Introduction to Renderforest vs. Animaker
If you’re a video editing enthusiast, you’ve probably more than once come across the debate regarding Renderforest vs. Animaker. But, what are the main features of each tool and how do they compare to each other?
“While we delve into the intricacies of each platform in our exploration of how Renderforest stands out and what makes Animaker unique, comparing these software solutions side-by-side offers additional insights into their respective strengths and weaknesses
So, let’s take a closer look at Renderforest, Animaker, and their respective toolsets to see what their strengths and weaknesses are!
Overview of Renderforest
Renderforest is a name you’ll hear a lot when you dive into the online video editing community. There’s no way to do a thorough analysis of modern editing tools without touching on this Herculean software package.
Launched in 2013, Renderforest is intended to serve as a general-purpose, all-in-one software suite for video editing, website design, logo development, mockup creation, and broad graphic design. This broad, generalist approach appealed to a huge section of designers and editors, and, as of 2023, Renderforest claims over 20 million users and 50+ million total projects.
Our focus in comparing Renderforest vs. Animaker is the video editing tools provided by the former, but it’s still helpful to know what else is offered by the program when we analyze the feature sets of the two products.
Overview of Animaker
When it was officially created in 2014, Animaker was developed with a simple goal at the forefront of the project: To give users, regardless of their skills level, the ability to create and edit videos simply, quickly, and affordably.
Though there are several Animaker alternatives on the market today, this straightforward vision has done much to propel the editor toward massive popularity in the video content field.
If you want a clearer picture, just look at the hard facts: 18 million users have created videos using the tool, and Animaker has been incorporated into projects by major brands like Target, United Healthcare, and Visa. Not too shabby!
Pricing
It only makes sense to start our comparison off with a metric at the top of many users’ lists: Price. What pricing plans do the two programs offer, and how do they broadly compare to each other in affordability?
First, let’s look at Renderforest’s pricing tiers:
| Price Plan | Monthly Cost | Features Included |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0.00 | ● 500 MB of storage ● HD video quality ● Template library access ● Stock images and video |
| Lite | $14.99 | ● 10 GB of storage ● Unlimited HD videos ● Premium website creation ● Additional templates and presets |
| Pro | $29.99 | ● Everything in the Lite plan ● 30 GB of storage ● Unlimited 1080p video creation ● Full stock photo and video access |
| Business | $49.99 | ● Everything in the Pro plan ● Unlimited 4K video creation ● Account management ● Custom watermarks and branding |
| Try It Today | Try It Today |
By contrast, here are the plans sold by Animaker:
| Price Plan | Monthly Cost | Features Included |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | ● 3 video downloads per month ● 10 GIF downloads per month ● HD video quality ● 2 GB file uploads |
| Basic | $24 | ● 5 video downloads per month ● No watermark for videos ● 15 GIF downloads per month ● 6 music tracks per month |
| Starter | $37 | ● 10 video downloads per month ● Full HD video quality ● 30 GIF downloads per month ● 10 GB file uploads |
| Pro | $79 | ● 30 video downloads per month ● 50 GIF downloads per month ● 2K video quality ● 30 music tracks per month |
| Enterprise | Custom | ● Unlimited video downloads per month ● Unlimited GIF downloads per month ● 4K video quality ● Resell license |
| Try It Today | Try It Today |
If you were wondering “Is Animaker free?”, hopefully the table helps put the free plan in perspective, in comparison to the more expensive tiers.
Side by Side Comparison
Overall Star Rating
User Interface
Feature Set
System Requirements
Software Stability
Learning Curve
Customizability
Collaboration
Import & Export Options
Cloud Storage & Sharing
Plugin Support
Customer Support
User Reviews
I. User Interface
The first thing you notice when you open a piece of software, before anything else, is the basic user interface. If you’re dealing with an ugly or hard-to-use UI, you may decide to drop the program before you even get the chance to discover any of its advantages.
Luckily, Renderforest and Animaker both feature impressive interfaces. However, there are very notable differences between the two.
The UI for Renderforest is more minimalistic than Animaker, with most features not being immediately visible on the screen. Instead, you’ll typically find the tools you’re looking for after you dig through some menus.
Animaker, however, displays a more traditional editing interface. It’s familiar and conventional, but it may intimidate new users due to the number of options available from the get-go.
