Animation Desk® Ultimate vs ARIVE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Animation Desk® Ultimate
Create frame-by-frame animations from scratch or over existing media. This app offers a robust set of drawing tools, layer support, and various export options for your animated projects. It's designed for both beginners and experienced animators.
- Frame-by-frame animation creation
- Import Photoshop layers (PSD)
- Animate over videos and images
- Advanced drawing tools and brushes
- Onion skinning with color-coding
- Multiple export formats (video, GIF, PDF, PSD)
- Add music to animations
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Dream big with Animation Desk. Draw frame-to-frame animation from scratch, or create animations upon videos, images, Photoshop layers. Animation Desk supports multiple export formats. Create animation on your iPad and iPhone with Animation Desk. AWARDS - Featured in Top100 iPad Entertainment apps in 86 App Stores - Featured by Apple on iTunes Home Page - Featured by Yahoo Tech - Featured by TechCrunch - Recommended by EdTech Impact, Edshelf, EducationalAppStore.com, All about apps in YOUR classroom, iPad Educators CREATE ANIMATION • Import Photoshop layers (PSD) • Make animation over videos and pictures • Create animations with a different aspect ratio, FPS, and duration DRAWING TOOLS • Brushes and Erasers • Custom Brush • Onion skin • Color-coded onion skinning • Selection tools • Layers • Color palettes for developing and managing color schemes • Caption* • Perfect with Apple Pencil 1,2, Wacom and Adonit styli HELPFUL TOOLS • Frame tags • Ruler tools • Frame viewer and timeline • Zoom-in and zoom-out • Canvas rotation EXPORT • Export individual frame into image • Export videos • Export PSD layers, PDF, and GIF (up to 640x480 px), PDF* • Export video with different aspect of ratio • Add music to the animations • Combine multiple animation sequences into an animatic storyboard CAN WE GIVE A HAND? Got a question? Contact us at helpdesk@kdanmobile.com or check out http://support.kdanmobile.com Term of Use: https://www.kdanmobile.com/en/terms_of_service Privacy Policies: https://www.kdanmobile.com/en/privacy_policy
ARIVE
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【ARIVEについて】 ARIVE(アライブ)は、ダンサー・パフォーマー向けのARフィルターアプリで、 スマホ一台で、リアルタイムでパフォーマンスに様々なエフェクトを付け加えることができます。 ARIVEには ・水墨画風のARフィルター ・人の体を検知し、手に電流を走らせるARフィルター ・ダークな世界観を表現したARフィルター 等といったフィルターが搭載されており、録画機能も付いているため、 フィルター越しにダンスすることで、まるで映像ソフトで編集したかのような動画を手軽に撮影することができます。 ARIVEは、XRクリエイティブレーベル「XR JAPAN」により制作されたARアプリケーションです。 【XR JAPANについて】 XR JAPANは、 "表現の限界を超える"をコンセプトに活動するクリエイティブレーベルで、 世界レベルのパフォーマーと最高峰のXR・3DCGクリエイターで構成されています。 AR/VRをはじめとした様々なテクノロジーを使い、 ダンスやフリースタイルフットボールなどのパフォーマンスを拡張しています。 ◆SNSアカウント・お問い合わせ ・Twitter: https://twitter.com/xr_japan ・Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xr_japan/ ・Web Site: https://xr-japan.jp/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ARIVE at Free against Animation Desk® Ultimate's $9.99. ARIVE also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10). Animation Desk® Ultimate's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 9 months) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 13.0). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
ARIVE is free to download; Animation Desk® Ultimate costs $9.99 up front. Animation Desk® Ultimate sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. ARIVE asks for nothing beyond the download.
Animation Desk® Ultimate ships an update monthly, ARIVE every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and December 5, 2025 respectively.
| Parameter | Animation Desk® Ultimate | ARIVE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (299 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 39.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 299 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 374 MB | 105 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kdan Mobile Software LTD | Hideki Fushiki |
Bugs and requests
Animation Desk® Ultimate
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frames randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
- Layers merging unexpectedly or not behaving as expected
- Crashes when trying to import certain media files
- Onion skin and playback issues causing problems
Requested features
5 requests- Add more brush customization options
- Improve the timeline and layer management tools
- Implement a better undo/redo system
- Allow importing and syncing of audio for lip-syncing
- Provide more export options beyond just video
ARIVE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Animation Desk® Ultimate
- Kdan Cloud$2.991 Month
- All Access Pack-1 Month3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Kdan Cloud$9.991 Year
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- All Access Pack-3 Months3 Days trial$19.993 Months
- All Access Pack - 1 Year7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- 10 Kdan Credits$0.99
- 100 Kdan Credits$7.99
- 200 Kdan Credits$15.99
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- 500 Kdan Credits$37.99
- 1000 Kdan Credits$59.99
ARIVE
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Animation Desk® Ultimate free?
Is ARIVE free?
Do Animation Desk® Ultimate or ARIVE have ads?
Which is updated more often, Animation Desk® Ultimate or ARIVE?
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