Alexis Kestler
Hey there! If you‘ve landed on this post, you‘re likely interested in creating an explainer video. As a video marketing analyst and technologist, I‘m excited to provide my insider knowledge to help you nail your explainer video production.
Explainer videos have rocketed in popularity in recent years – and for good reason. These short, animated videos do an incredible job clearly demonstrating how a product works and its key benefits. In today‘s world of information overload, explainers cut through the noise using a visual medium people inherently understand and love.
But with so many animation software tools out there now, how do you even know where to start? Don‘t worry, I‘m going to break down the top options on the market today based on detailed research into over 25 different platforms. I‘ll even sprinkle in some tips from my own experience producing over 100 explainer videos for startups and brands.
Let‘s start by looking at…
Why Every Business Needs an Explainer Video
Skeptical whether you really need an animated explainer? Here are some compelling stats that may convince you:
- 650% increase in organic traffic from videos over text pages
- 157% increase in Google ranking when video is embedded on a landing page
- 72% of people would rather watch a video to learn about a product than read about it
- A 64% increase in decision making after watching a product video
- 55% of people retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text
The evidence is clear. Videos are more engaging, memorable, and effective at converting viewers. Let‘s look at some of the core benefits:
Improved Comprehension
Humans are visual learners. Seeing a product in motion rather than static screenshots fundamentally improves our understanding. Animations also allow you to simplify complex concepts into bite-sized, easily digestible portions.
Captured Attention
In our age of information overload, attention spans are fleeting. On average, you have just 2-3 seconds to hook a viewer before they click away. Videos command attention through motion and visuals unlike any other medium.
Boosted SEO
Videos boost page conversion rates which in turn reduces bounce rates. This signals to Google and other search engines that your content is engaging – earning you a rankings boost in SEO.
Virality on Social Media
People love to watch and share videos! Posts with videos generate 12x more shares than text-based posts. Explainers are a prime candidate for going viral.
Personal Brand Building
Video is one of the most intimate mediums available. Viewers get to feel like they‘re having an engaging one-on-one conversation with you. This builds a sense of trust and connection vital for brands.
Clearly, the advantages of explainer videos are massive. But what‘s the best software to actually make them? Let‘s dive in…
Top 12 Explainer Video Software Picks
For Professionals: Adobe After Effects
In the hands of a skilled animator, Adobe After Effects is the gold standard for creating high-end explainer videos. It‘s used extensively in the animation and motion graphics fields to produce Hollywood blockbuster visual effects!
Don‘t let that intimidate you though. While the learning curve is steep, After Effects provides the most control and customization for animation. Key features like motion tracking, keyframing, and access to hundreds of effects allow experienced animators to create extremely complex and unique explainers.
Although it lacks some pre-packaged templates and assets for beginners, the depth of After Effects‘ toolset has made it the choice of top animation studios. If you have professionals ready to dive in and learn, no software matches After Effects‘ possibilities.
Price: $20.99/month annual plan
Ideal For: Professional animators and designers
Learning Curve: Steep
For Beginners: Vyond
If you‘re new to animation and want to create an explainer video yourself, Vyond is hands-down the easiest tool to use. Its web-based platform features a simple drag-and-drop workflow perfect for beginners. You can choose from their massive library of lively 2D characters and scenes to re-enact a business scenario or product benefit.
I love how intuitive Vyond makes explainer video creation. Within minutes, anyone can assemble custom scenes on an interactive timeline. And the text-to-speech tool saves you from recording voiceovers. Don‘t expect extremely complex animations, but Vyond excels at helping novices make fun, dynamic explainers on a budget.
Price: Free – $49/month plans
Ideal For: Complete beginners
Learning Curve: Extremely easy
Best for Whiteboard Animation: Videoscribe
Whiteboard animation has its own unique aesthetic that can be highly effective for explainer videos. The hand-drawn, sketchy style feels personal and fun. Videoscribe has cemented itself as the premium software specifically for whiteboard videos.
While the interface is still beginner-friendly, Videoscribe offers impressive customization and effects tools. You can animate virtually any hand-drawn figure however you‘d like. The speed and easiness of bringing illustrations to life in Videoscribe is unparalleled. If whiteboard style is your preferred explainer look, this is the tool.
