Doodly vs VideoScribe

Two tools that were direct rivals, and are no longer trying to be the same thing.

Style
Director notes (optional)

Look rules apply to every board. Production notes are read by both the script writer and the storyboarder. Short and absolute works best: 80-300 characters.

A one-minute video takes a few minutes to render.

Read this knowing who wrote it

This page is written by StrokeVideo, which competes with both. So take the closing recommendation with that in mind and use the facts, which were checked against both companies' public pricing and feature pages in September 2026. Where we think one of them is genuinely the better buy, we say so.

They have drifted apart

For years these were the same product with different libraries. That stopped. VideoScribe has added AI tools for images, scripts and voiceovers, metered by plan. Doodly has added no AI at all and is now sold inside the Voomly Cloud bundle alongside Toonly, Talkia, Pyks and People Builder. Choosing between them in 2026 is no longer a choice between two doodle libraries; it is a choice between a tool that is still moving and one that is being packaged.

Price

Doodly is forty-nine dollars a month for Standard and seventy-nine for Enterprise, or four hundred and ninety and seven hundred and ninety annually, and it comes with the rest of the Voomly suite whether or not you want it. The lifetime licence it was once known for is no longer on the pricing page. VideoScribe is a per-licence subscription across three tiers, materially cheaper per seat, with the caveat that its lowest paid tier excludes AI voiceover entirely.

Artwork

Doodly ships a large custom-drawn doodle library, over a thousand character images with poses, plus props and scene backgrounds, and four board types: whiteboard, blackboard, glassboard and green screen. VideoScribe has a much larger image and icon library, your own uploads, and now a monthly allowance of AI-generated images, from five a month on the free tier to a hundred on the top tier. Both share the same structural limitation: the artwork is not specific to your topic, so videos made with either tool have a recognisable look.

Control and timing

VideoScribe has the more mature timeline, camera moves, pans and zooms, and years of tutorials behind it. Doodly is simpler and faster to learn, and its Smart Draw path tool for imported images is genuinely good. In both, the narration is recorded or generated separately and aligned by hand, which is the step that consumes the afternoon.

Which one to pick

If you want the mature timeline, camera moves and some AI assistance, and you are buying seats for a team, VideoScribe. If you want the biggest hand-drawn doodle library, a simpler editor, and you will use more than one product in the Voomly bundle, Doodly. If you are choosing Doodly specifically for a lifetime licence you read about, check the pricing page first, because that offer is not there now.

The question neither answers

Both tools assume you want to assemble the video. You place the assets, you set the paths, you drag the timing. That is the right assumption for a few high-control projects a year and the wrong one for volume. If the bottleneck in your work is making a picture for every line and timing it to the voice, neither tool removes it; they only make it faster to do by hand.

FeatureStrokeVideoDoodlyVideoScribeCanva
Where the drawings come fromGenerated for each board of your scriptShared doodle library, placed by handImage library, your uploads, or AI images metered per monthTemplates and stock elements
ScriptWritten for you, or pasted and used verbatimYou write and record itYou write it, or an AI script and voiceover within a monthly quotaYou write it; text-to-speech add-on
Drawing timed to narrationAutomatic, word levelManual, on a timelineManual, on a timelineManual
Drawing styles20Four board types, one shared doodle libraryLibrary stylesOne whiteboard effect
Narration languages14 built inWhatever you record45+ AI voiceover languages, 75-150 minutes a month by planText-to-speech languages
Time for a 3-minute videoAbout 5 minutes, unattendedHalf a day to a day of editingHalf a day to a day of editingA few hours
RunsIn the browserDesktop app, sold inside the Voomly Cloud suiteDesktop app and webBrowser and apps
PriceFree daily video; one-time minute packsSubscription, $49-79 a month ($490-790 a year)Subscription, three tiers per licenceFree tier; Pro subscription
Manual control per elementScript, storyboard and timing as textFull drag-and-drop controlFull drag-and-drop controlFull

Frequently asked questions

Is Doodly or VideoScribe better in 2026?

VideoScribe for timeline control, camera moves and metered AI tools. Doodly for a bigger hand-drawn doodle library and a simpler editor. VideoScribe is the more actively developed of the two.

Does Doodly still offer a lifetime licence?

Not on its pricing page. It is sold as a monthly or annual subscription inside the Voomly Cloud bundle.

Does either have AI?

VideoScribe does: AI image, script and voiceover generation, metered per plan. Doodly has none.

Which is cheaper?

VideoScribe, on a per-seat basis. Doodly's price includes the rest of the Voomly suite, which is only value if you use it.

Can either draw a picture of my specific topic?

No. Both place artwork from a library. VideoScribe can generate images within a monthly quota, but they are placed by you rather than composed as a board.

Do I still have to time the drawing myself?

Yes, in both. That is the part of the work neither tool removes.