Adobe is adjusting the pricing of its popular photography plans, a change that impacts many users who rely on Lightroom, Photoshop, and other tools for their work. This is the first price hike since 2013, so understanding what’s changing and what it means for you is important to avoid surprises or unnecessary adjustments to your workflow.
Coming to you from Matt Kloskowski, this straightforward video explains the details of Adobe’s upcoming changes. If you’re subscribed to the 20 GB Photography Plan and pay annually, your price remains at $120 per year. However, for those paying monthly, the cost will rise from $9.99 to $14.99 per month starting January 15, 2025. This increase will only take effect at the start of your next billing cycle, so it won’t hit everyone simultaneously. Kloskowski emphasizes that if you switch to annual billing before your renewal date, you can avoid the higher monthly rate altogether.
The 1 TB Photography Plan remains unchanged at $240 per year or $19.99 per month, offering the same apps and features as the 20 GB plan but with significantly more cloud storage. Similarly, those using Adobe’s standalone Photoshop plan or other app-specific subscriptions won’t see any changes to their pricing. However, the rarely used Lightroom-only plan will increase from $9.99 to $11.99 per month.
For those sticking with the 20 GB plan, Kloskowski highlights an important point: after January 15, Adobe will stop offering this plan to new subscribers. Existing users who don’t cancel will be grandfathered into the old pricing, but anyone who cancels after this date will lose access to the lower rate.
Kloskowski stresses the importance of reviewing your Adobe account before the price changes take effect. Take the time to confirm your plan type, payment schedule, and renewal date. Adjusting to annual billing is straightforward and can help you lock in the current pricing structure. For those content with the 1 TB plan or other Adobe services, no action is needed. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Kloskowski.
Adobe can't help but trip over themselves lately. Many of us have moved on to something less wallet-draining. And with investors wondering (and soon demanding) how Adobe will monetize its AI offerings, you can bet there will be another monetary "ask" soon enough should you decide you need AI assistance to complete a task within one of their applications. In these times, there is no such thing as brand loyalty for many users, and there are good alternatives. You know the old saying that "most people only use 15% of Photoshop"? Maybe you don't need the other 85% after all.
They've had their $120/year plan for 11 years now. No one else is doing that. So, a price increase is inevitable and shouldn't be so surprising. And, to be clear in case you missed it, so long as you are currently subscribed for the annual prepaid $120/year; or if you sign up for annual prepaid $120/year before Jan 15, there's no price increase.
Totally agree. I just don't understand how people nowadays think software development is free and companies don't have employees to pay. I'm sure these same people complaining about $120 a year don't work for their company for free and their company doesn't offer free services to its customers.
You make no sense. Many disagree with paying for licensing perpetually, having a company increase the cost and then paying that perpetually. It's the same reason Netflix and other had to introduce new lower-cost tiers lest they lose customers. My salary hasn't gone up 50% in the last year. I don't expect my subscriptions to either. If Adobe was smarter, they would have had smaller incremental increases over the last 11 years instead of one large jump. Just one more thing this company failed to recognize. There is much hatred for them and they have an equal amount of work to do to turn that around.
I agree with you; a software company does have to pay its employees and make some profit as well. I have an idea. They could offer a standalone version of their software and charge a fair price for it that takes into account the cost of developing it. Adobe used to do that. It would was good for their customers and it was good for them. It worked for everybody. A subscription only model means even bigger profits for the company, but no benefit for the customer that I can see. From what I'm reading though, it seems a lot of folk prefer it this way and even staunchly defend it.
Judging from all of your comments in this section, you seem like an Adobe fanboy. Look, a single $120US annual payment is tough for some financially strapped people. Now Adobe has put them in a position of having to try to come up with the money in one shot or break it up into monthly payments but pay more over the course of a year. And remember, this is $120US. In Canadian, with exchange and tax, it's $195 (or more, depending where you live) in our dollars. We treat our dollars like Americans treat theirs. So if Adobe settles on $120 as a fair price, it's not fair for us. Currency exchange plays a significant role in the perception of value in foreign countries. And as I stated, there are alternative products offering better value for some people. Adobe is not the be-all and end-all, is not a good corporate citizen (hence the lawsuit brought on by the US government) and does more to anger clients than appease them (hence the downfall of Premier Pro in favour of FCP and Davinci Resolve).
