Toon Boom Harmony vs OpenToonz

Toon Boom Harmony9.3Visit OpenToonz8.9Visit

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

OpenToonz #5 in Animation Software 8.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 5 features Visit OpenToonz

• Toon Boom Harmony fits best

  Professional hand-drawn and rigged 2D animation

• OpenToonz fits best

  Free, capable 2D animation production

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Side by side

Feature	Toon Boom Harmony 9.3/10 Visit ↗	OpenToonz 8.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.9
Ranking	#1 in Animation Software	#5 in Animation Software
Best for	Professional hand-drawn and rigged 2D animation	Free, capable 2D animation production
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	$55.50/user/yr	Free plan
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs, Tickets · 24/7	Community, Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market
Features Toon Boom Harmony 2/5 · OpenToonz 2/5
2D animation tools	✓	✓
3D modeling	—	—
Character rigging	✓	✓
Motion graphics	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Cloud collaboration	—	Not checked yet
Specs
Supported platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	windows, macos, linux
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	3GP, AVI, BMP, GIF, JPG, MOV, MP4, PNG, RGB, SGI, Spritesheet, TGA, TIF, TIFF, WebM
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	Free and open source across Windows, macOS, and Linux Covers drawing, scanning, compositing, rigging, and rendering Supports batch rendering and network render farms
Cons	No free plan is available The three editions offer different capability levels More specialized than tools aimed at general-purpose animation	MP4 and WebM output require FFmpeg MOV support requires 32-bit QuickTime Listed Windows and macOS requirements are older versions
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 →	OpenToonz is open-source 2D animation software published by DWANGO Co., Ltd. It is designed for commercial and non-commercial projects, with tools spanning drawing, frame-by-frame animation, digital painting, scanning, compositing,… 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

• OpenToonz — where it wins

  • Free and open source across Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Covers drawing, scanning, compositing, rigging, and rendering
  • Supports batch rendering and network render farms

  Where it doesn't

  • MP4 and WebM output require FFmpeg
  • MOV support requires 32-bit QuickTime
  • Listed Windows and macOS requirements are older versions

• 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 →
• OpenToonz8.9/10 · Free plan

  A free, broad 2D animation suite for production workflows across three desktop platforms.

  Visit OpenToonzFull verdict →