FlipaClip vs Pencil2D
FlipaClip
flipaclip.com
Pencil2D
pencil2d.orgSide by side
| Figure | FlipaClip | Pencil2D |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 5 | 2 |
| Spec score · 2D Character Animation Software | 9.0 (#5) | 8.4 (#10) |
| Spec score · Cartoon Maker Software | 9.0 (#5) | 8.4 (#12) |
| Spec score · Animation Software | 8.8 (#18) | 8.8 (#16) |
| Export | Animations can be exported as MP4 or GIF, with PNG image-sequence export available through Plus. | The FAQ gives instructions for exporting animated GIFs. |
| Export formats | MP4,GIF,PNG sequence | MP4,WEBM,AVI,GIF,APNG,PNG image sequence |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Projects can be manually backed up to third-party storage such as Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive; FlipaClip says it has no project backup cloud service of its own. | GetApp reports that no integrations were found for Pencil2D. |
| Licence | The Apple listing points to Apple's standard App Store EULA and identifies Visual Blasters LLC as seller; it does not state an open-source licence. | The GitHub repository identifies the project licence as GPL-2.0. |
| Onion skin | Onion skin displays preceding and following frames as guides for smoother motion. | Users can show previous and next keyframes as onion skin and adjust the number of drawings and their transparency. |
| Platforms | The app is listed for Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore and Huawei AppGallery; Mac computers with an M chip are supported but not fully optimized. | Windows,macOS,Linux |
| Purpose | FlipaClip is an app for creating frame-by-frame animations. | Pencil2D is an intuitive tool for making 2D hand-drawn animations. |
| What it does | FlipaClip is a frame-by-frame 2D animation and cartoon-making app for creating short movies and flipbooks. | Pencil2D is a lightweight tool for creating traditional hand-drawn 2D animations. |
Plans
FlipaClip
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- FlipaClip Plus monthly$5.99 a month
- FlipaClip Plus annual$29.99 a year
- FlipaClip PlusPrice not published
In their own words
FlipaClip
FlipaClip is a frame-by-frame animation app for aspiring and emerging artists. Its timeline offers Classic and Studio layouts, with Studio showing frames, layers, and audio together. Users can draw beyond the canvas, though that extra content is left out of the final video. Audio support allows up to six separate tracks on Android and eight on iOS. Projects can be exported as MP4, GIF, or PNG sequences. The Free plan is free and includes three layers and ads. FlipaClip Plus adds unlimited layers, audio and video import, watermark and ad removal, PNG image sequence export, and custom canvases up to 1920×1920; the price appears in the app before purchase, with monthly or yearly billing. Magic Cut uses AI to separate images into elements and is a Plus feature. Voice maker generates dialogue audio, includes 15,000 monthly credits, and limits each text input to 150 characters. Projects stay on the device where they were created and do not sync through sign-in, but creation, editing, and rendering work offline. Users can back up projects manually to third-party storage. FlipaClip also offers an Education option for educational institutions.
Pencil2D
Pencil2D is free, open-source software for creating hand-drawn 2D animations. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and, according to the homepage, FreeBSD. The project provides stable builds for Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.14 or later on Intel, and both 32-bit and 64-bit Linux. Artists can switch between raster and vector workflows for sketching, inking and painting. A timeline manages keyframes, while dockable tool and color windows accompany an unlimited canvas with a camera field. Onion skin displays drawings before and after the current keyframe, with controls for drawing count and transparency. Sound can be imported through a sound layer, although waveform display is still pending. Exports include MP4, WEBM, AVI, GIF, APNG and PNG image sequences. Video importing, text tools and shape tools are not implemented. Pencil2D is free for commercial use. Help is available through its forum, Discord, tutorials, FAQ and user manual.