Ena/VASP proteins are actin-binding proteins that localize to actin stress fibres, the tips of filopodia and the lamellipodial leading edge. In the past few years, a number of seemingly conflicting studies have confused the Ena/VASP field, pointing to roles for these proteins in both promotion and inhibition of actin-dependent processes. Recent discoveries resolve these contradictions and suggest a novel mechanism of Ena/VASP function, in which the proteins function as 'anti-capping' proteins that antagonize capping proteins at the barbed end of actin filaments.