Price: $19/month basic plan
Ideal For: Whiteboard animation
Learning Curve: Intermediate
Best for Typography Videos: Animaker
Animaker is another beginner-friendly online tool, but distinguishes itself with an expansive set of features tailored specifically for text-based animation videos. These typography-driven explainers display your script in animated text blocks synced to a narration.
With its huge library of fonts, dynamic text effects, and pre-built kinetic typography templates, Animaker makes it easy for anyone to create a stylish text-based explainer. Definitely give Animaker a try if you envision an elegant, typography-focused video style.
Price: $39/month Pro plan
Ideal For: Typography animation videos
Learning Curve: Easy
Best for Infographic-Style: Powtoon
Some concepts and products are best demonstrated through infographics – visual representations of data and trends. Powtoon is the best animation software I‘ve used for creating infographic-driven explainer videos.
The timeline-based editor makes it simple to animate bar charts, pie graphs, and other infographic elements scene-by-scene. Powtoon also provides templates and pre-made assets for business topics commonly needing visual data representation. While not for complex character animations, Powtoon excels at informative, visually-engaging infographic videos.
Price: $19/month Pro plan
Ideal For: Infographic videos
Learning Curve: Easy
Best Video Hosting Integration: Wideo
One major advantage of Wideo is its seamless integration with video hosting platforms. Rather than just exporting a local video file, Wideo makes it incredibly easy to publish your completed explainer videos directly to the major platforms.
With just one click you can upload to YouTube, Vimeo, or your social channels. This streamlined hosting makes Wideo stand out. Plus its large template and media libraries allow you to quickly assemble animated explainers of all types and styles.
Price: $47/month Business plan
Ideal For: Direct video publishing
Learning Curve: Easy
Most Organic Art Style: Doodly
Sometimes the ultra-smooth vector animations can feel overly artificial and robotic. This is where Doodly shines. It utilizes live hand sketching to achieve an organic, imperfect art style for explainers.
Doodly replicates the experience of sketching ideas out on a real whiteboard. The strokes and motions have a natural ebb and flow. If you want to move away from the sterile feel of most animation software, Doodly‘s charming and lively hand-drawn aesthetic may be just what you need.
Price: $37/month Pro plan
Ideal For: Hand-drawn and sketch style
Learning Curve: Intermediate
Most Professionally Designed Templates: Biteable
Biteable comes packed with thousands of professionally designed animation video templates to fit every industry and use case. Created by world-class animators, these high-quality templates look consistently stunning.
While most software forces you to build from scratch, Biteable allows anyone to make pro-level explainer videos just by customizing provided templates. The polished look in a simplified drag-and-drop interface makes Biteable a great option for semi-professional explainers fast.
Price: $29/month Premium plan
Ideal For: Template-based creation
Learning Curve: Super easy
Most Intuitive Interface: Renderforest
Renderforest stands out for its silky smooth web interface. The editing timeline features clearly designated lanes for each animation layer, making it very intuitive to visualize your scenes.
Drag-and-drop comes naturally in Renderforest. You can easily mix and match from their library of animations, stock videos, and illustrations to assemble detailed explainers. Novices and pros alike will find Renderforest‘s UI a breeze to build complex videos swiftly.
Price: $19/month Unlimited plan
Ideal For: Streamlined web interface
Learning Curve: Easy
Best AI Assistant: Moovly
Moovly utilizes artificial intelligence in a really cool way to help guide your explainer video creation. Their AI assistant analyzes your script to automatically recommend relevant templates, scenes, and graphics to use.
This AI-powered guidance system provides suggestions tailored to your exact video topic and script. It offers valuable direction for mapping your narration to visuals in a smart explainer flow. Especially helpful for new users overwhelmed with where to start!
Price: $6.20/month Business plan
Ideal For: AI-recommended media
Learning Curve: Intermediate
Most Animated Effects: Animatron
Animatron packs a deep set of tools for applying elaborate animated effects to explainers. You can implement advanced transformations, blend modes, shadows, lighting, and particles across characters, text, and other elements.
While they provide handy templates and assets to start, I like Animatron for taking custom explainers to the next level. The advanced effects toolbar makes it simple to incorporate complex animations, ideal for professional production.
