Adobe Price Increases

I just got an email from Adobe to say they're increasing my monthly subscription from October by 50%.

They don't give any reason or justification. It would be great someone offered a once off perpetual licence, like in the good old days.

it seems like a scam, at this point.

Metalizer said:

I just got an email from Adobe to say they're increasing my monthly subscription from October by 50%.

They don't give any reason or justification. It would be great someone offered a once off perpetual licence, like in the good old days.

it seems like a scam, at this point.

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There was a lot of discussion about this at the start of the year.

It has been over 10 years since Adobe established the subscription model. This is the 1st price increase. In the meantime, we've gotten a lot of improvements in the product.

As a former computer programmer, I strongly support that software should be paid for, but IMHO there's a big difference between what's reasonable to ask of amateurs who have no income from their photography, and pros whose income depends on their ability to post process and retouch their work in a streamlined workflow.

I've chosen to use Canon Digital Professional Photo and Affinity Photo for my amateur work, and not subscribe to Adobe.

IOW, I manage with less, and live with the consequences.

It has been a long, long time since I have experienced a price increase from Adobe.

AstigmaticOwl said:

It has been over 10 years since Adobe established the subscription model. This is the 1st price increase. In the meantime, we've gotten a lot of improvements in the product.

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I think Adobe might garner less ill will if they increased by 5% each year rather than 50% every 10 years. It's one thing for someone who's been using their subscription model for the entire time, quite another for someone who just signed on last year.

Metalizer said:

I just got an email from Adobe to say they're increasing my monthly subscription from October by 50%.

They don't give any reason or justification. It would be great someone offered a once off perpetual licence, like in the good old days.

it seems like a scam, at this point.

Click to expand...

the gov needs/wants more money, you got some, so....

I'm thinking eventually we'll see a "tether tax", where people will be taxed each month, since they are making "data processing services" to keep up their subscriptions

they are actually doing something like this in Texas

all sales over ebay/etsy and others charge the seller a "fee".on each sale. By calling this a "data processing service' it's suddenly taxable. This tax is in addition to all the other taxes the buyer already pays. this is a tax on a second layer, a tax on the service component

foot said:

they are actually doing something like this in Texas

all sales over ebay/etsy and others charge the seller a "fee".on each sale. By calling this a "data processing service' it's suddenly taxable.

Click to expand...

I've always assumed that sales sites like eBay and their ilk take a cut of every sale. Has this not been true of Etsy? Oh, or maybe you're talking about a change in Texas...

Google says Adobe wants $20 every month for their "photography plan", that's more than my cell phone bill and probably more per year than I spend on cameras.

I can see why people put up with this if they think their photography depends on having a certain software, but to me it's just wasted money.

Personally, I am a (Corel)Photoimpact user since 2008 and that software does what I need, if I need it. I will happily use it for another 30 years.

PS. I did try a few Adobe programs, never liked them.

Metalizer said:

I just got an email from Adobe to say they're increasing my monthly subscription from October by 50%.

They don't give any reason or justification. It would be great someone offered a once off perpetual licence, like in the good old days.

it seems like a scam, at this point.

Click to expand...

I have an Adobe subscription and didn't notice this until now. Thanks for the headsup.

Me too, no notification yet. So waiting to see if it comes. Maybe it's not in all regions yet.

Metalizer said:

I just got an email from Adobe to say they're increasing my monthly subscription from October by 50%.

They don't give any reason or justification. It would be great someone offered a once off perpetual licence, like in the good old days.

it seems like a scam, at this point.

Click to expand...

A useful analogy might be the price of popcorn in movie theaters. Operators figured out that while some moviegoers are price sensitive to the cost of popcorn, others associate it closely with overall experience and will pay a very high price for it.

They did the math and figured out they were ahead even if 50% of their patrons no longer bought popcorn, as long as the remaining ones paid a very high price. They sell less popcorn now, but make more money.

Adobe understands that newcomers may not buy in at a high subscription price, but those loyal stalwarts with a decade of product familiarity will rationalize a 50% increase to keep using the same product, and continue their subscriptions. Less growth in the user base, but growth in the profit base.

I don't understand why people keep complaining about Adobe prices. Adobe is a commercial enterprise with huge costs to pay and investors to keep happy. They are not a photography charity, they are not even a photography-specific software company. They are a multi-faceted media editing and artistic production business.

Like any other product/service/commodity, if you don't want to pay the price for it then don't. There are plenty of other vendors who will sell you a viable product. The truth is that most amateur photographers don't need Photoshop - they could easily use a much more basic (and cheaper) product.

For those amateurs who need (or want) to use the enormous capability of Photoshop, each one should be adult enough to make their own decision on paying Adobe's prices or using a different product.

If you make use of the more advanced capabilities of Photoshop/Lightroom, you will have seen the huge improvements in functionality and workflow speed over the last year or so, and given that the price has not risen in the last 10 years, I'm not surprised that it is going to increase. Like any price increase, I don't like it, but I'll make a grown-up choice to pay it. For now.

Bottom line: If you don't like the price increase, don't whine about it, stop using Adobe products. Simple.

