AI explainer videos
AI explainer videos: turn a script into an animated video
An AI explainer video is a short narrated video in which software does the production: it splits your script into scenes, draws or finds an image for each one, records the voice and puts it all together. You supply the idea and the words; you no longer supply the camera, the animator or the editing hours. Here are the three kinds of tools, how to make one from your own script and what to check before you pick.
No card required. Your first minute of video with AnimatedBoard is free.
Updated on October 8, 2026
1-min video, ready in ~1 minVideo made by our app
Script
The brain weighs just three pounds, yet it uses 20% of the body's energy…
Our app made this video of about a minute from a plain-text script, in about a minute: you paste it, click Create video and our AI draws and narrates every scene. Nothing edited by hand. Longer videos take a few minutes more.
What an AI explainer video is, and what the AI actually does
A good explainer answers one question in one to three minutes: what is this, how does it work, why should I care. The format has always been narrated drawings or animation over a script. What changed is who does the production. A tool now reads the script, decides where each scene starts and ends, makes a picture for each, narrates the text and times the picture to the voice.
There are four jobs in that chain, and tools differ in which ones they do: writing the script, splitting it into scenes, making the visuals and recording the voice. Some tools do all four from a one-line idea; others do only the visuals. It is worth knowing which, because the more the tool writes, the less the video says what you meant.
AnimatedBoard keeps the first job in your hands. If you paste a script, our AI proposes the cuts and the drawings, but the narration of each scene is cut from your text word for word: it never rewrites it. If you only have a topic, you can ask for a draft and edit it. Only a document you upload (a PDF or a Word file) is written for you, and the result then becomes your script to edit.
Three kinds of AI explainer video tools
They solve different problems. The right one depends on what the viewer should see while the voice talks.
A digital presenter reads your script
A realistic or cartoon avatar speaks to the camera in front of a background or slides. Best when the viewer should feel a person is talking to them: welcome messages, announcements, personal-brand videos. It does not draw the idea; the presenter just says it.
Templates and stock footage, assembled for you
The tool matches each sentence to stock clips, icons or template scenes and cuts them together. Fast and cheap, and good for a generic topic. The picture is chosen for the sentence, not drawn for it, so a specific idea (your product, your process) can look like a different video than the one you meant.
Pictures drawn for your script, with the hand in sync
This is what AnimatedBoard does. Our AI splits the script, draws every scene in a look you choose, records the voice and times the drawing to the words, so the hand lands on the right idea as it is spoken. Best for explaining a process, a concept or a product step by step, which is where a drawing carries more than a stock clip.
How to make an AI explainer video, step by step
Splitting the script into scenes is free; minutes are only spent when the drawings and the voice are generated, and you see the price before you confirm.
Write the one thing the viewer should remember
One sentence. Then three to five points that lead to it. A 60 to 120-second explainer is 150 to 300 words. If you would rather not start from a blank page, give our AI the topic and a length, and edit its draft.
Paste your script, or start from a document
Paste up to 20,000 characters, or upload a PDF or Word file (up to 5 MB and 80 pages, not scanned) and our AI writes the explanation from it. Lines such as "Scene 3" or "Visual: …" from a ChatGPT script are never read aloud: they become the drawing instructions.
Choose the look, the voice and the format
Ten hand-drawn whiteboard looks and nine illustrated story looks. Voices in six languages (English and Spanish on the free plan). 16:9 for a website or YouTube, 9:16 for Shorts, Reels and TikTok, and 1:1 or 4:5 for feeds. Add your logo in a corner if you want it, on any plan.
Create the video and check the cost first
"Create video" shows what it will cost before it starts, and you never pay more than that. Your first minute is free, with no card.
Fix any scene, then download
Open the scene editor: change the words, redraw a scene, or click a part of a drawing and describe the change in plain words. The editor highlights the words each part of the drawing belongs to. Then download the MP4 in Full HD with captions as .srt or .vtt, or burn them into the picture.
An explainer made from a plain script
This one was made in AnimatedBoard from a script of a few paragraphs, without retouching anything: an infographic look, 16:9, an AI voice and each figure drawn as it is mentioned.
Our app made this video of about a minute from a plain-text script, in about a minute: our AI drew and narrated every scene. Nothing edited by hand. Longer videos take a few minutes more.
Read the transcript
How long does it take for your money to double? There's a quick way to estimate it without a calculator: the rule of seventy-two.
Divide seventy-two by the yearly interest rate, and you get roughly the number of years it takes to double.
At six percent a year, seventy-two divided by six is twelve: your money doubles in about twelve years. At eight percent, it takes about nine years. At two percent, about thirty-six.
Why does it work? Because of compound interest: each year you earn interest not only on what you put in, but also on the interest you've already earned.
The rule of seventy-two is a shortcut for that growth. It's most accurate for rates around eight percent, and close enough for everyday ones.
It also works in reverse. With inflation at three percent a year, prices double in about twenty-four years, so the same money buys half as much.
So next time you see an interest rate, divide seventy-two by it, and you'll see time in a new way.
