What is the most used animation software?

Question

ExodeUI Team · Accepted Answer

There is no reliable public ranking, and the answer depends on the type of animation. After Effects is the standard for motion graphics, Blender is the most widely used free 3D tool, Toon Boom Harmony is common in 2D TV animation, and Maya in film and game 3D. For UI animation, Figma prototypes, Lottie files (often from After Effects), Rive and code libraries such as Motion are the most common. Lists that rank "most used" animation software rarely cite data. Here is what is widely used by kind of work, which is the more useful question. Motion graphics and video Adobe After Effects is the default in agencies and studios. Cavalry and Blender are growing alternatives. 3D animation Blender is free and open source and has a huge community. Autodesk Maya is common in film, TV and game studios. Cinema 4D is popular for motion design. 2D character animation Toon Boom Harmony is widely used in TV production. Adobe Animate, TVPaint and open-source options such as OpenToonz and Krita are also used. UI and product animation Figma prototypes are where most UI motion starts. Lottie is the most common format for played animations in apps, usually exported from After Effects. Rive and ExodeUI are used for interactive motion that ships; we make ExodeUI. Developers use Motion, GSAP and CSS on the web, and Reanimated or native APIs on mobile.

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What is the most used animation software?

Core Takeaway

Motion graphics and video

3D animation

2D character animation

UI and product animation

Frequently asked questions

What animation software do studios use?

What is the best free animation software?

Is Adobe Animate still used?

What do UI designers use for animation?

Related Guides & Examples

For UI that ships

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