The 5 Best Free Animation Programs for Windows 10

Recently, professionally shot and edited videos have become an increasingly popular choice for creating brand awareness and sharing ideas. However, creating quality videos can be an uphill task. Luckily, this is made simpler by considering the alternative of creating an animated video.

Content creators and small business owners can use animation software to create frame-by-frame motion slides and increase their brand’s visibility. To this end, this article will introduce you to some of the best animation software for your PC, briefly highlighting their features and requirements.

Blender is the go-to animation software for beginner and professional animators. Consequently, it is a popular choice among video game specialists and studio artists.

It contains excellent tools and features to help you fine-tune different aspects of your animated projects. This includes lighting, animation, modeling, video editing, digital sculpting, and motion tracking. Additionally, simulation, video editing, and conversion post-production features are available.

To assist you in creating interactive animation videos, Blender has its own inbuilt production render engine that speeds up the video editing process and gives you real-time feedback.

Also, a pose editor synchronizes the sounds and actions of your project, helping to facilitate independent movements. It is also equipped with an inbuilt video editor that goes beyond the basic cutting and cropping to perfect your videos’ color grading and masking.

Blender is an open-source project, which means you can download its source code and alter it or install additional plugins to suit your unique needs.

A downside to this software is that it can be tricky for beginners due to its sheer amount of customization options. Consequently, its numerous features may take some time to understand and fully master. If you’re having difficulty getting started with this software, you should check out our guide on how to animate in Blender.

Due to its open-source nature, Blender is prone to stability issues as bugs may affect performance. In addition, this software is CPU-intensive and may have difficulty running optimally on older devices.

Regardless, Blender offers many resources, has cross-platform functionality, and has an excellent workflow. This makes it a favorite among digital creators today.

Download: Blender (Free)

This software came into the limelight in 2017 when it became the first to launch a vertical video creator for animations, remaining a household name ever since.

With Animaker, you can access a state-of-the-art library detailing horizontal and vertical video layouts, premade graphics, background music, voice-over, and sound effects. You can even upload your tools to personalize your work.

Animaker’s robust character builder helps you build customized characters, simulating real-time facial features and gestures. This feature, alongside the tweening feature, adds a professional feel to your work.

An attractive feature of Animaker is that it helps you tell your story in the most fun and creative way possible.

As such, it is a good fit for teachers seeking visual illustrations to simplify their teaching process, or business owners better looking to create interactive videos to improve sales. In addition, content creators aiming to make funny and personalized visuals to better communicate with their audience will find this tool helpful.

A downside of Animaker is that it limits the types of input devices it supports. In addition, like Blender, Animaker is CPU-intensive. As such, it will not run optimally on lower-end devices.

Although the free version of Animaker contains a vast array of tools, as a professional, you should consider subscribing to the paid version to achieve the best quality possible.

Download: Animaker (Free, subscription available)

Adobe Animate’s framework is designed to fit the industry standard by improving video functionality and quality. It features tools adapted to create vector graphics and stunning visuals for commercials, tv shows, video games, websites, and other interactive projects.

Firstly, the vector brush works similarly to actual brushes and can be used to sketch realistic characters and simulate real-life actions.

Furthermore, the characters you create are interactive and can be programmed to respond to certain clicks and touches, making your cartoons and illustrations lifelike. You can also sync sound to the animation to prevent lagging.

Adobe Animate has an animated camera for altering camera movements and giving your work a realistic feel. Other features include 3D transformation and animation guides. In addition, Adobe Animate provides videos, sample projects, and articles to familiarize you with its dynamics.

The major downside to this software is that it requires proficiency in HTML and JavaScript to create interactive animations. Consequently, the thought of this might be daunting for newbies.

All in all, Adobe Animate remains a good choice for its sophisticated features, advanced designs, and fascinating graphics. To help you get started on your journey, you can check out our guide on how to use Adobe Animate.

Download: Adobe Animate (Free trial, subscription available)

Powtoon has carved a niche for itself in making training and explanatory videos. Consequently, a lot of brands use this tool to create animated tutorials and guides.

You can create simple animated videos and slideshows using Powtoon. In addition, this tool is also capable of more complex tasks like YouTube videos, animated presentations, and video tutorials.

Powtoon’s user interface is pretty straightforward and easy to figure out, making it beginner-friendly. It has an extensive library featuring various visual effects, fancy templates, audio, and soundtracks. In addition, you can create fun and detailed explanatory videos and even export finished videos directly to social media platforms, including YouTube and Facebook.

One downside of this platform is that it requires a premium subscription to download your finished video to your device as an MP4.

Regardless, videos created using Powtoon are ideal for improving sales and enhancing customer retention rates. Thus, making it an excellent choice for small businesses and brands.

Website: Powtoon (Free, subscription available)

Cinema 4D is a beginner-friendly animation tool ideally suited to cater to the needs of content creators and optimize workflow processes.

Equipped with a host of features, you can create sound or visual effects with minimal fuss. It also has a new unified simulation system to reenact practical actions and motions. Characters created with Cinema 4D are as realistic as it gets because the software has in-depth detail and customization capabilities.

You are bound to enjoy a great user experience as the interface is well laid out, with a relatively minimalist aesthetic that helps you focus on what’s important. In addition, you can enhance the lighting of your videos with its sophisticated color library.

Unlike most other software, Cinema 4D uses powerful polygonal modeling tools. These polygonal modeling tools serve as the building blocks to help create new shapes and characters.

You can try out these fantastic features and more by downloading the demo version and enjoying the free 14-day trial. This allows you to evaluate the capabilities of the software before deciding to opt for the paid version.

Download: Cinema4d (Free trial, subscription available)

Choosing the Best Windows Animation Software for You

The software we have considered covers various scopes of creators’ animation requirements. What’s more, they all have one thing in common; outstanding features that are suited for different types of users.

As such, you should settle for the software program that helps you achieve every creative’s dream: expressing your story in the most unique, personalized, and fun way possible.