Animaker is a well-established animation and video tool with characters, templates and a whiteboard style among its options. If you enjoy hands-on editing, it is capable and flexible.
The pricing is where it gets tricky. The free plan watermarks your videos, and paid tiers run from about $10/month (Basic) to $19/month (Starter) and $43/month (Pro) — and those headline rates assume you pay for a year up front. Heavy users also report the real monthly cost landing well above the sticker price once premium-asset and export overages are added.
Here is how to keep Animaker’s cost down — and a whiteboard-focused AI alternative that avoids overages entirely.
What this guide covers
What Animaker actually costs in 2026
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Watermarked; limited premium downloads |
| Basic | ~$10/mo | Billed annually; 5 premium downloads/mo, HD |
| Starter | ~$19/mo | Billed annually; 10 premium downloads/mo, HD |
| Pro | ~$43/mo | Billed annually; 2K, custom fonts, version history |
| Enterprise | Custom | 4K, live collaboration, SSO, brand kit |
Headline rates assume annual billing; monthly billing costs more. Overages for extra exports and premium assets can raise the real total. Figures from public sources, August 2026.
The trap with Animaker is the gap between the sticker price and the real bill. Premium downloads and assets are metered, so a busy month can push a $19 plan well past that once you buy extra exports.
If you want predictable costs for whiteboard videos, that metering is worth avoiding.
Legit ways to get Animaker cheaper (or free)
If you want to stay on Animaker, here is how to spend less:
- Use the free plan for drafts — it is watermarked, so treat it as a preview tool rather than a way to publish.
- Pay annually — the headline $10/$19/$43 rates need a yearly commitment; monthly billing is noticeably more.
- Watch your export and asset overages — stay within your plan’s premium-download allowance to avoid surprise charges.
- Pick the lowest tier that clears the watermark — do not jump to Pro unless you genuinely need 2K, custom fonts or version history.
- Ask about education or team pricing — bulk or student rates can lower the per-seat cost.
Avoid “Animaker mod” or cracked-download sites — they are unsafe and a fast way to lose your account.
The catch with the “cheap” route
Even on a discounted annual plan, Animaker is a manual editor: you assemble scenes, animate characters and time everything yourself, and the metered premium assets mean the cheapest plan is not always the cheapest month.
For a straightforward whiteboard explainer, that is a lot of moving parts — and a variable bill — for one video.
Or make whiteboard videos free — the AI way
Whiteboard Video makes the whole thing for you and keeps pricing flat. Describe the video or paste a document, and the AI writes the script, draws every scene by hand and narrates it — no characters to pose, no timeline, no per-asset charges.
It is free to start, $9.99/month for Starter and $19.99/month for up-to-10-minute videos, with generous monthly video counts and no export overages.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Your first video free (small removable watermark) |
| Starter | $9.99/mo | 15 videos / month · up to 5 min · no watermark |
| Pro | $19.99/mo | 35 videos / month · up to 10 min · no watermark |
| Ultra | $60/mo | 100 videos / month · commercial licence |
You can also earn free video credits by sharing your videos on social media, with a bigger bonus for anything that passes 10,000 views.
Animaker vs Whiteboard Video: side by side
Animaker is a manual animation studio with metered assets; Whiteboard Video is an automatic AI whiteboard maker with flat pricing.
| Whiteboard Video | Animaker | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for whiteboard videos | Dedicated | One of many styles |
| AI writes the script | Yes | No |
| AI-drawn illustrations per scene | Yes | Library assets |
| Built-in AI voiceover | Yes | Add-on / TTS |
| No manual timeline editing | Fully automatic | Manual timeline |
| Import prompt / URL / PDF / Word | Yes | Limited |
| Works on any device (browser) | Yes | Browser |
| Earn free credits by sharing | Yes | No |
| Cheapest watermark-free plan | Free, then $9.99/mo | from ~$10/mo (Basic) |
| Time to first video | Minutes | Hours |
Based on publicly available features and pricing at the time of writing; competitor plans change over time.
Animaker: the honest pros and cons
Where it shines
- Flexible characters, templates and styles
- Good for hands-on animators
- HD to 4K on higher tiers
- Large asset library
Where it costs you
- Free plan is watermarked
- Pro reaches ~$43/month (annual)
- Metered exports/assets can multiply the bill
- Manual timeline — whiteboard is just one style
Real whiteboard videos made with our AI
These are actual videos generated on Whiteboard Video — script, hand-drawn illustrations and voiceover, all automatic. Click any to watch the full thing.
How to make a cheaper whiteboard video — step by step
- Start free at Whiteboard Video — your first video is on us, no credit card.
- Paste a prompt, URL, PDF or Word doc as your source material.
- Pick a voice, language and length — there is no template to choose or lay out.
- Let the AI write, draw and narrate the whole whiteboard video in minutes.
- Download in HD, then earn free credits by sharing your video to make more.
Why it is the cheaper, faster choice
Animaker rewards people who like to edit. But if you just want a finished whiteboard video, the manual work and metered assets make it slow and unpredictable to budget.
Whiteboard Video turns a prompt into a finished, narrated, hand-drawn video in minutes at a flat monthly price, with no overage surprises. Revisions re-render for free.
For whiteboard explainers specifically, that is cheaper to run and far quicker than assembling one in Animaker.
