OpenToonz
Focus: frame-by-frame. Shares 2d animation and open source with Pencil2D. Rated 4.3 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.3Visit
Desktop App
Pencil2D
An easy, free and open-source tool for hand-drawn 2D animation.
Rating
4.2 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Beginner
Works on
Windows, macOS, Linux
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is Pencil2D?
Pencil2D is an easy, intuitive tool for hand-drawn 2D animation that lets you switch between raster and vector work while sketching, inking and painting. It is completely open source (GPL) and free to use, even commercially, and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD; the latest version is 0.7.2 (March 2026).
Pros: what Pencil2D does well
- Very easy to learn
- Free and open source, even for commercial work
- Raster and vector layers
Cons: where it falls short
- Fewer features than professional tools
- Best for simple, frame-by-frame animation
Who Pencil2D is for
Beginners and students learning hand-drawn animation.
Who can skip it
Studios that need rigging and complex pipelines.
Pencil2D alternatives
Not sold on Pencil2D? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
Synfig
Focus: vector animation. Shares 2d animation and open source with Pencil2D. Same 4.2 rating.
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.2Visit
Ghostty
Focus: terminal, emulator and gpu. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Rated 4.9 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.9Visit
Blender
Focus: 3d, animation and vfx. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Rated 4.8 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.8Visit
fzf
Focus: fuzzy finder, command line and shell. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
lazygit
Focus: git client, terminal ui and developer tool. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Free alternatives to Pencil2D
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
navi
Focus: terminal, cli and cheatsheet. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Rated 4.8 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
ripgrep
Focus: search tool, command line and developer tool. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Upscayl
Focus: image upscaling, ai and electron. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Rated 4.8 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreeLinux, macOS
4.8Visit
VLC media player
Focus: media player, video player and codecs. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Adds iOS and Android. Rated 4.8 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.8Visit
Atuin
Focus: shell history, terminal and command line. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Rated 4.7 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit
AutoHotkey
Focus: hotkeys, macros and scripting. Shares open source with Pencil2D. Adds Offline. Rated 4.7 (Pencil2D: 4.2).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, Offline
4.7Visit
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