First: is Eclipse Animator still free anywhere?
No. The launch window ended between October 17 and 20, 2026, and the official listing is priced at $19.99 USD (checked 2026-10-20). There is no trial, no free tier and no second free download. If you claimed the plugin during the free window, open Studio’s Plugins tab — community reports say those copies keep working, though the developers have not officially confirmed it.
Anything calling itself a “free Eclipse Animator download” is a fake. Plugins run code inside Studio, so a copied file can inject malicious scripts into your places. Details: Eclipse Animator price and free-window history.
The free options, compared
| Tool | Price | IK | Graph editor | Layers | Blender support | Collaboration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roblox Animation Editor | Free, built into Studio | Yes (Manage IK) | Yes (Curve Editor) | Not in the docs | Not in the docs | Not in the docs |
| Apex Animator | Free; developer says it will stay free | Yes (IK/FK, Auto-IK) | Yes | Yes | No Blender files yet (developer, Oct 7) | Yes: Team Create editing |
| Blender | Free, open source | Yes (IK constraint) | Yes | Yes (NLA tracks) | It is Blender; getting animation into Studio needs a bridge | Not covered here |
“Yes” means the feature appears on the tool’s own listing, announcement or docs. “Not in the docs” means we could not find it there, not that it is missing.
Which one should you pick?
Total beginner
Roblox’s Animation Editor. Nothing to install, and Roblox’s own docs walk you through it.
Closest to Eclipse
Apex Animator. A modern plugin with IK/FK, a graph editor, layers and Team Create editing — and its developer says it stays free.
Most power
Blender. Steepest learning curve, and you animate outside Studio, but nothing on this page matches its toolset.
Worth the $19.99 anyway?
If you animate cutscenes in Studio or come from Blender, see Eclipse vs Moon Animator 2 and the full five-tool comparison before deciding.
Roblox’s built-in Animation Editor
Free and already in Studio, opened from the Avatar tab. Roblox’s docs show a Manage IK window and a Curve Editor. Note that opening the Curve Editor converts the clip to a curve animation, and quaternion rotations become Euler angles that cannot be converted back. Good for beginners, emotes and tool animations.
Apex Animator
Announced on the DevForum by codedtocode on October 6, 2026 as a free plugin, with updates up to 1.6.0 (face animation) by October 15. Its post lists IK/FK with foot and hand planting, a full graph editor with Bezier handles, animation layers, face animation, and Team Create editing where several people work on one animation at once. Some extras, such as sounds and screen effects, need its optional ApexEngine runtime in your game. Watch out for: the developer said on October 7 that it does not support Moon Animator or Blender files yet.
Blender
Free, open-source 3D software with a full animation toolset: IK constraints, a Graph Editor for curves, and the NLA editor, whose tracks work like layers. You animate outside Studio and import the result, which costs you time on every change. Eclipse’s own Blender add-on is one bridge, but it pairs with the paid plugin — on its own it is not a free path into Studio.
What about Moon Animator 2?
It is not a free alternative: Moon Animator 2 by xsixx is a paid plugin that has been on the store since 2020 and runs sales. See the side-by-side comparison with Eclipse.
Install any plugin only from its official Creator Store page. “Free” copies of paid plugins shared as files are a common way to spread malicious scripts.