LoongBones vs Pixelpart

LoongBones is a 2D skeletal animation solution with an online editor and a runtime player. The browser-based editor uses HTML5 and canvas, so it requires no installation, and it can create, modify, and export animation data, images, frame sequences, and other digital assets. Its tools include mesh deformation, bone binding, inverse kinematics, collision, and mesh curve deformation. Imports include PSD files, images, texture atlases, LoongBones projects and data, and supported Spine files. Exports include animation formats, images, sprite sheets, and GIFs, with plugins for additional formats. The runtime plays LoongBones animation data and supports Egret, Cocos, PixiJS, Unity, and Unreal; it is described as open source, free to download, and MIT-licensed. The product also says it supports AI-generated animation and has integrated DeepSeek. A seven-day free experience includes 100M storage and up to 10 projects. Membership costs 19.90 CNY a month or 199.90 CNY a year. The listed platforms include Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows.

Pixelpart is an application for making 2D and 3D visual effects for games, with a particle-based workflow. It provides particle emitters, force fields, colliders, light sources, and group nodes, alongside keyframe animations and motion paths. Effects can be exported as videos, sprite sheets, image sequences, or animated images. Inputs and triggers allow its game-engine plugins to respond to game-state changes, and runtime plugins are listed for Unity, Godot, and GameMaker. The maker describes those plugins as free and open-source; they work with effect files from Pixelpart 1.9.x. Documented engine requirements are Unity 2021.3 or later, Godot 4.3 or later, and GameMaker 2024 or later. The application runs on Linux and Windows; its listed minimums are Ubuntu 20.04 x64 with X11 or Windows 10 x64. Plugin documentation also names macOS, iOS, Android, and Web/HTML5 runtime targets. A free Demo is available for simple effects. Professional costs $24.99, paid once purchase and includes all features, unlimited nodes and particle types, unlimited inputs and triggers, and unrestricted video and sprite export.