Kitsu compared to Ftrack

Target Audience

Ftrack is aimed at large VFX facilities.

Kitsu is designed for smaller animation and VFX studios with distributed teams, especially those involved in productions across multiple studios, with a focus on TV series.

Our features and roadmaps are tailored to meet these distinct needs. Therefore, it’s important to consider this aspect when choosing your production management solution.

Resources Needed

Ftrack is an expansive toolbox. To get started with Ftrack, you must hire several people dedicated to customizing UIs, and integrating it into your pipeline. You will end up with something tailor-made, but it will require a lot of effort. These developments may also need significant maintenance in the future. Lastly, you will need internal training sessions for your customized version of Ftrack.

In contrast, Kitsu works great right out of the box. All UIs are designed with ease of use in mind, making it easy to get started. Our dedicated support team is available to assist with setup if needed. However, to fully integrate Kitsu with your pipeline and take advantage of its database, you may need a pipeline TD. While Kitsu provides flexibility to define different workflows, it may not be suitable for projects with highly specialized pipelines.

Simplicity vs. Comprehensiveness

Ftrack is designed to work on any project at a fine-grain level. It's great at adapting to any situation, but it comes with a lot of complexity. As a result, the added time taken to learn and customize the system may counter the benefits gained from it. Moreover, projects that require this level of specificity are rare.

Kitsu focuses on animation and VFX projects. Through close collaboration with hundreds of studios, we have designed a system that is efficient yet flexible enough to adapt to most situations. Our goal is to ensure that everyone in the studio can use Kitsu from day one. While there may be some very specialized use cases that aren't suitable, you can be confident that everyone in the studio will be comfortable with Kitsu.

Review Engine

Ftrack has a strong review engine that performs well when reviewing high-end shots online. Nevertheless, organising reviews and comparing versions is still challenging.

Kitsu offers a robust playlist system that allows you to view and compare all shots in your database easily in real-time.

Security

Ftrack qualifies for many security certifications and offers on-premise installations (at an additional cost). However, its code is proprietary, so there is no guarntee that features or functionality might change or break in the future.

Kitsu is open-source and can be fully audited and installed on-premise with very little extra cost. We ensure that your data remains private and secure. We take security very seriously and, while still waiting for certifications, we apply all best practices to keep your data safe.

CGWire engineers have a strong track record in cloud hosting and apply all protocols to ensure the security of your data (HTTPS, strict password management policies, strong SSH key management, background checks, etc.). It is only a matter of time before we qualify for the necessary security certifications.

Pricing

Kitsu has similar pricing with Ftrack (~25$/user/month).

However, Kitsu offers a much better user experience with tutorials, beautiful UIs, and dedicated support. Because every stakeholder uses it effectively, the return on investment for Kitsu in animation or VFX production is significantly higher.

Documentation

Ftrack provides documentation about its usage and its Python client.

Kitsu offers easy-to-follow documentation, a search engine, and tutorial videos. Training options for getting your team onboarded are also available. Finally, the Python client and the REST API are fully documented, making it much easier for a Pipeline TD to work with Kitsu.