Adobe Animate vs LottieFiles

Adobe Animate and LottieFiles 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.

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Adobe Animate vs LottieFiles at a glance

Adobe AnimateLottieFilessmooth.video
PriceUS$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trialFree plan, then paid plans billed yearlyFree, no paid plan

As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of Adobe Animate and LottieFiles before you decide.

Adobe Animate

Install
Desktop app for Windows and macOS
Account
Adobe account required
Development
Maintenance mode: fixes, no new features
How you animate
Frame-by-frame drawing, tweens, bone rigging
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.video

LottieFiles

Output
Lottie and dotLottie, plus MP4, WebM, MOV and GIF
Where your files live
In your LottieFiles workspace
Video and audio in the scene
No
Interactive state machines
Yes
Lottie players for apps and websites
Yes
After Effects and Figma plugins
Yes

When LottieFiles fits better

The animation ships inside an app or a website and should stay tiny, sharp at any size, recolourable with themes, or interactive. That's what Lottie is for, and smooth.video doesn't export it.

LottieFiles vs smooth.video

When 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.

The animation goes in a video, a social post, an email or a presentation rather than in an app: a logo reveal, a Reel, an animated banner, a lower third. You want a video file, maybe with photos or footage in it.

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Questions

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.
Can smooth.video open or export Lottie files?
Neither. It imports images, video, audio and layered PSD files, and exports video, GIF and images.
Can I use photos and video in my animation?
Yes. Add images, video clips and audio to the scene next to your text and shapes.
Do I need an account?
No. Your projects stay in your browser, and you can save any of them as a .smooth file.