Powtoon

Score9.5 out of 10

31 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Powtoon are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Engaging Visuals and Animations: Reviewers have consistently praised Powtoon for its engaging visuals and out-of-the-ordinary animations, with many users stating that these elements added a unique touch to their videos. This sentiment was shared by a significant number of reviewers.

Easy Incorporation of Recorded Video: A common positive aspect mentioned by users is the seamless integration of recorded video from other software into Powtoon creations. This feature allows users to easily combine different types of media, making it convenient for those who want to incorporate pre-recorded footage into their animated videos.

Broad and Deep Library of Background Music: The extensive library of background music offered by Powtoon has been highly appreciated by reviewers, as it provides a wide range of options to suit different types of videos. This aspect has garnered positive feedback from numerous users who found this selection helpful in enhancing the overall quality and appeal of their videos.

Reviews

12 Reviews

Make animated explainer videos quickly with POWTOON

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

August 25, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Powtoon to make videos for scientific customer training. They are mostly explainer videos that train customer on how to use our Bio-technology instruments

Pros

Easy to make animated videos
Lots of prepopulated props, videos, images, characters scenes to choose from
Easy to export
license if affordable

Cons

Comparing it to Vyond, it is more time consuming to make videos. The timeline could be easier to understand.
They recently started upcharging to use some scenes. This has made updating some of my videos challenging as the scenes that were included as part of my plan are now an upgrade to use.
They don't have a voice over option. I have actually taken some of the videos out of the platform over to Vyond to add voiceover.
Some items they have introduced, like turning a powerpoint into a video really don't work.

Likelihood to Recommend

I use Powtoon a lot for our "tips, tricks and troubleshooting" videos. The reason for this, is that it has a lot of assets to choose from The great thing is they have relationships with third parties for images, videos, etc. They also have a great selection of video music.

I have used it less and less for our explainer videos, only because it takes me more time than Vyond and because I feel the animation is a little less sophisticated.

Annie Chatterjee

Instructional Designer in Sales at ProteinSimple (5001-10,000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Powtoon is Awesome...with Some Outside Help

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

August 3, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Powtoon to create training videos, both within the organization and for customers as well.

It allows us to fairly easily create captivating videos. The only other option would be to film live, which has been challenging, especially in the past year. Before using Powtoon, we used vector graphics and had to manipulate them by hand in Photoshop or Illustrator, then animate them in a video editor.

Pros

Offers a wide variety of preset but customizable templates
Provides a fairly intuitive process for editing
At certain price points, characters are now customizable

Cons

Only one timeline to edit from which sometimes makes it difficult to select objects.
Animations can only be set to ½ seconds. Sometimes more precise amounts of time are needed.
Although there are a bunch of different actions you can place on a character, it's almost impossible to create a custom action within the program.

Likelihood to Recommend

There are a lot of customizable templates that look good with just some minor tinkering. These are eye-catching and fairly easy to manipulate. The variety of characters and poses for those characters have grown a lot throughout the years. However, if you have a specific goal in mind, most of the time I create short snippets in Powtoon, then I take these clips and do further editing in Premiere or Camtasia.

Verified User

Employee (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Master Visual Communications with Powtoon

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

August 2, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Powtoon to create animations by themselves or as part of other videos to aid in the illustration of complex concepts. It is being used by my department and it solves a communications problem.

Pros

Helps audience visualise
Deliver more content in shorter time
Grabs and retains attention well

Cons

Have more templates
Screen capture is rudimentary
Full desktop version with customisable library

Likelihood to Recommend

[Powtoon] does a good job for explainer type videos, shot corporate videos and animations.

May lack the tools to give it the appropriate look when a formal corporate setting is required.

Verified User

Account Manager in Product Management (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Powtoon--the video creating solution that will make your life easier

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

July 30, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Powtoon to create training videos on how to leverage our educational solution. Powtoon has allowed us to create high-quality videos in a fast and easy way. Powtoon has many templates that are fully ready to be customized for your needs; they also have all sort of elements like images, backgrounds, text styles, shapes, characters, videos, sounds, effects, etc.

