Adobe Product Pricing 2025
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2025 9:59 am
If you don’t use Adobe products you can stop reading here…
In May, Adobe announced changes to their prices and plans. These are proving to be complex and opaque – probably deliberately so.
For many of us, the 20GB Photography plan has been the Adobe plan of choice. This gives access to Photoshop CC, Photoshop Express, Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Bridge and some other bits and pieces plus 20GB of cloud storage. It has been unchanged at £119.88 pa or £9.99 pm since 2013 which is commendably stable.
It has also been possible to buy a discounted gift card for the above plan from retailers such as Amazon. I last purchased this in an Amazon sale at £63 and consequently I am currently paid-up until May 2026. This option will no longer be available.
Since May of this year the 20GB plan is being phased out by Adobe in favour of a 1TB storage plan with the same apps. This will be £249 pa - a huge increase, although currently available on Amazon for £198.68.
For Lightroom-only users there is a 1TB Lightroom plan for £119.21 pa. For the professionals there is a 100GB + Everything plan for £656.21 pa.
I told an Adobe AI text chatbot that I didn’t want any storage at all and that this 4-fold increase in price was driving me away after 30 loyal years. It said it was sad about that(!) but that the move was being driven by ‘customer demand for more storage’ (really? Actually Adobe demand for more money). However the 20GB plan would continue to be available at £119.88 pa to existing customers only, for an indeterminate period. To get it, they must not let their subscriptions lapse, they must register within their accounts for annual automatic renewals and they cannot top up with new redemption codes (existing purchases will be honoured). It has been described elsewhere as a ‘passive phasing out’ of the 20GB plan!
I still have 10 months still to run on my current 20GB subscription, and I am not currently being offered any renewal terms. However one of our members was offered a £119.88 renewal in June for an expiring subscription. It remains to be seen for how long this will be offered.
When I pushed the AI text chatbot further it offered to transfer me to a team with whom I could ‘discuss better pricing’ – so it seems that the price is negotiable! Investigating this further online it seems that if you threaten to leave (eg on a text chat), 60 to 90 free days is readily achieved and other discounts reported include a third off the price. Apparently there is also very little policing of the student plans if you have half a reason.
OPTIONS
1. If you are happy with Photoshop Elements, Version 2025 is on Amazon for £71.49 As I have always said, this is a sophisticated editor and you are not losing any of the most important features in comparison with Photoshop CC. You may have missed the fact that this is no longer an enduring licence but lasts only three years. After which the editor will cease to work but you will still have access to the organizer. During the three years you will get minor feature updates, bug fixes and also Raw file updates – which is actually quite handy.
2. If you are a 20GB plan subscriber like me, you should take every opportunity to add a further 12 months at a good price whilst this is still possible. This could last for years or just months – it probably depends on the customer reaction to these changes. The 12 months are added to the existing end-date, whenever purchased.
3. If/when your plan price goes up, add this to your list of annual insurance renewals and other negotiations that are now necessary.
4. Look at the alternatives. Basic image development software is available from numerous sources for free or a fee. Take your pick. For fully-featured image editing the main alternative to Photoshop CC is probably Affinity Photo 2. It is very highly regarded and has very a reasonable enduring licence for a one-off £67.99 which is sometimes discounted too. Alongside many APS members I am currently going down this path as an experiment. I have found that the designers probably took every legal opportunity to copy the Photoshop UI and almost everything you could ever want is familiar and available, BUT there are numerous little differences to confound my 30 years of Photoshop muscle memory and habit. I will continue to report on my experiences and in particular any showstoppers that I might encounter. But it’s uphill at the moment.
Good luck!
Steve Brabner
Update 12/7/25: Amazon Prime Days in July revealed new pricing options; Although the 20GB plan was not available (as warned) the 1TB Photography plan was on offer during the 4 day sale for £109.43 instead of the usual £249. The Lightroom 1TB plan was £59.99. It was good to see that bargain pricing might continue to be available in the future. The next Amazon Prime Days are in October 2025. To be offered this price you need to be a Prime member and be logged in.
Note that the 1TB plans are considered by Adobe to be different to the 20GB plans and will run concurrently with them. You therefore need to make the purchase but not register the plan until any 20GB plan is close to expiring.
