Affiliate Link Generator Copied!

|
1.415.462.1982

The Results are in for the 2021 Toolfarm People’s Choice Awards

The results are in 2021 plugin awards people's choice

Thank you to everyone who voted. We really appreciate your input. Our survey is partly for fun, but it also tells us where the market is going and it’s helpful from a statistical standpoint. We had some interesting results this year. We will be focusing on the winning products over the next month or two and learn why they were chosen as the favorites in their categories.

Quicklinks to the Winning Tools


Favorite Roto & Tracking Tool

In the final analysis, the winner this year is Adobe After Effects, stealing the title from the multi-year winner, Mocha Pro. It was a close competition, with After Effects taking 38.2% of the vote. Boris Mocha took 33.8% of the vote. New to the top 3, Lockdown! Congratulations to Adobe!

Winner: Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects CC for Teams & Businesses

Adobe After Effects CC for Teams & Businesses

There’s nothing you can’t create with After Effects.

Create cinematic movie titles, intros, and transitions. Remove an object from a clip. Start a fire or make it rain. Animate a logo or character. Even navigate and design in a 3D space. With After Effects, the industry-standard motion graphics and visual effects software, you can take any idea and make it move.

Learn More

Runners up:


Favorite 3D Modeling, Painting, or Sculpting Software

Last year Maxon Cinema 4D won this category by a landslide with over 50% of the vote. This year, Blender was right on Cinema 4D’s tale and was actually in the lead for the first few weeks of voting. I’m sensing a shift in the industry and that is exactly what this data gives us. In 3rd place, ZBrush. Will ZBrush become more popular now that it has joined the Maxon family? Only time will tell!

Winner: Maxon Cinema 4D

Maxon Cinema 4D Subscription

Maxon Cinema 4D Subscription

10% Off New Subscriptions thru March 31, 2024

3D for the Whole World

Easy to learn and extremely powerful, Cinema 4D is the perfect package for all 3D artists who want to achieve breathtaking results fast and hassle-free. Beginners and seasoned professionals alike can take advantage of Cinema 4D’s wide range of tools and features to quickly achieve stunning results. Cinema 4D’s legendary reliability also makes it the perfect application for demanding, fast-paced 3D production.

Learn MoreTry Maxon Cinema 4D Subscription for free!

Runners up:


Favorite Non-Linear Editor

Premiere Pro absolutely swept the category this year with over 50% of the vote. DaVinci Resolve took 21% of the vote, so between these two NLE’s, the others were shut out! Final Cut Pro took a distant third spot. For perspective, Premiere Pro and Resolve also took spots 1 and 2 for the past 2 years, so the popularity of these products has stayed steady. Congratulations to Adobe and Blackmagic Design!

Winner: Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro CC for Teams & Businesses

Adobe Premiere Pro CC for Teams & Businesses

Smart tools. Better storytelling.

Adobe Premiere Pro is the industry-leading video editing software for film, TV, and the web. Creative tools, integration with other apps and services, and the power of Adobe Sensei help you craft footage into polished films and videos. And with the Premiere Rush app, you can create and edit new projects from any device.

Learn More

Runners up:


Favorite Audio Plugin

iZotope killed it this year, and for good reason. They make excellent products! iZotope RX took over 30% of the votes this year. Last year, they took almost 60% of the vote, so the race is getting tighter. There are a LOT of audio plugins out there, so it can only be expected. Once again, iZotope Ozone takes a second-place spot. Congratulations to iZotope!

Accusonus ERA Bundle made a great debut in the top 3 this year, so congratulations also go to Accusonus.

Winner: iZotope RX

iZotope RX Standard

iZotope RX Standard

Audio Repair and Separation for Music and Post Production

Used on countless albums, movies, and TV shows to restore damaged, noisy audio to pristine condition, RX is a post-production powerhouse. With version 8, RX brings more power and intelligent processors for music and post than ever before. Visually identify and repair problems with the standalone RX Audio Editor application, or use the real-time plug-ins in your favorite DAW or NLE.

Learn MoreTry iZotope RX Standard for free!

Runners up:


Favorite Chroma Keying Tool for Video

Adobe After Effects took a fat piece of the pie this year with almost 45% of the votes, with its Keylight plugin. In second, with 16% of the vote, was Red Giant VFX Keyer, part of the VFX Suite. In a close third, with almost 14% of the vote, is Boris Continuum Primatte Studio. Congratulations once again to Adobe, and to Red Giant and Boris for a nice second and third-place tally.

Winner: Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects CC for Teams & Businesses

Adobe After Effects CC for Teams & Businesses

There’s nothing you can’t create with After Effects.

