The shortlist
5 things that do it.
Text or image to video clips, using Adobe's own model and partner models.
- Free
- Free daily generations that reset each day, per Adobe.
- Paid
- from £9.98 per month (Standard)
- Best at
- Short clips that Adobe says are designed to be safe for commercial use when made with its own Firefly Video Model.
- The catch
- Partner models in Firefly have different usage terms, and most models make clips of up to 8 seconds.
- web
Online animation maker with characters, templates and AI video credits.
- Free
- Free plan with watermarked exports and a limited set of premium assets, per the pricing page.
- Paid
- from $15 per month (billed yearly, $180), Basic
- Best at
- Making character-based explainer animations from templates.
- The catch
- The free plan exports with a watermark; the watermark comes off on the paid Basic plan.
- web
Animated video maker aimed at business, training and explainers, with AI avatars and text-to-video.
- Free
- A free trial is mentioned on the pricing page; no details given.
- Paid
- from $58 per month (billed annually), Starter
- Best at
- Business and training animation, with AI avatars, text-to-video, voice cloning and translation into 95 languages.
- The catch
- Priced for teams: Starter is $58 per month on annual billing ($99 monthly), and the page mentions a free trial but gives no details.
- web
AI animation tool built around a 3D character animation library.
- Free
- $0 plan with 20 one-time credits, per Krikey's pricing page.
- Paid
- from $15 per month, Pro
- Best at
- Animating 3D characters, with an AI music video generator on the Pro plan.
- The catch
- Free plan is 20 one-time credits; removing the watermark needs the $15 per month Pro plan.
- web
AI video and image generator that can animate images and prompts into clips.
- Free
- $0 plan with 125 one-time credits, per Runway.
- Paid
- from $12 per month (billed annually), Standard
- Best at
- Animating from text or images with access to its video models.
- The catch
- The free plan gives 125 one-time credits; the cheapest paid plan is $12 per month billed annually, in US dollars.
- web
The same shortlist, as a table
| Thing | Free tier | Paid from | Platforms | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Fireflyrel="nofollow noopener" | Free daily generations that reset each day, per Adobe. | £9.98 per month (Standard) | web | Partner models in Firefly have different usage terms, and most models make clips of up to 8 seconds. |
| Animakerrel="nofollow noopener" | Free plan with watermarked exports and a limited set of premium assets, per the pricing page. | $15 per month (billed yearly, $180), Basic | web | The free plan exports with a watermark; the watermark comes off on the paid Basic plan. |
| Vyondrel="nofollow noopener" | A free trial is mentioned on the pricing page; no details given. | $58 per month (billed annually), Starter | web | Priced for teams: Starter is $58 per month on annual billing ($99 monthly), and the page mentions a free trial but gives no details. |
| Krikey AIrel="nofollow noopener" | $0 plan with 20 one-time credits, per Krikey's pricing page. | $15 per month, Pro | web | Free plan is 20 one-time credits; removing the watermark needs the $15 per month Pro plan. |
| Runwayrel="nofollow noopener" | $0 plan with 125 one-time credits, per Runway. | $12 per month (billed annually), Standard | web | The free plan gives 125 one-time credits; the cheapest paid plan is $12 per month billed annually, in US dollars. |
How we checked
What we read, and what we haven't tested yet.
We read Adobe's UK Firefly video and plans pages on 2026-10-02, plus the pricing pages of Animaker, Vyond, Krikey AI and Runway. Nothing was tested hands-on, so this is what those pages say. Platform lists show only what the pages stated, so a missing platform means it wasn't mentioned, not that it isn't supported.
If none of these fit
The manual way.
Launch Video Maker (ours) makes motion promo videos from a business website, but it isn't an animation tool for characters or stories, so we've left it off the list. If you'd rather animate by hand without AI, the free tier of a template-based maker such as Animaker is the nearest manual route.