What to check before you choose an AI explainer video tool
Seven questions that separate tools that look good in a demo from tools you can use every week.
| Ask | Why it matters | In AnimatedBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Can I use my own script word for word? | If the tool rewrites your text, the video may stop saying what you meant, which matters for products, policy and compliance. | Yes. Your narration is cut from your text and never rewritten. The only exceptions are a draft or a document you ask our AI to write. |
| Can I fix one scene without redoing the video? | An explainer is never right the first time. Regenerating everything for one typo wastes minutes. | Yes. Edit one scene, redraw it, or change part of the drawing from a prompt. Paid plans include free scene changes every month. |
| How long can it be? | Many tools cap the length of a single video. | Up to 15 minutes per video. |
| What does it output? | Resolution, watermark and file format decide where you can use it. | MP4 in Full HD, with no watermark on any plan, plus .srt and .vtt captions. |
| Which languages and voices? | A product video often needs the same script in several languages. | Voices in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese (English and Spanish on the free plan). |
| How is it priced? | Per video, per minute or per month changes your real cost. | Per minute of video: the first minute is free, then plans from $29 a month for 30 minutes. |
| What does it not do? | The honest answer saves you a week. | No talking presenter, no screen recording, and no import of live data for charts. See the limits below. |
AnimatedBoard figures as of the review date. Check any other tool's current limits on its own site before you decide.
Where an AI explainer works well, and where it does not
The format shines when the idea can be drawn: how a process works, what a product does, why a rule exists, how a concept fits together. It is also very good at turning material you already have (a PDF, a blog post, a ChatGPT script) into something people will watch instead of skim.
It is the wrong tool when the point is a person or a place. A founder's welcome message, a customer testimonial or a brand film wants a human face or real footage, and a screen-recorded tutorial wants the real screen.
- Good fit: product and service explainers, how-it-works sections, onboarding and training, lessons, YouTube explainers, social clips.
- Not a fit: a talking presenter, live-action brand films, tutorials that need the real interface on screen.
- Not included: charts built from imported data. Numbers in your script are drawn as labels and simple visuals, not plotted to scale.
- Always review the facts: the drawings and the voice are generated, but the claims are yours.
What you get with every video
Your script, verbatim
The narration of each scene comes from your text. Product names and numbers stay as you wrote them.
Hand in sync with the voice
The drawing reaches each idea as the word is said, so the viewer looks where the narrator is talking.
Shorts, thumbnails and YouTube texts
Cut the finished video into Shorts of up to 3 minutes for free, make thumbnails, and let our AI write the title, description and chapters for YouTube.
Every format from one script
Make 16:9 for the web and 9:16 for social from the same script, as separate projects.
Captions that match
Captions come from your script, so names are spelled right. Download .srt or .vtt, or burn them in.
A link to show it
Switch on the video's public link to show a client or your team. It stays off until you turn it on.
Try it with your own script
Paste the explanation you already have, pick a look and a voice, and see it drawn. First minute free, no card.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI explainer video?
A short narrated video, usually 1 to 3 minutes, in which AI software does the production: it splits your script into scenes, makes the visuals, records the voice and times them together. You supply the idea and the words.
How do I make an AI explainer video?
Write or paste a script, choose a look, a voice and a format, and create the video. In AnimatedBoard splitting the script is free, the price is shown before you confirm and your first minute is free. You can then fix any scene and download the MP4.
Can I use my own script?
Yes, and it is read word for word. Our AI proposes the cuts and what to draw, but never rewrites your narration. Lines of drawing instructions in a pasted script, such as "Visual: …", are used as drawing briefs and are not read aloud.
How long should an explainer video be?
For marketing, 60 to 120 seconds, which is about 150 to 300 words. Lessons and internal training can be longer because the viewer chose to learn. A single AnimatedBoard video can run up to 15 minutes.
How much does an AI explainer video cost?
With AnimatedBoard your first minute is free, then the $29 Starter plan covers 30 minutes a month and the $79 Creator plan 100. Writing and splitting the script is free; minutes are spent when the drawings and voice are generated.
Do I need to know how to draw or animate?
No. Our AI draws each scene from your script in the look you pick, and the hand drawing it is timed to the voice. You can ask for changes in plain words, or upload your own image for a scene and have it redrawn in the video's look.
Can I make the same explainer in other languages?
Yes. Translate the script, make it a new project and choose a voice in that language: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese (paid plans for the languages other than English and Spanish). Scenes, drawings and sync are generated again for the new narration.
Is an AI explainer the same as a whiteboard explainer?
A whiteboard explainer is one look of AI explainer video: hand-drawn line art appearing on a white board. AnimatedBoard also makes full-colour illustrated story looks. If whiteboard is what you want for marketing, see the whiteboard explainer page.
Your explanation is already written. Let it draw itself.
Create a free account, paste your script and download the finished explainer in the format you need.
Create my first explainer for freeNo card required. Your first minute of video with AnimatedBoard is free.