--- "Judging from all of your comments in this section, you seem like an Adobe fanboy."
Nope. I'm just a realist and use whatever tool I can afford that does what I need. Also, I'm looking to dump Adobe if Evoto ever adds the features I need. And, even if I do dump Adobe, I still would defend them, as well as other companies, from misinformation and disgruntled people overreacting.
--- "Look, a single $120US annual payment is tough for some financially strapped people."
Listen, it's not Adobe's fault some people are financially strapped. To be honest, I call BS on the "financially strapped" excuse.
--- "Now Adobe has put them in a position of having to try to come up with the money in one shot or break it up into monthly payments but pay more over the course of a year."
I've always thought the monthly plan was pretty dumb because when all is said and done, $120 would have been paid in 12 months. So, just pay the full amount and not worry about payments for a year. It's $120, not $120,000.
--- "My salary hasn't gone up 50% in the last year. I don't expect my subscriptions to either."
What color is the sun in your world? Surely, you cannot be this delusional and entitled. You actually expect companies to base their pricing on your salary? Or, that you expect a raise whenever companies raise their prices. Lol, this guy.
--- "If Adobe was smarter, they would have had smaller incremental increases over the last 11 years instead of one large jump."
It's been over a decade, we're past that. It worked out for them the way they did it.
When you sign up to a subscription you are at the mercy of that company. They can increase their charges as much as they like and whenever they like. The only option you have as a customer is to try and cancel your subscription. But what if the company makes it extremely difficult to cancel your subscription? Subscription models work wonders for the company's profits, but where are the benefits for us customers? What is the attraction in paying out year after year and never owning anything? If you are a professional photographer, you can pass on these costs to your clients, but for amateurs who only use the software once in a while, it's a really bad deal.
Soooo, you don't have a monthly Internet bill, or mobile phone bill or monthly TV streaming service bill or monthly utility bill? Aren't you at the mercy of these as well? What's the difference?
The difference is that once upon a time I could own a copy of Photoshop, or Lightroom to keep and use as long as I wanted. Then the company realised it was much more lucrative for them to switch to subscription only. However, it has never been possible to own the internet or a mobile phone service. These have always been by subscription only. I'm curious to know why anyone would want to defend the subscription model, unless they were a shareholder in the company.
Well, once upon a time, travel was by horse and buggy and it took forever to get somewhere and TV was in 4:3 format and it was crappy and Internet was via dial up and it was super slow and cameras only had 1 to 2 megapixels. So do you want to go back to that?
I agree with Andrew's comments. Also, people regularly seek alternatives to their ISP, cell provider and TV service once the cost reaches a perceived breaking point. Exactly why people move to IPTV (a small fraction of the cost and thousands of channels), dumb their phones down to no data in favour of WiFi and seek a third party ISP (and cell) who uses the main providers' infrastructure but at a less expensive cost. It's entirely possible to price yourself out of business - and Adobe is not keeping their investors happy. They are in a continuing freefall. Their stock is down 25.49% in the last year. They don't need business model defenders. They need solutions that simultaneously placate their customers and their investors.
I often see things from a different angle maybe because of the job I do. I have to be quite philosophical about things. It just comes with training. If your beer goes up by three dollars which it has, do you continue to buy that beer? You probably would........ If the price of fuel goes up which hey that has gone up a lot, do you continue to drive your car? Well you kinda have to don't you?...... Everything in the last five years has gone up the price of everything is more expensive now travel when the airline puts your flights up. Do you still go on holidays? Yes you do. You don't hear anyone complaining about that though...... the average loaf of bread in Australia now is five or six dollars a few years ago. It was only two dollars. The price of tomatoes is now $10 a kilo but I still buy my tomatoes if my editing software goes up by a few dollars. I'm not gonna chuck the dummy and cry and moan a bitch and leave the company because the software goes up a little bit. most things in photography have become more expensive. I'm not going to leave my Lightroom subscription because it may go up by three dollars a month which is $36 for the year. I will just find out $36 in my budget somewhere. do you rent a house or do you own a house? If you're renting a house that is essentially a subscription and I guarantee you at some point your rent will go up because that's what happens again. I'm just giving examples of things that are going up and even if you buy a house, you have to pay interest. That's just reality. That's the world we live in now things are going up. You can cry and bitch and moan about it or you just find the money in your budget. I stop buying takeaway coffee. I stop buying takeaway sandwiches and I don't drink alcohol roughly that saves me probably $75-$80 a week out of a normal Budget. I will buy my shoes secondhand. I will buy clothing secondhand from op shop's. I will do whatever I can to save money. I will also then see if I can make a little bit more money out of my small photography. Business get creative people stop whingeing about the problem and get creative.
