Anyone silly enough to be subscribing to use Adobe apps will now have to pay even more for the "privilege". :-\
Adobe hikes Creative Cloud prices with a rebrand no one asked for
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Adobe jacks up prices for same tools with a shiny new label
Adobe's new "Creative Cloud Pro" plan now comes with a new name,
a bigger bill, and not much else. Here's how the price tiers
compare in May 2025.
Adobe has just announced that it will jump prices on its Creative
Cloud All Apps plan - and gave it a bit of a rebrand in the
process. At a time when everything is becoming more expensive,
the move seems, at best, poorly timed.
Starting June 17, Adobe will jack up prices for access to its
Creative Cloud subscription, and prices will go into effect upon
a user's next renewal date. Here's what you can expect.
The cost of Adobe Creative Cloud Pro
For the average individual, that is someone who doesn't receive a
license through their employer or school, the price increases are
as follows:
- Monthly: $104.99 per month
- Annual, billed monthly: $69.99 per month
- Annual, prepaid: $779.99 per year
That's a significant increase over the previous pricing - about
16.7% for the monthly and annual, billed monthly plans, and 18%
for the annual prepaid plans.
For students and teachers, the pricing structure is as follows:
- New users, annual, billed monthly: $29.99 per month
- New users, annual, prepaid: $359.88 per year
- Renewing users, annual, billed monthly:$39.99 per month
- Renewing users, annual, prepaid: $479.88 per year
Students and teachers do not appear to have the option to pay
month-to-month, so you'll automatically be opted into a 12-month
contract.
And yes, all these prices are before taxes.
Creative Cloud Pro features
So, what does Adobe Creative Cloud "Pro" get you, besides a more
expensive bill? The answer is, unfortunately, "not that much."
It is essentially the same plan you were paying for before, but
$10 more expensive per month. So, it's ostensibly just a flat
price increase.
If you're unfamiliar with what is included, here's a quick
recap:
- Full access to 20+ desktop apps, including Photoshop,
Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, and more
- Full access to mobile apps, including Photoshop,
Lightroom, Illustrator, Acrobat, and Fresco.
- Unlimited access to "standard" generative features,
like generative fill
- 4,000 credits per month for "premium" generative
features, like generative video and audio
- Firefly Boards (in beta), allowing you to create
multiple concept boards
- Choice to use non-Adobe AI models like OpenAI GPT,
Google, Imagen and Veo, and Flux
- 100GB of cloud storage, plus options for higher
storage plans
Introducing: Creative Cloud "Standard"
Adobe seems to recognize that the jump from $59.99 to $69.99
per month is significant - after all, it adds on an extra
$120 a year, before taxes. To soften the blow, Adobe has
decided to give users a choice.
Current subscribers can downgrade their subscriptions -
though Adobe does not call it downgrading - to "Creative Cloud
Standard." This plan is actually a little less than the current
cost of the All Apps plan:
- Monthly: $82.49 per month
- Annual, billed monthly: $54.99 per month
- Annual, prepaid: $599.88 per year
It's not without compromise, though. This plan strips out most
of the AI features, which might be seen as a plus by many
artists.
However, it also removes access to all mobile apps - something
that was included in the All Apps plan before - except for
Acrobat Mobile. So, if you liked Fresco, Photoshop on iPad, or
Illustrator on iPad, you won't be able to use them if you
downgrade to "Creative Cloud Standard."
Update: Adobe has since revised its policy on who can use Adobe
Creative Cloud Standard. All individuals, whether new or
existing customers, will have the option of using Creative
Cloud Standard plan. Existing individuals are able to swap
plans now.
Currently, new customers will need to talk to Adobe customer
support via chat, as it is currently not integrated into the
system. A self-service option for new customers should be
available by May 23.
Teachers and students do not have the option to use Creative
Cloud Standard.
Annual vs Annual, billed monthly vs Monthly plans
Before you pull the trigger on purchasing a plan, it's important
to understand how each plan works. This is crucial, as Adobe has
never made it particularly clear.
Adobe has three tiers of pricing for some of its plans: Monthly;
annual, billed monthly; and annual, prepaid. Here's what each of
those plans means.
Monthly:
This is exactly what it sounds like - the cost you'll
pay, each month, to access Adobe's apps. This is the
most expensive plan on a monthly basis by far.
The benefit is that you can cancel at any point with
no fees - something that Adobe is well-known for.
However, the cost can be so prohibitively expensive
that users may feel pushed into purchasing the
"Annual, billed monthly" plan.
Annual, billed monthly:
This is the plan that typically gets people into
trouble, vis-a-vis fees. This plan allows you to
split your one-year contract into twelve equal
payments.
However, if at some point you decide that you
don't want to - or can't afford to - pay that
much, Adobe will charge you an early termination
fee. Currently, the early termination fee is 50%
of the remaining contract obligation.
It also kicks in very early - you have 14 days to
decide whether or not you want to continue paying.
If you try to cancel on day 15 or later, you'll
get slapped with that fee.
This plan is pricey in its own right, but may be
the only viable option for creatives who can't pay
for a yearly
Annual, prepaid:
If you want to pay a single, lump sum for your
Adobe subscription, they make that option
available to you as well. While this is the
cheapest option in terms of overall cost, many
creatives find it hard to drop hundreds of
dollars upfront.
Of course, if you cancel your plan after
14 days, you don't get a refund, either.
Not the only price increase
While this marks Adobe's most recent price increase, it's not
the only price increase of the year.
In January, Adobe also changed the pricing on its Adobe
Creative Cloud Photography (20GB) plan - sort of. For those
who paid monthly for an annual subscription saw the price
jump from $9.99 to $14.99.
However, if you pay for a 12-month Adobe Creative Cloud
Photography (20GB) plan, you'll still pay $119.88 upfront -
so there's no price increase in that regard.
The Lightroom-only plan also saw an increase from $9.99 to
$11.99 per month.
Death of Adobe Mobile bundle
To make matters worse, Adobe has killed off its $15
Mobile-only bundle subscription, which means iPad-only
designers will now need to pay more than $70 to use the iPad
apps, even if they never plan on using a desktop version of
any software. That's a 367% increase.
It appears that you can still pay for individual mobile apps
via in-app purchases at anywhere between $8 and $10 per month
per app. It is unclear whether those who have the Adobe
mobile-only bundle subscriptions will be allowed to stay on
after June 17.
It's worth pointing out - again - that the Affinity universal
license costs $164.99. For those who will miss Adobe Fresco,
Procreate is a one-time purchase of $12.99 for the iPad and
$5.99 for Procreate Pocket, the iPhone version.
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