12 Best Adobe Animate Alternatives in 2023 (Free & Paid)
Adobe Animate is one of the most popular 2D animation software choices as it comes as part of the industry-leading Adobe CC software.
This program allows you to create doodles, cartoons, and animations and contains dynamic features that an animator would require, yet it is not a perfect choice for everyone.
Why Are We Looking for Adobe Animator Alternatives?
First of all, the subscription plan for this program is costly (get an Adobe discount here). There might also be people who do not like the layout that Adobe has or maybe they would want some more features for making work easier and faster.
If you are a working professional and want your work done on time easily and for free, you would want an alternative software. If you are a beginner, then Adobe may overwhelm you with its complicated and dynamic features.
Every individual with the aim of being a professional animator would want a software program that provides the features, tools, and brushes needed to work efficiently. They would want a program that does all the work at a reasonable price to gain competition in the industry.
With this in mind, here are the best Adobe Animate alternatives.
12+ Best Adobe Animate Alternatives in 2023
- Krita — The Best Animation Software Overall
- OpenToonz — Best Free and Open Source Animation Tool
- Toon Boom — Best Valued Professional Animation Software
- Moho — Best AI Software for 2D Animation
- Pencil 2D — The Best for 2D Hand-drawn Animation
- Cacani — Best 2D Animation Software with Cel Animation
- Synfig Studio — The Open Source and Powerful Animation Software
- Blender — Best Software with Rigging and Modelling Tools
- Wick Editor — Best Software for creating Multi-media on the web
- TVPaint Animation — The Best Animation and Drawing software with Traditional Tools
- TupiTube — Best for Beginners with Cross-platform
- Anime Effects — Best for 2D games
You may also be interested in our Adobe Illustrator alternatives or Photoshop Alternatives. And the complete Adobe software list.
If you’re a student, check out our guide on how to get an Adobe student discount and our Adobe Creative Cloud pricing guide.
Adobe CC Discount (Get 65% Off) or Free 7-Day Trial
If you don’t find an alternative for Adobe Animate, we have an exclusive discount with Adobe CC that offers up to 40-70% off Adobe’s apps that are included in Adobe Creative Cloud.
Adobe also offers free trials & discounts on most of their software including Adobe Animate.
If you are a current student or teacher you are eligible for up to 65% off Adobe Creative Cloud on their Students & Teachers plan.
If you’re not a student or teacher, still you can get up to 65% off on Adobe’s most popular annual plan, CC All Apps. See the instructions here.
12+ Best Adobe Animate Alternatives
1. Krita
The Best Adobe Animate Alternative
Krita has a clean and flexible user interface. This software has a customizable layout with dark and light color themes. In addition to these, it has over 30 dockers for efficient functionality. With all these basic features, you can customize your workflow according to the specific priority of your work.
This software is simple and has powerful 2D animation tools and features. This software brings your creation to life by layering them. It is featured with onion skinning and gives excellent results in video, and audio support, and easy-to-color code.
Some of the specific features to stand as the best Adobe animate alternative is it does not offer any trials and subscriptions. It is software that allows you to create limitless without any obstacles.
Over 100 professionally preloaded brushes give a range of effects and various brush stabilizers that smoothen your brush strokes. Built-in vector tools that help you build the comic panels.
Pros |
Cons |
 100 preloaded brushes |
 Updates are unstable due to the fact that it is open source. |
| Customizable features |
|
| Layered onion skinning |
2. OpenToonz
Best Free and Open Source Animation Tool
OpenToonz can also be a perfect replacement for Adobe Animate. This open-source software includes amazing features for both professionals and beginners.
This featured ways that allow you to modify the source code however you want. Because of this feature, you can use it for your commercial projects as well.
OpenToonz is compatible with both vector images and raster images. You can modify the effects of light and change the style of pictures with the separate plugin effects that it has.
Pros |
Cons |
| Easy to learn |
Limited resources for drawing |
| Plugin effects |
|
| Customizable effects |
3. Toon Boom
Best Value Professional Animation Software
Toon Boom is a 2D animation software. Toon Boom has several programs like Harmony, Storyboard, and Producer.
-
Harmony
Harmony 20 is a 2D animation with many versions. This product also has different features for different needs. It has 3 versions of it which go like basic, advanced, and premium.
The basic version starts at $25/month with the basic animation, painting, and drawing tools.
The advanced version of it starts at $63/month and is specially designed for freelancers that include support for animation, bitmap drawing, 4k camera resolution, and more.
The premium starts at $115 which has many features and is meant for professionals with the best features for your work. The Harmony offers trial plans for all the products.
