Doodly Review: Sharing My Experience (+Lifetime Deal)
The problem:
Humans have an attention span of just eight seconds.
What's more interesting (or rather humiliating) is that our attention span is less than a Goldfish with an attention span of 9 seconds.
With the massive popularity and adaptation of TikTok and Reels, I wouldn’t be surprised if it drops further in the coming years.
What it means is that if you want to grab your audience’s attention, you need to create eye-catching videos that can hold their attention right from the beginning.
If you’re starting with a minute-long intro or boring explanation, nobody’s watching that.
The solution:
Create whiteboard video animations.
Whiteboard animation videos are getting crazy popular in 2022 and people love watching these.
Not only are they interesting to watch but also attention-grabbing, to-the-point, and the visual elements make it easier to understand the concept.
And to create these types of videos, I’d recommend using Doodly.
I have been using Doodly (Enterprise plan) for over a year now, learning the ins and outs, and creating whiteboard videos for my websites and social media.
It’s safe to say that I have a good grasp of it and that means one thing – it’s review time!!
In this Doodly review, I’ll talk about this software in detail, discuss features, what’s good and what can be improved, and finally answer a couple of most asked questions related to Doodly.
I’m pretty sure you’d be able to confidently make a purchase decision after going through this honest review.
Let’s get started, shall we?
What Is Doodly?
Doodly is a drag-and-drop animated video maker that makes it super easy for an average Joe and Jane to create eye-catchy videos.
What kind of video?
Have you ever had someone explain to you by drawing on a piece of paper? Imagine someone filming it at the same time.
That’s exactly what Doodly can help you make.
Whiteboard explainer videos where a hands draw things and write text to explain whatever topic you want.
Optionally, you can add a voiceover to the video which makes it easier to understand for the viewers.
Currently, Doodly is one of the most popular explainer video makers for three important reasons:
- Easy to use by anyone. No prior skills needed.
- Thousands of custom-drawn images
- Affordable (starts at $20 per month)
You might be wondering why not just draw on a piece of paper or whiteboard and record it directly?
Well, that’s definitely an option but…
First, you need to be good at drawing and second, it can get expensive. You’ll need a camera, a good lighting setup, screen recording and editing software, markers, a microphone, and a lot more.
On other hand, using Doodly is a simple $20 per month investment and lets you create unlimited video rather quickly.
What’s more, it works with both Mac and Windows machines. Plus, you can install Doodly on multiple devices with a single license.
If you want to create animated videos with moving characters, check out Doodly’s sister software Toonly (read my in-depth review here)
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With the introduction and short overview done, let’s now discuss the features in detail.
Doodly Review: Features & What’s Included
While there are a lot of talking points, I’ll be discussing only the most important ones a normal buyer would want to know before making a purchase decision.
1. Easy-To-Use (Drag and Drop) Video Editor
Truth be told, I’m not a professional video editor.
And with the plethora of things I have on my plate as a full-time blogger, there’s hardly any time left for me to learn other complicated software.
Doodly caught my attention for this very specific reason. I wanted software that doesn’t have a steep learning curve but can be learned within a couple of hours.
As soon as I launched Doodly for the first time, I could understand half of the options and what to do without a need for manuals.
That’s what I call intuitive.
The user interface is easy to browse and uses simple-to-understand terms for each of the options.
You can easily change board style, hand style, add objects from the library, and export it with just a couple of clicks.
2. Multiple Board Styles
I have been stressing on the whiteboard animation of Doodly a lot because that’s the most common use. But Doodly can do more than that.
In addition to the whiteboard, you can choose from:
- Dark Chalkboard
- Green Chalkboard
- Glassboard
- Custom
With the custom style, Doodly lets you use any color or image as the background. Additionally, you can customize if the arm should use chalk or a marker to draw.
In the same options pop-up, you can adjust eraser mode. There are four options available:
- Smart mode
- With Finger
- With Eraser
- Off
3. Dozens of Different Male and Female Hand Types
Not only you can choose the board style, Toonly offers plenty of hand types too.
This way, you can customize the hand as per your personality or video needs to add a more unique touch.
As of now, there are about a dozen of male and female hands to choose from. You can choose between various colors, sizes, and ethnicities as well as with or without sleeves hand styles.
Besides, you can choose between 5 cartoon hand styles as well if you’re into that.
