Doodly vs VideoScribe [March 2023]: Which Software Is Better?

In my view, Doodly and VideoScribe are two of the best whiteboard animation software.

But, when put head to head, which one comes out on top?

In this article, I’ll compare the main features of Doodly and VideoScribe to help you decide the one that is right for you.

So, let’s get to it.

Doodly vs VideoScribe: Overview

Below is a table that provides an overview of the comparison between Doodly and VideoScribe.

Note, there are two types of VideoScribe: Desktop and Browser. I have focussed on VideoScribe Desktop for this comparison since it has the most complete features.

Pricing

Let’s start this Doodly vs VideoScribe showdown with a comparison of the price plans.

Doodly has 2 price plans that come with different features.

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

VideoScribe also has 2 pricing options depending on how you want to pay: monthly or annually.

• Monthly – $39 per month (monthly billing)
• Annual – $14 per month (annual billing)

💪 Winner = VideoScribe
VideoScribe is cheaper than Doodly overall

Background styles

Another important feature of whiteboard animation software is the different backgrounds on option.

Doodly has 5 different background options:

• Whiteboard
• Chalkboard
• Greenboard
• Glassboard
• Custom

Custom backgrounds can be either a color or an image of your choice.

VideoScribe has 9 different background styles. The styles are different types of textures, rather than different boards.

You can also change the color of the background and apply a vignette effect.

It is possible to create a glassboard effect, but it is not an option in the background settings.

💪 Winner = Doodly
Despite VideoScribe having a higher number of background styles, Doodly has the better options

Hand styles

When creating whiteboard videos, the choice of hand styles is essential since they can change the look and feel of the animation.

The hand styles available in Doodly depend on the type of background style that you pick.

In total, there are 59 different real hand, 59 2D cartoon and 12 3D cartoon hand styles – so 130 overall!

Each hand style can also be changed from right- to left-handed.

VideoScribe has 15 different hand style categories, with a total number of 336 different options!

The categories also include Pens (no hand, just a pen) and Seasonal (themes hand styles, such as Halloween).

VideoScribe also lets you upload and create your own hand style, whereas Doodly does not.

💪 Winner = VideoScribe
With more choice and the ability to create a custom hand style, VideoScribe comes out on top

Image library

The image, or doodle, library available is one of the most important factors to consider when looking at potential whiteboard software to use.

The Doodly library size depends on the price plan that is selected. Their Standard plan comes with far fewer character and prop images, than the Enterprise plan.

In total, the Doodly image size is either 2,784 or 7,300 images, on their Standard and Enterprise plans, respectively. Their Enterprise plan also adds new images every week.

It’s also worth noting that Doodly’s images are in black and white. To access their images in color requires a one-time purchase of their Doodly Rainbow add-on.

VideoScribe’s image library is the same size on both their price plans.

I was going to count the number of images in their library, but realised it is huge. Their website states the image library contains >11,000 images.

Color images are also included as standard in VideoScribe.

💪 Winner = VideoScribe
A close call, but with colored images as standard, VideoScribe has the edge here

Custom image support

If you don’t want to take advantage of the image library on offer, both software also support custom images.

Doodly accepts images in PNG, JPG and SVG format.

You can also define your own draw paths to custom images. This means that you can decide exactly how the image is drawn during the animation.

In VideoScribe, you can import images in PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG or ZIP format. ZIP file are used when adding images purchased elsewhere.

There is no option to manually edit the draw paths of custom images in VideoScribe. This often results in strangely drawn images that do not look as authentic as those in the library.

💪 Winner = Doodly
Doodly’s powerful custom draw path feature gives you complete control over your imported images

Camera zoom/pan

Whiteboard animations have a characteristic flow about their camera movements. As images are drawn, the camera moves around the paper to create a smooth transition between drawings.

The zoom and pan options in Doodly work on the timeline. You can add a zoom/pan option to certain areas of the video and simply specify the start and end position by changing the camera box.

However, if you want to add a camera zoom/pan throughout the whole video, this will take quite a long time.

The pan and zoom works quite differently in VideoScribe because there is no timeline, per say – it’s an infitnite canvas.

Pan and zoom are automatically applied when images and text are added to the canvas. Just add in the elements and VideoScribe will follow the drawings around.

You can change the position of the camera by moving around the canvas and clicking a button to set the camera position.

Since there is no timeline to refer to, this can be fiddly at first. But the end result is a super smooth transition.

💪 Winner = VideoScribe
Although hard to set up at first, VideoScribe’s pan/zoom will save you time and the end result is far better than Doodly’s

Royalty-free music and sound effects

If you’re planning on adding audio tracks in the background while your animation is playing, then you will be happy to hear both software come with a selection of audio that are free to use.

Doodly has a library of 100 or 150 music tracks, depending on whether you have their Standard or Enterprise version.

Their audio library also has sound effects. I have their Enterprise plan, which has 100 sound effects.

With 192 royalty-free audio tracks, VideoScribe has the larger audio library of the two software. But, there are no sound effects in VideoScribe’s library.

💪 Winner = Doodly
Despite having fewer music tracks than VideoScribe, Doodly has a range of sound effects to use

Fonts

Both software come with a selection of fonts to use in your animations, many of which look like actual handwriting.

In Doodly, you get access to 176 (Enterprise plan) different fonts.

You also have the option to upoad your own font style by clicking on the blue plus icon.

In VideoScribe you can select from 84 different Google fonts, many of which supports character sets from various languages including Arabic, Latin and Chinese.

💪 Winner = Doodly
You get more fonts to play with, and the ability to upload your own

Video render options

Once you’ve created your animation, you want to render it with settings that suit your end product. Both Doodly and VideoScribe have a range of options to suit everyone’s needs.

For ease of comparison, I have included the video render option available in each software in the table below.

What’s great about Doodly is that you can export custom video sizes, which is perfect for creating videos videos for different social media platforms. In VideoScribe Desktop you can only export in a 16:9 aspect ratio; if you want 1:1 or 9:16 aspect ratios, then you have to use VideoScribe Browser.

Another big difference here is that Doodly supports direct MP4 exports, whereas in VideoScribe you have to firstly export the video to their online hosting platform – Sho.co – first, before you can export to MP4.

💪 Winner = Doodly
Doodly has better file format support, resolution options and maximum FPS capabilities

Doodly vs VideoScribe: which is better?

So let me finish off this Doodly vs VideoScribe post by linking back to the title question: which software is better?

If you go off the features reviewed in detail here, Doodly just comes out on top with a score of 5-4 versus VideoScribe.

But, in all honesty, the choice between them will depend on your situation. It is easy to see why these two are the top dogs when it comes to creating whiteboard animations.

If you’re interested in VideoScribe, make sure you take their 7-day free trial to see if it is right for you.

Sadly, there is no trial for Doodly, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try the full version for a whole month with the reassurance of getting your money back if you find it is not the software for you.

Let me know in the comments below your preferred winner and why.

Further reading on SideHustleTeach.com

If you want to learn more about either software, then check out my Doodly review or VideoScribe review. If you don’t like the look of either, then have a look at my list of best whiteboard animation software for some alternatives.