Pros

Powtoon is very easy to use; no previous experience is needed.
It has a lot of features (images, backgrounds, videos, sounds, etc.)
It automatically saves your work
After you have created your video, you can download it to your computer in different resolutions

Cons

Price difference between packages can be quite high; the pro version is too limited in comparison to the pro+
The free version has a watermark on the background
Once you have published a video, it now is in revision mode and editing options are very limited at this point

Likelihood to Recommend

Powtoon works great for a general information video (short videos) that doesn't need too much customization. If you want to build a more customized video, you will need a more robust solution that will probably will come at a higher cost. Powtoon gets the job done in an easy way.

Jose de la Fuente

Project Manager in Professional Services at Whizz Education (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Why Powtoon is WAY better than I thought it would be

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

July 30, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My organization uses Powtoon to create videos that are "in-between" training videos: they are not high-profile enough for commercials or Marketing videos, but they are nicer and more professional than Zoom recordings or dry software walkthroughs. Sometimes they are informal and fun - like our "88 Seconds of Systems" videos that take a 15-minute system overview and cram it into 4 minutes; sometimes they are more formal but still visually engaging.
These days, with the prevalence pf recorded Zoom and WebEx sessions, learners get really tired really fast of another talking head on a screen! Powtoon enables my organization to create different types of videos and eLearning engagements to wake people up and get their attention so they can learn something new!

Pros

Engaging visuals and out-of-the-ordinary animations
Easy incorporation of recorded video from other software into Powtoon creations
A broad and deep library of background music for different types of videos
Multiple template and theme options for different types of videos

Cons

Limitation of 90 seconds for imported video
More sound effect options for individual animations
Better organization of the images that I've created and imported

Likelihood to Recommend

Powtoon is a very capable suite of tools that help a developer create training videos that look way better than they should. I've used it to create fun, attention-getting commercials for new topics, I've used it to enhance what would otherwise be boring step-by-step tutorials, and I've used it to create all manner of "Explainer videos" for all kinds of topics - this is where it EXCELS!

In my opinion, its biggest limitations are limits on imported video (max of 90 seconds), which mean that you have to do a lot of extra work to break up and import anything of substantive length. And because it presents your personal library of imported images and audio ONLY sequentially, it's VERY LIMITED in the re-usability of those assets - it's way faster to just import a new instance of an image and audio than to try to find it in your library.

Gabe Nance

eLearning Curriculum Developer in Sales at Thryv (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Powtoon Helps Solve Problems

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

July 30, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Powtoon is a great way for me to share with our consumers new products, implementation methods, teaching tools, and educational trainings. I am able to use one of the many templates, modified for use on my website, my YouTube channel, and on social media. During COVID I could easily create daily videos to keep our clients engaged virtually. Powtoon allowed me to choose from their abundant image library or use my own. It is a very versatile tool with new images added all the time.

Pros

Versatile
Easy to use
Fun and engaging
Colorful and modern

Cons

I would love a way to organize my own images

Likelihood to Recommend

I create many materials for my company used for schools and therapists all over the world. I am also responsible at times for creating training videos. Powtoon allows me to easily modify a template and customize it for my needs. Videos are colorful and engaging. I can also import my own videos into a template to better illustrate my message. I run a website as well and can easily embed videos without having to bother my web designers.

Jane Odom

Training & Implmentation Specialist in Professional Services at The AAC Language Lab (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile

Powtoons for Quick, Easy, and Fun Video Creation

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

February 13, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Powtoons to create explainer videos for online courses at our community college. We encourage faculty to create videos to personalize and humanize their online courses. Powtoons makes it easy for faculty to use because Powtoons provides a variety of templates, characters, scenarios, and music backgrounds to create quick videos. We use them for course overviews, course introductions, syllabi, and videos linking course objectives to assignments.

