A Short History of Explainer Videos: From Whiteboard to AI (2007–2026)

Quick answer: The history of explainer videos as a web format starts around 2007, when Common Craft’s paper-cutout “In Plain English” videos spread on YouTube. Startups adopted the format in the early 2010s. Motion graphics and social cuts followed, then DIY tools, and since 2023, AI avatars and AI-generated cinematic video. One thing has stayed constant: the script.

We’ve had a front-row seat for most of this story. Gisteo launched in Miami in 2011, when the format was still new enough that we had to invent a name for what we did. This is a short history of explainer videos, with every dated claim linked to a source. Where the record is fuzzy, we say so.

What is an explainer video?

An explainer video is a short video, usually 60 to 120 seconds, that explains one idea: what a product does, how a service works, or why a problem matters. Most use animation, a voiceover and a simple problem-solution story. For a fuller definition, see our guide to what an explainer video is.

Explaining things with pictures and narration is much older than the internet. Classroom films, training videos and TV ads did it for decades. What changed in the late 2000s was distribution. YouTube made it cheap to publish video, and websites started putting a short explainer right on the homepage. That’s the period this history covers.

2007–2010: paper cutouts and whiteboards

Common Craft and “In Plain English”

Most histories of the format start with Common Craft, the Washington-based company run by Lee and Sachi LeFever. In its own words, Common Craft created the “In Plain English” series in 2007 and “helped spark what’s now known as the explainer video genre” (Common Craft).

The style was simple and memorable. According to Wikipedia, the videos “use stop-action animation with whiteboards and paper cut-outs to illustrate the topic.” Hands moved paper figures around a white background while a calm voice explained a web technology in plain language. “Twitter in Plain English,” published in March 2008, has been viewed more than 10 million times, according to the same article.

Was Common Craft first? It’s the earliest widely cited example of the web explainer as we know it today, and Common Craft describes itself as helping to spark the genre. We’d stop short of calling any one company the inventor. People were explaining things on video long before 2007.

The Dropbox video

Common Craft also made one of the most famous startup explainers. “In 2009 we made a video for a startup company called Dropbox,” Lee LeFever wrote in 2012, adding that the video went on the front page of Dropbox.com and stayed there. By then, according to Dropbox’s figures quoted in the post, it had been viewed well over 25 million times (Common Craft).

The lesson that stuck with founders: a short, simple video on the homepage can do a lot of explaining that a page of text can’t.

RSA Animate and the whiteboard look

The other big influence was RSA Animate. The UK’s Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) paired recorded talks with live hand-drawn illustration. According to Wikipedia, the RSA and illustrator Andrew Park, of the studio Cognitive, have collaborated since 2008, and the first 14 animations had 46 million views as of 2011. The best-known example, Sir Ken Robinson’s “Changing Education Paradigms,” is dated October 2010 on TED.

RSA Animate made “whiteboard animation” a recognizable style: a hand drawing the story in real time as the narrator speaks. It’s still in use today. Our whiteboard explainer video guide covers when it works best.

The first DIY tools

DIY animation started early, too. GoAnimate (now Vyond) was founded in 2007 by Alvin Hung, and the first version of its platform launched in mid-2008 (Wikipedia). That set up a split that still exists: custom studio work on one side, template-based software on the other.

2010–2015: the startup explainer boom

In the early 2010s, the explainer became a standard part of launching a startup, especially a software startup. A typical one ran 60 to 90 seconds, opened with a relatable problem, introduced the product as the hero, and ended with a call to action. Character-led 2D animation was the default look.

This is when Gisteo started. Our founder, Stephen Conley, founded the company in early 2011 in Miami. He saw the need for high-quality, reasonably priced animated video to help businesses tell their stories as video marketing grew. As our About page puts it, “When we launched, explainer videos weren’t a ‘thing’ yet.” So we combined “gist” and “video” to name what we did: Gisteo.

DIY options kept growing alongside studios. Powtoon was founded in January 2012 and released a beta version in August 2012, selling cloud-based software for animated presentations and explainer videos (Wikipedia).

In our experience, this period also set the expectations buyers still have today: a clear script, a professional voiceover and a single, memorable message.

2015–2020: motion graphics, 2.5D and social formats

As explainers spread beyond startups to larger companies, the look changed. Many corporate and B2B buyers wanted something less cartoonish. Motion graphics, which animate shapes, icons, screenshots and text, became just as common as character animation in our own work. Depth effects grew too. Our guide to 2.5D animation explains how that style adds a sense of depth to 2D artwork.

Where people watched videos also changed. Social platforms pushed short, often vertical video:

• Instagram added 15-second video sharing in June 2013 and launched Instagram Stories in August 2016 (Wikipedia).
• TikTok launched in the international market in September 2017 and merged with Musical.ly in August 2018 (Wikipedia).
• GoAnimate renamed its platform Vyond in May 2018 (Wikipedia).

