Premium
$600 · $1,200 · $1,800
For 30, 60 or 90 seconds, at $20 per second
- Everything in Advanced
- Voiceover in English, Spanish or other languages on request
- Premium illustration and animation
- Source files
- 4 revision rounds per stage
Character animation
2D character animation services for brands, artists and apps
People remember a character long after they forget a list of features. We design characters for your story or your brand, give them a personality and animate them acting, talking and reacting in your videos, songs and website.
- $300 to $1,200 for 60 seconds
- From 7 days for 30 seconds
- 1 to 4 revision rounds per stage
Updated
What we animate
Characters for every kind of project
Explainers and ads
A customer, a mascot or a whole family that carries your story from the first line to the call to action.
Music and kids channels
Singing food, grammar birds and cartoon bands, designed for the song and for the audience that watches it.
Mascots and logos
A character for your logo reveal, your social posts or your website, delivered as video or as a Lottie for the web.
Work
Characters we designed and animated
A family of characters carries an app's story from the first line.
A grammar song for Norm Birds, where each part of speech is a bird with its own personality.
Food characters and big sing-along lyrics, one of six songs for a kids channel.
Santa and an elf dance through the workshop in a holiday music video.
A donkey, a horse and a cat take their places as the sanctuary's logo forms around them.
A 3 second character loop, delivered as a 33 KB Lottie for a website.
The basics
What is 2D character animation?
2D character animation brings drawn characters to life: they walk, talk, react and show emotion on a flat, illustrated stage. It is the style of most cartoons, explainer videos and animated mascots.
Compared with 3D, a 2D character is easier to change, easier to match to your brand illustrations and usually costs less to produce, which is why it suits marketing videos, music and the web.
Process
How we create your character
Every project goes through three stages you approve one by one, and the character is designed before anything moves:
- Character design: we draw your character in its main poses and expressions on a model sheet, so it looks the same in every scene
- Storyboard: every scene and gesture is planned against your script or your song
- Illustration: final colors, outfits and backgrounds, built from your brand
- Animation: the acting, the timing and the talking scenes matched to the voiceover or the beat
Pricing
How much does 2D character animation cost?
We price by length, at $5, $10 or $20 per second depending on the package, with a 30 second minimum and the voiceover included. Clean includes up to 2 characters on clean backgrounds; Advanced adds detailed custom illustration and advanced animation; Premium adds premium illustration and animation, plus the source files.
- 30 seconds: $150 on Clean, $300 on Advanced, $600 on Premium
- 1 minute: $300 on Clean, $600 on Advanced, $1,200 on Premium
- 3 minutes: $900 on Clean, $1,800 on Advanced, $3,600 on Premium
- Over 10 minutes, like episodes or a series: quoted per project
Reuse
Your character, ready for the next video
Once a character is designed and approved, it can come back in your next videos, your social posts and your website, and it will look like the same character every time. Premium includes the source files, so your team or a future project can keep using it.
Pricing
Character animation packages
Advanced
$300 · $600 · $900
For 30, 60 or 90 seconds, at $10 per second
- Everything in Clean
- Voiceover in English, Spanish or other languages on request
- Custom illustrations with more detail
- Advanced animation
- 2 revision rounds per stage
Clean
$150 · $300 · $450
For 30, 60 or 90 seconds, at $5 per second
- Script, storyboard, illustration and animation
- Voiceover in English, Spanish or other languages on request
- Up to 2 characters
- Clean backgrounds
- 1 revision round per stage
How payment works
Pay 50% to start and the other 50% when your order is ready and you approve the preview, or pay in full today and save 10%. The final files without watermark are sent once it is paid in full.
Stage 1 guarantee: if, after your revision rounds, you do not approve the script and storyboard, we refund what you paid. Once you approve Stage 1, the deposit is no longer refundable.
Character animation uses the same packages, team and process as our explainer videos. Choose your exact length
Also see animated music videos, Lottie characters for websites and apps, logo animation
Files
What you receive
A custom 2D animated video with your story, your brand and your call to action. These are the files you receive.
- Final video as an HD MP4 for your website, YouTube, sales decks and social media
- The approved script and storyboard, so your team can reuse the message
- Source files on Premium
Reviews
What clients say
4.9 out of 5 from 1,776 reviews on our Fiverr Pro profile, where we have sold since 2015. These are recent five star reviews, copied word for word. Read all 1,776 reviews on Fiverr
iamreycolonUnited States ·
Yoel and his team did an amazing job. From hearing our vision to bringing it to reality he nailed it on first try. Would definitely recommend him for your video needs.
sarmerkerUnited Kingdom ·
Really excellent quality work and a clear process. They understood exactly what we wanted from a very short brief and delivered quickly.
mrendeiroNetherlands ·
Appreciate the thinking along process and the flexibility with what we already had material wise and what original ideas they had. Delivery was timely and maybe more importantly, frequent communication to keep things progressing. Highly recommended.
Compare
Studio, freelancer or do it yourself
An honest look at price, time and risk before you choose who makes it.
| Option | Price | Time | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arigato Studio | $5 to $20 per second, from $150 for 30 seconds | From 7 days for 30 seconds | Low: you approve the script and the look before anything moves, with revision rounds at every stage |
| Freelancer | Varies with experience. Compare portfolios and ask what is included | Depends on one person and their other clients | Medium: quality, deadlines and revisions all depend on one person |
| Online video maker | A monthly subscription plus your own hours | Days to weeks of your time for script, scenes, voice and music | High: stock scenes other brands also use, and no one to tell you when the message is unclear |
Want the full picture, marketplaces included? Read how to hire an animator
FAQ
Character animation questions
How much does a 30 second animated video cost?
A 30 second animated video costs $150 on Clean, $300 on Advanced and $600 on Premium. We price by length at $5, $10 or $20 per second, with a 30 second minimum.
How much do 3 minutes of animation cost?
Three minutes cost $900 on Clean, $1,800 on Advanced and $3,600 on Premium, with the voiceover included.
How much does a 20 minute animation cost?
At our per second rates, 20 minutes would be $6,000 to $24,000. Projects over 10 minutes, like episodes or a series, are quoted per project, because characters and backgrounds are reused from scene to scene.
How many characters can the video have?
Clean includes up to 2 characters on clean backgrounds. Stories with more characters fit Advanced or Premium. Tell us your cast when you order.
Can you animate a character we already have?
Yes. Send your mascot or character files and we build a model sheet from them, so the character stays the same in every pose.
Do you make 3D characters?
No. We design and animate in 2D. For brands, a 2D character is easier to change and to match to your illustration style.
Guides
Guides before you order
2D Animation Styles: 10 Looks With Real Examples
Flat vector, character, kinetic type, motion graphics, line art, 2.5D and more: the main 2D animation styles, what each is best for and real examples.
Types of Music Videos (With Animated Examples)
Performance, narrative, concept, lyric and more: the main types of music videos, when each one works and what each looks like when it is animated.
How Much Does an Explainer Video Cost in 2026?
Explainer video prices by length, what other studios charge and what changes the cost. With us: $5 to $20 per second, or $300 to $1,200 for 60 seconds.
Ready to meet your character?
Choose your package and length, pay half to start and tell us about your character after checkout.