Cascadeur is 3D animation software for building character animation with physics-based tools, without motion capture.
Best Animation Software in 2026
Animation software covers very different creative tasks, from shaping 2D scenes to building 3D work, rigging characters, and creating motion graphics. Compare the tools against the kind of project you want to make, then look at cloud collaboration, export formats, and supported platforms to see how each might fit your workflow. Rive, Houdini, and Blender are among the named options to consider across these needs.…
Rokoko Studio is software for capturing, editing, streaming, and exporting character animation projects.
Rive is a 2D animation tool for creating motion graphics and rigged characters.
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Powtoon
Powtoon is a browser-based platform for creating animated videos and visual presentations with Powtoon Studio.
Free planAndroidiOSWebExtension8.6From $8 a month - 5

Animation Desk
Animation Desk is software for creating animations, cartoons, and animatics on Android, iOS, and Windows.
Free planAndroidiOSmacOSWindows8.6From $2.49 a month - 6

Houdini
Houdini is SideFX’s procedural 3D creation software for fields including film, television, games, motion graphics, virtual reality, and synthetic data.
Free planWindowsmacOSLinux8.4From $95 a year - 7
iClone
Free planiOSAPIWindows8.4Free plan - 8
Animaker
Animaker is a web-based tool for creating animated and live-action videos.
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.4From $15 a month - 9

Plask Motion
Plask Motion turns video into 3D animation using AI motion capture without suits or sensors.
Free planWebAPIExtensionmacOS8.4From $18 a month - 10
Wideo
Free planAndroidWebAPI8.4Free plan - 11

Stop Motion Studio
Stop Motion Studio is an app for making stop-motion animations with frame-by-frame capture and editing.
Free planAndroidiOSmacOSWindows8.4$5.99 one-time - 12

FlipaClip
FlipaClip is a frame-by-frame animation app for creating animated projects.
Free planAndroidiOSmacOS8.4From $29.99 a year - 13

Brush Ninja
Brush Ninja is a 2D animation tool available in a web browser and on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Free planAndroidiOSWebLinux8.4From $48 a year - 14

Blender
Blender is a free, open-source desktop suite for 3D creation on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Free planOpen sourceLinuxmacOSWindows8.3Free plan - 15

Adobe Character Animator
Free planmacOSWindows8.3Free plan - 16
PixTeller
PixTeller is an online image editor and animation maker for creating graphics and animated videos from templates or from scratch.
Free planAndroidiOSWebLinux8.3From $7 a month - 17

Pencil2D
Pencil2D is free, open-source desktop software for making hand-drawn 2D animations, including commercial work.
Free planOpen sourceLinuxmacOSWindows8.1Free plan - 18

Live2D Cubism
Live2D Cubism Editor turns drawn illustrations into animated 2D models, with tools for puppet-style motion, mesh deformation, physics and lip sync.
AndroidiOSWebmacOS8.1 - 19

Dragonframe
AndroidiOSAPILinux8.0$195 one-time - 20
Autodesk MotionBuilder
APILinuxSelf-hostedWindows7.8 - 21
Autodesk Maya
macOSLinux7.7 - 22

Fusion
Free planLinuxmacOSWindows7.6$295 one-time - 23

Callipeg
Callipeg is a 2D animation application for frame-by-frame work on tablets and desktop computers.
AndroidiOSLinuxmacOS7.6$5 one-time - 24

Pixelorama
Pixelorama is a free, open-source pixel-art creation tool for drawing, animation and game graphics.
Free planAndroidWebLinuxmacOS7.6Free plan - 25
LightWave 3D
LightWave 3D is software for creating 3D models, animations, and visual effects on Windows and macOS.
APImacOSWindows7.6


