Adobe Creative Cloud - A subscription that rules them all
The End of Perpetual Licenses
Until now, if you wanted to use After Effects, Photoshop, or any other Adobe application legally, you had several options:
- Purchase a permanent license (for the current version) of a single application (€1,434 including tax for After Effects)
- Purchase a Creative Suite bundle with multiple applications (€2,510 including tax for Production Premium)
- Be a student and benefit from educational pricing (€417 for CS Production Premium)
- Subscribe to a monthly plan for each app (€107/month for After Effects)
Creative Cloud — one subscription, everything included
With its new offer, Creative Cloud, Adobe is introducing a new business model based on a monthly subscription at a competitive price:
$50/month for two machines
Taxes will apply depending on your region, but the cost shouldn’t exceed €50. And for that price, you’ll get:
All Creative Suite applications — and more:
Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, etc. — all the Creative Suite applications will be available in their desktop, locally installed versions.
The term “Cloud” refers mainly to the new online services — don’t worry, After Effects isn’t about to run in your browser just yet.
As a bonus, applications that were previously sold separately are now included in your subscription: Lightroom (starting with version 4), as well as Muse and Edge for web design and development.
More applications will be added over time, as Adobe plans to expand and improve the service continuously.
Always up to date — new features as they’re ready
Creative Cloud subscribers will always have access to the latest version of their applications.
If you disliked the high upgrade prices (€836 for a CS4 to CS5.5 upgrade, for example), you’ll be glad to know updates are included in the subscription.
The cost of upgrades is built into the plan, and new versions will be available at no extra charge.
Even better — new features will be released as soon as they’re ready, without waiting 18 months for a new suite release.
New tablet applications
A series of apps designed for tablets will also be included: Photoshop Touch, Ideas, Collage, and more — all to help improve your workflow.
You can find out more about these on the Touch Apps page.
New cloud-based services
- File synchronization across all your devices (PCs, Macs, tablets)
- 20 GB of online storage, accessible anywhere
- Access to the Typekit web font library
- Business Catalyst for website hosting
- Publishing tools for editors via the Digital Publishing Suite
Access to community resources and online support
A new website will launch for Creative Cloud members, allowing you to get help, share knowledge, and connect with others through built-in social features.
When will it be available?
Creative Cloud will launch later this year, alongside Creative Suite 6.
Personally, I think Adobe is moving in a very positive direction with this new model — it’s truly affordable compared to previous pricing.
Also, cheaper plans will be available if you don’t need every single app, and team plans are in the works too.
I find this offer particularly attractive for newcomers in the creative field, as it requires only a small initial investment to access a complete, professional-grade suite legally. Plus, that investment can easily pay for itself with your first project of the month.
Less spending, more tools
Honestly, I think the offer is fair for what it provides (unless you’re one of those professionals who never updates their software — which I really wouldn’t recommend).
- A simple 2-year calculation with Creative Suite Production Premium: €2,510
And for that price, you don’t get free upgrades — and yet there’s likely to be at least one new version released in that time. - With Creative Cloud, over 2 years: $1,200
And during that time, you’ll have access to many more tools and all the updates released along the way.
It would take over four years of subscription payments to spend as much as one Production Premium license (which isn’t upgradable and doesn’t include all apps). And that’s assuming you never upgrade your suite in four years...
All in all, I find this offer genuinely exciting — and I can’t wait to see it fully rolled out.
What about you — will you subscribe? ;)
About the author
I am the Founder of Mattrunks. I work as Creative Director and Motion Designer in my studio. I also create video tutorials to share my passion of motion.