Secret #1: UI Is a Matter of Taste
Now we reach our first of eight secrets.
While we’d like to be able to say one of these programs has an objectively better interface than the other, it’s a bit more complicated than that!
Both tools offer clean, modern, and easy-to-use interfaces, so the question you’re left with is whether you prefer the highly simple minimalism of Renderforest or the more grounded layout of Animaker.
II. Feature Set
Next, let’s look at what Renderforest vs. Animaker offer the user in terms of overall features.
Features included with most Renderforest price plans are:
- Animation tools. Renderforest offers support tools for custom animation, with pre-generated templates as the main focus.
- Support for logo design. Creating a logo and integrating it into your videos with ease is a crucial editor feature.
- Core video editing features. Included with the software is a video editor designed for intuitive, quick content creation.
- Presentation templates. Business & educational templates appear to assist in quick, efficient presentation design and production.
Meanwhile, Animaker gives its users access to the following features:
- HTML5 browser support. HTML5 integration provides the opportunity for browser-based video creation.
- Professional template design. An extensive template library makes creating videos a simple, beginner-friendly process.
- Stock video library. Premade video assets ease content design difficult for users.
- Custom character builder. Creators can easily incorporate their own custom characters into their video projects.
Secret #2: Feature Importance Depends on Use Case
As you read the feature lists, you probably noticed that some features sounded more useful to your typical projects than others.
This brings us to our next decoded secret: Not all features appeal equally to all users! If you frequently give presentations to your colleagues, for example, Renderforest’s presentation templates are going to sound particularly attractive.
III. System Requirements
Convenient features don’t mean much if your machine can’t run them! What sort of hardware specs do Renderforest and Animaker require?
Renderforest recommends the following specs:
- For desktop: Modern, up-to-date web browser
- For mobile: iOS or Android device
- Access to Renderforest cloud account
Likewise, Animaker suggests users’ machines fit this list:
- Modern, up-to-date web browser
- Minimum of 10 KB of hard disk space
- Access to Animaker cloud account
Because Renderforest and Animaker are both primarily cloud-based services, their system requirements tend to be much more lax than a traditional desktop application.
IV. Software Stability
Nothing is more frustrating than putting tireless hours into a complex video project and watching in dismay as your editor crashes on you. Will this be a problem for either of these products?
Not at all!
While using both Renderforest and Animaker, we were pleasantly surprised by the degree of stability. There were no irritating crashes, significant delays, or buggy interface problems. Each tool was smooth and solid.
Secret #3: Both Programs Are Stable and Reliable
Unfortunately for those looking for an easy pick, this category isn’t what you’re looking for.
Neither Renderforest or Animaker had substantial performance issues to report. Alas, they are simply too well-designed!
V. Learning Curve
Both tools place an enormous emphasis on offering users a simple, intuitive, and beginner-friendly learning curve. But, does one do this better than the other?
There’s a double-edged sword here: Renderforest generally suffers from a steeper learning curve than Animaker. However, the crucial positive of this more difficult learning process is that Renderforest, for the most part, packages itself with more powerful and complex features than Animaker.
The main question for the user goes something like this: Are you willing to tolerate a more uphill battle in learning your editor if it ultimately lets you accomplish more with the program? There’s no wrong answer!
VI. Customizability
Changing elements of your project to suit your specific vision is an indispensable part of any decent video editing software. What does this metric look like when we compare Renderforest vs. Animaker?
Renderforest certainly provides a degree of customization. Users can edit text and subtitles, placement and alignment of visual elements, and a general look and feel of their characters.
That said, there’s an unmistakable sense of restriction in Renderforest that doesn’t exist with Animaker. In the latter software, you can use a custom character creator to design an avatar that matches the exact visual style you’re looking for.
Secret #4: There’s a Clear Winner
Even though Renderforest does provide some handy options for customizing your project, it can’t hold a candle to the power and variety afforded by Animaker’s character building tool.
Of course, not everyone requires a super high degree of customization for their projects, but this may be the factor that tips the scales for some!
VII. Collaboration Features
Video creators and editors often aren’t working alone. In fact, you may have a whole team that you need to collaborate with on a project. Do Renderforest and Animaker allow you to do this easily?
In most cases, yes! Depending on which price plan you subscribe to, Renderforest offers the ability to work with teams on a single project.
