Doodly Review [Apr 2022]: The Best Whiteboard Animation Software?

I have been using Doodly (Enterprise plan) to create whiteboard animations for a few years now and so I have a very good grasp of what the software is like.

In this Doodly review, I will give you all the information you need to know about the software, as well as my honest opinion, so you can decide if it is the best option for you.

What is Doodly?

Doodly is a piece of software that makes creating whiteboard animations super easy.

In my opinion, Doodly is one of the very best whiteboard animation software available.

You have probably seen whiteboard animations before. They are the quirky videos where an artist draws doodles as a narrator commentates.

Whiteboard animations are used for a variety of things such as educational purposes and internet marketing. They are very good at maintaining a viewer’s attention.

If you’re interested in Doodly, then you may also be interested in their sister software – Toonly. I also have a Toonly review if you’re interested.

Doodly pricing

Doodly has two pricing options: Standard and Enterprise.

• Standard – $20 per month (annual billing) or $39 per month (monthly billing)
• Enterprise – $40 per month (annual billing) or $69 per month (monthly billing)

The benefit of the monthly plan is that you can cancel at any time; however, the price is higher (per month) compared with annual plans.

With annual plans, you have the benefit of cheaper rates over a 12-month period. So, if you know you want Doodly and will use it a lot, then consider an annual plan to save more money.

The table below shows the amount of money you can save on the Standard and Enterprise plans if you paid annually over monthly for 12 months.

Is there a free trial of Doodly?

Sadly, there is no free trial of Doodly available.

But, the creators offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you decide to purchase it.

This gives you a bit of peace of mind that you can get your money back if you don’t like Doodly.

Differences between plans

So what’s the difference between the Standard and Enterprise plans?

I have summarized the main differences of each plan in the table below.

Both plans also enable you to create unlimited doodle videos!

The main difference between the two plans is that Enterprise comes with considerably more doodle images and royalty-free audio tracks to use, compared with Standard.

Also, Enterprise members get new doodle character and images each month at no additional cost.

Doodly features

In this section, I will go into more detail about the main features of Doodly. Note, these features come with both the Standard and Enterprise plans.

• 5 board styles
• >100 hand styles
• >1,000 doodles
• Create custom draw paths
• Record voice over
• Export video in high definition

Different board styles

Despite primarily being a whiteboard animation software, Doodly actually gives you the option to create 5 animation styles using the following:

• Whiteboard
• Chalkboard
• Greenboard
• Glassboard
• Custom

With the custom style, you can select your own background color (or custom image) and decide if the arm should use a marker or chalk to draw.

Different hand styles

As well as having different board styles to pick from, each board gives the option to pick a variety of different hand styles.

There are 59 different real hand, 59 2D cartoon and 12 3D cartoon hand styles to pick from.

You can also decide if the style should be right- or left-handed.

Unfortunately, there is no option to upload your own hand style.

I know some viewers actually find the fake hands quite distracting when viewing whiteboard animations, so it’s great to see Doodly users also have the option to have no hand shown during the animation.

Doodle library

As with most whiteboard animation software, Doodly comes with pre-made doodles for you to use. These all have draw paths attached so they will automatically be drawn.

It’s worth mentioning that all doodles are in black and white. You can have access to color versions of each doodle if you purchase the Doodly Rainbow add-on, which costs $67 (one-time fee).

The Standard plan comes with a library of 1,164 characters images and 1,620 different props.

You can see an example of some of these below.

The Enterprise plan comes with a much larger library (~7,000 doodles) with access to the Doodly Club. Members of the Doodly Club get extra doodles added to their library each month.

You can see some examples of the Enterprise library below.

On top of the library, you can also upload your own images. You can upload color images without the need to have the Doodly Rainbow add-on.

Also, there are many niche doodles available to purchase in bundles through the Doodly Marketplace.

Create custom draw paths

Something I really like about Doodly is the ability to create custom draw paths to any image you import into the software.

This means that you can tell Doodly the exact sequence you want the image to be drawn. Having this gives a more natural effect than simply having the image wipe into view.

This Draw Smart feature can be seen in the screenshot below. The rocket image I used for this demonstration can be found here.

Simply go around the image and introduce new markers in a sequence that is logical. You can then edit the path size and animation duration to make the drawing look authentic.

Another useful thing is the ability to import SVG paths. So, if you import an image in an SVG format, you can add in the attached paths with the click of a button. This saves so much time.

Record voice over

It is also possible to record a voice over directly inside Doodly, so this means you can easily add narrations to the video.

During audio recordings, a preview of the whiteboard animation is played so you can get the timings just right.