And of course, you can make a decision if the drawing style should be right or left-handed.
Keep in mind that available hand types differ based on your board style so you might find one or the other missing as you switch.
For example, if you choose Glassboard, the hand styles available are the ones facing towards you.
The only downside here is that you can’t draw or add your own hand styles. Maybe it’ll be an option in the future, but for now, we’ll have to work with the pre-set selections of hand styles.
4. Huge Doodle Library
While deciding to purchase a whiteboard animation maker, Doodly library was one of the top factors for me. I’m pretty sure it’s for you too (who wants to use that 10 doodles again and again?)
Doodly, with over 3,596 character images and 3000+ prop images in their Enterprise plan, immediately caught my attention. You also get access to 84 scene templates and 150 royalty-free music tracks.
Except for the music tracks, the rest of the Doodly library is much larger than the library of other whiteboard animation software.
If you pick the Standard plan, it gives you access to 803 character images, 1157 prop images, and 100 royalty-free tracks which are still fairly large. The number of scene templates available remains the same.
However…
One thing you need to know is that all of those images and props are available in black and white only (welcome to the 1900s.)
If you want to add colors to the doodles from the library, you need to purchase the Doodly Rainbow add-on. It’ll cost you an extra $67 (one-time fee)
That might come as a shocker for many but if you’re planning to create whiteboard animation, you probably won’t need it.
The good news is that you can add your own color images and props. You don’t need the Doodly Rainbow add-on for this and the images uploaded will be drawn with colors.
If you’ve more money lying around and want to get additional readymade characters/props, head over to Doodly Marketplace.
As the name suggests, you can find plenty of premade doodles here which you can purchase for extra money.
Again, you probably won’t need that if you are going to add custom images all the time.
5. Doodly Club
If you subscribe to the Enterprise package (like me), there’s another interesting perk waiting for you – Doodly Club.
I have talked about this in my Toonly review (Toonly club in that case) as well and explained why it’s great.
At no extra cost (other than your monthly membership), Doodly Club will get you access to new characters and images on a monthly basis.
The good news is that these images/props are often based on what’s going around the world. This way, you can create trending videos and always stay up to date.
Unfortunately, if you are a Standard plan user, you can’t get access to it.
6. Custom Draw Paths
Now we're talking!
Another thing I’ve come to love about Doodly is the ability to create custom draw paths. Doodly likes to call it Smart Draw Technology which is just a fancy name.
Simply put, it allows you to create custom draw paths to any image you upload to Doodly.
It means that you can customize the sequence of how an image is drawn by simply adding draw points.
If you don’t do that, the uploaded images will appear on the screen with some transitions which don't look bad. But adding custom draw points makes it more in line with other Doodly characters you might use.
Here’s an example:
With this technique, you can also add the effect of coloring (without having to spend on the Doodly Rainbow Add-on)
For this, you’ll need to add a second custom draw path over the first image and add a path like this:
When the video plays, the hand will first draw the heart shape and then color it following the custom path.
How cool is that?
7. Record Your Own Custom Voiceover
If you dig up a little, you’ll notice that most other whiteboard animation software doesn’t offer a built-in audio recorder.
But, Doodly decided to change that when they introduced their own voice recorder last year.
And it makes total sense.
It’s much easier for anyone (including me) to add a voiceover by looking at the preview video and adjust the pace.
When you preview the video, the audio will play in sync and you can do the changes right inside Doodly.
You can trim out parts of recorded videos, adjust timelines, and even add few audio effects in between for professional touch.
It’s not the most advanced audio recorder and editor but for beginners, it gets the job done.
Alternatively, you can import your own audio files and then sync them inside Doodly. I often find myself doing this as I’m an avid user of Audacity that has more advanced features.
8. One License Covers All Your Devices
Let’s be honest.
Most video creators or online business owners own a couple of computers these days. One laptop and desktop setup at home and probably one more at the workplace.
And you’ll often find yourself switching from one machine to another.
If it was 2000, you may need to buy a separate license for each of these devices which can quickly add up.
Thankfully, Doodly isn’t following the age-old pricing techniques but allows you to install the software on multiple machines with a single license.
And it’s compatible with both Mac and Windows machines with Tablet and Smartphone apps in the pipeline.
