Adobe has long topped lists for the best creative software in industries such as graphic design, photography, and videography. It's the most popular brand for the majority of creative tools, but huge swathes of users are making the switch from Adobe or have avoided it entirely. Price is the biggest factor, along with a lack of ownership and privacy concerns. Other software offers better options for those three problems without forgoing many of the creative features offered in Adobe products.

Adobe charges are just too high

Lengthy contracts and slim flexibility

Most users who detour away from Adobe products do so because of the ever-increasing price, the lengthy and difficult-to-leave contracts, and finally, the confusion about the prices of subscription packages.

Adobe offers many different subscription types, some of which are confusing to understand and the transparency is easily lost when researching which subscription is better for your needs. An Adobe All Apps plan is useful for some people, but typically only for those who use multidisciplinary tools, and it’s not often cost-effective for hobbyist users or those who only use two or three tools.

Along with most things in life, Adobe’s prices increase year-on-year, and sometimes even mid-contract, without the option to easily break the contract when that happens. This makes it hard to budget and can put many users in stressful situations as it can feel like being stuck between a rock (an expensive Adobe subscription for up to a year) and a hard place (a break clause cost that’s so high, it’s almost the same price to keep the subscription in place).

Lack of ownership

Artists want to own their tools

The lack of ownership of modern Adobe software goes hand-in-hand with subscription prices being too high or complex. Many digital artists want total ownership over their craft, including software. This is why many​​​​​​​ creatives choose to work with open-source software, as it gives them total control and ownership of their tool of choice.

Back when Adobe products were sold on disks you’d install directly onto your system, ownership was in the hands of the digital artist. Although Adobe released new versions of most software each year, there was no expectation or requirement to purchase the updated disk, and you could happily continue using your installed product for as long as you like. This made it more cost-effective and gave control to creative users, as well as ownership of their product.

When Adobe Creative Cloud was released in 2013, everything changed. No longer could you own your copy of Photoshop — or other Adobe software — and keep the same version as long as you wanted, all at one cost. The Creative Cloud subscription plans turned ownership into rental licensing, putting all the control into Adobe’s hands and ripping it out of the creative users paying for it.

Artists who want control and ownership of their art, designs, videos, or other creations may prefer non-subscription tools such as Procreate or LumaFusion for iPad or Pixelmator Pro for Macs. But for ultimate ownership of products, open-source creative tools are your best bet. Popular alternatives include Krita, Inkscape, DigiKam, and Kdenlive.

Too much AI

We don’t want it everywhere we look

Since around 2023, Adobe has implemented AI features into almost all of its software. While some Adobe AI features are worth using, most of them make it feel like you’re competing with machines to make creative artwork.

Having a strong basis for AI in such popular creative software feels like it’s pushing personal creative intention further away. It’s now easier to generate digital art or image manipulations rather than following learned creative processes to apply artistic expertise yourself.

For creative evangelists with a true passion for art and design, it feels insulting to see Adobe promote AI-generated “creative” artwork. Despite AI features appearing in many creative software, there are still plenty of tools with no AI features — such as the Affinity Suite and the majority of open-source software — that promote more organic digital creativity.

Support the underdogs

Some people choose to avoid the leader

Although it may seem like a petty reason to some, one popular reason creatives choose to avoid Adobe is simply to stick it to the (corporate) man. Adobe has reigned in the creative realm for decades, with most of its software considered the industry standard across the design, photography, and creative industries. It’s frustrating that our options sometimes feel limited, especially if we want to work professionally in a creative role.

Supporting the underdogs in creative software allows users to stick it to the man in ways that benefit the little guys — and by that, I mean both the users and smaller software developers or open-source teams.

It’s angering that Adobe users pay hundreds of dollars per year — a standard Adobe All Apps plan costs around $700 annually — for bloatware, tools they won’t use, a lack of privacy and ownership, and no flexible price options for any of it.

Are you avoiding Adobe?

Whether you think the pricing is too high, you’re tired of AI features, or you simply want to support a smaller creative project, you might have considered avoiding Adobe. By using other creative software, you often have more flexibility in the services you use due to not investing heavily in one business. By expanding your creative wings, you’ll learn new techniques and create better results, whether you move to another proprietary tool or support an open-source project.

Avoiding Adobe doesn’t automatically mean switching to open-source tools; there are​​​​​​​ many proprietary or free closed-source creative tools. Often, supporting an open-source project lets you pick and choose the aspects you want or don’t want in your creative journey, which is typically something you’re avoiding Adobe for.