A doodle video shows simple drawings appearing as if sketched by hand while a voice explains them. Here is how the main doodle video makers compare, what they cost, and how to make one without drawing.
Upload a PDF or Word file, paste a web link, or type your own script.
Read and edit the narration slide by slide before anything is drawn.
Choose a doodle, sketch or whiteboard style and a voice. You get an MP4 with subtitles.
Steps shown for DistilBook. Manual tools work differently: you place and time each drawing yourself.
| Tool | Best for | How you make the video | Price | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DistilBook | A doodle video from a document or script, no drawing | AI from your text | $20/mo or $14/mo billed yearly (Basic) | Trial credits; watermark and no MP4 until you pay |
| Doodly | The best-known doodle video app | Manual editor | $49/mo or $490/yr (Standard) | 14-day trial; card asked at signup |
| VideoScribe | Fine control over every doodle | Manual editor | $35/mo or $150/yr (Lite) | 7-day trial: 3 downloads, watermark |
| DoodleMaker | A one-time price, with AI text-to-doodle | AI + manual editor | $47 or $69, one-time | No free plan; 30-day money-back |
| StrokeVideo | Free AI hand-drawn video, one a day | AI from your text | $19.9/mo or $99.9/yr | 1 video a day, up to 2 min, MP4 |
| Chasca AI | The cheapest AI plan for hand-drawn video | AI from your text | From $9.99/mo (monthly only) | 2 videos, up to 1 min, with a mark |
| CreateStudio | A doodle editor that can start from a prompt | AI + manual editor | $27/mo or $199/yr (Standard) | 14-day trial; bills $47/mo on day 15 |
| Wavel AI | Quick AI doodles from text | AI from your text | $25/mo or $198/yr (Basic) | 15 credits for 7 days; no downloads |
| Animaker | Doodles alongside many other styles | AI + manual editor | $45/mo or $300/yr (Starter) | 3 downloads a month, watermark |
| SpeedSketch | A free sketch animation of one image | AI from your text | £9/mo; text-to-video £15/mo | No signup: 720p, up to 15 s |
| FlexClip | Text-to-sketch inside a general editor | AI + manual editor | $19.99/mo, or $11.99/mo billed yearly (Plus) | 720p, up to 10 min, watermark |
Verdict: best when you start from something already written. Paste a script or upload a PDF, Word file or web page, read and fix the narration, then pick a hand-drawn style such as Doodle Color Pop, Sketch Notebook or Hand-Drawn Education. You get an MP4 up to 1440p with VTT or SRT subtitles, narrated in one of 22 languages, or in your own cloned voice on Pro and Max. Downside: you can't draw or place doodles by hand, and there are no avatars and no SCORM export.
Verdict: the name most people know, and fully manual. Drag an image onto the board and Doodly draws it in the order and timing you choose, on Mac or PC. Standard is $49 a month or $490 a year; its home page also shows a $67 one-time offer, so check what you are buying. Downside: you write, place and time everything yourself.
Verdict: the most control, for people who like to edit. Illustrations appear hand-drawn on a white background, and you set when each one appears; AI helps with the script, images and voice. Lite is $35 a month or $150 a year, cheaper than Doodly by the year. Downside: a polished minute takes time to build.
Verdict: the one-time-price option on this page. It turns words into colorful doodle videos and also gives you an editor and templates. Commercial is $47 once and Enterprise $69 once, but its page warns the price may become a monthly plan of at least $67. Downside: there is no free plan, so you rely on the money-back guarantee to test it.
Verdict: the best free daily option. Every picture is drawn stroke by stroke from a topic, a script, a recording, a PDF or a web page. Free gives one video a day up to 2 minutes, with MP4 download and a 2-second end card. Paid is $19.9 a month or $99.9 a year. Downside: longer videos need the paid plan.
Verdict: the lowest entry price. It makes a hand-drawn video from a prompt, a script, a document, a recording or a link. Solo is $9.99 a month and Plus $19.99, billed monthly only. Downside: free videos carry a mark and stop at 1 minute.
Verdict: a capable doodle editor, but watch the trial. You build hand-sketched doodles by drag and drop, or start from an AI prompt. Standard is $27 a month or $199 a year. Downside: the 14-day trial becomes the $47-a-month All Access plan on day 15 unless you cancel. Its site has moved to createstudio.com.
Verdict: fast text-to-doodle, but you can't keep a free test. It maps your text into sketch-style visuals with whiteboard effects. Basic is $25 a month or $198 a year. Downside: free credits don't allow downloads.
Verdict: pick it if you need more than doodles. Its hand-drawn doodle style sits next to its other animation styles, and you can start from an AI prompt or a template. Starter is $45 a month or $300 a year. Downside: free downloads are watermarked and capped at three a month.
Verdict: free and instant for one picture. Upload an image and watch it redrawn by hand, free at 720p for up to 15 seconds with no watermark. Text-to-video is on the £15-a-month plan. Downside: one short clip at a time.
Verdict: fine for quick sketch clips if you already use FlexClip. It offers text-to-sketch and AI animations with templates. Plus is $19.99 a month or $11.99 a month billed yearly. Downside: free exports carry a watermark.
One idea per drawing. Each scene explains one point. A new point gets a new drawing.
A short script. Narration runs at roughly 130 to 150 words a minute, so a 2-minute video needs about 260 to 300 words. A free speech time calculator turns a script into minutes.
Draw in the order you speak. A drawing should appear when the voice mentions it.
Labels, not paragraphs. Put a word or two on screen and let the voice carry the rest.
End with one action. Tell the viewer what to do next.
Turn a policy, an SOP or a handbook into a short video new staff actually watch. Download the MP4 and add it to your LMS.
Explain one concept per video, with drawings that build up step by step.
Show setup steps or a feature in under two minutes, like the sample above.
Explain what you do in a minute, in a style people remember.
A short video where simple drawings appear as if sketched by hand while a voice explains them. People also call it whiteboard animation or a sketch video.
For a video made from a document or a script, use an AI doodle video maker such as DistilBook, StrokeVideo or Chasca. To draw and time each doodle yourself, use Doodly or VideoScribe. For a one-time price, DoodleMaker.
StrokeVideo makes one free video a day, up to 2 minutes, with MP4 download. SpeedSketch animates a single image free, up to 15 seconds. Animaker's free plan allows 3 watermarked downloads a month.
Yes. DistilBook, StrokeVideo, Chasca, Wavel and DoodleMaker all turn text into a doodle video. DistilBook also reads PDF and Word files and web pages, and shows you the script before it draws.
Both are manual editors. Doodly is $49 a month or $490 a year and runs on Mac or PC. VideoScribe Lite is $35 a month or $150 a year, with AI help for the script, images and voice. VideoScribe costs less by the year; Doodly's trial asks for a card.
With a manual editor you place and time every drawing, so plan on hours for a short video. With an AI tool the first draft takes minutes, and your time goes into fixing the script and redoing scenes you don't like.
In DistilBook, the Pro and Max plans let you record 45 seconds to 5 minutes of your voice and narrate any video with it. Otherwise you pick from 30 standard voices, plus 20 premium voices on Pro and Max.
We read every price on the vendor's own pricing page on 7–8 November 2026 and link to it from each tool note. Plans change often, so check the vendor's page before you buy. Spotted a change? Tell us through distilbook.com/contact.
This site is run by DistilBook, one of the tools listed.
Paste a script or upload a document, check the narration, pick a hand-drawn style. Plans from $20 a month, or $14 a month billed yearly.