After your purchase, you get the download link to Doodly software on your email. It contains links for Windows (32-bit), Windows (64-bit), and Mac download links.
This way, you can install and create Doodly videos on whatever device you’re using right now.
Moreover, since Doodly uses cloud storage (although it’s downloadable software), everything will be synced to all of your devices.
9. Up To Full HD (1080p) Video Export
The world is moving towards quality videos and higher resolutions.
Granted, most people these days have over 50mbps internet plans or 4G data networks. Also, the laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc. display resolutions are getting higher and 1080p is the new standard.
You can no longer get away with making 480p videos as they’ll look horrible on these devices and viewers will be forced to quit watching.
If you look at other whiteboard video makers, they’ll either allow only 720p video or ask you to upgrade for higher resolution.
Fortunately, that’s not the case with Doodly.
On both Doodly’s plans, you can export videos in a resolution ranging from 360p to full-HD 1080p resolution.
Besides, you can enter a custom video resolution if needed.
For those who care about FPS, you can also select between 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, and 60 frames per second (FPS) settings.
In terms of video formats, Doodly supports MP4, MKV, OGG, and WebM file types. If you’re uploading to YouTube, MP4 is the one you need to choose but it’s good to see other files being supported.
The trade-off with higher quality videos though is the slow render time. I’ll talk more about this under the cons section.
10. Free Doodly Tutorial Videos
As I said before, Doodly is very easy to use. If you’ve used any software in the past, you’d be able to easily navigate through Doodly and create your first video.
But, there are still certain features and options that will confuse you or take time to learn.
Also, it’s a good idea to watch a few tutorial videos before buying any software to make sure it can do what you want it to do.
Thankfully, Doodly has a dedicated Tutorials page with 10 step-by-step tutorials videos talking about various basic processes.
At the time of writing, the videos available are:
- Interface Tour
- Background Types
- Creating Your First Video
- Timeline Basics
- Video Settings
- Asset Settings
- Scene Settings
- Working With Additional Assets
- Panning And Zooming
- Exporting Your Video
You can watch these tutorial videos for free without creating an account. So, I’d recommend you go through them once and make yourself comfortable with the interface before investing.
11. Doodly Support and Knowledgebase
Another thing that I really liked about Doodly is their support system. There are three ways you can get a solution to your query:
1. Support Page: Doodly’s dedicated support page has covered the majority of the basic doubts/problems one can have.
From working with Doodly to billing & cancellation, you can find answers to over 70 commonly asked questions here.
And the answers are presented in a detailed manner with screenshots, GIFs, and links to helpful resources which I really liked.
2. Create A Ticket: If you can’t find a solution on the support page or have something to complain about, this is the best option.
On top of Doodly’s support page, you’ll find an option to create a new ticket which then proceeds to ask for more details. Generally, you shall receive a response within 48 hours.
3. Live Chat: If you don’t want to wait for hours to get a reply, try live chat. You can start a live chat by entering your name and email address and an agent should connect with you. You might not find an available agent at all times so keep that in mind if the wait time is longer.
If that wasn’t enough, there’s a Facebook community waiting for you. Upon your Doodly purchase, you get an invitation to join the Doodly Facebook group. As of now, there are over 75,000 active members – a surprising feat for this type of product.
Nonetheless, keep in mind that this group isn’t meant to provide support. It’s more like a private community for Doodly buyers to connect and help each other out.
You can also share your videos created with Doodly and get some free promotions or improvement suggestions.
12. 30-Days Money Back Guarantee
I honestly believe that you’re getting a run for your money with Doodly. At just $20 per month, you are getting something that’s powerful, easy to use, and lets you create unlimited videos.
But…
You don’t have to take my words for it.
Doodly doesn’t offer a free trial (like some of its competitors), but they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
What it means is that you can basically take Doodly for a 30-days test drive and experience what it’s like to use.
After your test, you can decide if you want to keep it. If not, submit a refund request and Doodly will issue a refund with no questions asked.
This is great and speaks about how confident Doodly is about their product. They know you’ll most likely love the features and are ready to bet on it.
As a consumer, you’ll also have a piece of mind knowing that you can get your money back if things don’t go as you planned.
A piece of advice: If you are unsure if Doodly’s right for you, always subscribe to a monthly plan first. This way, you won’t have to pay a large annual sum upfront. If you want to continue, upgrade to an annual plan to get a 49% extra discount.