Yes, everything has been going up. No, things have not gone up 50% year-over-year like the Photography plan has. And regarding holidays, people have cut back on that perk - especially Canadians who are struggling with a near-50% American currency exchange (with fees). And since most global travel destinations base their fees and bookings in American currency, well that's great for Americans but doesn't mean the rest of the world is still travelling like they did in 2019. Not much you can do about food price increases other than create and live in your own homestead. We have to eat. But for likely a sizable percentage of their customers, Adobe subscriptions are not a need - they are a want. Wants are disposable.
Well as a professional photographer, my workflow revolves around Lightroom and the tools that it has so I'm not gonna change because that would ultimately cost me more money. I had to play with capture one and I hated it. It was clunky and slow and not intuitive so I stick with Lightroom. I'm okay with the subscription model because it is what it is. I can save $100 a month on other things and that's what I'll do. I'm very good at saving money. In fact there is a great book called the barefoot investor it's written by an Australian guy google it and buy that book and you'll be saving yourself a lot of money and then you won't be complaining about Adobe.
You're implying I'm skint. I'm not.
No 👎 jusy saying saving money is easy and its iften changing a few simple things
If Adobe were to release a standalone version of Lightroom, so that I could could purchase a copy to own and keep, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I would buy it, even if it cost more than the subscription version. For me it's not about the amount of money at all and never has been. It's about the principle; which is an entirely different matter. In fact, I ended up buying a standalone copy of Capture One, which cost me a lot more. I don't complain at all. I simply choose to spend my money on a rival company's product.
--- "In fact, I ended up buying a standalone copy of Capture One, which cost me a lot more. I don't complain at all."
If you are content with something else, then why do you continue to complain about Adobe? You make it sound as though you were in a bad breakup and you still can't let go, even when you are seeing someone new. :)
Until recently, the "manage your account " option on the Adobe website allowed users to change how they paid. I have spent some time trying to do just that, but the only "manage" option left is to close your account. They have chosen to prevent us from avoiding the price hike.
--- "They have chosen to prevent us from avoiding the price hike."
Sounds like user error to me. It wouldn't make sense for them to prevent you from changing plans because it would also prevent you from upgrading plans. Did you even try to contact their support?
According to their link:
https://helpx.adobe.com/manage-account/using/change-plan.html
"Don't see Change your plan? The option isn't available if we're processing your payment or had a problem with it. Try again in 24 hours."
https://helpx.adobe.com/manage-account/kb/fix-failed-missed-payment.html
For years I have wanted to get Photoshop and Lightroom, but $10 a month was just something I could never afford. But things have started to pick up a bit for me, financially, so I have been thinking that maybe I can pull it off sometime in the near future. But this bad news just makes these hopes come crashing down on me. It has taken me many years to get to the point where I could consider spending $10 a month on editing software .... and now that I am finally approaching that point, they jack the price up to $15 a month. I honestly don't think I will ever be able to afford this software, if they keep raising it every decade or so. I only have about 25 years left to live, and will soon be on social security of $600 / month. If the plan rises to $15 a month, looking forward, I just don't see any scenario in which I will be able to afford it before death comes a-knocking at my door.
It's $.50 a day I don't think that's unreasonable for editing software
You're right - it isn't unreasonable. However, just because something is reasonable doesn't mean that I can afford it. When I needed a car because mine got totaled, there were a lot of really good used cars for $5,500 ...... that was a very reasonable price, but I couldn't come anywhere near being able to afford it. My budget was a very firm $3,200. Right now I can afford $8/month for editing software - which is finally getting really close to the current $10 price. But just when I am almost up to the required amount, they change the game on me.
I understand 👍..reality is companies up prices 😕
Keep going mate
Try and sell some images
What, don't have the stomach to face the comments ?
Are you referring to my comment? I will standby what I said for the Lightroom package that I have it's $.50 a day I can afford that and I don't think it's unreasonable. In fact I think it's bloody cheap.
Paul,
Who are you writing to when you ask that?