As Adobe increases its investment in artificial intelligence, the company has decided to shut down its 2D animation software. Adobe Animate. On Monday, Adobe issued a modernize on the company’s support website and sent emails to existing customers announcing that Adobe Animate will be discontinued on March 1, 2026.
Enterprise customers can continue to receive technical support until March 1, 2029, to ease the transition. Other customers will have support until March next year, the company said.
The decision was met with distrust, frustration, and anger among Adobe Animate users, who are concerned about the lack of alternatives that mirror Animate’s functionality.
A customer, posting on Xasked Adobe to at least open source the software instead of abandoning it. Commenters on the thread responded with anguish, saying things like “It makes sense this will ruin my life” and “Literally what the hell are they doing? Animate is the reason a large portion of adobe users sign up in the first place.
Adobe explained its decision to discontinue the program in a FAQsaying, “Animate is a product that has been around for over 25 years and has served its purpose well in creating, nurturing, and growing the animation ecosystem. As technologies evolve, new platforms and paradigms emerge that better serve the needs of users. In recognition of this change, we plan to discontinue support for Anim.”
Reading between the lines, it sounds like Adobe is saying that Animate no longer represents the company’s current direction, which is now more focused on products that incorporate AI technologies.
What’s surprising is that Adobe can’t even recommend software that will fully replace what customers lose with Animate. Instead, it says that customers with a Creative Cloud Pro plan can use other Adobe apps to “replace parts of Animate’s functionality.”
For example, he suggests that Adobe After Effects can support complex keyframe animation using the Puppet tool, and Adobe Express can be used for motion effects that can be applied to photos, videos, text, shapes, and other design elements.
There were signs that Adobe was heading in that direction after Animate was ignored at the company’s annual Adobe Max conference. Additionally, no version of the 2025 software has been released.
The software will continue to work for those who have downloaded it, Adobe noted. Adobe typically charges $34.49 per month for the software, which drops to $22.99 with a 12-month commitment. The annual prepaid plan was available for $263.88.
Some users suggest other animation programs to use, including Moho Animation and Toon Boom Harmony.
TechCrunch has reached out to Adobe for comment. This article will be updated if the company responds.
