Adobe Discontinues Standalone Applications, Moves to Subscription Only Model

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Posted May 6, 2013 at 5:51pm by iClarified

Adobe has announced that the company is discontinuing its Creative Suite lineup of standalone products and making its new Creative Cloud applications available via subscription only, reports TNW.

This means that you will no longer be able to purchase the latest version of Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc and use it for years to come. Rather customers will need to pay $49.99 a month for access to Adobe's applications. If you cancel your subscription you will no longer have access to the software.

The switch will come in June when Adobe releases new versions of its applications including: Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC and Premiere Pro CC.

For those that already have a purchased version of CS 3 or later, your serial number will get you a 40% discount on the first year of subscription. That works out to $29.99/month. Everyone else will need to pay $49.99/month on a one year commitment or $74.99/month with no commitment. Single apps are $19.99/month.

Creative Suite 6 will still be available for purchase; however, it will only be updated to address bugs.

More details on the improvements in the upcoming CC applications can be found here.

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Adobe Discontinues Standalone Applications, Moves to Subscription Only Model

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True Words - May 9, 2013 at 7:57pm

Everything Adobe’s precious wares do is available through other sources and means, the creative are creative enough to find alternatives and hearty enough to adapt and thrive without them. The soil surrounding a monument to greed and arrogance is fertile and in its shadow the diamonds in the ruff will at last start to shine, be taken up and polished and prized as the pillar of clay crumbles to dust under its own weight and is swept away by the liberated winds that will not be chained. Adobe is a toolmaker, nothing more, and any business, tradesman or artisan that rents the tools of their trade and, if push comes to shove, is left with no claim of ownership or guarantee of availability in adversity courts disaster. Serfdoms are a shameful relic of the past and pity the sheep that would be idly herded into the pastures of a new Land Lord for they will surely be fleeced and feasted on. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance (- Thomas Jefferson); so get your head out of the cloud and see what’s really happening people. (Released into the public domain – feel free to publish, distribute and repost “in its entirety” anywhere.)

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DogScout - May 9, 2013 at 3:28pm

PaintShop Pro (by Corel) is almost as powerful and available as a desktop application at one tenth the price

Kaitlin - May 9, 2013 at 3:26am

And honestly I don't care about investors and I HATE the concept of Cloud. I don't care for it nor do I have need of it. And what about the college students that got these programs through their school via student discount. I saw something about Education teams being charged 40 a month but what about the individual students who bought it themselves using a student discount. College kids aren't exactly made of money.

Kaitlin - May 9, 2013 at 3:16am

I did read all of it. I live paycheck to paycheck and pay enough bills as it is and don't want to fork over 50 dollars a month when it could go towards rent. I already paid for my art program and don't want to pay monthly to keep using it when I already bought it. That's dumb and pointless.

Anonymous - May 9, 2013 at 1:03am

hey Adode, HEY ADOBE, good now I have your attention. I'm sorry to inform you but $40 a month to use your proprietary software to write .swf files is too mch to ask and, I and others wont be paying it, Shortly thanks to your greed; the freeware community will release a Copy of GIMP with the ability to write flash code and output .SWF into version 11+ syntax. you just dug your own grave, and no one will pay to fill it except your advertisers so you better go back to that business model.

Morrow - May 8, 2013 at 5:25pm

Looks like the desktop publishing is in for a nice expensive kick in the ass. No more buying software, now onto adding more to your monthly expenses or finding a new profession. When you live check to check as a designer, adding another $50 into your monthly expenses (which I'm sure that rate will increase exponentially over time) is not fair at all. I hope this just creates more pirating and more open source software that strains Adobe's business in the long term

J.C. - May 8, 2013 at 2:31am

PEOPLE!! Did you all not read the whole article?!?!? The whole article is linked to "Read more" just above the screenshot. The reasons why they did this: - To stabilize their revenue so that they wouldn't have bursts of income with the latest Creative Suite release. - Balanced income=better look towards investors - A subscription offering is better suited for a growing cloud-based services business. - And, to PREVENT piracy!! All of the aforementioned information is in the linked article!! Read the whole thing before you jump to conclusions!!!!

otakugal15 - May 9, 2013 at 8:23pm

Nope, sorry. I'm not sympathizing. And any company that is PUSHING for the Cloud network is just ITCHING to own my work. Fuck that. They ain't gettin' shit nor my money. It's a pirate's life for me!! And they have apparently been VERY WELL since before now, so all I see is $$$$$$$$$$ in their eyes. That's it. They aren't failing, but with this move, they will be.

Marchel - May 8, 2013 at 1:08am

What about those of us that can't always be connected to the internet? Its a pretty major deal if you're having to do projects "on the go" and won't have 24\7 access.