If you can't wait for a sale, it's worth checking online prices from retailers such as Amazon as you may make smaller savings at any time.
In May, Adobe announced changes to their prices and plans. These are proving to be complex and opaque – probably deliberately so.
For many of us, the 20GB Photography plan has been the Adobe plan of choice. This gives access to Photoshop CC, Photoshop Express, Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Bridge and some other bits and pieces plus 20GB of cloud storage. It has been unchanged at £119.88 pa or £9.99 pm since 2013 which is commendably stable.
It has also been possible to buy a discounted gift card for the above plan from retailers such as Amazon. I last purchased this in an Amazon sale at £63 and consequently I am currently paid-up until May 2026. This option will no longer be available.
Since May of this year the 20GB plan is being phased out by Adobe in favour of a 1TB storage plan with the same apps. This will be £249 pa - a huge increase, although currently available on Amazon for £198.68.
For Lightroom-only users there is a 1TB Lightroom plan for £119.21 pa. For the professionals there is a 100GB + Everything plan for £656.21 pa.
I told an Adobe AI text chatbot that I didn’t want any storage at all and that this 4-fold increase in price was driving me away after 30 loyal years. It said it was sad about that(!) but that the move was being driven by ‘customer demand for more storage’ (really? Actually Adobe demand for more money). However the 20GB plan would continue to be available at £119.88 pa to existing customers only, for an indeterminate period. To get it, they must not let their subscriptions lapse, they must register within their accounts for annual automatic renewals and they cannot top up with new redemption codes (existing purchases will be honoured). It has been described elsewhere as a ‘passive phasing out’ of the 20GB plan!
I still have 10 months still to run on my current 20GB subscription, and I am not currently being offered any renewal terms. However one of our members was offered a £119.88 renewal in June for an expiring subscription. It remains to be seen for how long this will be offered.
When I pushed the AI text chatbot further it offered to transfer me to a team with whom I could ‘discuss better pricing’ – so it seems that the price is negotiable! Investigating this further online it seems that if you threaten to leave (eg on a text chat), 60 to 90 free days is readily achieved and other discounts reported include a third off the price. Apparently there is also very little policing of the student plans if you have half a reason.
OPTIONS
1. If you are happy with Photoshop Elements, Version 2025 is on Amazon for £71.49 As I have always said, this is a sophisticated editor and you are not losing any of the most important features in comparison with Photoshop CC. You may have missed the fact that this is no longer an enduring licence but lasts only three years. After which the editor will cease to work but you will still have access to the organizer. During the three years you will get minor feature updates, bug fixes and also Raw file updates – which is actually quite handy.
2. If you are a 20GB plan subscriber like me, you should take every opportunity to add a further 12 months at a good price whilst this is still possible. This could last for years or just months – it probably depends on the customer reaction to these changes. The 12 months are added to the existing end-date, whenever purchased.
3. If/when your plan price goes up, add this to your list of annual insurance renewals and other negotiations that are now necessary.
4. Look at the alternatives. Basic image development software is available from numerous sources for free or a fee. Take your pick. For fully-featured image editing the main alternative to Photoshop CC is probably Affinity Photo 2. It is very highly regarded and has very a reasonable enduring licence for a one-off £67.99 which is sometimes discounted too. Alongside many APS members I am currently going down this path as an experiment. I have found that the designers probably took every legal opportunity to copy the Photoshop UI and almost everything you could ever want is familiar and available, BUT there are numerous little differences to confound my 30 years of Photoshop muscle memory and habit. I will continue to report on my experiences and in particular any showstoppers that I might encounter. But it’s uphill at the moment.
Good luck!
Steve Brabner
Update 12/7/25: Amazon Prime Days in July revealed new pricing options; Although the 20GB plan was not available (as warned) the 1TB Photography plan was on offer during the 4 day sale for £109.43 instead of the usual £249. The Lightroom 1TB plan was £59.99. It was good to see that bargain pricing might continue to be available in the future. The next Amazon Prime Days are in October 2025. To be offered this price you need to be a Prime member and be logged in.
Note that the 1TB plans are considered by Adobe to be different to the 20GB plans and will run concurrently with them. You therefore need to make the purchase but not register the plan until any 20GB plan is close to expiring.
If you can't wait for a sale, it's worth checking online prices from retailers such as Amazon as you may make smaller savings at any time.