OpenToonz review

OpenToonz is the most production-minded free 2D tool here. It is based on Toonz from Digital Video in Italy, which Studio Ghibli customized and used in the ink and paint, color design and digital composition stages of almost all of its works, and it is now an open source project launched by Dwango. You get both an xsheet and a timeline, a node tree for compositing effects, raster and vector drawing, anti-aliased lines, and palettes kept separate from paintings so you can paint with provisional colors and change them later. Traditional animators can use GTS, a Ghibli-developed scanning tool for numbered animation sheets, although it runs on Windows only. A plug-in SDK lets developers add effects, and Dwango has released machine learning effects such as style transfer. OpenToonz may be used free of charge for commercial and non-commercial projects. The interface assumes production experience, and parts of the official manuals are in Japanese, which is why Tahoma2D ranks just above it for beginners.

Who it is for

Ambitious hobbyists and students who want a studio-grade 2D pipeline with an xsheet and node effects.

Price

Free and open source; no paid plan.

OpenToonz can be used free of charge for both commercial and non-commercial projects.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Both xsheet and timeline interfaces
• Node tree for compositing effects through a GUI
• Raster and vector image support
• GTS scanning tool for hand-drawn animation paper (Windows only)
• Plug-in effects SDK, including machine learning effects from Dwango

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Free for commercial and non-commercial projects, source under the New BSD License
• Strength: Built on software used across almost all Studio Ghibli works
• Strength: Supports scanning traditional drawings into a digital pipeline
• Weakness: Interface is designed for production staff, not first-time users
• Weakness: Official requirements list Windows 7 to 10 and Intel Core processors
• Weakness: Much of the start-up documentation is in Japanese

Key facts

• Price: Free, New BSD License for source
• Animation types: 2D frame-by-frame, raster and vector
• Platforms: Windows, macOS
• Origin: Based on Toonz, customized by Studio Ghibli

Where it ranks

OpenToonz is No. 4 in our Best Free Animation Software verdict.