Blender is often considered one of the best options for 3D animation for several reasons:

1. Open-Source and Free: Blender is open-source software, meaning it’s free to download and use. This accessibility makes it a favorite among beginners, hobbyists, and professionals alike.
2. Feature-Rich: Blender offers a comprehensive set of tools for 3D modeling, sculpting, texturing, rigging, animation, rendering, compositing, and motion tracking. It can handle every aspect of the 3D pipeline within a single application, which is a significant advantage.
3. Active Development Community: Blender has a large and active community of developers and users who contribute to its ongoing development. This means that new features, improvements, and bug fixes are continually being added, keeping Blender at the forefront of 3D software development.
4. Cross-Platform Compatibility: Blender runs on multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide range of users regardless of their preferred platform.
5. Flexible and Customizable: Blender’s user interface and workflow can be customized to suit individual preferences. Users can create custom layouts, hotkeys, and scripts to streamline their workflow and increase productivity.
6. Powerful Animation Tools: Blender offers a robust set of animation tools, including keyframe animation, procedural animation, inverse kinematics (IK), and a powerful graph editor for fine-tuning animation curves.
7. Integrated Game Engine: Blender includes a built-in game engine, allowing users to create interactive 3D applications, simulations, and games directly within the software.
8. High-Quality Rendering: Blender features the Cycles render engine, which provides high-quality, physically-based rendering with support for advanced features such as ray tracing, global illumination, and volumetrics. It also includes the Eevee real-time render engine for interactive viewport rendering and quick previews.

Overall, Blender’s combination of features, flexibility, and community support make it a top choice for 3D animation and modeling across a wide range of industries and skill levels.