Cartoon content is blowing up social media. YouTubers and creators are earning millions of dollars by creating cartoon songs and stories.
But let’s be honest, making such animation videos is really hard, and not everyone has the time, budget, or skill to draw every frame.
Today, 66 % of marketers globally now use AI daily to ease their work. With the rise of AI cartoon generators, you can skip the boring part of drawing characters and just get straight to animation.
Using this, anyone can design cartoon characters, generate scenes, and even animate entire videos just by clicking around or typing a prompt.
In this blog, we’ll list the best cartoon generators for creators and beginners.
An AI cartoon generator is basically a smart tool that helps you create cartoon-style visuals without drawing anything by hand. It uses artificial intelligence to turn your text prompts, photos, or choices into full cartoon characters or scenes.
Additionally, a recent survey revealed that AI tools reduce animation and video production time by 68% compared to manual processes. This helped to boost creative output and lower costs.
There are different types out there:
Image generators that create cartoon-style pics from scratch or based on real images.
Character builders where you can customize body parts, outfits, expressions, and more.
Animation focused tools that go a step further and bring your characters to life with motion.
Most of these tools are built for creators, artists, marketers, and YouTubers who want fun, animated content without needing any animation knowledge or skills.
Not all AI cartoon tools are built the same. You need to choose the right AI cartoon generator depending on what you’re trying to create (animated videos, comic strips, marketing content, or just avatars).
Here’s a breakdown of the most important features:
Most free tools online only generate cartoon faces or avatars. A good cartoon generator should let you design the full body so it’s usable in video content, storytelling, or animation workflows.
Whether you need anime style characters, Western comic aesthetics, or minimalist vector looks, the generator should offer different style presets or let you switch styles without redoing the whole prompt.
Single content outputs are fine, but for real content creation, the tool should allow you to save, reuse, and edit characters later with consistent design.
A top tier cartoon generator won’t just give you a character on a blank screen. It’ll allow you to place characters inside detailed scenes, matching lighting, depth, and perspective automatically.
Some cartoon generators are part of larger animation platforms (like AutoDraft AI) that let you animate your characters instantly with facial expressions, body movements, or lip sync without exporting to other tools.
Support for transparent PNGs, layered PSDs, and MP4 videos can save hours of editing. Check if the tool allows you to download in HD or 4K.
The best tools combine AI generation via prompts and manual controls. So if you're thinking of using one, here are the best AI cartoon generators that are worth using.
Not all cartoon generators are built equal. Some are made for casual avatar creation, while others are built for full scale animated content.
Most tools are more about aesthetics, while others are built for full production workflows. Currently, only a few stand out with serious creative power.
Here’s a list of the top AI animation generators based on actual usability, creative control, and output quality:
AutoDraft is a free AI cartoon generator with a full animation engine. You can create a custom character, choose outfits, change expressions, add voice, background, and export full animated scenes.
It’s built for people who want to make entire cartoon videos fast.
Best for: All round animators, content creators, YouTubers
Plan Name | Price | Features & Credits |
---|---|---|
Starter (Free) | Free | 20 credits |
Base | $10/month | 1,000 credits |
Pro | $39/month | 4,000 credits |
AutoDraft AI is especially good for YouTubers, artists, marketers, and anyone making entertainment content. It’s one of the few tools that handles character creation, animation, and timeline video editing all in one.
Midjourney turns detailed prompts into stunning, stylized images. Known for its artistic flair, it's favored by illustrators and concept artists.
Plan | Monthly |
---|---|
Basic | $8 |
Standard | $24 |
Pro | $48 |
Mega | $96 |
Best for: Artists, concept designers, creative professionals.
Story321 focuses on transforming text prompts into storyboard-style cartoon scenes. While it’s not designed for full animation, it excels at helping creators build visual narratives with scene consistency and story flow.
Plan Name | Monthly Price | Credits |
---|---|---|
Free | $0 | 10–1,000 credits (varies by platform) |
Plus | $8.33 | 11,999 credits |
Pro | $22.83 | 34,560–51,999 credits |
Max | $53.33 | 92,000+ credits (varies) |
Best for: Visual storytellers, comic creators, and anyone developing storyboarded content.
A fan-favorite for anime and cartoon avatar design. It is a free online platform for creating highly customizable avatars, profile pictures, and original characters using a vast collection of “Image Makers” designed by artists worldwide.
Category | Pricing/Details |
---|---|
User Pricing | Free for personal & non-commercial avatar creation. |
Commercial Use | Requires special templates or creator permission. |
Artist Pricing | Artists uploading “Image Makers” may face small fees or commissions. |
Best for: Gamers, content creators, and anyone who wants to visualize OCs, RPG characters.
