Adobe Animate vs. Adobe Express

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Animate
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Animate (or Animate CC) supports but replaces the former Adobe Flash, and allows users to design interactive animations for games, TV shows, and the web. With it, the vendor states users can bring cartoons and banner ads to life, create animated doodles and avatars, and add action to eLearning content and infographics. With Animate, users can publish to multiple platforms in many formats, and reach viewers on any screen.
$20.99
per month
Adobe Express
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
The vendor states Adobe Spark allows users to create beautiful graphics, web pages, and video stories in minutes, offering free themes, fonts, and images, as well as editing. Imagery assembled or created can be presented through Spark Post, Spark Page, and Spark Video. Adobe Spark is available through a Creative Cloud subscription, free with the Starter Plan, or on a single product license via the Team or Individual plan.
$0
Pricing
Adobe AnimateAdobe Express
Editions & Modules
Annual Plan, Paid Monthly
$20.99
per month
Monthly Plan
$31.49
per month
Annual Plan, Prepaid
$239.88
per year
Free
$0.00
Premium
$9.99 / $99.99
Monthly / Annual, prepaid
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AnimateAdobe Express
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AnimateAdobe Express
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Adobe AnimateAdobe Express
Small Businesses
Autodesk Maya
Autodesk Maya
Score 8.4 out of 10
iMovie
iMovie
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Blender
Blender
Score 9.2 out of 10
iMovie
iMovie
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe After Effects
Adobe After Effects
Score 8.9 out of 10
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AnimateAdobe Express
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(28 ratings)
9.1
(45 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(2 ratings)
9.4
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(10 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(6 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AnimateAdobe Express
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
Scenarios where Adobe Animate is well suited:2D animation for web, mobile, and video games: Adobe Animate is well suited for creating 2D animations for web, mobile, and video games. With its vector-based drawing tools, bone rigging, and inverse kinematics features, it's easy to create smooth, scalable graphics and realistic movement.Scenarios where Adobe Animate is less appropriate:Complex 3D animation: Adobe Animate is primarily a 2D animation software, and while it does have some basic 3D features, it is not as robust as specialized 3D animation software like Autodesk Maya or Blender.
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Adobe
Well, again, I think Adobe Express is a smaller version of the software stuff from the Creative Cloud. We have Illustrator, Photoshop, and in Design, which are full applications, and Adobe Express being a smaller platform gives us a lot of ability to create things fast and just to create, especially towards our video and our animation, easier than doing it in the whole program.
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Pros
Adobe
  • The adaptability of what Adobe Animate can do makes it so helpful. You can accomplish something basic like make a ball bob on-screen over certain letters prior to showing your logo, or something more mind-boggling like building up a vivified short to show.
  • Utilizing Adobe Animate recordings on sites is typical, so individuals are accustomed to seeing it and have the essential modules introduced as of now.
  • The records are little, and the pressure is extremely smooth. This aids in the event that you are attempting to send substance to cell phones or essentially keep your site impression little to guarantee quick stacking times.
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Adobe
  • Out-of-the-box templates save a lot of time and effort for designers and new users.
  • Collaboration to share resources and monitor task status centrally.
  • Great design elements bring a wow factor to digital content.
  • Single design tool for all types of content design.
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Cons
Adobe
  • There are too many updates and they are constantly popping up - especially during the middle of a projects, which causes me to shut down the application and restart the program. Wastes time.
  • There is no mobile browser or device support. Limits a lot of projects - especially apps.
  • Flash player can require a lot of RAM and battery
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Adobe
  • Canva has a better interface, in my opinion... I like that this one is friendly to Adobe users, but I would likely recommend Canva to someone who's never used design software for a complete beginner.
  • Removing the background from images doesn't always work well. I almost always need to switch to Photoshop for this.
  • The touch screen interface could be better; graphics on mobile apps are tough in general but specifically, the iPad interface could use some improvement.
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Usability
Adobe
Adobe Animate is difficult to learn because its totally different from the other animation tools but one thing for sure if you want to build a quality on industry standards then Adobe Animate is your knight in shining armour. so using Adobe Animate is easy but you have to spend a lot of time learning it and practicing it. their ui is more like a design software with added keyframes. but if you know your way to work it will be a legend to work with.
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Adobe
The overall usability of the software was strong. The application, especially relative to other Adobe services like Photoshop that can demand a lot of knowledge and skill, was highly easy to use. At the same time, that also speaks to the somewhat limited amount of customization opportunities that allow content designers to truly create content that is dynamic, engaging, and different than the standard stuff that floods our vision every day.
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Support Rating
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Adobe
Because adobe is so widespread the community support is amazing. I have never actually used adobe support short of their website, but I go to youtube a lot to get my questions answered. You can google any problem you have and not have any issues finding an answer. In my opinion, community support is much more meaningful and helpful than support directly from the company
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
Adobe Animate was always the preferred software as the support was much better than the competition. And the ease of rendering was also a deciding factor. Results with character animations are much more crisp with Adobe Animate than in any other 2d based animation software.
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Adobe
I started on Adobe Spark / Adobe Express before ever trying Figma nad Canva. I tried them after being told how great the were by colleagues and honestly felt like they were cheesy and less adult. The final product didn't feel as polished and the user experience was lackluster. I will never stray from Adobe again.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Adobe
Adobe Creative Cloud Express is included with an Adobe Creative Cloud account. Our company has a corporate team membership so it is nice to have a professional and powerful tool that anyone on our team can use for free. The pricing structure of giving the tool away for free will be fundamental to users utilizing the tool. Similar tools, such as Canva, cost significantly more but do not offer the same features
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Professional Services
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Adobe
The professional services for Adobe Creative Cloud Express is top notch and should be highly commended. I am thoroughly impressed with how far Adobe has come. In the past, I had several issues with how something were handled, but in the past few years things have been better than ever and they get no complaints from me
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Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Negative, anyone who spent time learning the program now feels sad that it's going away.
  • Animation that was done on Flash but can now be made with Toon Boom or even Adobe After Effects.
  • On the plus side, since it's an Adobe product, you can rent it instead of buying the full license. That means potentially people could use it for a little longer without having to shell out as much money.
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Adobe
  • I started with the free version, but I soon found that I was unable to save my custom templates.
  • With the paid plan, The number of templates and art work are greatly increased.
  • Using this subscription was a timesaver, thus saving in creative time.
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ScreenShots

Adobe Express Screenshots

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