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Cavalry

Powerful software for creating 2D animations on Mac and Windows.

Cavalry screenshot
Category:Design Tools
Subcategory:Motion Tools
Pricing:Freemium

What it costs

Free tier
Yes

Free for individuals on macOS/Windows; now owned by Canva and requires a Canva account, with Enterprise/SSO via Canva Enterprise or Education (contact sales, no public price) — a shift from its former paid Pro/Teams licences.

Auto-checked on 8 August 2026Source

About Cavalry

What Is Cavalry?

Cavalry is a desktop application for motion design that enables artists to create animations through a node-based, procedural workflow. It serves as a design tool in the **motion graphics** category, offering a freemium pricing model with core features available for free and advanced capabilities in the Pro version. Cavalry fits into design workflows by allowing real-time rendering and non-destructive editing, reducing reliance on external plugins for tasks like rigging and text animation.

What Cavalry Does

  • Provides node-based procedural workflows to connect elements and parameters for flexible animation control.
  • Supports drawing tools including pencil, edit shape, split path, and lasso selection for creating and modifying vector paths directly in the app.
  • Offers real-time viewport rendering for instant preview of animations and changes.
  • Includes native features such as rig control, text animation, magic easing, duplicator, cameras, and 3D transforms.
  • Enables easy versioning by duplicating and iterating on projects without altering originals.
  • Facilitates exports like Lottie and SVG, with Pro version support for Forge dynamics.

How Cavalry Can Be Used

  • Motion designers use Cavalry to animate UI elements, data visualizations, and generative art by linking spreadsheets to duplicators and layout groups for automated variations.
  • Artists create character animations with rig controls and cel animation tools, combining them with physics simulations in a single file.
  • Teams build scalable design systems by generating multiple branded variations from procedural templates, outputting assets for different formats or languages.
  • Designers prototype styleframes and pitch decks with dynamic rendering and path editing, iterating shapes across layers using transform and merge tools.
  • UX designers animate prototypes with text fields, gradients, multi-strokes, and 3D cameras for interactive web and app experiences.

Who Is Cavalry For?

Cavalry targets motion designers, animators, and graphic artists working on projects requiring procedural generation, such as design systems, character rigging, and data-driven visuals. It suits intermediate to advanced users familiar with node-based systems, as well as designers transitioning from layer-based tools like After Effects, particularly for studios handling variations at scale or real-time experimentation. Developers and creative technologists can extend it via JavaScript APIs. Visit Cavalry

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