Celtx From $11.24/mo · Free plan 9.4 Visit Kitsu
cg-wire.com
What it is
Kitsu is a collaboration and production-tracking platform for animation, VFX, and game studios. Teams can schedule tasks, assign work to artists, balance workloads, and follow production progress through dashboards and an activity feed for subscribed tasks. Its review tools arrange shots and assets into playlists and keep preview versions available for comparison. Kitsu also tracks asset versions, related tasks, and progress, with a library for reusing assets. Budget forecasting and artist time tracking cover assets and shots. Access options include web, Linux, API, and self-hosting. The REST API has Python and JavaScript tools and a command-line interface; listed integrations include Blender, Toon Boom Harmony, Unreal Engine, Slack, Discord, and Mattermost. The self-hosted AGPL edition requires customers to manage infrastructure, backups, monitoring, security, and upgrades. Paid cloud plans start at €20/user/mo (annual), and the 14-day trial includes all features and unlimited users, but uses low-end hardware unless a stronger setup is arranged.
Spec sheet
- What it does
- Kitsu is a collaboration and production-tracking web platform for animation, VFX and game studios.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Purpose
- Kitsu is a collaboration and production-tracking platform for animation, VFX, and game studios.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- API
- Kitsu provides REST API access, a Python client, a JavaScript SDK, and a command-line interface.Read 30 Sep 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Integrations
- Official developer documentation lists Blender, Toon Boom Harmony, Unreal Engine, Slack, Discord and Mattermost integrations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Privacy
- CGWire says it will never sell personal data and is willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement when required.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Support
- The pricing page lists support tiers with response times under 48, 24, or 12 hours for Agency, Production, and Studio plans respectively.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- License
- The Kitsu application repository is published under AGPL-3.0.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Headquarters
- Paris, FranceRead 28 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Founded
- 2018Read 28 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Activity feed
- Real-time activity feeds let users follow production changes and subscribe to task-status notifications.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Architecture
- The stack uses a Vue frontend, Flask-based Zou API and event service, PostgreSQL, Redis, FFmpeg and Meilisearch.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Asset library
- Studios can maintain reusable asset libraries to avoid duplicate assets.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Asset management
- Kitsu tracks asset versions, related tasks, and progress, and provides an asset library for reuse.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Breakdown lists
- Breakdown lists associate assets with shots and provide readiness statistics.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Budget and time
- Features include budget forecasting and artist time tracking across assets and shots.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Budget forecasting
- VFX workflows include scenario testing that compares current costs with budget forecasts.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Cloud hosting
- CGWire says Kitsu Cloud infrastructure runs in Europe and that hosting operations include updates, backups, monitoring, and video processing.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Company adoption
- The company’s GitHub profile says more than 300 studios use Kitsu, while its product site claims more than 500 studios and 25,000 active users.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Company founded
- LinkedIn lists CGWire as founded in 2017 with headquarters in Paris.Read 15 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
- Company size
- LinkedIn lists CGWire as a privately held information-technology company with 2–10 employees.Read 15 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
- Documentation depth
- The developer site includes guides for authentication, permissions, publishing, asset management, automation, search, plugins, deployment, backups and migrations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Extensibility
- Developers can use event listeners, custom actions and plugins with backend routes and embedded UI.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Founder report
- Frank Rousseau’s 2026 project review says Kitsu serves about 500 studios, mainly independent productions, and that five people work on it full time.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blog.frankrousseau.fr
- Hardware requirements
- Recommended minimums range from 2 cores and 4GB RAM for 1–10 users to 8 cores and 30GB RAM for 81–200 users.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Identity options
- Self-hosted deployments document LDAP or Active Directory, SAML 2.0 and OpenID Connect authentication.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Limit: feature maturity
- A Reddit discussion from six years ago said client-facing review tools were close to ready but not yet fully sufficient.Read 15 Oct 2026 · reddit.com
- Limit: support access
- A Reddit user says the abandoned forum was difficult to use and that chat support told them it was limited to paying customers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · reddit.com
- News: public links
- The April 27, 2026 changelog introduced public playlist links allowing guests to comment, annotate, update statuses and manage checklists without accounts.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cgwire.canny.io
- News: schedule
