Pencil2D vs Stick Nodes

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.

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.