1. Blender

OS
Available for Windows, Linux, and Mac computers
Price
Free
Why I picked it:
Because, as a free 3D animation software, it puts a full studio’s toolset in your hands — modelling, rigging, VFX, and rendering — without the price tag. It forces you to learn and level up your animation skills fast.
Blender is a cross-platform, open-source 3D animation software. Its strongest appeal is that it covers the entire pipeline: modeling, rigging, animation, sculpting, texture painting, VFX, compositing, and rendering — plus an integrated video editor for quick polish.
The current stable LTS is Blender 4.5 (released July 15, 2025). It delivers production-grade Vulkan support, faster startup and EEVEE shader compilation, HDR sequencing, UV visibility across modes, and a faster C++ FBX importer to smooth asset pipelines. These updates tighten the loop between blocking, animation, and final rendering, making Blender far more responsive on modern hardware.
I threw together a short two-character scene with cloth sim and volumetric lights to test version 4.5. Vulkan made viewport scrubbing noticeably smoother, and the new FBX importer cut import time on legacy rigs, which saved real minutes per asset. That said, dense volumetrics still push my GPU hard, so I had to toggle a few preview features to keep the scrub fluid. Overall: more control, fewer small annoyances than before; you still pay for that power with setup time.