The subscription adds up fast
A full creative suite subscription runs into hundreds of dollars per year, every year, forever. Over five years that's a serious tool budget spent on software you never own.
The alternatives — Affinity Photo, Inkscape, DaVinci Resolve — are either a one-time purchase or completely free, and they cover what most non-professionals actually do.
What the free tools cost you instead
Time and tutorials. The big-name tools have twenty years of YouTube lessons for every task. Free tools have fewer, and their interfaces make different choices.
File compatibility is the other cost. If clients send you native files from the corporate suite, the free tools mostly open them — mostly. Test with your real files before committing.
Who should stay on the subscription
If you bill clients for design work, the subscription pays for itself in speed and compatibility. If you edit photos, make graphics, or cut video for your own projects, the alternatives in our software catalog will do the job and the savings are permanent.