No everyone on my Instructional Design team uses Powtoons, but I have presented on the technology informally at our informal Friday team meetings and I encourage the teaching faculty I work with to try out Powtoons. There is a free version and the more robust paid version is VERY affordable for educators. Subscription-based with updates on a regular basis makes it nimble and appropriate for the work I do.

Pros

Powtoons helps me make static content more lively and interesting.
Powtoons provides several templates, scenarios, characters, and music to make creating a video easy.
Powtoons has a free version you can use, but the paid subscription price is VERY affordable for educators in particular.

Cons

As often is the case, the free version includes a watermark on all published products.
Sometimes the video templates may be too glib or light-hearted for the message being shared (like about discrimination in the workplace or COVID).

Likelihood to Recommend

In an academic environment, Powtoons is well suited to course introductions, overviews, explaining concepts, student presentations. Powtoons is not as good for lectures.

Kim Grewe

Instructional Designer at Northern Virginia Community College Online Learning (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile

Powtoon was a great tool that saves a lot of money if you make videos often.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

September 1, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is being used by the whole organization. We make videos to promote and explain our services. Since we are a domestic violence agency and are limited on ability to include real clients in pictures and videos, Powtoon is really helpful both by agency and per department (legal, counseling, case management).

Pros

User friendly, very intuitive interface
A lot of features that make a video stand out, like moving images from point a to b at specific points in the video
Diverse characters. We are an agency that serves a variety of people of color so it is helpful to have so many character types

Cons

The only con is that so many characters that are really good are on the pro version
The pro version feels like a big financial jump from the basic version
You have to pay for pro to remove the watermark if I remember correctly

Likelihood to Recommend

As I mentioned, it is honestly really useful for an agency like Wafa House because we are limited in our ability to show clients. So creating a cartoon with a fake client and fake staff, that are culturally correct in the depiction was a really amazing way to explain the work our organization does, especially through explained slides with stats and steps.

We also used Powtoon to describe in detail the steps someone should take when working with our legal department. It's just a very cool tool.

Verified User

Executive in Research & Development (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Powtoon Review

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

May 25, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I have tested Powtoon for its characteristic way of transmitting information through simple animations, like other software such as Prezi that has its characteristic "zoom and scroll" on a slide. Powtoon takes the way in which a slide is exposed to another level with animations. I started using it personally for the occasional task for my children but I tried to include this platform in my work environment and at the beginning it was a great idea since it is a new way of capturing the attention of the public and I left behind those boring slides.

Pros

Its interface is really simple, which helps a lot for people who want to try this new way of making presentations.
It has animation templates to help the user finish the presentation faster.
Animations can be created freely as it is highly customizable, easy, and quick without the need to be an expert in graphic design.
There are a large number of backgrounds, images, audios, texts, etc. that can be added to the video presentation.

Cons

The web version has gotten really heavy lately. They should optimize that.
Creating characters is not as customizable as you think. It is a bit limited in that regard.
Background music is also a bit limited.
Although it is simple to use, it takes a bit of animation knowledge and patience to achieve proper animation.

Likelihood to Recommend

If you want to try something different than the current ways of creating a slide to transmit information within the work area or want to present a proposal to a client, Powtoon would be ideal for doing that job. It will take a little time to learn how it works but once you get the hang of it you can do amazing and professional things.

Penelope Brown

Dining Room Manager at Kohler Co. (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile

Great value for the price!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

March 26, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Powtoon both for my own promotion and for my clients as a means to promote and communicate products and offerings across multiple platforms--social media, email, etc. We also use Powtoon internally as a way to onboard new employees in a fun way and deliver all the administrative details of each position.

Pros

promo
idea pitch
onboarding

Cons

lack of variety in characters
limited animations
lack of support for video files

Likelihood to Recommend

I think Powtoon is the best tool to start marketing in a new company since it offers to make a video, which is very good in terms of user conversion and also is heavily promoted by all online platforms. Using Powtoon for paid ads is very effective as well.

Isaac Feldman

founder in Corporate at isaaac.me (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile