The utility of a storyboarding app is not confined to the film industry anymore. Whether you are a teacher, businessman, ad maker, animator, or social media enthusiast, you can make the best out of a storyboarding app for an organized narrative.

Check out the best storyboarding tools that you should use to smoothen the video production process and minimize errors.

1. Storyboarder

A visual of the Storyboarder app website

Are you working with a small budget and looking for a free storyboarding tool for your work? The storyboarder tool is here for you. This open-source app comes free of cost and offers you a minimal interface to use without unnecessary clutter.

You’ll get all the necessary tools on this platform for drawing characters for your story. It also allows you to enter dialogue, shot type, and timing data for seamlessly visualizing the scene.

You can easily convert your storyboard as a PDF or GIF file. Or, you can export it to other tools like Final Cut and Premiere. Its integration support for Photoshop means you can edit the visuals in the Photoshop app, and the changes will get automatically synced in this tool.

2. Plot

Editing a basic storyboard template should not be challenging if you use Plot for storyboarding. This impressive tool is packed with features to make the storyboarding process quick and easy. You can opt for its 14-day free trial to use it for free.

The app lets you fetch images from anywhere on the web to instantly create visual outlines. It’s also possible to add and delete a scene without moving the text in this app.

You can also use the same platform to collaborate with your teammates about the storyboarding project. Besides letting you share your storyboard with unlimited colleagues and teammates, it also offers features like editing, reviewing, and commenting on a storyboard.

3. Storyboard Pro

An image showing the StoryBoard Pro website

Are you not a drawing expert or don’t want to waste time sketching for your storyboard? Storyboard Pro is the online app you should choose. This tool offers an all-in-one storyboard solution that involves scripting, drawing, animating, audio and camera controls.

The app provides you with sensitive, flexible, and fully functional tools that assist you in developing a storyboard of the highest quality. Its other noteworthy features are pitch shifter audio effect, advanced color management, effect control view, etc.

Import photo, video, and sound from any sources and build the scene of your dream. You can also include notes on each frame to explain the scene. The tool offers a 21-day free trial.

4. StudioBinder

If you are a creative person looking for an easy and intuitive app, StudioBinder is the tool for you. The online storyboard software boasts of its robustness. Upload an image and kick-start your storyboarding project without any hassle.

Collaborative teams working on video production will find this platform to be particularly beneficial. With this tool, you can customize every visualization aspect including, layouts, order of the scenes, column filter, image upload, shot list details, and aspect ratios.

Moreover, you can also use the presentation to display the fullscreen slideshow preview to your team. You can also use this tool for project management by assigning tasks and adding comments. You can avail its free plan for your company.

5. PanelForge

A visual of the PanelForge website

Are you searching for a storyboarding app for complex projects or animations? Then, opting for the PanelForge app is a smart idea. This all-in-one storyboarding software comes with ease-of-use features like drag-and-drop tools and flexible frames.

The app has all the features necessary to streamline your storyboarding needs. However, the platform is most suitable for seasoned storyboarders who have experience in maneuvering complex visualization tools.

It supports integration with Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro. Hence, you can import and export files from these tools. Printing, emailing, and sharing your storyboards are easy from this platform. Download its free public beta version and start storyboarding.

6. Boords Storyboard Creator

Boords lets you organize your visual ideas to bring out the best in you. This cloud-based software not only helps you create a storyboard quickly but also allows you to collaborate by collecting client feedback.

You can start by adding images to the storyboard cards and adding quick notes to describe each step of your creative project. You can customize action, sound, lighting, and camera details here without any difficulty.

Using this app is easy and does not need any learning curve. It’s also possible to share the storyboard with others and gather their feedback. This feature-rich tool is available for free.

7. MakeStoryboard

A visual of the makeStoryboard website

MakeStoryboard is a user-friendly tool for quick storyboarding. Besides importing the camera shots, it lets you draw stick figures using its built-in drawing tool and add text as the scene details. This software offers you total control over permission to edit and comment on the storyboard.

The tool has the option to add additional text fields that suit your project. You can also save the storyboard in PDF format and print it to distribute among your colleagues.

For confidential online access, create and share the private link with the stakeholders. The notes you create get encrypted in transit to ensure maximum security.

8. StoryboardThat

A graphics of the StoryboardThat website

Storyboarding does not need you to be a skilled artist. Modern-day storyboarding apps like StoryboardThat let you use such apps without manually drawing anything. Choose from hundreds of backgrounds and characters, and you can start making the storyboard right away.

This app enables powerful visual communication with digital storytelling. With numerous built-in options to customize the layout, scenes, and characters, you can effortlessly create a storyboard by dragging and dropping the items.

After creating a storyboard, you can download it as an HD image, PDF, GIF, presentation, and optimized image for social media. While the free version of this app comes with some limitations in terms of feature availability, you can always upgrade to any of the paid versions to enjoy unlimited features.

Tell Everyone Your Story

If you’re a storyteller of any medium, the storyboarding tool is a must-have for you. Now that you know the features and functionalities of the best apps for storyboarding, choose the one that can meet your needs.

Before and after organizing the visuals, you may want to work on the content with others. Using any of the available content management systems like SharePoint should enhance your productivity.