For explainer producers, this meant making several cuts of one video: a full-length version for the website and shorter square or vertical edits for social feeds. It also made kinetic typography (animated text) more useful, because it still works on platforms where video autoplays with the sound off.

2020–2023: DIY tools and templates

The early 2020s pushed more companies to communicate by video, and DIY tools and template libraries became a normal part of many marketing teams’ toolkits. Short-form video kept growing too. Instagram introduced Reels in August 2020 (Wikipedia).

Templates are fast and cheap, but they look like templates. In our experience, many teams ended up using both: DIY tools for quick internal or social pieces, and custom animation for the flagship explainer on their homepage.

AI was arriving in the background. Synthesia, founded in 2017, builds AI-generated video with avatars that speak text the user supplies (Wikipedia). By 2023, generative video was moving from research into products. Runway, founded in 2018, released its Gen-1 and Gen-2 video models in early 2023 (Wikipedia).

2023–2026: AI avatars and cinematic AI

The last three years have changed production more than any period since the format began.

Text-to-video models arrived quickly:

• OpenAI first previewed Sora on February 15, 2024, released it publicly on December 9, 2024, and unveiled Sora 2 on September 30, 2025 (Wikipedia).
• Google announced Veo at Google I/O in May 2024, followed by Veo 2 in December 2024 and Veo 3 in May 2025. Veo 3 generates synchronized audio along with the video (Wikipedia).

Two kinds of AI explainer emerged. AI avatar videos put a realistic digital presenter on screen to deliver a script. Cinematic AI videos generate full scenes, with characters, locations and camera moves, that would once have needed a film crew or a large animation budget.

We’ve moved with it. Gisteo is now a hybrid human-AI studio. Our team handles strategy, scriptwriting, direction and quality control, and AI speeds up production. One example: we made a 30-second AI commercial for an Atlanta luxury car rental company that is streaming on Netflix’s ad platform, with no actors and no cameras. You can see it on our AI video production services page. Our article on how AI is changing explainer video production goes deeper.

A third option grew out of both: custom AI clones of real people. With their consent, a founder or spokesperson is cloned and placed in generated scenes. In 2026 we made one of our own founder, Stephen Conley, who started Gisteo with animated explainers in 2011.

Watch: Gisteo’s Founder as an AI Clone (2026)

(Yes, the presenter is an AI clone of our founder, Stephen Conley, made by Gisteo.)

Custom animation hasn’t gone away. Many brands still want a fully designed, on-brand animated explainer. What has changed is that buyers now have a real choice between custom animation, AI avatars and cinematic AI, at different prices and speeds.

A timeline of explainer videos

What hasn’t changed: the script

Paper cutouts gave way to vector animation, then to motion graphics, then to AI. Through all of it, the videos that work have had one thing in common: a clear script.

The Common Craft videos worked because they explained one thing in plain language. The best startup explainers of the 2010s worked because they named a real problem before pitching a solution. The same is true of AI video today. A model can generate a beautiful scene in minutes, but it can’t decide what your customer needs to hear first, or which single message should stick.

That’s why scriptwriting is still the first real production step at Gisteo, whether the final video is custom animation or AI. Tools change every year. The job of turning a complicated idea into a 60-second story hasn’t.

If you’re weighing your options today, here’s how they compare at Gisteo. Custom 60-second explainers are $3,500 (Just Animate!, you supply the script), $4,000 (Full-Service, including scriptwriting) or $5,000 (VIP Fast Pass, 2–3 weeks). Simple AI avatar videos start at $1,000, and AI cinematic videos start at $3,500 for 60–90 seconds. You can compare all our explainer video pricing or browse our explainer videos.

Frequently asked questions

Who made the first explainer video?

There’s no single agreed answer. Teaching films and animated ads explained things long before the web. For the modern online explainer, Common Craft’s “In Plain English” series from 2007 is the earliest widely cited example, and Common Craft says it “helped spark” the genre. It’s fair to call Common Craft a pioneer. Calling any one company the inventor goes further than the record supports.

Is whiteboard animation still used?

Yes. Whiteboard animation, popularized by RSA Animate around 2010, is still used for training, education and complex B2B topics. The hand-drawn style feels personal and holds attention while ideas build step by step. It’s less common for consumer product launches, where motion graphics and 2D character animation are more typical. Gisteo still produces whiteboard-style videos.

Will AI replace animated explainers?

AI is replacing some of them, mainly fast, lower-budget videos where an AI avatar or generated scenes are good enough. But custom animation still offers full control over design, brand consistency and character style. In our experience, the two are settling into different roles. Many brands now use AI for speed and volume, and custom animation for their flagship videos.

What is an explainer video today?

Today an explainer video is still a short video that explains one idea, usually in 60 to 120 seconds. What’s different is the range of formats: custom 2D animation, motion graphics, whiteboard, kinetic typography, AI avatar presenters and cinematic AI. Most are also cut into shorter versions for social media. The goal, a clear message in a short time, is the same as it was in 2007.