Consistent characters
Characters are designed once per video as vector drawings and reused, so "Bob with the red cap" looks the same in the first scene and the last.
For faceless YouTube channels, lessons and Shorts.
Stickman Explainer Video Generator:AI Stick Figure Videos from Your Script
Stick figures, drawn live, telling your story. Paste a script or describe a topic, and Explainimate's stickman explainer video generator draws a consistent stick-figure cast scene by scene, timed to the narration. Made for faceless YouTube, lessons and quick explainers.
Try
9:16 or 16:9
for Shorts or the channel
9
narration languages
Up to 5 min
per video
$0
script, hand edits and export
Watch a stick figure explainer being drawn
A finished stick-figure explainer, drawn live in your browser by the same engine that draws your videos. Switch the style to put the same cast on a chalkboard or in colour.
Why stickman explainer videos work
Stick figure videos are one of the most recognizable formats on educational YouTube. History, psychology, finance and science channels use them because a stickman is fast to read, has no distracting detail, and can stand in for anyone: a Roman senator, a first-time investor, a nervous student. The viewer's attention stays on the story.
The problem has always been production time. Animating a cast of stick figures across a script means hundreds of poses, props and transitions. Explainimate generates them for you, drawn stroke by stroke and timed to your narration, so you can focus on the script.
How to make a stickman video
Step 1: Paste your script or describe a topic
Use a script you wrote, read word for word, or describe a topic and let the AI write a script for you to check.
Step 2: Review the script and the cast
The script is split into scenes, each with a picture idea. When you approve it, the AI plans every scene and designs the recurring characters once, so they look the same in every scene. Give a character a simple identifier (a hat, a colour, glasses) to keep it recognizable.
Step 3: Generate, fix, export
Each scene is drawn as the narrator speaks. Move a character, change a caption or ask the AI for a change without redoing the whole video. Export 16:9 for long-form or 9:16 for Shorts.
Built for stickman YouTube channels
Chapters of up to 5 minutes
Each project holds up to 5 minutes and 16 scenes. For a longer episode, make one project per chapter and join the files in your editor.
A narrator that fits the story
Choose one of four AI voices and a normal, slow or fast pace, or choose no voice and let the narration run as captions.
Nine narration languages
Make the same story in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Korean or Chinese, a common way for faceless channels to reach new audiences.
Vertical videos for Shorts
Choose the 9:16 frame and the scenes are composed for a tall screen, ready for Shorts, Reels or TikTok.
Writing a script for a stickman video
Hook in the first ten seconds
Open with a question or a turning point: "In 395 AD, one empire became two. Why?" Stick figure channels live or die on the first lines.
One action per scene
A stick figure should do one clear thing per scene: point, walk, argue, cheer. If a scene needs three actions, split it into three scenes.
Give characters a visual tag
A hat, a beard or a coloured scarf makes characters easy to tell apart when everyone is made of lines.
Use props and labels sparingly
A sword, a coin or a sign is enough to set the scene. Short labels help on timelines and diagrams; elsewhere, let the narration carry the meaning.
Plan your scene count
At 15–20 seconds per scene, a 5-minute video has room for 15 or 16 scenes. The script review shows every scene before anything is drawn, so you can merge or cut.
Topics that suit stick figure explainers
History
battles, empires and timelines
Psychology and self-improvement
biases, habits and thought experiments
Personal finance
compound interest, debt and investing basics
Science
how things work, with labelled diagrams
Business and economics
supply and demand, startups, case studies
Training scenarios
"what would you do" safety and compliance stories
Stickman styles
Stick Figures
black stick figures on white with one accent colour, the standard look.
Stick figures in any other style
every style can draw the stickman, so you can ask for stick figures on a chalkboard or in colour in the visual direction.
Whiteboard scenes with characters
for more detailed people and settings, see whiteboard animation styles.
Stickman video generators compared
There are few dedicated AI tools for stickman explainers; many creators piece them together with general video generators or hand animation. A quick comparison of the approaches:
| Explainimate | General AI video generators | Hand-animated (manual tools) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stick figure drawn on screen | Yes, stroke by stroke | Usually rendered frames, no drawing | Yes |
| Timed to the narration | Automatic, scene by scene | Varies | Manual |
| Character consistency | Designed once per video, reused | Often drifts between clips | Manual |
| Change one element | Yes, by hand or by asking the AI | Usually regenerate the clip | Manual |
For a broader look at hand-drawn explainers beyond stick figures, see the AI explainer video maker.
