Toon Boom Harmony vs Adobe Character Animator

Toon Boom Harmony9.3Visit Adobe Character Animator8.7Visit

Higher score Toon Boom Harmony #1 in Animation Software 9.3/10 14-day trial Free trial✓ 2 of 5 features Visit Toon Boom

vs

Adobe Character Animator #7 in Animation Software 8.7/10 Free plan · 7-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 2 of 5 features Visit Adobe

• Toon Boom Harmony fits best

  Professional hand-drawn and rigged 2D animation

• Adobe Character Animator fits best

  Live puppeteering and streaming characters

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Side by side

Feature	Toon Boom Harmony 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Adobe Character Animator 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.7
Ranking	#1 in Animation Software	#7 in Animation Software
Best for	Professional hand-drawn and rigged 2D animation	Live puppeteering and streaming characters
Pricing model	Paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	$55.50/user/yr	—
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	14 days	7 days
Free trial length	14 days	7 days
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS
Support	Community, Docs, Tickets · 24/7	Community, Docs
Integrations	4 integrations	5 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Toon Boom Harmony 2/5 · Adobe Character Animator 2/5
2D animation tools	✓	✓
3D modeling	—	Not checked yet
Character rigging	✓	✓
Motion graphics	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Cloud collaboration	—	—
Specs
Supported platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS
Export formats	MOV, WMV, BMP, DPX, DTEX, JPG, EXR, PAL, PSD, PDF, PNG, SGI, SVG, TIFF, OPT, SCAN, VAR, TGA, YUV, GIF, SWF, JSX, WAV, XML, JSON, ATOM, USDA, USDZ	H.264 video, PNG sequence, WAV audio, PNG still image
Our review
Pros	Supports hand-drawn, paperless, and cut-out 2D animation workflows Includes character rigging, compositing, painting, and effects tools Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with multiple export formats	Real-time facial and body tracking with automatic lip sync Custom puppets, rigging, behaviors, gestures, and physics controls Live streaming plus workflows with major Adobe applications
Cons	No free plan is available The three editions offer different capability levels More specialized than tools aimed at general-purpose animation	Limited to Windows and macOS Focused on 2D character performance rather than 3D modeling Advanced features require a paid Creative Cloud plan
Our verdict	Toon Boom Harmony is a desktop animation suite for professional studios, freelancers, students, and enthusiasts. Its focus is hand-drawn and paperless 2D animation, with character rigging, cut-out animation, drawing, painting, compositing,… Read the review →	Adobe Character Animator is a desktop application for performance-based 2D character animation. It is aimed at aspiring and professional animators, video creators, educators, gamers, graphic designers, and illustrators who want to animate… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Toon Boom Harmony — where it wins

  • Supports hand-drawn, paperless, and cut-out 2D animation workflows
  • Includes character rigging, compositing, painting, and effects tools
  • Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with multiple export formats

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan is available
  • The three editions offer different capability levels
  • More specialized than tools aimed at general-purpose animation

• Adobe Character Animator — where it wins

  • Real-time facial and body tracking with automatic lip sync
  • Custom puppets, rigging, behaviors, gestures, and physics controls
  • Live streaming plus workflows with major Adobe applications

  Where it doesn't

  • Limited to Windows and macOS
  • Focused on 2D character performance rather than 3D modeling
  • Advanced features require a paid Creative Cloud plan

• Toon Boom Harmony9.3/10 · 14-day trial

  A focused 2D suite for hand-drawn, rigged, composited, and effects-driven animation.

  Visit Toon BoomFull verdict →
• Adobe Character Animator8.7/10 · Free plan · 7-day trial

  A focused choice for live 2D puppeteering, lip sync, and character streaming.

  Visit AdobeFull verdict →