Adobe Animate is shutting down as company focuses on AI - although business years get a slight stay of execution

• Adobe says Animate no longer serves users' needs as it used to
• Could its deprecation be making room for new GenAI tools?
• There isn't a direct replacement – After Effects and Express will cover "portions"

Adobe has confirmed it will be discontinuing Adobe Animate with effect from March 1, 2026, citing the rise of newer platforms (read: AI) that "better serve the needs of the users."

A multi-stage phaseout will see users still able to access and download their files for one year, or three years for enterprise customers, after which point the service will be fully deprecated and all remaining files will be deleted.

"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," the company wrote in a separate support page, suggesting it's time for the now-dated tool to retire.

Adobe Animate is making way for emerging AI tools

"As technologies evolve, new platforms and paradigms emerge," Adobe wrote, indicating a preference to start from the ground up with newer, more suitable tools rather than trying to shoehorn generative AI into Animate.

The decision wasn't a huge shock, given Animate's absence at the last Adobe Max conference and the lack of any meaningful updates in 2025, however users are still unhappy with the retirement plan, with some urging Adobe to open-source the app instead of cut ties entirely.

However, there isn't one single tool being pitched as a successor. Instead, Adobe, is guiding customers to its comprehensive (and expensive) Creative Cloud Pro plan, which includes After Effects and Express, to replace "portions" of Animate.

Users who still have projects in Adobe Animate that they've forgotten about will have a slightly different experience to download the app, which now resides in the "Show Older Apps (top right, Profile icon > Preferences > Apps > Show Older Apps)" section of the Creative Cloud desktop client.

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