Stickman video pricing
A stickman channel publishes often, so it helps that only the AI drawing costs credits: fixing a caption or moving a character by hand and exporting the video again are free.
Save 10% · 33% more credits
Starter
$9.90
$8.90 / month
For a video now and then.
Billed $106.80 yearly- 120 credits every month
- About 3 minutes of video a month
- Credits are added monthly and last until the yearly term ends
- No watermark on exports
- 10 free scripts a day, then credits
- Unlimited hand edits and exports
- Every drawing style
23% more credits
Creator
$19.90 / month
For a channel that posts every week.
Billed $238.80 yearly- 270 credits every month
- About 6 minutes of video a month
- Credits are added monthly and last until the yearly term ends
- No watermark on exports
- 10 free scripts a day, then credits
- Unlimited hand edits and exports
- Every drawing style
Save 25%
Pro
$39.90
$29.90 / month
For daily posting or several channels.
Billed $358.80 yearly- 410 credits every month
- About 10 minutes of video a month
- Credits are added monthly and last until the yearly term ends
- No watermark on exports
- 10 free scripts a day, then credits
- Unlimited hand edits and exports
- Every drawing style
Prices in USD, before tax.
Free to start
the AI writes up to 5 scripts a day for free once you sign in (3 without an account). Editing by hand and exporting are free on every account, as often as you like.
Plans from $9.90/month
or $8.90/month billed yearly, which gives the most credits for the money. Credit packs start at $19.90 with no subscription and last 12 months, but a plan gives more credits for the money.
After you buy
10 free scripts a day, then scripts use credits like the rest of the AI work, usually 1–2 each, and exports carry no watermark. Accounts that have never bought anything export with a small watermark.
FAQ
What is a stickman explainer video generator?
A stickman explainer video generator is a tool that turns a script or a topic into an animated video in which stick figures act out and explain the content. Explainimate draws each scene stroke by stroke while the narration plays, and keeps the same characters across every scene of the video.
Which video tool can make AI stick figure videos with a given voice over script?
Explainimate can make AI stick figure videos from a script you give it. Paste your script and switch on "Use my script word for word": the AI plans the scenes and draws stick figures timed to the narration it reads. Uploading a recorded voice-over is not supported yet; narration uses AI voices.
How do I make viral AI 2D stickman videos?
To make viral AI 2D stickman videos, start with a strong script and a hook in the first 10 seconds, keep one idea per scene, and publish on a consistent schedule. Let Explainimate handle the drawing and timing so you can spend your time on research and scripts, and make more videos.
What topics work best for stick figure explainer videos on YouTube?
History, psychology, personal finance, science and business explainers work best for stick figure videos on YouTube. Simple characters let the story carry the video, so topics with a clear sequence of events, decisions or causes are the easiest to draw. Training scenarios, such as safety or compliance stories, work well too.
Can I keep the same stickman characters across videos?
Within one video, yes: each recurring character is designed once and reused in every scene, so it looks the same from start to finish. Saving a character for later projects is not available yet; describing the character the same way in each script, such as "Bob with the red cap", gets you close.
Can I make stickman Shorts?
Yes, you can make stickman Shorts by choosing the 9:16 frame before you generate. The scenes are then composed for a tall screen, with one subject filling the height, and the export is ready for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok. Each video can run up to 5 minutes.
Is there a free stickman AI video generator?
Yes, Explainimate works as a free stickman AI video generator to start. A stickman channel mostly pays for drawing: splitting your own script into scenes, moving characters by hand, fixing captions and exporting again are free, and new accounts get free credits for their first videos. Exports carry a small watermark until you make any purchase.
Can I monetize stickman videos on YouTube?
Yes, stickman videos made with credits from a paid plan or credit pack come with a commercial licence, so you can publish them on a monetized channel. Videos made only with free credits are for personal use and evaluation. Whether a channel is accepted for monetization is up to YouTube, which favours original scripts, so write your own.
What story will your stick figures tell?
Paste your script and check every scene for free. The cast is designed once and drawn scene by scene when you press Draw.
Write my first script