Animation Desk vs Stick Nodes
Animation Desk
kdan.comStick Nodes
sticknodes.comSide by side
| Figure | Animation Desk | Stick Nodes |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.49/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 4 |
| Spec score · 2D Character Animation Software | 9.3 (#2) | 8.0 (#21) |
| Spec score · Animation Software | 9.1 (#10) | 7.9 (#61) |
| Export formats | Supported exports listed by the maker include video, images, GIF, Photoshop PSD, PDF and ad.package. | GIF,PNG,MP4 |
| Founded | 2009 | 2014 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Tainan City, Taiwan | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Integrations | GetApp records iMovie as a user-mentioned integration, rated 5.0 from one integration review. | The listing says users can import Minecraft skins and animate them. |
| Support | KDAN lists Animation Desk support for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows and gives [email protected] as a contact address. | The Google Play listing gives [email protected] as the app support email and points users to the website FAQ. |
| What it does | Animation Desk is 2D software for frame-by-frame animation, cartoons and animatics. | Stick Nodes is a mobile app for creating stickfigure animations and exporting them as animated GIFs or videos. |
Plans
Animation Desk
- Animation Desk Pro iOS$2.49 a month
- Creativity 365 for Individuals$4.99 a month
- Animation Desk iOS BasicFree
- Animation Desk iOS - Basic PlanFree
- Animation Desk Pro iOS$2.49 a month
- Creativity 365 for Individuals$4.99 a month
Stick Nodes
- FreeFree
- ProPrice not published
- Stick NodesFree
- Stick Nodes Pro$3.99, paid once
In their own words
Animation Desk
Animation Desk is software for creating animations, cartoons, and animatics on Android, iOS, and Windows. Its tools include paint brushes, layers, onion skinning, sound effects, and frame-rate settings. Work can begin with video clips, photos, or pre-built animation templates, with stock collections, batch frame pasting, and effects for video and images available for editing; some features depend on app version. The product is aimed at beginners, students, learners, and professional animators making rough animation, animatic sketches, or storyboards. Finished work can be exported as video, GIF, PDF, PSD, or image sequences, and editable projects can be exchanged among the Android, iOS, and Windows apps. The iOS listing also describes export to Photoshop for further editing. Animation Desk is free to download, and a free plan is listed. Animation Desk Pro for iOS is $2.49 a month, billed annually at $29.99. Creativity 365 for Individuals is $4.99 a month, billed annually at $59.99. KDAN says the product will remain available under existing paid plans but will not receive proactive new feature development or routine version maintenance updates.
Stick Nodes
Stick Nodes is an Android and iOS app for creating stickfigure animations and exporting them as GIFs or videos. Its tools include automatic frame tweening, onion skinning, undo and redo, and camera controls for panning, zooming, and rotating. Users can import and animate images, add textfields, and save, open, or share projects, stickfigures, and movieclips. The app supports pre-3.0 Pivot files and importing Minecraft skins. The website offers more than 30,000 downloadable stickfigures. Free users can export GIFs. Stick Nodes Pro adds MP4 export, removes export watermarks, adds sound effects and additional filters, and removes the startup ad. The Stick Nodes plan is free and may show ads; Stick Nodes Pro costs $3.99, paid once. A 2026 update says free users may see an additional ad after a cooldown. The maker was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.