Last Updated on March 6, 2023 by Shane
As the internet’s video content is rapidly increasing, the demand for catchy and high-quality videos is also rising very fast. These 6 best easy online animation makers for YouTube will enable you to create animated videos in just a few minutes.
This article is intended to provide you with a list and description of the 6 best easy animation-making software for 2D as well as 3D animation. These tools are not only easy to learn but also provide high to decent quality animation. Here’s the list
Now let’s dive in a little deeper.
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1. CreateStudio
CreateStudio is a newly launched, easy animation software for beginners as well as professionals. You can animate in simple three steps – select a character, choose a preset animation style, and animate!
With CreateStudio, complex animations can be made in just a few easy clicks and drag & drop way. It is not a cloud-based software.
You can animate both 2D and 3D; however, you have to use only its preset characters or 3D animation elements. Yes, you cannot import your 3D characters or elements in CreateStudio.
CreateStudio provides a preset motion panel that makes animating easy and helps in speeding up the work. Through this, you can preview an animation (how it will look when applied) with a single click, and then if you like that animation, you can apply it to your layer easily.
I placed it on the top of the list because of its premium quality animation and the characters’ design. It is also the most flexible tool on the list.
Some of the features and benefits of CreateStudio are below…
i. Creates social media-friendly vertical, square, and 16:9 videos easily
As we all know that social media needs vertical and square videos for promotional videos and ads, we need square videos, and for standard videos, we need 16×9 size. These formats can be created in a creative studio with drag and drop.
ii. Can import SVG files and animate
With CreateStudio, you can animate your SVG images in just three simple steps: import, adjust the colors, and animation using motion preset. You can also create your custom animations by using a drag and drop timeline.
iii. Easy Croma key or green screen editing
You might have seen in film shooting where actors have a green screen on their back, and then that green screen is converted into an artificial background such as the universe, moving train, sky, etc. You can do the same here! Not just with a green screen, it works with any color screen.
iv. Has varieties of preset animation styles and characters
You can quickly create your teaser videos to promote your products or services with the preset animation styles and the characters. The preset animation styles are beneficial in animating the characters, objects, and texts.
v. Has both 2D and 3D preset characters and elements
In CreateStudio, you have both 2D and 3D pre-made characters and assets & elements so that you can create attractive animated videos easy and fast.
Pricing
It has two price options, which are $199 per year and $349 per year; however, there’s also a ONE TIME PAYMENT – FULL ACCESS lifetime offer for just $67. You can use this affiliate link to get the limited-time offer.
Make sure you check out my unbiased Review of CreateStudio if you want to know more about it.
2. Renderforest
Rendeforest is another easy animation software, and it’s cloud-based. It has the trial version, but you’ll get a very low-resolution video with a Renderforest watermark. You can animate both 2D and 3D in Renderforest as well.
It allows you to start from scratch or select a template you like, add props and backgrounds, upload images of your own, add effects, edit text, and add some music or your own voice-over. When you’re done with your animation, you can download the video to your PC or export it to Facebook or YouTube.
Some of the cool features and benefits of Rederforest are…
- You can try it for free before you subscribe to it
- Can create professional intros, animations, promo videos, slideshows, music visualizations, etc.
- Other than videos, you can design logos using its online branding tools
- You can also create landing pages and professional websites
- You can even edit mockups using Renderforest
- It is also focused on the design platform
- It is cloud-based, and you don’t have to install any software
- The price is very affordable and has multiple options for packages
It is best for business owners who are hiring freelancers or agencies to create videos and design. You can make it all by yourself. Intro videos, promotional videos, advertisement videos, presentations, etc., play an essential role in creating efficient marketing campaigns for businesses.
The best part of Renderforest is the ability to create any video without any software installation. Most video editing applications require high system specifications, but with Renderforest, you can create high-quality intro videos even from your mobile browser. The rendering process is also super fast compared to most video editing applications.