- The October 13, 2026 changelog added department filtering, anonymous busy slots and smoother drag-and-drop team scheduling.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cgwire.canny.io
- Notable storage limit
- The pricing FAQ says studios with very intensive preview loads should contact CGWire to estimate extra storage costs.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Planning
- It lets teams schedule tasks, assign them to artists, and balance workloads.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Praise: API
- AlternativeTo reviewers repeatedly describe the Python API or client as easy to use.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Praise: flexibility
- An AlternativeTo reviewer calls the production tracker very flexible for freelancers and small to medium studios.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Praise: integrations
- A Reddit user reports using Kitsu with Houdini and Nuke and describes integration as easier than ShotGrid or ftrack.Read 15 Oct 2026 · reddit.com
- Praise: usability
- AlternativeTo displays six five-star comments praising Kitsu as simple, lightweight, efficient and easy to use.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Production reporting
- Dashboards provide reports on production progress, and an activity feed tracks changes to subscribed tasks in real time.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Production reports
- Dashboards can be used to create reports showing production progress.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Public API
- Kitsu exposes the Zou REST API with OpenAPI documentation and JWT authentication.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kitsu-api.cg-wire.com
- Rating on AlternativeTo
- 5 out of 5 from 6 displayed reviews; the page notes that several low-activity reviews are excluded from its app rating.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Review
- Its review engine creates playlists for reviewing shots and assets and retains preview versions for comparison.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Review engine
- Review playlists let teams inspect shots and assets sequentially while retaining earlier preview versions for comparison.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Scheduling
- Teams can schedule work, assign tasks to artists and balance workloads.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- SDKs
- The developer documentation lists Gazu for Python, a JavaScript SDK and a command-line interface.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Search
- The product supports keyword, tag and metadata searching for assets.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Self-hosting
- Kitsu can be installed through cloud hosting, Docker or a manually documented self-hosted setup.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.kitsu.cloud
- Task tracking
- Users can dispatch tasks, define statuses and discuss work inside the platform.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Time tracking
- Artists can record time, with aggregated time views for assets and shots.Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
- Trial limits
- The free trial includes all features and unlimited user access, but runs on low-end hardware unless a stronger setup is arranged with the team.Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
Plans and prices
Self-hosted Free AGPL open source · customer-provided infrastructure and operations Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
Agency €20 a month annually 1–20 users · basic support · <48h response · 100GB storage Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
Agency €20 a year €20 / month / user, billed annually 1–20 users · Basic support (< 48h response time) · Mutualized hosting · 100GB storage Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
Production €30 a year €30 / month / user, billed annually 1–100 users · Premium support (< 24h response time) · High availability · Search engine · Playlist builder · 3TB storage Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
Production €30 a month annually 1–100 users · premium support · <24h response · 3TB storage · search engine · playlist builder Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
Studio €35 a month annually 1–300 users · diamond support · <12h response · 10TB storage · search engine · playlist builder Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
Studio €35 a year €35 / month / user, billed annually 1–300 users · Diamond support (< 12h response time) · High availability · Search engine · Playlist builder · 10TB storage Read 30 Sep 2026 · cg-wire.com
Artist Schools €3,999 a year annually up to 100 students Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
Enterprise Priced on request unlimited users · on-premise installation · SSO · contractor synchronization · multiple instances and regions · staging · media encryption Read 15 Oct 2026 · cg-wire.com
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- Schedules tasks and balances artist workloads.
- Review playlists retain preview versions for comparison.
- Tracks asset versions, tasks, and progress.
- Includes budget forecasting and artist time tracking.
- Offers REST API, SDKs, and named integrations.
Limits
- Self-hosters manage infrastructure, backups, and upgrades.
- Trial runs on low-end hardware by default.
- Intensive preview loads may require extra storage costs.
Who it suits
Kitsu suits animation, VFX, and game studios that need production planning, review, asset tracking, and reporting. Self-hosting is an option for teams prepared to manage their own operations.
Verdict
Kitsu combines production planning, review, asset management, reporting, budgeting, and time tracking in one studio-focused platform. Buyers should weigh the storage needs of preview-heavy work and, for self-hosting, the operational responsibilities.
Where Specifiction places it
- Creative Project Management Software#6 of 369.0
- Game Asset Management Software#4 of 158.9
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