Adobe announced Monday that it has decided to shut down its 2D animation software Adobe Animate, as it ramps its investment in artificial intelligence.
The company said in an update to the company’s support site and emails to existing customers, that the product will be discontinued in March 2026.
Adobe explained its decision in an FAQ, saying “Animate has been a product that has existed for over 25 years and has served its purpose well for creating, nurturing, and developing the animation ecosystem. As technologies evolve, new platforms and paradigms emerge that better serve the needs of the users. Acknowledging this change, we are planning to discontinue supporting Animate.”
Enterprise customers can continue to receive technical support through March 1, 2029, to ease the transition, according to the company, which added that other customers will have support through March of next year.
READ: Companies under fire over hiring Indians amid H1-B backlash (
According to TechCrunch, this likely means Animate no longer represents the current direction of the company, which is now more focused on products that incorporate AI technologies.
Adobe Animate users reacted with shock and disappointment. “We literally had a whole semester of adobe animate class and now they’re discontinuing it,” one X user said. Another X post said “I’m sorry: Adobe Animate is getting WHAT and H U H???.” The users are also concerned about a lack of alternatives that have similar functionality.
There have also been calls for Adobe to make the software open source, instead of abandoning it entirely.
TechCrunch states that it is “surprising” that Adobe can’t even recommend software that will fully replace what customers are losing with Animate. Instead, it says customers with a Creative Cloud Pro plan can use other Adobe apps to “replace portions of Animate functionality.”
READ: Grok faces backlash across UK, EU and India over sexualized content (
Adobe suggests that Adobe After Effects can support complex keyframe animation using the Puppet tool, and Adobe Express can be used for animation effects that can be applied to photos, videos, text, shapes, and other design elements.
The software continues to work for those who have downloaded it, according to Adobe. Adobe typically charged $34.49 per month for the software, which dropped to $22.99 with a 12-month commitment. The annual prepaid plan was available for $263.88.
TechCrunch also claims there were “hints” about the direction Adobe was taking, with Animate being ignored at the company’s annual Adobe Max conference, and no new version of the software being released in 2025.
Users have recommended Moho Animation and Toon Boom Harmony as alternatives.