Adobe Creative Cloud

The creative suite that set the standard, rented by the month.

Benchmark review. Giants are reviewed rarely, to show what the tools in the directory are measured against. This one is not listed in the directory, and it is an example, not a recommendation. Scores are our opinion on the six questions, based on public sources and dated October 2026.

Ask a designer, photographer or video editor what they work in and the answer is usually one of the apps in Creative Cloud: Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and many others under one subscription. The apps are excellent and the industry trades in their formats, so Delivery is a 4.

The software is rented, so your access ends when the payments do. Adobe's own terms say that on an annual plan paid monthly, cancelling after the first 14 days costs 50% of the remaining balance, and after you cancel the account drops to a free membership with 5 GB of cloud storage. In June 2024 the US Federal Trade Commission sued Adobe over how it disclosed cancellation fees and how hard it was to cancel, and Adobe said it would contest the claims. Those are allegations, we left them out of the score, and we could not confirm how the case ended. Compare it with the design tools in the directory.

What stands out

• The standard toolbox for designers, photographers and video editors
• Rented by the month, so access ends when payments do
• Cancelling early on an annual plan paid monthly costs 50% of the balance

Side by side. Krita vs Adobe Creative Cloud