Animoto

BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!! I was drawn to Animoto because I wanted to create a quick, annotated slideshow to post on Facebook. The initial page said “$8 per month.” So, my assumption was to join for a month, create my show, then re-assess whether I wanted to continue my subscription. I spent over 2 hours selecting, sequencing and adding text to my slides. Then, at checkout, I was informed the cost would be $96 charged to my credit card IMMEDIATELY. $8 per month x 12 months. That was never clear when I first found the site. I’m just glad I didn’t OK the initial purchase to sign up. It’s obvious from other reviewers that this is a company to be avoided.

AVOID this company at all cost. I mean that literally. Animoto is a company that likes to steal from its customers! I should have read reviews on them before trying them out. Long story short, i singed up for a FREE trial (my first mistake) and was charged a full year fee of $250. After many attempts at communicating with a human being (only thru their “customer service” portal) They finally agreed to refund me the $ and close the account. I decided NEVER to use their service but i should have checked that the account was closed (my second mistake). I recently received an email from them asking me why i hadn’t used their service in so long. I decided to check and found that they had been charging me since December 2014, $39 monthly (their most expensive “Pro” account). I immediately contacted them again, and once more after several attempts, the most i got was someone responding that they would refund me 2 months. I threatened legal action and was passed on to a “manager” who would not even give me his name. he said it was my fault and after i even suggested i was willing to take a $100 hit for not checking the account sooner, he refused any further communication. They have no customer service skills and don’t care about their customers in general. Read other reviews out there on BBB about their billing practices and fraudulently billing people for charges they have not agreed to like me. I am a school teacher on a budget and they robbed me.

Don’t do business with them.

30 second videos are free
Educators can get a free account
Relatively easy to maneuver

I love Animoto as a way for students to present information and for book trailer creation. Teachers can apply for an educational account which allows any student who enters the promo code to go beyond the 30 second trial limit.

Animoto is one of the early players in the upload your photos, toss in some music and create a nice slideshow like magic crowd. I have been using it off and on for eight or more years! Time sure flies. The core functionality has not really changed, but the ease of access to your photos sure has. You can easily add Instagram, Facebook, Flickr and more photos to Animoto, pick some music and instant video. It also tosses a preview to you in seconds instead of minutes.   It is easy to share your final works…

Read more » Animoto Actively Animates and Creates Videos from Your Photos | Audio Review # 15

Animoto is a great way for young students to enhance their skills in technology and it provides a great way for children to become actively involved and excited about there presenting topics. This tool is definitely not for people who want a boring 10 minute power point that seems like its 20 minutes and puts people to sleep. Its a great tool that makes it easy to add music to provide entertainment along with fun learning for the little ones.

Love this site! It is a great way to make slide shows entertaining and hold your students attention. Love that there is a variety of music and pictures to choose from as well as being able to add your own photos too!

Animoto is a great way to create graphic presentations. It can be use to create motion slideshows that can be shown in parties, such as weddings and other important celebrations. You can share it to friends and family afterwards; and/or store it so you can watch it later again. There is a free version that you can use and practice to see if you like it or not. So that it can help you decide if you want to purchase a subscription.

Animoto brings slideshows to life! By inputting pictures and music, you create your own animated videos to be viewed by friends, family, or your students. You can share your Animoto videos via email, post them to a website or blog, or download them to a computer to be used in a presentation.

You are able to include text among the pictures to educate or inspire your viewers, which makes Animoto very good for classroom use. However, the free version only allows you to make a thirty-second video. The yearly subscription offers you the ability to make feature-length videos, but the customer service is terrible if you ever need help or want to cancel your subscription.