Check out the comparison between CreateStudio and Renderforest for more.
Pricing
The pricing structure is $9.99 for Amateur, $27.99 for Pro, $39.99 for Popular and 49.99 for Agency. These are monthly charges, and they bill it annually.
3. Animaker
This cloud-based easy animation-making software is designed to save time in making any kind of videos. It is made for non-professional video makers and has more than 4 million users worldwide. It allows you to select a template you like best or start from scratch.
This cloud-based easy animation-making software is designed to save time in making any videos. It is made for non-professional video makers and has more than 4 million users worldwide. It allows you to select a template you like best or start from scratch.
Here are some features and benefits…
- You can create hundreds of different and unique characters and animate them with its Character Builder
- You can animate different facial expressions
- With Animaker Voice, you can convert text to a human-like voice
- You can even add lipsyncing to your character easily with its Auto Lipsync feature
- You can edit videos as well in Animaker. Unlike other video editing apps, you can upload big size files. You can upload up to 25 GB of files
- When you’re done with making a video, you can convert it to any dimensions like square, vertical, landscape, etc. with simple, easy clicks
- It supports 4K videos
- Video editing in Animaker is so light that you won’t need a high configuration computer or PC to edit massive files like 4K videos
- It has high-quality stock images and videos
- You can turn any videos GIF
Animaker has more than 1000 templates to choose from. One of the best things about Animaker is that it has the most extensive animation library. It contains cartoon characters, animated props and backgrounds, maps and charts, animated numbers, text pre-builts, and more.
My favorite feature of Animaker is that you can customize the characters and change expressions as much as you want. Its pan shots make your animated video looks more dramatic, and the special effects bring a whole new dimension to your video. It has fire and tornado effects to abstract animations like paint splash.
Animaker also contains a very diverse sound library. It has a sizeable number of royalty-free sound effects and background scores that’ll be music to your ears. Animaker has an inbuilt voice recorder as well.
I place it on No. 3 because of its characters’ design quality. I wouldn’t say that the quality is as excellent as CreateStudio and Renderforest. And you can create only 2D animations.
Pricing
There is a free option, but it comes with a watermark. The starter package is $10, and the business package is $49. These are monthly charges and billed monthly.
4. Vyond
Vyond (GoAnimate before) is also an easy cloud-based animation-making software that allows you to create animated videos quickly. One of the best features of this app is its auto lipsyncing. You can add automatic lipsync to your characters. With this easy animation app, you can create professional animated videos in less time.
Vyond has vast pre-built templates, a library of resources, and a collaboration tool. The collaboration tool helps in communicating between the team members and improves productivity.
Vyond provides modern settings and whiteboard animations for hundreds of combinations for your employees around the world. Moreover, Create MP4s or animated GIFs with a click.
Vyond also provides 14 days free trial. It contains an extensive library that covers a wide range of industries and scenarios so that you’re sure to find something that fits your needs. You can customize your videos with characters, colors, and animated texts. Adding voice and music is very easy.
Drag and drop to tell your story. With drag-and-drop controls and a library of royalty-free music, you can create almost every kind of video.
Need to educate your staff on a new product? Recognize an employee’s tenure? What about a quick tutorial for your help desk or something to make your social media content stand out? Vyond has the right options to get them done fast.
You can use built-in templates or make your own. Add some dynamic charts, graphs, and transitions, and you’re ready to communicate your idea to the world. Vyond is best for making short marketing videos, promotional videos, training and eLearning videos, etc.
Pricing
In the 14 days free trial, you can’t download the videos you’ve created. They have a flexible price range for everyone. They are the Essential plan, which costs $49 per month and $299 per year. The Premium plan costs $89 per month and $299 per year, and the Professional plan costs $159 per month and $999 per year.
There’s another plan called Enterprise plan, which offers advanced security features, training and onboarding assistance, and a dedicated account manager.
