Riso review
Motion and video, Social media
Riso sells motion design on a subscription from a single microsite, and its FAQ says the work is done by one person, the founder, with a trusted partner brought in for 3D animation, custom illustration and audio tracks. Requests go in through Trello as written briefs, shared Google Docs or Loom recordings.
Each request runs through the pipeline the FAQ lists: script, styleframes, music edit, voiceover and animation. The FAQ puts an average piece at around seven days or less, with complex work taking longer. Music comes through Artlist, which every plan includes, and the FAQ names Unity Technologies and Unbounce among the brands it has worked for.
All three plans buy the same service; only the billing period changes the price. The site sits on a webflow.io address rather than its own domain, its footer reads 2024, and its terms are a Notion page effective from 1 January 2023. The quarterly Stripe checkout loaded and the booking calendar showed open slots when checked.
Who Riso is for
Marketing and brand teams at software and tech companies that need a steady run of explainers, product animations and social cuts, and would rather brief one senior motion designer than an agency. The plan descriptions range from early-stage companies to large organisations.
Solo delivery shapes the fit. One request moves at a time, so a launch needing six videos in a fortnight will queue behind itself, while a team shipping one animation a week will rarely notice the limit.
Strengths and limits
What it does well
- Every piece moves through script, styleframes, music, voiceover and animation, so a buyer hands over a brief rather than a storyboard
- Pausing banks unused days: the FAQ's example leaves 10 days of service to use later after pausing on day 21
- Three published prices for the same service, with the annual rate $1,000 a month below the rolling one
- The work comes from the founder directly rather than through an account manager, per the FAQ
Where it falls short
- At $3,995 to $4,995 a month for one request at a time, the entry cost sits well above typical graphic design plans in this market
- The FAQ says no refunds are issued, while the linked terms allow a refund within seven days, and the two are never reconciled
- Nothing published says who owns the finished animations or whether project files are handed over
- A one-person service publishes no cover for illness or holidays, and the site's footer has not moved past 2024
Riso pricing
The Monthly plan is $4,995 a month and can be paused or cancelled at any time. Quarterly billing is $4,495 a month, charged as $13,485 every three months at checkout, and annual billing is $3,995 a month. Each plan includes one request at a time, unlimited brands and users, and music through Artlist.
No cap on requests, delivery count or video length is published beyond the FAQ's seven-day average. Custom pricing, add-ons and taxes are not mentioned.
How many at once, whose files, whose hands
How many requests run at once
One active request at a time
“One request at a time”
Who owns the files and the rights
Does not say who owns the files
We found nothing on its site or in its terms about whether you receive editable source files and when the rights pass to you. That is recorded as silence, not as a finding against the company. Ask before the first invoice.
Who does the work
Says it uses both its own and outside people
“Riso Design is a one-man agency, meaning you'll be directly collaborating with me, the founder. For complex tasks such as 3D animation ... a trusted partner assist in the process.”
This records what Riso publishes about itself, read in September 2026. It is not an assessment of what the company does in practice.
Verdict
Brand teams that want an explainer or product animation every week or so, made end to end by one senior motion designer, are who Riso is priced for. The annual rate of $3,995 a month buys the full pipeline, including script and voiceover, with a pause that saves unused days.
Parallel work is off the table with a single designer and one active request, so a campaign needing several videos at once will stall. The contradictory refund wording and the silence on who owns the files also need settling in writing before the first payment, since the published terms answer neither.
Others worth a look
Awesomic$1,490/mo · Matched within up to 24 hours, then an update on each active task every business day
Designity$5,995/mo · Minor requests in 24 hours on Plus and 12 on Premium; larger projects on a timeline set by the creative director
Epiic Design$990/mo · Usually within 1 business day
Kimp$1,397/mo · 24 hours for simple tasks, 2 to 4 days for complex designs
This is an independent review. Riso is not a client or a partner, we have no affiliate relationship with them, we earn nothing if you hire them, and nobody pays for placement in the directory. Prices were read from the company's own pages in September 2026 and change without notice.