Adobe Creative Cloud: Subscription Service to Replace Creative Suite 6, Photoshop Goes the Way of Microsoft Office 2013

Adobe announced it is moving its Creative Suite software to a subscription-based model and discontinuing the standalone software.

Adobe introduced Creative Cloud, a subscription service that offers all the Creative Suite programs and a few minor upgrades, last year, charging $50 per month, an option with far less startup cost than buying CS6 outright.

The service has been so popular that Adobe decided to stop developing separate versions of its software, opting only to work on the Creative Cloud versions.

"The company was surprised by the success of Creative Cloud and decided that instead of trying to keep working different versions of apps like Photoshop, Dreamweaver and PremierePro -- one for Creative Cloud, which gets continuous upgrades, and one for the next version of the Creative Suite -- it made more sense to just focus on using the Creative Cloud as a distribution mechanism for its tools," writes TechCrunch.

Current customers who have a licensed copy of Creative Suite 3 or above can qualify for a subscription at $30 per month for a limited time, though there's no word on how limited it is. Subscriptions require a one-year commitment, so it's likely at least that long.

Disgruntled CS6 customers who bought the software within the last 30 days can return it.

Adobe's decision is reminiscent of Microsoft's move away from Office 2013 and encouraging users to sign up for the subscription-only Office 365.

But Adobe has taken the subscription model a step further by refusing to develop the standalone version anymore. Adobe says it's committed to updated CS6 to be compatible with the next versions of Windows and OS X, but the offline version won't get any more upgrades.

At least Microsoft offers a product with the same functionality for non-subscribers, albeit with a higher cost and draconian licensing restrictions.

It will take several years before we know if this subscription model pans out for software developers, but in the meantime, expect many others to follow.