Likewise, Animaker has extensive support for collaboration. You can share your video project with other select users, changing their view and edit permissions as necessary. Users can also create comments on a project, which helps with collaborative editing.
VII. Import and Export Options
It’s a no-brainer that more file options for importing and exporting video gives you more freedom and flexibility with your projects.
Renderforest is quite robust in this department, allowing you to not only export your videos in multiple HD formats (including everything from 720p to 4K resolution, depending on the price tier) but also import music files, voiceover narration, and stock images and video.
And Animaker is no slouch either! Here, you can upload gigabytes of image data, video files, and audio and music samples.
Secret #5: Both Tools Make File Transfer Easy
You won’t feel confined with either editor, as they both make it convenient and simple to import assets and export a usable, high-resolution video file once you’ve completed your project.
No headaches for this category!
IX. Cloud Storage and Sharing
If cloud storage is crucial to your video production workflow, Renderforest and Animaker are both going to appeal to you!
With Renderforest, regardless of your price tier, your video projects will be stored online as part of your account, with the option for downloading it directly from the cloud.
Similarly, Animaker saves your projects to its own cloud service via your associated account. Installing a client and storing your project on your own device is not required at all.
X. Plugin Support
For most creators, plugins are an essential aspect of an efficient workflow. Let’s take a look at how Renderforest and Animaker integrate plugin features.
Renderforest incorporates a few key connections to other software, with the most essential being its integration of external stock photo, video, and template libraries. Users can easily import assets from these libraries into an existing video project.
With Animaker, there’s a particular focus on HTML5 support. The software team updates and revamps the tool so that it continuously adjusts to new web standards and features.
Secret #6: The Focus Is Different for Each Editor
Due to its heavy support for large video and template libraries, Renderforest’s plugin support relates mainly to letting users easily select and import assets from these external libraries.
Animaker, while also featuring impressive asset libraries, features a more direct focus on web tools and frameworks, especially those that pertain to HTML5 and browser rendering engines.
XI. Customer Support
Running into difficulties is an inevitable part of any software experience, especially when dealing with a more complex project like video creation. What are the customer support options for Renderforest vs. Animaker?
Renderforest’s primary support options include an official Knowledge Base with articles giving solutions and advice to common problems, along with support email addresses and a contact form on the company’s website.
Animaker, on the other hand, provides a blog, how-to guides and tutorials, and a selection of webinars. Overall, their resources and user support are relatively robust compared to Renderforest’s.
XII. User Reviews
There’s arguably no better criteria for comparing two editing tools than user satisfaction. So, what are people who have used each piece of software saying?
Users with experience editing in Renderforest typically report that the software is intuitive and easy to use, convenient, and allows for speedy production. However, customers have noted that choosing a plan can be a confusing process, and that Renderforest lacks satisfying integration with blog and graphics production.
Additionally, users complain of the relatively long rendering time compared to Renderforest alternatives.
For Animaker, strong points highlighted by user reviews include simplicity and ease-of-use, and a powerful feature set.
Downsides, on the other hand, that have been described by customers are a highly limited free plan, difficulty finding some tools, and inflexible pricing.
Secret #7: Users Are Split
While it would be nice if every user agreed on the pros and cons of each tool, that’s simply not the case here!
Many customers enthusiastically proclaim Renderforest as the ideal cloud-based editor. On the flip side, just as many say that the program is simply too unwieldy for effective use, with still more suggesting that Animaker is the superior choice.
Renderforest vs. Animaker: Final Thoughts
In the final analysis, Renderforest and Animaker share much in common: They both offer beginner-friendly video editing features wrapped in a cloud-based, template-heavy design philosophy.
Of course, you can’t overlook the differences we’ve outlined between the two, including the price tiers, feature set, customization, plugin and support options, and user reviews.
So, which do we recommend?
Secret #8: No One-Size-Fits-All Recommendation
Well, that brings us to our last secret: We recommend both, but for different use cases.
If features like customization, a conventional user interface, and simplicity are the most crucial elements of your choice in editor, you can’t go wrong with Animaker.
On the other hand, for those looking for a more minimalist layout, powerful (if somewhat complex) features, and unbeatable template options, then Renderforest is the champion in the Renderforest vs. Animaker battle.
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