OpenToonz vs Powtoon
OpenToonz
opentoonz.github.io
Powtoon
powtoon.comSide by side
| Figure | OpenToonz | Powtoon |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 10 |
| Spec score · Animation Software | 8.3 (#29) | 9.2 (#6) |
| Spec score · Cartoon Maker Software | 7.9 (#18) | 8.8 (#9) |
| Audience | The official site describes uses including professional production, amateur production, and school education. | Powtoon says its users include corporate trainers, marketers, educators, entrepreneurs, and organizations using it for presentations, ads, explainers, training, and education. |
| Export formats | 3GP,AVI,BMP,GIF,JPG,MOV,MP4,PNG,RGB,SGI,Spritesheet,TGA,TIF,TIFF,WebM | MP4,GIF,PPT,PDF,image |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | GTS is compatible with TWAIN scanners and is available for Windows only. | Powtoon lists integrations including Salesforce, Articulate 360, Google Drive, Zapier, Google Slides, Figma, HubSpot, Microsoft Teams, PowerPoint, Canva, and LMS platforms. |
| Platforms | The official FAQ lists requirements for Windows and macOS; the site says GTS is Windows only. | web,chrome_extension |
| Support | The official site directs users to a Google Group for troubleshooting, improvement requests, and bug reports, and to a GitHub forum for development topics. | All paid plans include 24/7 priority support, while Enterprise includes VIP support and onboarding. |
| 2D animation tools | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Powtoon
- FreeFree
- Lite$15 a month
- Professional$40 a month
- Advanced$125 a month
- Education$8 a month
- 125 AI credits$49, paid once
- 300 AI credits$99, paid once
- 450 AI credits$149, paid once
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Institutions & DistrictsPriced on request
In their own words
OpenToonz
OpenToonz is 2D animation software for professional and amateur production, as well as school education. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and exports formats including AVI, GIF, MP4, PNG, Spritesheet, and WebM. Its tools cover scanning, digital painting, and compositing: the GTS scanner supports four scanning types and saves settings, while painting supports anti-aliased lines and keeps painting data separate from palette data. Compositing offers xsheet and timeline interfaces and combines effects through a node tree. The software supports raster and vector images, and can convert between colored binarized TGA sequence images and OpenToonz format. An effects SDK allows image-processing plug-ins. GTS is TWAIN-compatible but available only on Windows. OpenToonz is based on Toonz, which Studio Ghibli customized and used for many years. Its source code is available under the New BSD License. OpenToonz is free for commercial and non-commercial projects, with no free trial listed.
Powtoon
Powtoon is a browser-based platform for creating animated videos and visual presentations in Powtoon Studio. Its editor brings together scene trimming and merging, captions, transitions, animations, brand assets, stock footage, voiceovers and soundtracks. AI tools can turn documents or text into video and support scriptwriting, speech, avatars, captions, translations and image creation. The platform also lists a stock media library of more than four million items and a character builder for changing appearance and gestures. Powtoon Capture records a screen, webcam or both; recordings can run up to 70 minutes and are deleted automatically after three months. It supports web and Chrome extension access, works in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, and has a free iOS and Android companion app for uploading media, recording voiceovers, and playing or sharing Powtoons. Plans include a free option and paid plans from $15/mo billed annually. Free videos are limited to three minutes at 720p and carry a Powtoon watermark.