Renderforest Review – Pros & Cons [2023]

Renderforest is a whiteboard animation software that allows you to create 2D & 3D animations, slideshows, promo videos, and many more for multiple purposes. It has a vast template library so that you can choose relevant video templates and make high-quality videos right away. You can also import your own resources to the platform and customize templates to match your brand voice. From social sharing to text editing, Renderforest has a lot of features up its sleeves. But there are some drawbacks too. We will cover everything, from pros and cons to pricing plans, in this review. Let’s get started.

Top Features of Renderforest

Overall, Renderforest is an impressive platform for creating animations. Here are the top features:

2D and 3D Animation

With most animation tools only offering 2D capabilities, one of the most impressive features that Rednderforest offers is the ability to create 3D videos. Regardless of what dimension you decide for your video, the platform offers various objects and characters to make your videos stand out and uniquely express your idea.

Expansive Content Library

Finding the right footage to bring your videos to life is crucial. That becomes easier with a whopping number of stock footage available with Renderforest. In fact, their content library has more than 195,000 royalty-free assets to use in your videos! You can even use this pre-made footage in a commercial project. Unfortunately (but understandably) the entire footage library isn’t available with their lower-tier plans.

Pre-Built Video Templates

If it is your first time creating a video, or you need to create a large number of videos, starting from scratch likely seems like a daunting task. We were pleased to see that Renderforest offers a collection of more than 500 video templates to work with while we were reviewing the platform. Simply choose a template and start working on your project! This makes the video production process much faster. Industry experts create templates for Renderforest, so you should definitely be able to find appealing and professional-looking options.

Once you choose a template for your videos, you have seemingly infinite opportunities to customize them into a video of your own. Every element of your videos can be customized according to your needs, allowing you to make sure your final product is on-brand. While we were impressed with Renderforest’s capabilities, the editor may seem a bit overwhelming for non-techies.

Drag & Drop Editor

Renderforest uses a drag-and-drop editor which feels magical – you can move your video elements in any direction to place them precisely where you want on the canvas. Whether you make videos from scratch or work with pre-built templates, the drag-and-drop editor is awesome to help tweak different elements while editing.

In addition to modifying element positions, Renderforest lets you customize the fonts and colors of any text that you add to your video. This is another way your videos can be branded to your company’s look while making them more engaging.

Unique Video Transitions

If you use the same transition effects in all your videos, they might get boring! Renderforest can help fight this problem. A variety of unique transitions are at your disposal to make your videos more engaging. These transition effects are suitable for explanatory videos, presentations, and even marketing.

Data Import & Export

Using resources available within the tool might not always be sufficient. So, Renderforest allows you to import your own resources to make rich content and export various data to make your future projects convenient. From images to videos, you can import a variety of data from your devices. What we missed here is the ability to import resources from other online platforms to make the video creation process more streamlined.

Collaboration Tools

When you are working with animation videos, you might want other stakeholders to share their contributions throughout the process. That becomes much easier with the collaboration tools available in Renderforest. These tools help you work hand-in-hand with scriptwriters, designers, composers, and other teammates to collaboratively make professional videos.

Audio Capture and Management

Audio can make or break an animation video, which makes creating and managing it a major challenge. Don’t worry though; Renderforest lets you capture high-notch audio for your animations with ease! You won’t have to struggle with compatibility issues either, as the platform allows external file importation so that nothing stands in between you and perfect sound quality!

Video Preview

Observing how each element fits the context or how a changed element look is important for error-free videos. Renderforest offers video previews so that you can take a detailed look at the videos before publishing them. As you customize every element, you have the ability to monitor the change they bring to the overall video. It would be nice if there was a real-time preview feature. Currently, to preview your video, you need to click over to the Preview tab and allow the project to render, which can take time if you have a lengthy video.

HD Resolution Videos

Creating videos in high definition is crucial if you want to look professional. Renderforest lets you export your videos in multiple resolutions, including full HD, so that you can grab the attention of a broader audience. If you need to optimize your video to a smaller size for a specific use, they also have the flexibility to go to as low as 360p. Unfortunately, not all resolution options are available with every plan so you may need to upgrade if you want full HD.

Social Sharing and Promotion

To make your videos available to a broader audience, Renderforest makes to share to a number of different platforms, directly within the tool. Once your video is ready, you can share it directly to social media using the built-in sharing feature. In addition, there are features to help you promote your videos.

Pros and Cons of Renderforest

There’s no doubt that Renderforest is a solid platform, but there are a few drawbacks to keep in mind. Here is a quick list.

Plans & Pricing

Renderforest has a free tier that includes 500MB of storage and a limited amount of stock footage. If you need more, there are three paid plans:

• Lite – starting at $9.99/mo
  • 10 GB storage
  • Create unlimited 720p videos
  • Access to 100K+ resources
  • Vector SVG and PNG logos
• Pro – starting at $19.99/mo
  • 30 GB storage
  • Create unlimited 1080p videos
  • Full catalog of 5M+ resources
  • Branding guidelines for logos
• Business – starting at $29.99/mo
  • 50 GB storage
  • Create unlimited up to 4K videos
  • Dedicated account manager
  • Team management

Our Take on Renderforest

Renderforest is an impressive tool for creating a variety of 2D and 3D animations. With the help of a rich content library, you can find almost all of the footage you need to make unique videos for your business. The drag-and-drop editor makes it easier to handle the various elements that comprise your videos. You can also capture voiceovers or import them to the platform to make your videos sound more professional. And the whole process becomes easier when you take advantage of their pre-built video templates, which can save you tons of time. Though rendering can take time with longer videos, we recommend giving Renderforest a try. They offer a Free plan with limited features, and their paid plans start at just $9.99/mo, which is a steal.