector) Toonboom Harmony is one of the standard animation software for animation production, the “Essentials” version comes with severely limited options for a professional but it is actually pretty decent for a hobbyist. You can upgrade your copy later on for more power or if you’re fresh out of art school.

TBH Essentials - Subscription: USD $21 / Monthly

Note: Toonboom Inc. has phased out their perpetual licensing model. At the time of of update there is no way to buy recent versions except via subscription.

Adobe Animate Previously known as Flash, almost everyone knows this one by heart, and they either love it, or hate it equally. The true underdog from a time where animation software was as expensive as a small apartment.It has several key features that still make it widely used, but it also has so many quirks and bugs that people wonder why they keep using it. The keyword is: accessibility.

Subscription: USD $34.49 / Monthly

TVPaint This is professional grade software with a professional grade price tag. It’s a definite standard for traditional animation in Europe and now in Japan.

Perpetual Licenses 

TVPaint Animation 12.0 Professional Edition 1600 €

TVPaint Animation 12.0 Standard Edition 650 €

Portfolio: https://tvpaint.com/en/portfolio

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Introduction to 2D Animation Software

Exploring niches on Tumblr reveals a vibrant animation community where creators share frame-by-frame artistry and vector-based wonders. For enthusiasts diving into this space, 2D animation software stands out as the essential gateway, enabling fluid motion from simple sketches to complex sequences right within Tumblr's creative ecosystem. This article uncovers key insights tailored for Tumblr's animation lovers, focusing on tools that amplify storytelling through gifs, fan art, and micro-animations.

Why Tumblr Thrives on 2D Animation Software

Tumblr's niche in visual storytelling makes it a hotspot for animators sharing quick, looping content that captivates audiences. 2D animation software powers this by offering lightweight tools for raster and vector workflows, perfect for the platform's fast-paced posting culture. Creators use these programs to craft eye-catching banners, reaction gifs, and narrative shorts that boost reblogs and follows.

Free Tools for Tumblr Beginners

Open-source options like Pencil2D simplify hand-drawn animations, ideal for Tumblr users starting with basic frame-by-frame techniques. Synfig Studio adds tweening for smooth transitions without redrawing every frame, aligning with Tumblr's demand for polished yet accessible visuals. These tools export directly to GIF formats, fueling viral posts in animation tags.​

Pro Features in Accessible Packages

Paid yet affordable software like Moho (formerly Anime Studio) introduces rigging, letting Tumblr animators puppet characters efficiently for series-like content. TVPaint excels in traditional drawing with pressure-sensitive brushes, mimicking real media for authentic Tumblr aesthetics. Such features elevate niche blogs from static art to dynamic feeds.​

Top Picks for Tumblr's Animation Niche

Tumblr animators favor software balancing ease and power, turning personal projects into community favorites. 2D animation software like Clip Studio Paint dominates for its comic-to-animation pipeline, seamless for fan art crossovers popular on the site.

Pencil2D: Lightweight for quick sketches, exports optimized GIFs under 2MB for Tumblr uploads.​

OpenToonz: Studio Ghibli-grade rigging, free for advanced Tumblr series without budgets.​

Krita: Brush-focused with onion skinning, great for organic styles in animation challenges.​

Animaker: AI-assisted for rapid prototypes, speeding up trend-jumping content.​

These selections match Tumblr's emphasis on shareable, expressive visuals over heavy rendering.

Mastering Workflows with 2D Animation Software

Efficiency defines success in Tumblr's animation niche, where daily posts demand streamlined processes. 2D animation software integrates timeline editing, layer management, and export presets tailored for social constraints like file size limits.

Optimizing for Tumblr Uploads

Start with storyboarding in software like TupiTube, which offers built-in libraries for fast asset assembly. Use frame rates of 12-24 FPS to keep loops snappy, then compress via tools' export settings for seamless Tumblr integration. Test playback on mobile, as most reblogs happen there.