You can then adjust the audio on the timeline, such as removing parts of the beginning and end, as well as introducing some fade in or fade out effects.

If you prefer, you can also import audio files. So, you don’t have to record your voice over inside of Doodly, you could do it in a software that has more audio editing features such as Audacity.

Various video export options

When it comes to exporting your finished whiteboard animation, there are plenty of file types and resolutions that can be selected in Doodly.

Videos can be saved as MP4, MKV, OGG and WebM file types. Most people will only really need MP4, especially if you are uploading to YouTube.

Resolutions range from 360p to full 1080p high definition. There is also the ability to enter your own resolution without an aspect ratio for videos that are slightly different, such as those on social media.

Doodly supports 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 frames per second (FPS). Some people like going all out 60 FPS these days to make their animations really smooth.

All export options available in Doodly can be seen in the screenshot below.

It’s worth keeping in mind that these settings can affect how long it takes for your animation video to render.

Doodly support

A great thing about Doodly is that it has a lot of support on hand. This is a must for any piece of software that you use!

The creators have recently revamped their YouTube channel with some fresh, clear tutorials that are more than enough to get you going.

There is also a large customer support desk where you will find FAQs as well as having the ability to submit a support ticket.

When you purchase Doodly there is an invitation to the Doodly Facebook Group that contains over 90,000 members! For a Facebook group, it is very active, with people sharing their whiteboard animation videos and asking for advice.

Another useful thing Doodly has is a request feature. Here, customers can suggest features they will like to see introduced in the program. A lot of these requests are taken into account by the creators, which I like!

3 things I like about Doodly

This wouldn’t be a Doodly review if I didn’t tell you about the things I like about the program in an honest light.

So, here I will give you 3 things I love about Doodly.

Creating animations is easy

Having used Doodly for a long time now, I can honestly say that it is super easy to use.

There was no need for me to look up Doodly tutorials to see how to use the software – the interface is intuitive enough for most people to get going straight away.

Doodles, doodles and more doodles!

I’m not great at drawing, so having a large doodle library that I can browse and easily add images from is essential for me. This was the main reason I went for the Enterprise over the Standard plan.

Custom images support

For my niche website, I create animations that involve a lot of statistical and mathematical images and symbols. As expected, these are not available in the doodle library, but I can easily import them into Doodly and add my own drawn path.

3 things I don’t like about Doodly

Again, this wouldn’t be a Doodly review if I didn’t share my thoughts on what I don’t like about the program. So, here goes…

Lack of color images as standard

The basic version of Doodly comes with black and white doodles; however, if you want them in color you have to purchase the Doodly Rainbow add-on for a one-time fee. The additional one-time fee is to cover the development cost of the feature.

This isn’t a huge deal for me since I only create whiteboard videos with black and white doodles. But, I know others who would like to see this feature as standard.

It’s worth noting that having the ability to import your own images in color is a way around this.

Requires an internet connection

A slight niggle about Doodly is that it requires an internet connection for you to use it.

Albeit this isn’t a massive issue, it can be annoying if you are out and about and want to carry creating your whiteboard animation.

Limited audio features

I always add voice overs to my whiteboard animations and so I was glad to see a voice over feature in Doodly. However, at this moment in time, it is very basic.

This means I avoid using the feature altogether and instead create my voice overs in software that has more audio controls. In fact, I use Camtasia for this.

Maybe things will improve in later software updates.

Doodly alternatives

If Doodly isn’t quite your thing, then check out these Doodly alternatives…

• VideoScribe (also check out my VideoScribe review and Doodly vs VideoScribe post if interested)
• Explaindio
• Animaker (this has a free version for those on a budget!)

Doodly review: Final thoughts

It’s now time to wrap up this Doodly review. Hopefully you have a greater understanding about what it has to offer and if it is the right choice for you.

If you are after a whiteboard animation software that is easy to use, then I would thoroughly recommend getting Doodly. I’m glad I made the investment.

I have the Enterprise plan, which despite being the more expensive option, it gives me the added doodle assets to cover most of my requirements.

If you’re still on the fence, then I advise paying a Standard monthly fee so you can give it a try – think of this as the trial. You then have up to 30 days to change your mind. If it isn’t for you, then you have the right to get your money back.

Are you thinking of purchasing Doodly? If so, let me know in the comments if you would like to know more about the program.

For those who already have Doodly, let me know how you are finding it.

Further reading on SideHustleTeach.com

If you do end up getting Doodly, be sure to check out my step-by-step guide on how to create a whiteboard video. Alternatively, if Doodly doesn’t look right for you, then check out some of the other awesome whiteboard animation software available.