Yet another reason to ditch Adobe
The News
Adobe decided to add unlimited credits for powering generative AI image tools like Photoshop's Generate Fill, and 4.000 monthly credits for "premium" AI video and audio features like Generative Extend in Premiere Pro, to its new Creative Cloud Pro plan (previously named Creative Cloud All Apps plan) for users in the US, Canada, and Mexico. As a result of that, they decided to significantly bump the pre-tax monthly price for individual Creative Cloud All Apps subscribers on an annual contract from $59,99 to $69,99, or from $659,88 to $779,99 annually. Monthly prices for rolling, non-contracted subscribers will also jump from $89,99 to $104,99, and contracted prices for teams start at $99,99 per month, which is up from $89,99, and student and teacher plans will jump from $34,99 to $39,99 monthly on renewal.
This means that users on the All App subscription in the US, Canada, and Mexico will pay up to $120 more per year starting already next month, as The Verge reports.
My Thoughts
I completely ditched Adobe and all its apps already quite some time ago. I was not only fed up with their prices, but also with their incredibly bloated software. It was tedious to work in Photoshop or Illustrator. Thankfully, I found great, yes, even better alternatives as I transitioned to the Affinity Suite by Serif, replacing Adobe Photoshop with Affinity Photo, Illustrator with Affinity Designer, and InDesign with Affinity Publisher. And I made that transition in 2020, and have not looked back since then. There are even great browser-based alternatives for Adobe After Effects like Jitter, which offer everything I need.
In 2024, Canva announced that it acquired Affinity. A lot of users got worried by that, since what millions of Affinity users love about the Affinity Suite is that there is no subscription involved, you pay once and own the software. For major updates, you can then decide whether you would like to buy the new update, but you do not have to. In contrary to that, Canva's business model is to sell subscriptions. Affinity ensured users within an FAQ section as part of the acquisition announcement post, that there are no changes to the pricing model planned at the time of the acquisition, and in fact, there were no changes until today. I hope it stays like that.
Affinity has been one of the best examples of powerful and successful software built, designed, and developed by an independent team. A beautifully designed, lovely, powerful, and viable suite of creative tools. While Adobe is gatekeeping the creative field with expensive, even overpriced subscriptions to bloated, complex, and slow software, Affinity provided such powerful tools to everyone by selling them at an affordable price, as a one-time purchase.
So, with Adobe recent price hike, which gets justified because they added a bunch of AI features probably loads of users have never asked for or will never use, it will be interesting to see whether even more users will now make the switch to Affinity.
The question is though, for what price? Sure, they can grab the Affinity Suite for a one-time purchase as of now, but with Canva being the owner and driver of the business, there is a chance that we will see Affinity moving to a subscription model too. I try to be optimistic and hope that Affinity will still manage to stay true to their values, the values that acquired millions of users for them.
While Adobe's price hike is a bummer, to me it is just Adobe doing Adobe things. They think they provide more value by introducing all those AI features, and therefore, an obvious action is to increase the subscription prices for a huge group of users. This all just sounds like the usual Adobe business strategy.
Sadly.
Conclusion
The transition from Adobe's suite to Affinity's offerings has been a positive change for many users, driven by dissatisfaction with Adobe's pricing and software bloat. Affinity's one-time purchase model and powerful tools have provided a refreshing alternative, fostering a loyal user base. However, Canva's acquisition of Affinity has raised concerns about potential shifts to a subscription model, which could undermine the values that attracted users in the first place. Despite these uncertainties, Affinity remains a beacon of accessible and high-quality creative software.
Adobe's recent price hike, justified by the addition of AI features, may push more users towards Affinity, but the future pricing strategy under Canva's ownership remains a critical question. Ultimately, the hope is that Affinity will continue to prioritize its users' needs and maintain its commitment to affordable, one-time purchase software.
Till next time! 👋
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