Leonardo is famous for stylized cartoon art and character concept creation. You can create professional quality images, videos, and design assets using AI models. They support high-detail prompts, but don’t animate or provide reusable characters.
Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price (per month) | Token Limits & Usage |
---|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | $0 | 150 tokens per day |
Apprentice | $12 | $10 | 8,500+ tokens/month |
Artisan Unlimited | $30 | $24 | 25,000 tokens/month |
Maestro | $60 | $48 | More tokens & unlimited canvas features |
Best for: Game designers, digital artists, marketers, and creators in need of scalable, high-quality visual assets or video prototypes.
Runway aims to make video creation accessible using AI. Its Gen-4 model creates and edits videos from text, image, or video inputs. It offers versatile tools designed to simplify multimedia production for creators regardless of technical expertise
Plan | Price | Features |
---|---|---|
Free | $0 | Very limited |
Standard | $12/month | 625 credits, up to 1080p |
Pro | $28/month | 2,250 credits, up to 4K |
Unlimited | $76/month | Unlimited Explore + 2,250 credits |
Enterprise | Custom | Complete |
Best for: Video creators, marketers, storytellers.
OpenAI’s DALL·E 3 is a leading text-to-image generator, offering deep prompt understanding and customization. It delivers high fidelity, detailed visuals from complex prompts with remarkable accuracy and artistic variety. It allows users to create expressive, dynamic images tailored to their creative vision.
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Basic | $15/month |
Professional | $50/month |
Enterprise | Custom |
API Use | Pay-as-you-go |
Best for: Designers, marketers, educators, and creative writers
NovelAI excels in interactive, long form creative writing as well as generating anime and cartoon art styles. Its a fan favorite for AI-powered storytelling and anime-style image generation. It supports both text and image generation with deep customization.
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Free | $0 |
Tablet | $10/month |
Scroll | $15/month |
Opus | $25/month |
Best for: Visual storytelling, comic creation, fiction writing
Artbreeder allows users to morph and blend images using AI, enabling the creation of unique, surreal visual concepts. You can create striking, unique visuals by merging and modifying artwork with AI.
Plan | Price | Credits Included |
---|---|---|
Free | $0 | Limited |
Starter | $8.99/month | 100 credits |
Advanced | $18.99/month | 275 credits |
Champion | $38.99/month | 700 credits |
Annual | From $7.49/month | Billed yearly |
Best for: Experimental artists, designers, and conceptual projects
Synthesia is a leading AI video generator that allows you to create professional videos with avatar presenters. You can turn scripts into professional videos in minutes. It uses realistic AI avatar presenters for global content generation.
Script-to-video creation with 230+ customizable AI avatars and over 140 supported languages. Scene templates, brand color customization, and easy subtitle options for polished results. Great for training, explainer, and marketing videos
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Starter | $18/month |
Professional | Higher |
Enterprise | Custom |
Best for: Businesses, educators, news media, and content marketers.
These AI generators represent the leading edge of creative content production, each excelling in a specific area, whether it’s text, images, video, or multistep storytelling.
But if you're looking for an AI cartoon generator that doesn’t just spit out an image but helps you build full animated videos, then AutoDraft AI is the best choice.
It's made for creators who want to create cartoon characters, animate them, give them voices, and set them in backgrounds, all in one place.
Some of the most popular ones include AutoDraft AI, Toonify, and Fotor. They turn photos into cartoon-style images with a realistic touch.
AutoDraft AI and Fotor have beginner-friendly interfaces. You don’t need design skills—just upload, pick a style, and download.
AutoDraft AI, Cartoonify, and Avatoon let you adjust face shape, expressions, backgrounds, and even clothing. Some even support full character editing.
Yes. Tools like AutoDraft AI and ToonApp offer free versions. Quality may vary, but they’re good for quick, fun results.
Yes. AutoDraft AI stands out with animation and voiceover support. Others like Ready Player Me focus on 3D avatars, but not full animation.
The truth is, there’s no perfect tool out here. Each cartoon generator on this list serves a different kind of creator.
If you just want great visuals for concept art, Midjourney and Leonardo AI deliver incredible quality. If your focus is comic storytelling or manga-style scenes, Story321 and NovelAI offer the best consistency. For avatar design, Picrew and Artbreeder are perfect low effort picks.
But if you want to go beyond static images and aim to create full animated videos with custom characters, voices, scenes, and motion, then AutoDraft AI is the best choice. It combines all the key steps of animation into one workflow, making it the most complete solution for YouTubers and creators for making video content regularly.
Start for free, test what fits your creative style, and upgrade only when you're ready to scale. You’ll find that the right cartoon generator saves time and makes content creation a lot more fun.