As Adobe ramps up its investments in AI, the company has decided to shut down its 2D animation software, Adobe Animate. On Monday, Adobe issued an update to the company’s support site and sent emails to existing customers announcing Adobe Animate will be discontinued on March 1, 2026.
Enterprise customers can continue to receive technical support through March 1, 2029, to ease the transition. Other customers will have support through March of next year, the company said.
The decision has been met with incredulity, disappointment, and anger among Adobe Animate users, who are concerned about the lack of alternatives that mirror Animate’s functionality.
One customer, posting on X, pleaded with Adobe to at least open source the software rather than abandon it. Commenters on the thread responded with angst, saying things like “this is legit gonna ruin my life,” and “literally what the hell are they doing? animate is the reason a good chunk of adobe users even subscribe in the first place.
Adobe explained its decision to discontinue the program 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.”
Reading between the lines, it sounds as if Adobe is saying that Animate no longer represents the current direction of the company, which is now more focused on products that incorporate AI technologies.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 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.”
For instance, it 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.
There were hints that Adobe was headed in this direction after Animate was ignored at the company’s annual Adobe Max conference. Plus, no 2025 version of the software was released.
The software will continue to work for those who have it downloaded, Adobe noted. Typically, Adobe 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.
Some users are recommending other animation programs to use instead, including Moho Animation and Toon Boom Harmony.
TechCrunch has reached out to Adobe for comment. This article will be updated if the company responds.