Pencil2D vs SpineBones
Pencil2D
pencil2d.org
SpineBones
spinebones.agara.idSide by side
| Figure | Pencil2D | SpineBones |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · 2D Character Animation Software | 8.4 (#10) | 8.3 (#14) |
| Onion skin | Users can show previous and next keyframes as onion skin and adjust the number of drawings and their transparency. | Onion skin displays neighboring poses around the current playhead for spacing and arc checks. |
| Purpose | Pencil2D is an intuitive tool for making 2D hand-drawn animations. | SpineBones is a 2D skeletal animation editor for building bone rigs, keying them on a timeline, and exporting animations. |
| What it does | Pencil2D is a lightweight tool for creating traditional hand-drawn 2D animations. | SpineBones is a desktop editor for constructing 2D skeletal rigs, animating them with keyframes, and exporting animation assets. |
Plans
In their own words
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.
SpineBones
SpineBones is a free 2D skeletal animation editor for creating bone rigs, keying motion, and exporting animations. Rigging includes hierarchies, re-parenting, grouping, and inverse kinematics. Its timeline supports keyframe insertion, movement, selection, copying, looping, per-key easing, and audio tracks. Slots accept PNG, JPG, SVG, and WebP artwork, with multiple attachments and frame-by-frame swaps. Attachment meshes can be deformed with keyed vertices, and onion skin shows neighboring poses. SETUP stores the base pose; ANIMATE keys position, rotation, and scale. Exports include WebM video, transparent PNG sequences, sprite sheets with atlas data, and portable .sbn packages; legacy .json projects open too. An MCP bridge supports Claude and other MCP clients for rig elements, keyframes, frame-rate changes, and exports. It runs on macOS 12+ and Windows 10+, with no account, licence key, or trial timer.