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Moving on, let’s take a quick look at Doodly pricing and what’s included with each of the packages.
Doodly Pricing & Doodly Facebook Offer
Similar to its sister software Toonly, Doodly is very straightforward when it comes to pricing.
There are two plans – Standard and Enterprise which we’ll compare next.
Doodly Standard vs Enterprise
Monthly
- Standard for $39 per month
- Enterprise for $69 per month
Annually
- Standard for $20 per month
- Enterprise for $40 per month
In terms of the payment cycle, both options have their own pros and cons.
With monthly payment, you’ll have the luxury to cancel anytime but at a cost of paying extra (almost double.)
Whereas in the case of annual payment, you’ll be getting yourself into a long-term commitment but that’ll get you an extra 49% discount.
To give you a clear idea, here’s how much you’ll save on annual vs monthly payments for each plan.
| Plan | Monthly Billing | Annual Billing | Savings |
| Standard | $468 | $240 | $228 |
| Enterprise | $829 | $480 | $349 |
If you are certain about your decision and sure that you’ll be using it regularly, then go with the annual plan. And yes, you are still backed by a 30-days money-back guarantee.
Here’s another table to compare the difference between the Standard and Enterprise plans.
| Features | Doodly Standard | Doodly Enterprise |
| Create unlimited videos | Yes | Yes |
| Use on multiple computers | Yes | Yes |
| Premium support | Yes | Yes |
| Character images | 803 | 3,596 |
| Prop images | 1,157 | 3,000+ |
| Scene Templates | 84 | 84 |
| Royalty-free music tracks | 100 | 150 |
| Doodly Facebook group | Yes | Yes |
| Access to Doodly Club | No | Yes |
| | Join Standard | Join Enterprise |
To sum it up, the Enterprise package has an edge over the Standard plan in the number of available characters, props, and music tracks.
Also, the Enterprise package gets access to Doodly Club which gives you access to new characters and prop images every month.
Other than that, there are no limitations to their working. You can create similar videos without any limit with either plan.
Remember, none of the above plans include colored doodle characters. You’ll have to shell out an extra $67 (one-time fee) for Doodly Rainbow Add-on regardless of your active plan type.
Doodly One-Time Payment Offer
Right, when you think, Doodly can’t be any cheaper, there comes another surprise.
If you’ve ever visited Doodly’s website in the past, you’d notice something change with your internet usage.
Yes, you’ll be bombarded with Doodly’s ads across all of social media channels, YouTube, and whatnot.
While I find this technique a little bit annoying, I admire the offer they choose to run – a lifetime deal (also known as Doodly Facebook Offer.)
From time to time, Doodly will run these one-time payment offers wherein you can subscribe to Doodly for a lifetime with a single payment.
No more monthly or annual bills to pay. You pay once and enjoy Doodly for a lifetime (with all future updates.)
Wait, what’s the catch? It can’t be true.
Ummm, yes but no.
There’s no catch or something fishy going on with this offer. It’s as simple as it sounds – one-time payment and you’re good for life.
But, there’s one major limitation.
The Doodly lifetime deal only works with the Doodly Standard plan and there are no such offers for the Enterprise plan, ever.
So, for a one-time fee of $67, you get access to Toonly Standard plan which includes:
- Unlimited videos
- Install on multiple computers
- Support
- 803 character images
- 1,157 prop images
- 84 scene templates
- 100 copyright free music tracks
- FB group access
And obviously, you get to use all of the other Doodly features I’ve mentioned before.
Since this offer is a limited-time promo, no one actually knows when Doodly may decide to pull the plug off and stop offering it.
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If it is, I’d recommend ordering it without a second thought. You can still claim a refund within 30-days so you’ve nothing to lose.
Doodly Drawbacks: What I Didn’t Like About Doodly
Alright! I’ve talked a lot about the positive sides of Doodly but it’s by no means perfect software (if there’s even a thing like that)
There are some drawbacks to Doodly that can make or break your purchase decision. So, let’s now take a look at those.
1. You Need To Purchase Add-On for Colored Images
UPSELLS.
If you understand the market of this new easy-to-use software, you’d notice one thing – they don’t make money by selling you but upselling you.
