Adobe's recent shift toward the AI-focused Creative Cloud Pro plan makes now an ideal moment for photographers to reconsider their reliance on Adobe products. With the company automatically migrating subscribers to this pricier tier starting June 17, 2025, costs for individuals on annual plans are increasing from $60 to $70 monthly, and from $90 to $105 for month-to-month subscribers.
The motivation behind Adobe's transition appears clear: integrating extensive generative AI capabilities across their suite. Adobe emphasizes unlimited access to AI features, such as Generative Fill in Photoshop, Generative Remove in Lightroom, and Generative Shape Fill in Illustrator. They also introduced Firefly, an AI-driven tool for creating images, vectors, and videos. While these innovations might seem enticing, not every photographer finds value in AI-driven workflows. Adobe's own promotion of these tools underscores their confidence in the appeal of automated creativity. However, this also underscores Adobe’s shifting focus away from traditional photography methods.
The forced upgrade has sparked considerable dissatisfaction among users, many of whom feel pressured into features they neither want nor need. It's particularly frustrating since if one doesn't want the AI features, they can move to a new plan called Creative Cloud Standard, which costs $55 a month but removes access to most mobile apps, meaning if you want to keep those, you have no choice but to choose one of the new pricier plans. Your AI credits also drop to 25. For reference, the current All Apps plan, which costs $60 a month, includes those mobile features and 1,000 credits a month. Sadly, that plan is being discontinued, or, depending on your perspective, being renamed to Creative Cloud Pro, with the associated price increase to $70. For those keeping track, it now costs almost $1,000 a year simply to have access to all Creative Cloud apps. For a professional, that might be justifiable, but for a hobbyist, it's ridiculous.
Beyond immediate cost considerations, Adobe's forced upgrade strategy could be an opportune moment to evaluate alternative tools available on the market. Competing products like DaVinci Resolve and Affinity Photo provide robust, high-quality alternatives without the subscription model drawbacks that Adobe users regularly complain about. Indeed, some users who transitioned to these platforms report positive experiences, free from the constant pressure of upgrades and price hikes.
Alternative software such as GIMP has significantly improved in recent years. For instance, GIMP’s 3.0 update in March 2025 positioned it even closer to Photoshop in terms of capability, while remaining entirely free. Similarly, Pixelmator Pro and Affinity's suite of creative applications provide viable, affordable options without compromising on professional-grade features. These platforms not only provide stability in pricing but also prioritize user-centric updates rather than company-driven feature bloats.
The case against Adobe is further strengthened by its opaque approach to communication regarding these changes. While Adobe claims the increased pricing reflects innovation and ongoing enhancements to user experiences, this narrative overlooks the user's right to choose the features they pay for. By automatically switching users to the higher-priced tier, Adobe emphasizes their commercial priorities over customer preferences.
Moreover, the shift effectively creates a divide between casual or traditional photographers and those who regularly use intensive AI-driven features. For many users, Adobe’s extensive AI integration does not significantly enhance their photography workflow. Instead, it merely adds complexity and unnecessary expense. Thus, photographers whose workflows rely on manual editing and traditional photographic techniques gain little from this forced migration.
Now is an ideal moment for photographers to break free from Adobe's cycle of incremental cost hikes and feature bloat. Adobe’s strategy inadvertently underscores a critical decision point for photographers—stick with escalating costs for unwanted AI-driven features or reclaim creative control and financial predictability through alternative software solutions. If you're looking for free alternatives, check out this article.
