Of all the comparisons on this site, this is the one we want to be most careful with, because ToonSquid is genuinely good and the OSC loves it for good reasons. If you came here looking for a hit piece, this isn’t one. Here’s an honest look at where ToonSquid wins, where its shape becomes a constraint, and what Inanimator does differently. (New to object shows? Start with the full guide.)
What ToonSquid genuinely gets right
ToonSquid is well-loved in the OSC for good reason. It’s roughly $10, one-time, no subscription, and people in the community describe it as “basically Animate without the subscription.” That’s high praise, and it’s earned. You get real rigging, real tweening, a timeline that makes sense, and a brush engine that feels good on the iPad. For iPad animators who want pro features without a yearly bill, it’s an excellent choice, and we’re not going to talk it down.
The one-time-price model is a real feature, not a marketing line. A lot of creators are tired of subscriptions, and ToonSquid answered that directly. Respect.
Where ToonSquid stops
It’s iPad-only. No Android, no PC, no browser. If your studio is a phone, a Chromebook, a Windows laptop, or a Mac, ToonSquid doesn’t run there. That’s not a flaw in the software; it’s a shape. But it’s a shape that locks you to one device family.
And files are single-device unless you self-manage — meaning you handle your own moving of project files between devices. There’s no built-in cross-device sync in the way a cloud product gives you. For a creator who animates on the iPad but edits audio or writes scripts on a laptop, that’s friction you absorb yourself.
What Inanimator does differently
Inanimator is a browser studio. Open a tab on a phone, tablet, or computer; your projects and your asset library sync through your cloud account. The same rig you pose on a tablet is there when you open a laptop.
The workflow is built around object shows. Draw parts — bodies, eyes, mouths, arms, legs — with brushes, fill, shapes, layers. Store them in a global, searchable asset library with sections. Save a character as a rig and re-pose it across episodes. It ships with a default library of original parts.
Two animation modes work together: frame-by-frame with onion skinning and a filmstrip, and rig posing with math-based tweening — keyframes solid, tweened frames ghosted. Export is MP4 at 1080p at your chosen framerate.
On the roadmap: an in-app script writer with karaoke line highlighting, per-line voice recording with takes, lip-sync modes, multi-track audio, a thumbnail maker, camera pan/zoom, parallax backgrounds, and native mobile apps.
Two pledges. The 100% generative-AI-free pledge: no AI-generated art, ever, signed in marker on the homepage. Tweening is math, not AI. And Inanimator is free during beta, with beta members locking the Founding Creator price for life. Pricing isn’t announced beyond that. (Yes, one-time-purchase fans — we see you. The Founding Creator lock is our version of “pay once, keep it.”)
Side by side
| ToonSquid | Inanimator | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ~$10 one-time | Free during beta; Founding price locked for beta members |
| Platforms | iPad only | Browser on phones, tablets, computers |
| Rigging / tweening | Rigs and tweening (Animate-like) | Parts + saved rigs; math-based tweening |
| Object-show workflow fit | General animation; you bring your own parts | Native searchable parts library, rigs, default parts |
| Development status | Actively developed; a community favorite | In closed beta, actively developed |
| AI policy | No public pledge | 100% generative-AI-free pledge |
Who should stick with ToonSquid
If you’re iPad-only, you want a one-time purchase, and ToonSquid’s tools already match how you work, stay. ToonSquid is excellent, the community around it is real, and the price is hard to argue with. There is no reason to switch just to switch, and we won’t pretend there is.
Inanimator is the better fit when one of these is true: you animate across devices (phone today, laptop tomorrow); you want a tool built specifically around object-show parts and rigs rather than a general animation suite; you want cloud sync instead of manual file management; or you want a tool whose roadmap leads straight to the full episode pipeline (script, voice, lip-sync, thumbnails).
Join the beta
If ToonSquid’s iPad-only shape is the one thing in your way, join the beta at /beta.