Mito - May 8, 2013 at 12:19am

Adobe has created the new Windows XP.....im gonna stick with CS6 for as long as I live

David - May 7, 2013 at 10:37pm

Technology seems have peaked yet companies are still acting like they can sustain their income even though the products have reached the end of their life cycle. I bet Adobe will lose customers on this new model. I stopped upgrading CS three versions ago. Surely I wasn't the only one.

Briget - May 7, 2013 at 9:01pm

Way to go, Adobe. You have once again proven yourself completely inept at the art of getting people to not want to pirate your software. Also, not everyone wants to be part of your crappy Creative Cloud network. Because really? Just a minor tweak to the T&C means that everything on the Cloud network belongs to you -- which is not something I really feel like handing over to you.

Kaitlin - May 7, 2013 at 7:39pm

Why are they doing this? They are gonna kill themselves! I do not have 50 dollars to pay a month for this. Does this include Elements? I think I have elements 11. This is bullshit!!

John - May 7, 2013 at 7:10pm

Not so fantastic. If you use it heavily one month and sparingly the next you may not be able to justify the $50 price. And $50 x 12 is a pretty staggering $600 a year.

otakugal15 - May 7, 2013 at 10:01pm

This. Also, you get far more out of a $50 internet and tv bill than you do a subscription for a program you may not use all the time. $50 a month an be better spent for rent or for food or for whatever if you aren't ROLLING in cash. I'll continue to use off market programs and finding cracked versions of this software. Adobe has lost any and all patronage from me.

Noman - May 8, 2013 at 1:56pm

So 600buck a year is staggering but you did not moan when the suite costs like 3grand... you still want to upgrade your apps at least once every 2-3years... for me - as professional creative, the new model is just far better than the old one off payment and then paying again for upgrades.. i would though like to see them rewarding the long term subscribers with some discounts in future from the montly payment.....i totally understand the different needs for different professional but they are also offering pay-as-you-go model so you pay only for the months you need it. Sounds pretty perfect for me.

Bobbington Bobson - May 7, 2013 at 5:49pm

Wellp, that's bullshit. I'm moving to SAI and Final Cut. Screw Adobe.

derrrp - May 7, 2013 at 5:29pm

This is why I use paint tool sai. it's better and has a stabilizer. T-T AND way less pricey..FOR 60$ i get sai and its decent and better then at least GIMP. Adobe makes epic programs but I see this killing them off. I really do.

gary - May 7, 2013 at 4:07pm

This is going over like new coke did. Put I'll buy CS6 now and keep it as long as I can. Hopefully in a few years there will be something else that has come along I'll be able to switch to. I can't understand why they (adobe) would think people want to rent software, Stop paying and poof you can no longer work. It's 20 a month now for just PS, but who's to say after a couple of years it doesn't get increased to 75 dollars a month. Once you start paying they have you, and can charge whatever they want. Don't start

dolphin - May 7, 2013 at 3:18pm

Um, to everyone complaining, you get a crapload of programs for a small price. It's less than a gym membership...if you're using any of these products and you're not "making enough to cover the costs" then you're probably the type of person thats supposed to use photoshop elements. These are professional applications, not consumer ones. Also it would make more for me as a freelancer to subscribe on a monthly basis than to have to lay down the huge standalone fee on day one... in the end the costs are pretty similar if you upgrade your suite every four years. I think most people here just want an excuse to pirate.

KW - May 7, 2013 at 3:43pm

No, it's not getting a crapload of programs for a small price. It's $50-$80/month for the "full" suite that doesn't include after effects or flash. The problem is you can buy the whole CS6 suite for around 1.2k with a student discount for a one time fee, or buy the individual programs you need. Under this new service you are bleeding money. 1.2k one time versus $50/month($600/year) is no where near the same. After 2 years of use you're basically throwing money away and for what? That's not even including the money you'll have to put down to buy Flash or After effects which isn't included with CC.

:) - May 7, 2013 at 3:15pm

LOL, Adobe is truly dead.

lovedoc - May 7, 2013 at 12:52pm

Adobe Sucks... Frog you Adobe... GIMP the new future for freelancers...

Heather - May 7, 2013 at 10:42am

I work full time but maintain a small freelance business on the side. And by business I mean I do three or four projects a year. Well, I guess as of June I used to. This will price me out of being able to do any freelance as I don't do enough work to cover the cost. Thanks a lot Adobe. So much for a little extra earnings to put into savings. I hope my soon to be old versions will allow me to at least make-do on a few small assignments. I won't be able to stay current anymore though.

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