5. Toonly
Toonly is another cloud-based easy animation-making software. It is also designed to create promotional videos, tutorial videos, explainer videos, training videos, etc. Its premade scenes allow you to create animated videos easy and fast.
i. Beginners friendly
It’s perfect for beginners. You can easily drag and drop elements and characters and Select any template of your choice from the library. You can also start from an empty canvas if you want.
ii. Can import your own font
You have flexibility with fonts because you can upload your own fonts in Toonly. Most of the cloud-based software or apps don’t allow you to use your own fonts, but Toonly has a big plus point in that.
iii. Different actions and expressions to animate your characters
One of my favorite things about Toonly is that it has many different expressions and actions, which gives us more options and flexibility. It has an auto lipsyncing feature as well.
iv. Only 5 different animation styles for text
Even though Toonly has an extensive library with different characters, props, elements, etc., it has only 5 animation styles for text. You don’t get much flexibility there.
v. Large library of characters, props, elements, etc.
Toonly has an extensive library of characters, props, elements, etc.; however, it has limited background options. You might not get the specific backgrounds that you want.
Toonly doesn’t use stock images or videos. Professional designers design all of their elements.
I searched for a good video to add to this part, but surprisingly they are not active on YouTube. I got one which I’ve added below; however, I’m not sure if it’s their real official channel.
Pricing
Toonly doesn’t provide a free trial. Their two plans are the Standard Plan, which costs $39 per month and Enterprise Plan, which costs $69 per month. They don’t have a yearly payment option.
6. Powtoon
Another easy cloud-based animation-making software Powtoon is one of the most famous on this list. Powtoon has been around since 2011. It is used by many big companies like Coca-Cola, eBay, Cisco, Star Bucks, Pfizer, etc.
It is best for making animated explainer videos, promotional videos, tutorial videos, social media video posts, etc. You can create a variety of animation styles like cartoons, whiteboards, infographics, texts, etc.
Since it is a cloud-based app, you have to have an internet connection to use it. It has a clean and easy-to-use interface because it is designed to be used by anyone.
Some features and benefits are
i. It has a good variety of unique templates
Powtoon provides hundreds of templates to help you find the perfect one for your project. It has three categories of templates, which are Work, Education, and Personal. According to your needs, the templates come in different aspect ratios, for example, 16:9 ratio, which is a standard horizontal video and 1:1 ratio for social media videos.
ii. You can also import your own files and animate in Powtoon
You have your own images or characters to animate? You can import your own files and animate them the way you want; however, you can’t import SVG files. It supports JPEG, PNG, and GIF only.
iii. Easy to edit and animate text
It’s easy and quick to edit or animate text in Powtoon. You can use its pre-designed text box templates or add simple pain text of your own choice.
iv. Can directly share your video to another platform easily
You can also share your video directly to Facebook or YouTube easily or download it as an MP4 for future use.
Pricing
Powtoon provides a free trial where you can explore the app before getting a subscription. You can subscribe to Pro Plan, which costs $19 per month, Pro+ Plan, which costs $29 per month or Agency Plan, which costs $99 per month if you pay annually. It has a different price if you want to pay monthly.
Final Words
Those are the 6 best easy online animation makers for YouTube in the market, according to my research. Each of them has its own strong and weak points, but you can choose yours according to your needs and requirements.
CreateStudio is premium and very flexible for creative people. It’s for both beginners and professionals. It also animates 3D characters.
Renderforest is for animation as well as logo design, website design and mockups. It can also create 3D animation.
Animaker is affordable, very light, can upload large files quickly and supports 4K videos.
Vyond is best for explainer videos, promotions videos, and training videos. It has an auto lipsyncing feature.
Toonly can be used if you have a very tight budget and want to use it for short-term projects.
Powtoon is best for making videos for companies and businesses for internal use.
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If you want to dig deeper into these softwares, you can check out my detailed CreateStudio Review, Toonly Review and Renderforest Review.
Happy Animating!