This means the software creators will sell the basic software for an unbeatable price and then charge for optional add-ons. You don’t have to purchase them but oftentimes, you’ll need to.
Such is the case with Doodly.
If you want to create colorless videos, you’re covered with the basic software and all the features it brings to the table.
But if you are like me and love colors, Doodly puts you in a tricky spot.
In addition to your regular subscription of $20 or $40 per month (depending on the plan you choose), you’ll need to pay an extra $67 one-time fee to get access to colors.
Doodly likes to call it Rainbow Add-on that adds colors to your characters and props with just one click.
Simply put, Rainbow Add-on instantly doubles your Doodly library.
Each of the black and white characters available will now also have a colored version which you can use just like before.
It’s an amazing feature and something that can improve your videos… but it costs an extra $67. Depending on your budget, you might not want to spend that much when you’re already paying for a monthly subscription.
It’d have been a lot better if this was an in-built feature or at least available for free to Doodly Enterprise users.
2. Limited Audio Features
As someone who likes to add voiceovers to my doodle videos (who’ll enjoy them otherwise?), I have firsthand experience of how important it is to have good audio recording software.
Doodly has an in-built voice recorder and option to automatically sync the voiceover but at the moment, it’s very basic.
It seems like they just wanted to tick it off their roadmap and have this lucrative option. It lacks a lot of advanced features and isn’t as easy to use as other tools like Audacity or Camtasia that I usually slide to.
I hope they work on it and make it better with more features and options for advanced users in future updates. Fingers crossed 🤞
3. Requires An Active Internet Connection
It’s not a major drawback but a slight inconvenient demand nevertheless.
Doodly isn’t cloud-based software – meaning you need to download it to your local machine. But, if you want to use it, you do need an active internet connection.
Since I work from home these days and always have an internet connection even when I’m out, this isn’t a major issue for me.
But, for someone who likes to travel to foreign places and might not always have access to the internet, this might come as a bummer.
4. Exports Are SLOOOOW
Another thing that I really didn’t like is the video export time.
I have a fairly powerful machine (M1 Macbook Pro) so when it takes 10 to 20 minutes for an under 60 secs video export, I get annoyed.
Remember, Doodly only supports video exports up to 1080p which shouldn’t be as demanding as a 4K video.
So, I’m not sure what’s causing such long processing times. Hopefully, they’ll work on it more and try to improve that (and also add a 4K export option.)
Doodly Review: Quick Recap
Before we move on to FAQ and other sections, let me quickly summarize the above points for anyone who may have skimmed over.
Pros of Doodly
- Most affordable doodle video maker
- Easy to use with a teeny-weeny learning curve
- Drag-and-drop approach
- Huge library of pre-made characters and props
- A fairly broad selection of male and female hand types in various ethnicities
- Supports different board styles
- Doodly Smart Draw technology to create custom draw paths
- Import your own images, fonts, and audio
- There’s no limit on how many videos you can create
- Export options up to 1080p and 60 FPS
- Enterprise users get access to Doodly Club (new characters every month)
- Works for both Mac and Windows devices
- You can install it on multiple machines with one license
- Free tutorial videos, knowledgebase, and Facebook group
- Excellent customer support and regularly updated with new features
Cons of Doodly
- There’s no free trial
- The soundtrack library is very limited and dated
- You need to pay extra for Rainbow Add-on to add colors to characters
- Needs an active internet connection
- In-built audio recorder is basic
- Exports are very slow
So, what’s the take here? And do I recommend Doodly?
Definitely YES.
In my honest opinion, the pros outweigh the cons any day and most of the cons I mentioned shouldn’t bother a regular user.
And there are possible workarounds like importing your own color images, a 30-days money-back guarantee and using external audio recording software.
Without a doubt, Doodly is one of the best whiteboard animation makers that cost as low as $20 to get started.
Bearing in mind that it’ll cost you well over a hundred dollars to get a simple 30-sec whiteboard video to outsource, Doodly is a no-brainer.
If you create just one video, you’ve more than covered the cost of a monthly subscription. Not to forget, you can start selling this service and probably turn it into a nice side income.
Moreover, the fact that it is very easy to use, allows unlimited videos, and works for both Windows and Mac puts it on the top three of my favorite video maker list.
