BaenTech

The creative world was in a bit of a frenzy after Adobe experimented with doubling the price of its basic ‘Photography’ plan. This prompted many to look elsewhere, with one artist even kindly compiling a list of lower-cost alternatives for like-minded professionals.

As reported by , the tech giant took down its basic US$9.99 ‘Photography’ package—containing 20GB of cloud storage, Photoshop CC, and Lightroom CC, Lightroom Classic CC—from its website last week. The minimal price to pay for the bundle was marked up to US$19.99, twice the original sum.

Perhaps due to the outcry, the price has thankfully been reverted—for now. (Haaaah...big sigh of relief for us Adobe purists), but some believe the price will inevitably increase sooner than later.

Hmmm, now you know I hail Adobe, HOWEVER...I’m really gonna start to explore what’s out there...I said it🙈.

Anywho the list below👇🏽has been put together [by one artist] revealing free and single purchase substitutes for Adobe’s Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Animate, Lightroom, Dreamweaver, After Effects and Audition.

Adobe Photoshop alternatives

Affinity Photo (single purchase)
Clip Studio Paint (single purchase)
Krita (free)
GIMP (free)
FireAlpaca (free)
Medibang Paint (free)
Photopea (free)
PaintTool SAI (single purchase)
MyPaint (free)
Paint.NET (free)

Adobe Illustratoralternatives

Affinity Designer (single purchase)
Inkscape (free)
Boxy SVG Editor (free)
Vectr (free)
Figma (free)
Clip Studio Paint (single purchase)

Adobe InDesign alternatives

Affinity Publisher (single purchase)
VivaDesigner (available in free and single purchase options)
Scribus (free)
Canva (free)
SpringPublisher (available in free and single purchase options)

Adobe Animate alternatives

CACANi (single purchase)
TVPaint Animation (single purchase)
Toon Boom Harmony (single purchase)
Clip Studio Paint (single purchase)
OpenToonz (free)
Krita (free)
Pencil2D Animation (free)
FireAlpaca (free)

Adobe Lightroom alternatives

RawTherapee (free)
darktable (free)

Adobe After Effects alternatives

DaVinci Resolve (available in free and single purchase options)
Blender (free)