Adobe
Creativity Requires a Subscription
$285B
Value Extracted
6
Key Initiatives
Adobe converted creative software from perpetual licenses to subscription-only Creative Cloud in 2013, then locked customers in with hidden early-termination fees. In March 2026 it agreed to a $150 million FTC/DOJ settlement over deceptive cancellation practices. EnshitifAi assigns Adobe an Extraction Index of $285B, an editorial figure anchored to these documented, dated practices.
The Story
Adobe let people buy software once and own it forever. We helped them transition to a model where creatives pay forever and can never leave because all their files are trapped in proprietary formats.
Common Questions
Is Adobe enshittified?
Yes. After killing perpetual licenses in 2013 to force everyone onto recurring Creative Cloud subscriptions, Adobe buried early-termination fees worth 50% of a subscriber's remaining annual obligation behind fine print, then made canceling deliberately hard. In March 2026 it agreed to a $150 million FTC/DOJ settlement over those practices. By EnshitifAi's reckoning it is a textbook subscription lock-in extraction machine.
What dark patterns does Adobe use?
Hidden early-termination fees on the deceptively named 'Annual, Billed Monthly' plan, charged at 50% of the remaining contract once you pass a 14-day window; a cancellation flow with so many hurdles the FTC sued over it on June 17, 2024; proprietary file formats that degrade outside Adobe apps; and AI features layered onto Firefly tiers as upsells. The June 2024 complaint quoted an Adobe exec comparing the termination fee to 'heroin.'
How much has Adobe raised Creative Cloud prices?
On September 1, 2025, Adobe raised the Creative Cloud All Apps individual plan from $60 to $70 per month, roughly a 10 to 17 percent jump depending on tier, while repackaging Firefly generative-AI capacity as a higher-priced upsell. EnshitifAi treats these annual, take-it-or-leave-it increases as the core of its $285B Extraction Index for Adobe, an editorial index rather than a company financial figure.
When did Adobe start enshittifying?
2013, when Adobe discontinued perpetual licenses for Photoshop and the rest of Creative Suite and moved everyone to subscription-only Creative Cloud, making it impossible to buy the software once and own it. The lock-in matured into the hidden-fee cancellation scheme that drew the June 2024 FTC lawsuit and the $150 million settlement announced March 13, 2026.
Key Achievements
- 1
Eliminated perpetual licenses to create permanent revenue streams
- 2
Designed early termination fees disguised as 'annual commitment discounts'
- 3
Created file formats that don't work properly outside Adobe ecosystem
- 4
Raised prices annually because what are designers gonna do, learn new software?
- 5
Added AI features trained on user content without meaningful consent
- 6
Restructured Creative Cloud in February 2026 with effective price increases of up to 27% across bundles — marketed as a 'plan simplification' while silently removing volume discounts for smaller studios and repackaging previously standard features as Firefly-AI-tier upsells
EnshitifAi taught us that creativity is best expressed through recurring payments.
S. Narayen
Chief Subscription Architect
Want Results Like These?
Schedule your complimentary Value Extraction Assessment today.