Editing Software: Subscription or stand-alone purchase?

[iain clyne]

I think it is up to the individual to consider what is good value to them. I think the Adobe Photographers package is good value as it is updated continuously rather than just once a year. I use other software also for my photo editing that I don't consider great value to update every year.

I have been using Photoshop since 1997 (I bought version 4 for a staggering A$1400) and I pretty much know it inside out now so why would I change to something else less capable that I would have to learn over again. Also, there are loads of plugins available for Photoshop, some free, a lot very cheap, that allow you to do stuff that is just not available in other software. One other thing, as we have seen, is that any other software company could change to a subscription model at any time.

Anyway, just my thoughts...

I’m like you, I started using photoshop in 1996 and have used it ever since. I pay £10 a month which gives me PS and Lightroom which as you say is updated on a regular basis.

 

[brphotographycanada]

To revive this topic, Adobe just announced they are raising the price of the Photography Plan from $13.64CAD/month to $20.99CAD/month. Like some others, I tried to ditch Adobe once or twice in the past for free options and came straight back. However, this price bump is serious and I am much more motivated now. So, are RawTherapee and darktable the best alternatives to Lightroom? What about Photoshop? GIMP?

 

[dav1d]

I was under the impression that the Adobe price hike was minimal if you were a current subscriber and were prepared to pay for a year up front. Have they changed this?

 

[brphotographycanada]

Depends on what you mean by minimal. New customers will pay $25.99CAD/month. In that context, the jump from $13.64 is less bad. Instead of a 90% jump, it's "only" 53%. The 1TB of cloud storage is appealing I will admit.

Anyway, I was looking for suggestions on alternatives.

Here's the email they sent for context.

 

[AlphaWorld]

To revive this topic, Adobe just announced they are raising the price of the Photography Plan from $13.64CAD/month to $20.99CAD/month. Like some others, I tried to ditch Adobe once or twice in the past for free options and came straight back. However, this price bump is serious and I am much more motivated now. So, are RawTherapee and darktable the best alternatives to Lightroom? What about Photoshop? GIMP?

I'm paying annually, and there wasn't a price change for the annual subscription (for me) - might be worth a check if you can switch to an annual subscription and avoid the price change?

 

[BrianN]

I got an annual cost with adobe after they tried to up my monthly cost by a lot...I called them and got this now.

 

[BrianN]

Depends on what you mean by minimal. New customers will pay $25.99CAD/month. In that context, the jump from $13.64 is less bad. Instead of a 90% jump, it's "only" 53%. The 1TB of cloud storage is appealing I will admit.

Anyway, I was looking for suggestions on alternatives.

Here's the email they sent for context.

View attachment 74509

I got something similar in the UK, called them to discuss options and now on an annual subscription that's almost the same as my original monthly over the year.