-
Storyboard
This is designed for animators, educators, videographers, storytellers, and more. It has useful features that help with drawing, scripting, creation, animation, story flows, sound effects, and more.
The product costs start at $41/month. This product covers the tools that project management would want for studios to be more efficient.
-
Producer
The Producer plan starts at $495/month for up to 10 users who can use it. It has tools that all professionals and students can use. You can track your tasks, assets, scenes, team members, and more using Producer.
If you are a professional, running a studio or educational institution and you need professional, advanced tools that are not available on Adobe Animate, Toon Boom is here for you.
Pros |
Cons |
| It has plenty of drawing and animation tools. |
The sound effects are poor. |
| It can be used by professionals as well as students. |
Pre-loaded characters are absent |
| Easy to use software |
4. Moho
Best AI Software for 2D Animation
One reason Moho is a great alternative – is its affordability. Moho is for all those looking for a cost-effective and one-time purchase option.
Whether starting your creative journey or not, this interface enables you to create 2D animations.
It shares several features with Adobe Animate, and one is its flexibility to allows artists to create dynamic and fluid motions.
Also, Moho offers precise control over keyframes and transitions, just like Animate. They both support vector-based tools that help you easily create and edit artwork.
All these and others make Moho a versatile feature set. It is definitely one-of-a-kind for independent animators, small studios, and hobbyists.
Pros |
Cons |
| Provides a lot of tools for drawing and animation. |
Advanced features may require more time and effort. |
| Accessible to both beginners and professionals. |
Fewer plug-ins and extensions. |
| One-time subscription. |
5. Pencil 2D
The Best for 2D Hand-drawn Animation
This software is especially for beginners with an intuitive interface that is easy to use. Despite being an open-source software it also comes with tutorials for beginners.
This software has powerful tools that help in producing vector and bitmap animation. It also is the Adobe Animate alternative that allows you to create color projects using pencil, pen, and brush without any difficulties.
Pencil 2D is featured in such a way that enables you to work with layers and use onion skin layering features. It lets you work with keyframes, color, and sensitivity in designing as well. It also allows you to customize your workspace according to your preferences with the help of toolbars and panels.
The special feature of this program is an uncluttered timeline that allows you to duplicate frames and create animations of your own. Professionals who are well-versed in animations can also use and create great animations in no time with this software.
Pros |
Cons |
| It is a very easy-to-use software |
Advanced animation creation tools are not efficient. |
| The open-source software that runs on all OS |
Pre-loaded templates are absent |
| No require higher graphic specification. |
6. Cacani
Best 2D Animation Software with Cel Animation
Cacani is a 2D animator that includes rich features and tools. This program is hard to learn and animate. The tweening tool helps to work with in-between frames where you need not draw every time.
Animations can be previewed directly for quick amendments. It allows you to regenerate and adjust the timing for in-between frames.
It has a vector drawing system that is unique from other software. This enables to smoothening of the curve drawing tools. It helps in achieving the quality of your 2D animation creatives. The smart auto painting feature assists in painting, the sequence of colors in animation, and choosing specific
The new features are stroke occlusion, end tapering, and rematching. The stroke occlusion helps in using the boundary and hiding the sections that are drawn and making sure all the regions are closed and painted.
Stroke end tapering makes the stroke look natural by helping you to customize the ends and intersections. Rematching helps you to make the corrections in case you find any mistakes quickly. It also has tutorials and manuals for easy learning.
These are the features that make the Cacani stand as the best alternative for the Adobe Animate. However, it is expensive.
It has various individual plans at either $20/month or $180/year. It also offers a perpetual plan that never expires for $499. Meanwhile, a team plan for 4 heads starts at $399/year while a perpetual plan for the team is $799.
Pros |
Cons |
| Drawing and painting tools |
It is a very expensive |
| Stroke rematching feature that enables correcting the of mistakes |
|
| Provides tutorials and manuals to learn |
7. Synfig Studio
The Open Source and Powerful Animation Software
Synfig Studio is a free and open-source 2D animation software that is designed and featured powerfully. This program is featured in such a way as to provide the strength for creating film-quality animation. This can be done by vector and bitmap artwork.
It allows you to create 2D animations with fewer people and resources by eliminating multiple frameworks.
Vector tweening feature that allows you to transform any vector shape into any form that you want. This software gives you the ability to control the key positions and in-between frames to be calculated automatically.
Layers and filters allow you to choose various types of geometries, gradients, filters, fractals, and transformations. The full-featured bone system allows you to create animation using bitmap and vector artwork.
The advanced control parameters of various layers can be linked directly. This allows you to advance-create character puppets and other dynamic structures.
The vector tweening, advanced features, layers, filters, and audio syncing that this software is the best that makes an excellent alternative to Adobe Animator. They also provide tutorials for an easy learning curve.
