What is Synfig Studio used for?

Synfig Studio is free 2D animation software that mixes vector and bitmap art and generates in-between frames automatically. It is a good fit for independent 2D animation, teaching animation fundamentals and small studios with limited budgets.

Is Synfig Studio open source?

Yes. Synfig Studio is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at synfig/synfig and is written mainly in C++.

Is Synfig Studio free?

Yes. Synfig Studio is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Synfig Studio?

Yes. Synfig Studio can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Synfig Studio an alternative to?

Synfig Studio is an open-source alternative to Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud, LottieFiles and Lottielab. Other open-source alternatives to Adobe After Effects include TiXL.

Is Synfig Studio actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Synfig Studio was on 26 September 2026, and the latest release is v1.5.5, published on 16 March 2026. The project has 2.3k stars on GitHub.

Synfig Studio: open-source design

About Synfig Studio

Synfig Studio is a free and open-source 2D animation program built for creating film-quality animation from vector and bitmap artwork. Instead of drawing every frame by hand, you set key positions and the software works out the frames between them, which lets small teams produce higher-quality animation with fewer resources.

It is available for Windows, Linux and macOS, and the codebase is C++ using the gtkmm toolkit, licensed under GPL-3.0. The official repository contains the Synfig Studio source, installation instructions for each platform's packages and notes on building and installing from source. Project topics highlight vector graphics and 2D animation.

The project is supported by code contributors and by individual and organizational financial contributors who sustain the community, and static analysis is run with PVS-Studio. The latest release listed is v1.5.5. Synfig suits independent animators, students and small studios who want a free tool for cutout, vector-based and bitmap-mixed 2D work.

Key features

Vector and bitmap artwork in one animation
Automatic in-between frames
2D animation for film-quality output
Available for Windows, Linux and macOS
Source and packaged builds

Good fit for

→Independent 2D animation
→Teaching animation fundamentals
→Small studios with limited budgets

Built with: C++
Tags: animation; 2d-animation; vector-graphics; design; desktop; cpp; gtkmm; open-source

Synfig Studio: questions and answers

What is Synfig Studio used for?: Synfig Studio is free 2D animation software that mixes vector and bitmap art and generates in-between frames automatically. It is a good fit for independent 2D animation, teaching animation fundamentals and small studios with limited budgets.
Is Synfig Studio open source?: Yes. Synfig Studio is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at synfig/synfig and is written mainly in C++.
Is Synfig Studio free?: Yes. Synfig Studio is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Synfig Studio?: Yes. Synfig Studio can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Synfig Studio an alternative to?: Synfig Studio is an open-source alternative to Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud, LottieFiles and Lottielab. Other open-source alternatives to Adobe After Effects include TiXL.
Is Synfig Studio actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Synfig Studio was on 26 September 2026, and the latest release is v1.5.5, published on 16 March 2026. The project has 2.3k stars on GitHub.