Adobe Animate vs FlipaClip
Adobe Animate and FlipaClip side by side, as of September 2026: what each one costs, what it's made for, and when smooth.video, a free animation tool that runs in your browser with no account, does the job instead.
Adobe Animate vs FlipaClip at a glance
| Adobe Animate | FlipaClip | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial | Free with ads, FlipaClip Plus to remove them | Free, no paid plan |
| Account | Adobe account required | Not needed | Not needed |
| How you animate | Frame-by-frame drawing, tweens, bone rigging | Frame by frame: draw every frame, with onion skin | Presets and keyframes on one timeline |
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Adobe Animate and FlipaClip before you decide.
Adobe Animate
- Install
- Desktop app for Windows and macOS
- Development
- Maintenance mode: fixes, no new features
- Interactive output
- HTML5 Canvas, WebGL, SVG, sprite sheets
- Photoshop files
- PSD and Illustrator layers imported
When Adobe Animate fits better
You draw frame by frame, rig characters with bones, or deliver interactive HTML5 Canvas content, games or sprite sheets. smooth.video does none of that.
Adobe Animate vs smooth.videoFlipaClip
- Watermark
- On the free version
- Platform
- iPhone, iPad, Android, Chromebook and Apple silicon Macs
- Drawing
- Brushes, layers and stylus support
- Export size
- Up to 1920×1920 with Plus
- Transparent export
- GIF and PNG sequence
When FlipaClip fits better
You want to draw: a character that walks, a flipbook, a rotoscoped clip, frame after frame with a stylus and onion skin. smooth.video has no frame-by-frame drawing.
FlipaClip vs smooth.videoWhen smooth.video fits better
You used Animate for banners, animated logos or social posts, you'd rather not pay for a tool that no longer gets new features, and your animation is made of text, images and shapes that move rather than drawings.
You're on a computer, and your animation is things that move rather than drawings that change: a title, a logo, a sticker, a photo, a character cut into pieces that slide and turn.
Open the editorStart from a template
See all 172 templatesQuestions
- Is Adobe Animate discontinued?
- No. Adobe announced its end in February 2026 and reversed the decision the next day: Animate stays available, with security and bug fixes but no new features.
- Can I open .fla files?
- No. Export your artwork from Animate as PNG images, then animate them in smooth.video.
- Can I make HTML5 banner ads?
- Not as HTML5: smooth.video exports video, GIF and images. Where an ad slot takes a GIF or an MP4, a banner made here works.
- Is there a FlipaClip for PC?
- FlipaClip is made for phones, tablets, Chromebooks and Apple silicon Macs, with no official web or Windows version. smooth.video runs in a recent browser, on Windows too.
- Can I draw in smooth.video?
- Yes, with a simple brush: the drawing becomes an image you can move, scale, rotate and fade. You can't draw a different picture on every frame.
- Is there a watermark?
- No, and there are no ads.