I use photoshop with the animations pallet generally. It's pretty easy to covert layers to frames and add type layers, set delays etc. Adobe has switched to a subscription model a few years back and so photoshop/lightroom are now affordable enough for most folks as they "photography bundle" has both and is only $9/month
I've been using this site for 5 years. GIF making's best kept secret. You can render very high quality, long GIFs with a high frame rate. No watermark either. Paid for by voluntary donation and unobtrusive advertising on the site
Love you, too