Pros |
Cons |
| Audio syncing feature |
The autosave option is not available |
| Multiple layers and filters |
8. Blender
Best Software with Rigging and Modelling Tools
Blender is a free and open-source program with an extensive number of functions. This program is widely used by game developers, digital artists, and animation lovers. Even though it is difficult for beginners to figure out all the functions and capabilities of the program, there are a lot of tutorials that could help anyone.
Blender is a powerful program that is used as a non-linear video editor. It is a collection of tools that helps with modeling, lighting, audio setup, and many more. It is also featured to create dynamic simulations.
Professionals choose this program because it has powerful assets and a toolbox for digital art. This helps them in creating professional designs and animations. These are the features that make Blender the excellent choice for Adobe Animator Alternative for professionals.
Blender is used by animators worldwide for animation productions. Adobe Animate is comparatively easier to use than Blender but Blender is an excellent choice for small-scale businesses and freelancers.
Pros |
Cons |
| Sound syncing feature |
Complicated for beginners |
| Customizing feature |
|
| Powerful assets and toolbox for digital art. |
9. Wick Editor
Best Software for creating Multi-media on the web
It is a software tool for creating animation and games. This is a free and open-source program. The advantage of Wick Editor unlike Adobe Animate is it allows you to create animations on the web and downloadable software.
The latest version of the Wick Editor is awesome features with an intuitive interface and is easy to use. This program also provides tutorials for the ones who get confused using the program on the Wick Editor website.
Wick Editor truly is a great alternative to Adobe Animate. This is the best one for the one who is looking for a program that helps to create simple animations without downloading any software.
Pros |
Cons |
| Convenient software program. |
Not compatible with mobile devices. |
| Easy to use |
|
| Tutorials are provided for a better understanding |
10. TVPaint Animation
The Best Animation and Drawing software with Traditional Tools
TVPaint Animation is licensed software that has time payment. It is very expensive than Adobe but has many features that give the best quality to drawings and art.
It gives more efficiency than Adobe Animate’s vector drawing with Bitmap drawing tools. It works on all operating systems. Adobe does not work on Android but TVPaint Animation works that help you create animations and art.
The software allows for rendering that feels the designs are very natural. This 2D animation software is featured in such a way that allows animating traditionally with bitmap technology.
It allows you to import and export videos and images easily. It has the ability to set up and customize your workspace. You can also scan the files and create digital art for the same on this software program. You can also create shortcuts and storyboards.
Adobe is easier to use but TVPaint has a bit of a learning curve involved through which the tutorials and videos are provided to educate.
Pros |
Cons |
| Have versatile drawing tools. |
The interface is dissimilar that requires a steep learning curve. |
| Powerful tools for sketching and painting |
|
| Tutorials are provided for a better understanding |
11. TupiTube
Best for Beginners with Cross-platform
TupiTube is free and open-source software. It is a 2D animation creation alternative that is completely designed completely for beginners.
It is not a complex animation creator software like Adobe animate but it is simple animation for beginners and even for children that gives a good feel of creation.
It allows you to import images and videos from the devices. This program also supports basic tweening. It has tools like vector illustration, paint bucket tool, pen, pencil tools, and a few more tools that are very easy to use.
TupiTube is completely and dedicatedly to beginners or people who have a zeal for creation and animation but do not know how to start and use complex animation software.
Pros |
Cons |
| Easy to use and perfect for beginners |
Not suitable for complex designs. |
| Tools for sketching and painting |
12. Anime Effects
Best software for 2D games
Anime Effects is available in both English and Japanese. The software is known for 2D keyframe animation that draws inspiration from Japanese animation, or anime. Through this software, you can work on free-form deformation, moving, image changing, scaling, etc. If necessary, it also allows you to remake the design.
Anime Effects is compatible with Linux, Windows, and Macintosh computers, making it user-friendly software. You can easily import the files in various formats like JPEG, PNG, PSD, etc. The major difference between Adobe Animate and this software is that Anime Effects is free. As user-friendly software, you can easily use this software for your projects.
Pros |
Cons |
| 2D keyframe animation |
Less features compared to Adobe Animate |
| Free access |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do people go for Adobe Animate alternatives?
When someone is a beginner, could not offer the Adobe Animate as it is a bit pricy, may not like the adobe layouts, maybe looking for 3D animations as well, and one who is looking for software that would be downloadable on mobile would go for Adobe Animate alternative.
Are there any alternatives that beginners can use?
There are few alternatives software for beginners and few come with tutorials which require a steep learning curve are mentioned in the list.
Can we find any free software for animation?
Yes, in this article we have listed both free and paid software.
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