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Doodly Is A Perfect Choice for…
The next question that’s probably popping into your mind would be… Is Doodly the right choice? And can it handle what I want it to do?
To be honest, that’s a very personal choice and will vary from person to person. But in general, Doodly will be a worthy investment if you are a:
1. Blogger, YouTuber, or Online Content Creator
I’m a full-time blogger and I’m speaking this from my experience…
Nobody likes to read or watch monotonous content. If you are just adding blocks of text or talking non-stop in front of the camera, people will get bored.
I personally like to add a lot of images, screenshots, videos, and other visually appealing elements to each of my content. It also keeps me distinct from others and improves the user experience.
Adding visual elements can enhance your content in more than one way. It also becomes easier for the audience to grasp knowledge.
And Doodly is a great software to help you do that.
You can use it to add whiteboard video animation and explain certain topics that you think would otherwise be difficult to explain.
Or you can use it solely to create videos and a voiceover without showing your face. Thousands of YouTubers do this and make good money doing that.
2. Sales and Advertising Team
In 2022, it’s difficult to stand out in the already competitive brand marketing. Every brand is trying to attract customers and spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on advertising.
But, it’s not as much about ad budget as it is with content. If your content is unique and helpful, it’ll market itself.
If you’re responsible for marketing in your company, I’d recommend creating Doodly videos and promoting them.
First, it’s very easy to create a video so you won’t be wasting too much time and second, whiteboard videos work great on the internet.
If the content is interesting, people will get hooked pretty quickly and probably share it with their friends (free promotion everyone!)
And who knows, you might as well get promoted for thinking out-of-the-box and bring a unique idea to the table.
3. Trainer and Presenter
It’s a difficult job to give a presentation or training when nobody in the room is interested in listening to what you’ve to say. How many times will you ask Jimmy to not look at his phone but at the presentation?
Part of the problem could be those boring slideshows that everyone’s using. And that can change with Doodly.
You can create amazing and more importantly, interesting videos to sell your pitch that is hard to ignore.
Just make sure to maintain professionalism. Don’t target your videos towards children and go all cartoonish… Unless they’re your target audience.
4. Teacher and Student
Education is an ever-evolving part of life. And as technology takes more control of our lives than it should, teaching from books might not be the most efficient way.
A lot of colleges and institutes have thus moved to digital teaching platforms with visual elements. And it makes it much easier for students to understand and teachers to explain.
If you are a teacher and want to add a more creative angle to that boring subject, try using Doodly. I’m pretty sure the students will appreciate your efforts.
As a student, you can use Doodly to create doodle videos for your projects. Again, your teachers will appreciate your efforts and probably show them on the scorecard?
Unfortunately though, Doodly doesn’t have any educational discount yet. So, you’ll have to shell out full money like everyone else.
Other than the above, I think Doodly can also be used by:
- Customer service to create videos around most asked questions
- E-commerce websites
- Small business owners
Do you have any other idea where Doodly can be used? Let me know in the comments.
If you’re convinced and want to give Doodly a try, click on this link for a special discount.
Doodly Alternatives
While Doodly is a great software for most people, it might not impress you or you may have different needs altogether.
Keeping that in mind, I’m comparing Doodly against a couple of similar software in the market. Let’s see if there’s something better available in the market.
1. Doodly vs Videoscribe
Doodly and Videoscribe go head-to-head on a lot of important factors. These two are the top dogs and the best whiteboard animation software available as of now.
Technically, there’s no winner as they both win a point in a factor and lose in another. So, it will boil down to your personal preference.
To give you an idea, I’ll give you a quick comparison of these factors and you can decide which one’s better for you.
1. Pricing
Doodly has two plans –
- Standard:$20 per month (annual) and $39 per month (monthly)
- Enterprise $40 per month (annual) and $69 per month (monthly)
Videoscribe has three plans –
- $17.50 per month (monthly)
- $35 per three months (quarterly)
- $8 per month (annual)
As you can see, Videoscribe has a better pricing option and much cheaper than Doodly if you pay annually.
In addition, Videoscribe also offers a 7-day free trial which isn't a thing with Doodly.
So, Videoscribe easily wins this round. However, if you can grab a lifetime Doodly offer, then that might sound better.
2. Library
They both are pretty similar in terms of this. Doodly has a combined collection of over 6,500 characters and props. The Enterprise package users get new images every month.
