Adobe Creative Cloud review: Is it better than buying single apps?

If you have any interest in creative arts like photography, video editing, or drawing, I bet you’ve heard of Adobe Creative Cloud. It’s a suite of professional-grade creative software, cloud storage, and stock media assets accessible through several subscriptions that cater to users with various interests. It includes the staples such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, and more.

Creative Cloud is Adobe’s collection of 20+ apps all created to make your creativity possible.

In this unbiased Adobe Creative Cloud review, I look over the pricing, discuss what is Adobe Creative Cloud, and teach you how to download it.

If you’re a creative type, this is the review for you!

Adobe Creative Cloud Discount

The Creative Cloud is on sale through February 14th in the US, Canada and Latin America.

For a limited time, you can save up to 25%.

The offer stands for the following plans:

• Creative Cloud for Individuals – All apps
• Creative Cloud for Teams – All apps
• Creative Cloud for Teams – Single app

What is Adobe Creative Cloud?

Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) is a collection of more than 20 desktop and mobile apps developed by Adobe. It is a membership that gives you access to the latest versions of all the Adobe apps, including new features and upgrades. You can buy it as either an annual or monthly membership.

However, you don’t need to purchase the entire collection of Creative Cloud apps only to use one. You can subscribe to individual subscriptions, use various packs and combinations, or use the entire collection.

Whichever plan you choose, you first need to install the Creative Cloud desktop app first, which you then use to manage your account, install or uninstall apps, and receive the latest updates.

Adobe Creative Cloud Apps:

• Acrobat Pro – everything you need for PDF.
• Adobe XD – design and share user experiences.
• After Effects – create motion graphics and visual effects for film, TV, video, and web.
• Animate – create interactive vector animations.
• Audition – audio recording, mixing, and restoration.
• Dreamweaver – design and develop modern and responsive websites.
• Dimension – create realistic 3D images for branding, product shots, and package design.
• Illustrator – create designs, illustrations, and vector graphics.
• InCopy – make text edits and layout modifications without impacting designs.
• InDesign – page design and layout for print and digital media.
• Lightroom – edit, organize, store, and share photos.
• Photoshop – create graphics and art, edit photos. Can be used for drawing and painting.
• Premiere Pro – professional video and film editing.
• Premiere Rush – similar to Premiere Pro, but simpler.
• Spark – custom-branded graphics, pages, and videos stories.

Adobe Creative Cloud services:

• Adobe Color – Create and discover new colour themes.
• Adobe Fonts – Choose from thousands of licensed fonts and font packs.
• Adobe Portfolio – You can create your own fully responsive portfolio website within a couple of minutes with easy-to-customize themes.
• Adobe Stock – search and license high-quality royalty-free stock images, illustrations, videos, music, and templates (Read my Adobe Stock review)
• Behance – Share your latest, greatest work with the world and find fresh inspiration in your creative community
• Livestreaming – Watch and learn from streams of professionals working in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fresco.

How to install Adobe Creative Cloud?

Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App

Adobe Creative Cloud is a starting point for any of your creative projects.

From within the CC, you can quickly launch and update all your apps. Additionally, you can also manage and share your stored assets, download additional, and even store royalty-free images.

Moreover, you don’t have to worry about it interrupting your work. It doesn’t matter if you’re working if a CC app or watching a movie, CC will stay out of your way.

Adobe Creative Cloud Features

• Download and install apps
• Find images on Adobe Stock
• Sync and share files
• Find design assets within the app
• Add fonts from Typekit
• Share and discover Behance
• Use Activity Stream to view all your interaction with Creative Cloud

How to Download and Install Adobe Creative Cloud App

Can you download Creative Cloud for free?

Yes, a free Creative Cloud membership allows file syncing and sharing, plus, it gives you 2 GB of storage. Directly from CC app, you can access Adobe’s free services and free trials.

Creative Cloud Price

If you work in design, photography, or media, you’re probably familiar with at least one Adobe program. Even the most beginner amateurs are familiar with Photoshop, Lightroom, and Adobe Illustrator – these are the industry golden-standard.

A while ago, Adobe moved from one-off licenses for their software, and introduced subscription-based system. While this drove some artists away from Adobe, the new system isn’t all that bad.

In the long run, it is more expensive than the one-off purchase. However, by purchasing a subscription, you’re eligible for all updates and patches.

On the other hand, other software developers bill you for every subsequent update.

Creative Cloud costs $52.99/month for individuals and $79.99/month for teams and businesses. Students and teachers pay $19.99/month.

Let’s look over the prices of all Creative Cloud apps for individuals:

• All apps ($52.99 per month/$599.88 per year): You get access to all Creative Cloud apps. Buying all these apps individually would cost you hundreds of dollars each month, but this way you get them for an extremely low price.
• Photography Plan 20GB ($9.99 per month/$119.88 per year): This plan is perfect for photographers. You get Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop on desktop, Photoshop on iPad, Adobe Spark, Adobe Portfolio, and 20 GB of cloud storage.
• Photography Plan 1TB ($19.99 per month/$239.88 per year): This is the best for photographers that need more cloud storage. Everything else is the same, but you get 1TB of storage for additional $10 per month.
• Single apps ($4.99 to $20.99 per month): You can subscribe to only one app at the time. This is the best option for you, if you only ever need one app. Otherwise, it’s better to purchase the whole Creative Cloud (All apps plan).

Individual Creative Cloud plans are an amazing option if you’re a professional or an amateur who needs Adobe apps.

If you’re a student, you can save up to 60% by using the student plans. You just need to show some kind of proof, that you’re actually a part of an educational system.

For business owners, you may purchase business plans that are not that much more expensive than the individual plans.

Is Adobe Creative Cloud worth it?

One might argue that subscriptions are more expensive in the long run than one-time purchases. While this holds true for longer commitments, all Adobe apps are regularly updated and quickly receive fixes if necessary.

Additionally, you may cancel the plan any time if you change your mind.

You pay more, but you also get more.

Most importantly, Creative Cloud offers several free trials. Plus, when you purchase an annual plan, you get a 14-day money back guarantee.

This is Adobe giving you a free 14-day free trial on everything. So why not give it a go?

In my opinion, the best part about Adobe Creative Cloud is its simplicity. Anything you need, is right there.

Need a new app? Download it. Looking for tutorials? They are right there! Need stock images for your design? Adobe Stock is conveniently integrated into Creative Cloud.

Adobe Creative Cloud Students

Students and teachers save more than 60% on Adobe Creative Cloud.

For only $19.99 per month ($19.99 the first year, $29.99 after that), students get the entire collection of 20+ desktop and mobile apps.

The plan can be paid monthly for $19.99 or yearly for $239.88.

How to get Adobe CC for students?

But how can you prove that you’re either a student or a teacher?

To get the student (or teacher) discount for Adobe CC, you must do the following:

• Be at least 13 years old
• Be part of an educational institution (university or college, primary or secondary school, or homeschool).
• Use school-issued email address OR provide a proof of enrollments (school ID, tuition bill)

Read more about it here.

What is Adobe Creative Cloud FAQ