Rent vs. Buy: Is Adobe's Creative Cloud Subscription Cheaper than Buying Photoshop?
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Adobe launched a new cloud subscription services for all its products today that lets you subscribe to individual programs like Photoshop for only $20 a month. But is it cheaper than just buying the program flat out? Here's how the math adds up.
The whole thing is a little convoluted, but we pored over the Adobe store to find retail and subscription prices for both Photoshop and the Master Collection to see whether this Creative Cloud service is worth it in the long run—the long run being two years, since that's about how often Adobe updates its software. Subscription prices are calculated using the annual subscription prices, not the more expensive month-to-month prices. We've also added in the Amazon prices for the CS5 versions, since Amazon usually saves you quite a bit of cash when buying the full version of a product (though those prices can fluctuate). Here's what the numbers looks like:
Photoshop CS6 Retail: $700 ($585 on Amazon)
Photoshop CS6 Extended with a Student Discount: $250 ($184 on Amazon)
Photoshop CS6 Upgrade: $200
Photoshop CS6 Subscription: $20 a month ($480 over two years)
The Master Collection follows a similar pattern:
Master Collection CS6 Retail: $2600 ($2020 on Amazon)
Master Collection CS6 with a Student Discount: $800 ($789 on Amazon)
Master Collection CS6 Upgrade: $525
Master Collection CS6 Subscription: $50 a month ($1200 over two years)
Master Collection CS6 Student Edition Subscription: $30 a month ($720 over two years)
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So, it breaks down to this: If you're upgrading from a previous version of the program, it's quite a bit cheaper to just grab the upgrade from Adobe instead of subscribing. And, if you can get a student discount (which nearly anyone can do), that'll be cheaper too—at least in the case of Photoshop, which doesn't seem to offer a subscription for students. In the case of the Master Collection, the student subscription is cheaper than the regular student version, but still not cheaper than upgrading from a previous version. However, once you get past the two year mark, all bets are off—the subscription is more expensive than buying, even if you plan on upgrading every two years.
It's all a bit confusing, but our official recommendation is to stick with the retail versions unless you only plan on using your Adobe product for under two years. The subscription is great for the short run (that is, if you can't get a student discount), but it'll cost you quite a bit more in the long run. Are you going to be checking out Adobe's new subscription service? Let us know in the comments.