Videoscribe also claims to have 7,300+ images so you’ll be able to get a matching character image with either of them.
One important thing to note is that Videoscribe has the same library available for all types of plans whereas Doodly limits the library for the Standard plan.
Also, with Doodly, you need to pay an extra $67 for Rainbow Add-on whereas colored characters are pre-included.
3. Hands and Background Styles
Doodly is a clear winner here. Videoscribe has 9 board styles but they all look pretty much the same with different textures (instead of board styles.)
Also, I couldn't find an option to create a glassboard video with Videoscribe which is readily possible with Doodly.
In terms of hand styles, Doodly has approximately 15 real hand styles and 13 cartoon styles.
Doodly has 13 different humans each of which has different hand styles. But, there are no cartoon hand styles on offer.
4. Other Features
Doodly also gets an edge over Videoscribe with a custom path draw feature. While Videoscribe supports image import, it doesn’t let you add custom draw paths.
Zoom and Pan settings in VideoScribe are more advanced and look smoother in the end results.
In terms of video export, Doodly has better video format support, resolution options, and FPS capabilities.
What’s the final take?
As you can notice, both Doodly and Videoscribe are capable software with great features. So, based on your position and goal, you can choose either and not go wrong.
2. Doodly vs Toonly
Let me start off by pointing out the elephant in the room first. Toonly and Doodly are sister companies i.e., they are developed by the same creators.
But given that they fall under the same umbrella of software niche (animated video maker), these are often compared against each other.
However, there’s a huge difference between both which makes them attract different groups of users. You can read my complete Toonly review to know more about it.
Doodly is a whiteboard video maker that uses hand on the screen to draw various characters and props. There’s no animation involved (other than transitions) and the characters are still.
On the other hand, Toonly is a true animated video maker. There’s no doodle or drawing involved. It contains a huge library of characters and props that you can import and animate.
Characters can walk, run, jump, etc. and also show expressions like a laugh, anger, etc.
That makes the overall experience more inclusive and suitable for storytelling.
In terms of pricing, they both follow the same rules: $20 per month for the Standard package and $40 per month for the Enterprise package (annual)
So, in the end, there’s actually no point comparing these two tools against each other but consider them more like an additional tool.
TL;DR, If you want to create doodle or whiteboard videos, you need to get Doodly. Toonly is for those who want to create animated videos with moving characters and advanced animation.
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Doodly FAQ
Before wrapping up this article, let’s quickly cover some of the most asked questions related to Doodly.
I’ve heard a lot of these questions from friends and my audience so I think it’s better to organize them in one place.
1. Is Doodly free?
No, you pay for a monthly subscription to use Doodly.
2. How much does Doodly cost?
Doodly costs a minimum of $20 per month (annual billing) or $39 per month (monthly billing) to use. However, you can cancel the plan whenever you want
3. What is Doodly Standard?
It’s the base plan available to purchase. It comes with fewer characters and props. However, the rest of the features remain the same.
4. Who created Doodly?
Doodly is created by a company called Bryxen. Their other products include Toonly (animated video maker) and Voomly (video hosting)
5. How can I get a Doodly free trial?
Unfortunately, you can’t. Doodly doesn’t offer a free trial.
6. Where to find Doodly login details?
You’ll receive the login details and download links in the email after your purchase. Make sure to check the spam folder if you haven’t or contact the support team.
7. Does Doodly work offline?
No. Although you need to download Doodly on a Windows or Mac machine, it needs an internet connection to work.
8. How to install Doodly software?
You can install it similar to any other software based on your operating system. You can find the installation instructions here.
9. Is there any Doodly coupon code available?
Sadly, no, there are no coupon codes available for Doodly. However, you can grab Doodly’s lifetime offer for just $67 (one-time fee)
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Final Words: Is Doodly Worth It?
Absolutely. Doodly is one of the rare good software that isn't overpriced and provides value for money.
If you want to create whiteboard doodle videos, Doodly is a great option. Sure, there are a few hiccups and drawbacks but overall, I highly recommend getting Doodly.
It’ll be one of your investments that has the potential to pay back itself over and over again.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Doodly is a worthy investment or just a hype?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Also, feel free to ask if you’ve any questions related to Doodly and I'll be sure to get back with an answer.
