EZGIF vs Adobe Animate
EZGIF and Adobe Animate 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.
- Free
- No signup
- No watermark
EZGIF vs Adobe Animate at a glance
| EZGIF | Adobe Animate | smooth.video | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, with ads | US$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial | Free |
| Account | Not needed | Adobe account required | Not needed |
- Price
- EZGIFFree, with ads
- Adobe AnimateUS$22.99 a month on an annual plan, 7-day free trial
- smooth.videoFree
- Account
- EZGIFNot needed
- Adobe AnimateAdobe account required
- smooth.videoNot needed
As of September 2026. Plans change, so check those of EZGIF and Adobe Animate before you decide.
EZGIF
- Watermark
- Never
- Makes a GIF from
- An uploaded video or a set of images
- Moving text
- Text shown on a range of frames, without motion
- Where your files go
- Uploaded to its servers, kept up to an hour after last use
- Compression and optimization
- Yes: lossy, fewer colors, fewer frames, target file size
- Format conversion
- GIF, WebP, APNG, AVIF, MP4, WebM and more
When EZGIF fits better
You already have the GIF or the clip and need to do something to it: cut it, change its speed, reverse it, shrink it under a size limit, or convert it to WebP, APNG or AVIF. smooth.video makes GIFs; it doesn't edit, compress or convert them.
EZGIF vs smooth.videoAdobe Animate
- Install
- Desktop app for Windows and macOS
- 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 has no frame-by-frame drawing, no bones and no HTML5 output.
Adobe Animate vs smooth.videoWhen smooth.video fits better
The GIF doesn't exist yet: an animated headline for an email, a badge for a website, a demo for a README. You want to build it from text and images, make things move, and keep your files on your computer.
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.
Open the editor- Free, full stop
- No plan, no trial, no credits, no export limit.
- No account
- Open the page and the editor is already there.
- Nothing is uploaded
- Your files are read and rendered by your own browser.
- No watermark
- Every export is clean, at any size, 4K included.
Start from a template
See all 203 templatesOpen one, change the words, export. Every element stays editable.
Questions
Can I compress a GIF in smooth.video?
No. A short GIF with a modest size and few colors stays light; to shrink it further, run the exported file through a GIF optimizer such as EZGIF's.
Can I turn a video into a GIF?
Yes. Add the video to the scene, put text or stickers on top if you like, and export the whole thing as a GIF.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Everything, the GIF export included, runs in your browser, so your images and videos never leave your computer.
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.
Or skip the decision.
smooth.video is free, opens in a tab and exports without a watermark. Try it while you compare.
Open the editor- Free
- No signup
- No watermark