Price: $49/month Pro Motion plan
Ideal For: Advanced animation effects
Learning Curve: Intermediate
Most Media Choices: Clipchamp
For a truly expansive stock media collection, Clipchamp comes loaded with one of the largest I‘ve seen. Their media library boasts over 1 million video clips, sound effects, and royalty-free songs to incorporate.
This massive stock resource means you‘ll always find the perfect supporting media for your explainer. You can also upload your own branding assets and images seamlessly. For novice animators seeking variety, Clipchamp is a goldmine.
Price: $39/month Business plan
Ideal For: Huge stock media library
Learning Curve: Easy
Most Flexible Platforms: Toonly
A major perk of Toonly is its flexibility to publish animated videos to virtually any platform or device. Toonly outputs explainers tailored to square dimensions for mobile, horizontals for YouTube, and more.
Their multi-art style templates also allow switching between modes fluidly within one video. Combine whiteboard, infographic, 2D, and photo scenes in creative hybrid videos. For those seeking explainer flexibility across platforms, Toonly delivers excellently.
Price: $27/month Unlimited plan
Ideal For: Multi-platform publishing
Learning Curve: Easy
Key Factors When Choosing Explainer Video Software
With so many options for animation these days, it can be tough to decide where to start. Based on my experience making over 100 productions, here are the key factors I evaluate:
Budget
Pricing varies widely based on factors like features, cloud vs download, and free vs subscription. Basic packages start around $20/month, while advanced software like Adobe runs over $50/month. Align budget to your goals.
Learning Curve
Some software like Vyond are designed for complete beginners. Others like After Effects have steep learning curves. Match software complexity to your team‘s animation proficiency.
Video Style
Certain tools specialize in specific animation styles like whiteboard or typography. Choose software aligning closest to your desired explainer style.
Customization Needs
More customization power allows deeper personalization but sacrifices premade assets. Evaluate your need for customization vs ease-of-use.
Collaboration Workflow
Some tools enable real-time collaboration for multiple team members. This may impact your software choice.
Publishing Needs
If directly publishing to YouTube or social platforms is critical, ensure your software can integrate with key hosting destinations.
By evaluating these key factors against your specific goals and resources, you can zero in on the best animation software fit for your needs.
Now let‘s get into some pro tips and strategies…
7 Pro Tips for Animation Explainer Success
Even with the best software, producing an effective explainer video takes strategic planning. Here are my top 7 tips for getting the most out of your investment:
Craft a Strong Script
Every great video starts with a solid script. Outline your narrative arc clearly and map major visuals to each point.
Hook Viewers Fast
You have mere seconds to grab attention. Lead with an exciting teaser before providing context in your explainer storyline.
Simplify Complex Concepts
Avoid overloading with text, data, or intricate visuals. Use visual metaphors and analogies to explain complexity simply.
Highlight Benefits Visually
Don‘t just tell. Show how your product delivers value through well-designed visual demonstrations.
Let Audience Personalize
Insert characters or situations that viewers can imagine themselves in for better connections.
Strategically Promote Your Video
Feature your explainer prominently on your homepage, product pages, and all social channels. Amplify through paid ads.
Test and Iterate
Use analytics to identify areas for optimization, then apply learnings in an updated version.
The Future of Explainer Videos
The medium of animation video is only continuing to grow in popularity and effectiveness. As technology evolves, here are a few trends I foresee shaping the future of explainers:
AI-Assisted Creation
AI will help automate asset creation and provide smart recommendations during the animation process. This will enable faster, higher-quality video production.
Interactivity
Viewers will engage through tap/click hotspots and integrated quizzes within explanation videos. This boosts information retention tremendously.
Localized Personalization
Brands will product dynamically tailored explainers using viewer data like location and past behaviors to hyper-personalize messaging per individual.
Expanded Accessibility
Animation allows wider audiences to digest complex topics through visuals. However, improving closed captioning and translation integration will further expand explainer accessibility.
Mobile Optimization
Vertical video consumption is surging. Producing explainers optimized for mobile dimensions and short runtimes will be key.
Creating an animated explainer video may seem daunting at first. But the right software and strategy makes it highly achievable for businesses big and small. I hope this guide has demystified the top tools available and provided helpful insights into producing compelling explainers that drive results.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to offer guidance or feedback as you embark on your explainer video journey.
