Alternatives to Synfig Studio
Vector 2D animation software that tweens between keyframes instead of making you draw every frame. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Synfig Studio
Vector 2D animation software that tweens between keyframes instead of making you draw every frame.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Synfig Studio.
OpenToonz
Professional 2D animation software, based on the Toonz version used by Studio Ghibli.
OpenToonz is a BSD-licensed studio-grade 2D animation suite with an exposure sheet and scan tools, suited to frame-based work and hard to learn.
Pencil2D
A small, approachable program for traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, mixing bitmap and vector layers.
Pencil2D is a small GPL program for hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation with onion skinning, but it has no rigging or tweening.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Synfig Studio as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Procreate Dreams
iPad app for 2D animation, combining frame-by-frame flipbook drawing with keyframes and video editing.
Synfig Studio is free, GPL-3.0 vector animation software for desktop that tweens between keyframes and supports bones, but it is not built for frame-by-frame drawing.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Krita
A free digital painting program built for illustrators, with over a hundred brushes ready to use.
Inkscape
A free vector editor that works natively in SVG, for logos, diagrams and illustration.
Drawpile
Draw and animate together on a shared canvas.
Pixelorama
A pixel art editor for sprites, tiles and animation, built in Godot and running on desktop, Android and the web.
LibreSprite
A pixel art and sprite animation editor, forked from the last version of Aseprite that was still GPL.
Aseprite
An animated sprite editor and pixel art tool with layers, frames, onion skin and sprite sheet export.