Sean Nelson said:

foot said:

they are actually doing something like this in Texas

all sales over ebay/etsy and others charge the seller a "fee".on each sale. By calling this a "data processing service' it's suddenly taxable.

Click to expand...

I've always assumed that sales sites like eBay and their ilk take a cut of every sale. Has this not been true of Etsy?

Click to expand...

Of course; Amazon Marketplace also charges a fee to list there. They're providing a digital market to sell goods. Basically the digital equivalent to a physical flea market, where you're charged a fee for the space to sell.

Sean Nelson said:

Oh, or maybe you're talking about a change in Texas...

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Mark B. said:

Sean Nelson said:

foot said:

they are actually doing something like this in Texas

all sales over ebay/etsy and others charge the seller a "fee".on each sale. By calling this a "data processing service' it's suddenly taxable.

Click to expand...

I've always assumed that sales sites like eBay and their ilk take a cut of every sale. Has this not been true of Etsy?

Click to expand...

Of course; Amazon Marketplace also charges a fee to list there. They're providing a digital market to sell goods. Basically the digital equivalent to a physical flea market, where you're charged a fee for the space to sell.

Member said:

Oh, or maybe you're talking about a change in Texas...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

this is an additional tax, charged on the "data processing services" ebay and etsy provide to the sellers...

when gov want more money and can't get more taxes passed/increased they can use the bureaucracy to just reclassify something that wasn't previously taxed, to something they then are taxed

imagine anytime you receive a bill, there was an additional tax based on the "data processing service" of keeping track of your account and sending you the bill !!!

yet I think this will become more wide-spread since it's easy for the gov to get more tax money this way

basically anything online that requires an account, has "data processing services" to keep track of your account

Adobe started off in the early days of personal computing. At that time, developers offered a once off perpetual licence. I actually have a cd of Adobe suite from those early years, fully bought and paid for. I probably still have the machine to run it too, an old Power Mac, somewhere in storage. So, you could say I’ve already bought the software twice — as a one off and as a subscription. So, don’t lecture with you myopic attitude, please.

Metalizer said:

...I actually have a cd of Adobe suite from those early years, fully bought and paid for. I probably still have the machine to run it too...

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I have my CDs of a few earlier versions of Photoshop up to CS6, the last version with a perpetual license. It installed just fine on my current Windows 10 system and I use it pretty much every day.

Klaus dk said:

As a former computer programmer, I strongly support that software should be paid for, but IMHO there's a big difference between what's reasonable to ask of amateurs who have no income from their photography, and pros whose income depends on their ability to post process and retouch their work in a streamlined workflow.

I've chosen to use Canon Digital Professional Photo and Affinity Photo for my amateur work, and not subscribe to Adobe.

IOW, I manage with less, and live with the consequences.

Click to expand...

That's the best approach. If you want those Adobe features, then you pay those Adobe prices. Otherwise use something else.

The plan will only go up by 50% if you continue to pay monthly. I’d you switch to the pay up front for the whole year plan you will pay the same price it was in 2018. All who were customers before Jan 15, 2025 were grandfathered into the 2018 pricing for the 20GB Photo Plan.

I just renewed on September 2 and I paid $120 for the year. My plan actually did not renew until Nov 16 but that month gets a bit expensive. I did a chat with Adobe support (or you can call), they switched me over, deducted $120 off my credit card, my monthly payments stopped and I got $6.88 credit for the unused portion of the month.

Later I’ll send a link with the info.

--
Funny how millions of people on an internet platform where they can communicate instantaneously with people on the other side of the world using incredibly powerful handheld computers linked to orbiting the satellites hundreds of miles in space don’t believe in science. Neil deGrasse Tyson

PatrickM73 said:

Me too, no notification yet. So waiting to see if it comes. Maybe it's not in all regions yet.

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You should get an email from Adobe 30 days before your plan renews but I’d put it in your calendar anyway. If you missed the renewal date and start paying 50% more I’d contact Adobe. I’ll post a link to the information when get home. You will have written documentation that you should have received that email. Contact Adobe support and they will straighten it out.

I’m not home yet but a bit more info. Anyone who is grandfathered into the 20GB Photo Plan needs to pay for the whole year to maintain 2018 pricing.

If $120 US a year is too much there is alternative if you don’t need PS. The 20GB plan didn’t double “for new customers only” after January 15, 2025. The 20GB plan was discontinued “for new customers only”. Only the 1TB Photo Plan for $20 month is now available.


$20 is can pretty steep for some. So people can still get LrC for a decent price, Adobe added it to the 1TB and Lr plan for $12 a month. Since the advanced masking I have not sent a file to PS since LrC 11. That would be my backup plan but currently it is still less expensive to pay $120 a year which is $10 a month than switching to the $12 a month plan. I still use PS for other reasons than developing and there are cheap and free other options out there.

--
Funny how millions of people on an internet platform where they can communicate instantaneously with people on the other side of the world using incredibly powerful handheld computers linked to orbiting the satellites hundreds of miles in space don’t believe in science. Neil deGrasse Tyson