Create cinematic movie titles, intros, and transitions. Remove an object from a clip. Start a fire or make it rain. Animate a logo or character. Even navigate and design in a 3D space. With After Effects, the industry-standard motion graphics and visual effects software, you can take any idea and make it move.

Learn More

Runners Up:


Favorite 3D Renderer

We recently had a poll just for 3D renderers and the results were very similar. Read those poll results here. Redshift doubled the number of votes of the second-place renderer, Octane Render. Arnold Render made a showing in third place. This is a category, like audio, that is jam-packed with tools, so there is a lot of competition!

Winner: Redshift

Redshift by Maxon

Redshift by Maxon

10% Off New Subscriptions thru March 31, 2024

Redshift Now Available as Subscription

Redshift is the world’s first fully GPU-accelerated, biased renderer built to meet the specific demands of contemporary high-end production rendering in C4D. Tailored to support creative individuals and studios of every size, Redshift offers a suite of powerful features and supports complex, advanced shading networks and texturing capabilities as required for production-quality rendering. Redshift has the features and uncompromising quality of a CPU renderer, but at GPU rendering speeds.

Learn MoreTry Redshift by Maxon for free!

Runners Up:


Favorite Bundle (VFX, 3D, Audio)

Adobe Creative Cloud swept the results this year for the third year in a row. Maxon One took second place and joined the results for the first time ever. Boris Continuum took third this time around, being bumped from second place by just a couple of points. Congratulations to Adobe, Maxon, and Boris FX for placing.

Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams & Businesses - All Apps

Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams & Businesses - All Apps

Creativity for all.

Adobe Creative Cloud gives you the world’s best creative apps and services so you can make anything you can imagine, wherever you’re inspired.

Enjoy the entire collection of our creative desktop and mobile tools, like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro, and more with Adobe Creative Cloud.

Learn More

Runners Up:


Favorite AR/VR/360° Tool

This is always an interesting category because the results change drastically every year. This time, Adobe Creative Cloud won against Unreal Engine by tenths of a point. Boris Mocha VR, available in Mocha Pro, was a close third. Congrats again to Adobe and Boris FX, and to Unreal Engine for making our list for the first time.

Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams & Businesses - All Apps

Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams & Businesses - All Apps

Creativity for all.

Adobe Creative Cloud gives you the world’s best creative apps and services so you can make anything you can imagine, wherever you’re inspired.

Enjoy the entire collection of our creative desktop and mobile tools, like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro, and more with Adobe Creative Cloud.

Learn More

Runners Up:


Favorite Color Grading/Finishing Tool

It should be no surprise that DaVinci Resolve topped this category with over 40% of the vote. Resolve has taken the top spot for both the 2019 and 2020 awards too. In fact, the results have been almost identical over the past 3 years.

Winner: Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve

Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio

Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio

Over 300 new features, including HDR Grading, AI-based magic mask, improved editing, and much more!

DaVinci Resolve is the world’s only solution that combines editing, color correction, visual effects, motion graphics, and audio post-production all in one software tool! Its elegant, modern interface is fast to learn and easy enough for new users, yet powerful for professionals. DaVinci Resolve lets you work faster and at a higher quality because you don’t have to learn multiple apps or switch software for different tasks. That means you can work with camera original quality images throughout the entire process. It’s like having your own post-production studio in a single app! Best of all, by learning DaVinci Resolve, you’re learning how to use the exact same tools used by Hollywood professionals!

Learn More

Runners Up:


Particle or Fluid Generating VFX Tool

Trapcode Particular topped this category for the third year in a row with almost a third of the votes. Not too far behind, Boris Continuum Particle Illusion garnered a second-place position. In third place, we have X-Particles. This result has been consistent over the past 3 years. Will it be the same for 2022? You’ll have to vote in the fall!

Winner: Red Giant Trapcode Particular

Red Giant - Annual Subscription

Red Giant - Annual Subscription

10% Off New Subscriptions thru March 31, 2024

Get all the tools from Red Giant at one low price with Red Giant Complete.

Get the complete set of Red Giant tools for editing, VFX and motion design. Red Giant complete includes Universe, Trapcode Suite, Magic Bullet Suite, and VFX Suite. Whether you are working with 3D particles systems and fluid dynamics, color correction and film looks, green screen and compositing, video effects and transitions, or even A/V sync, this set of industry-standard tools has what you need for your post-production workflow.

Learn More

Runners Up:


The Winner of Our Drawing

Congratulations to Jason Linn, winner of a $250 Toolfarm store coupon. Jason is a multi-talented artist from Pensacola, Florida, and you can check out his work on Instagram.

Share This Post

Subscribe to Toolfarm!

Get the latest updates on products, sales, tutorials, and freebies, delivered bi-weekly to your inbox!

Posted by Michele

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Opt-Out IconYour Privacy Choices Notice at Collection