# Free alternatives to Adobe Creative Cloud Pro

> Adobe Creative Cloud Pro (Creative Cloud Pro) costs $839.88 a year. Free alternatives: GIMP, Inkscape, Kdenlive, darktable, Audacity, Scribus, Blender, Stirling-PDF and PhotoCraft. Data checked 2026-10-17.

- Page: https://stoprenting.dev/apps/adobe-creative-cloud/
- Category: Design (https://stoprenting.dev/categories/design/)
- Vendor: Adobe
- Plan: Creative Cloud Pro
- Price: $69.99/month, $839.88/year
- Billing: annual plan, paid monthly
- Price quote from the vendor's page: "Choose a subscription Monthly US$104.99/mo Cancel anytime, no fee 50% off for 3 months. View terms Annual, billed monthly US$69.99/mo US$34.99/mo Fee applies of up to half your remaining annual commitment if you cancel after Oct 31 Annual, prepaid US$779.88/yr No refund if you cancel after Oct 31"
- Price source: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html (checked 2026-10-17)

## Plans

- Creative Cloud Pro, individual: $64.99/month paid yearly ($779.88/year); $69.99/month annual plan, paid monthly ($839.88/year); $104.99/month paid monthly ($1,259.88/year) [most common]
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachers, student: $19.99/month paid yearly ($239.88/year); $19.99/month annual plan, paid monthly ($239.88/year)
- Creative Cloud Pro for teams (per user), business: $99.99/month paid yearly ($1,199.88/year); $99.99/month annual plan, paid monthly ($1,199.88/year)
- Creative Cloud Standard, individual: $49.99/month paid yearly ($599.88/year); $54.99/month annual plan, paid monthly ($659.88/year); $82.49/month paid monthly ($989.88/year)
- Creative Cloud Pro Plus (teams) (per user), business: $110.49/month paid yearly ($1,325.88/year); $110.49/month annual plan, paid monthly ($1,325.88/year)

Bundle of: adobe-photoshop, adobe-illustrator, adobe-premiere, adobe-lightroom, adobe-after-effects, adobe-audition, adobe-acrobat, adobe-indesign.

## Alternatives

### GIMP

- Website: https://www.gimp.org
- Repository: https://github.com/GNOME/gimp (6,511 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: GPL-3.0-or-later
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: gimp
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S gimp`
- Note: As a Photoshop stand-in: layered PSDs open, but adjustment layers, smart objects and most layer styles don't carry over.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/gimp/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Inkscape

- Website: https://inkscape.org
- License: GPL-2.0-or-later (binaries GPL-3.0-or-later; COPYING on GitLab)
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: inkscape; Flathub: org.inkscape.Inkscape
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S inkscape`, `flatpak install flathub org.inkscape.Inkscape`
- Note: As an Illustrator stand-in: no CMYK print output yet, and .ai files open via PDF import, often losing layers.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/inkscape/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Kdenlive

- Website: https://kdenlive.org
- Repository: https://github.com/KDE/kdenlive (5,821 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: GPL-3.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: kdenlive; Flathub: org.kde.kdenlive
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S kdenlive`, `flatpak install flathub org.kde.kdenlive`
- Note: Stands in for Premiere Pro only; the other picks cover the rest of the suite.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/kdenlive/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### darktable

- Website: https://www.darktable.org
- Repository: https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable (13,274 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: GPL-3.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: darktable; Flathub: org.darktable.Darktable
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S darktable`, `flatpak install flathub org.darktable.Darktable`
- Note: As a Lightroom stand-in: no phone app or cloud sync, and its editing workflow takes real time to learn.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/darktable/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Audacity

- Website: https://www.audacityteam.org
- Repository: https://github.com/audacity/audacity (18,672 stars, last push 2026-10-16)
- License: GPL-3.0 (files GPL-2.0-or-later)
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: audacity; Flathub: org.audacityteam.Audacity
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S audacity`, `flatpak install flathub org.audacityteam.Audacity`
- Note: Stands in for Audition only; the other picks cover the rest of the suite.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/audacity/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Scribus

- Website: https://www.scribus.net
- Repository: https://github.com/scribusproject/scribus (634 stars, last push 2026-10-15)
- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: scribus; Flathub: net.scribus.Scribus
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S scribus`, `flatpak install flathub net.scribus.Scribus`
- Note: As an InDesign stand-in: can't open .indd files (IDML import is partial), and its typography lags InDesign's.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/scribus/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Blender

- Website: https://www.blender.org
- Repository: https://github.com/blender/blender (20,763 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: GPL
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: blender; Flathub: org.blender.Blender
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S blender`, `flatpak install flathub org.blender.Blender`
- Note: Covers 3D and some motion and compositing work, but it isn't a layer-based After Effects replacement.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/blender/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Stirling-PDF

- Website: https://www.stirlingpdf.com
- Repository: https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF (94,284 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: MIT core (proprietary dirs)
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- Note: As an Acrobat stand-in it merges, converts, OCRs and signs PDFs; it's open-core, with the desktop app under a commercial licence.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/stirling-pdf/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### PhotoCraft

- Website: https://getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft
- Repository: https://github.com/storytold/photocraft (66,187 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: MIT or Apache-2.0 (both LICENSE files in the repo root)
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: AppImage, .deb, Flatpak and .rpm on GitHub releases
- Self-hostable: no
- Note: Early alpha first released in September 2026; its own docs say it isn't yet ready for daily professional work.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/photocraft/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

## FAQ

### Is there a free alternative to Adobe Creative Cloud Pro?

Yes. The 9 free alternatives are GIMP (open source, GPL-3.0-or-later), Inkscape (open source, GPL-2.0-or-later), Kdenlive (open source, GPL-3.0), darktable (open source, GPL-3.0), Audacity (open source, GPL-3.0), Scribus (open source, GPL-2.0-or-later), Blender (open source, GPL), Stirling-PDF (open source, MIT core) and PhotoCraft (open source, MIT or Apache-2.0).

### How much does Adobe Creative Cloud Pro cost?

Adobe Creative Cloud Pro's Creative Cloud Pro plan costs $69.99 a month, which is $839.88 a year (annual plan, paid monthly). Source: the official pricing page at adobe.com, checked Oct 17, 2026.

### Which Adobe Creative Cloud Pro alternatives run on Linux?

GIMP (Arch extra: gimp), Inkscape (Arch extra: inkscape; Flathub: org.inkscape.Inkscape), Kdenlive (Arch extra: kdenlive; Flathub: org.kde.kdenlive), darktable (Arch extra: darktable; Flathub: org.darktable.Darktable), Audacity (Arch extra: audacity; Flathub: org.audacityteam.Audacity), Scribus (Arch extra: scribus; Flathub: net.scribus.Scribus), Blender (Arch extra: blender; Flathub: org.blender.Blender), Stirling-PDF (self-hosted server; web UI) and PhotoCraft (AppImage, .deb, Flatpak and .rpm on GitHub releases).

### Can you self-host a Adobe Creative Cloud Pro alternative?

Yes. Stirling-PDF runs on your own server. GIMP is a desktop app, Inkscape is a desktop app, Kdenlive is a desktop app, darktable is a desktop app, Audacity is a desktop app, Scribus is a desktop app, Blender is a desktop app and PhotoCraft is a desktop app.

### Are these Adobe Creative Cloud Pro alternatives open source?

Yes. All 9 use OSI-approved open-source licenses: GIMP (GPL-3.0-or-later), Inkscape (GPL-2.0-or-later), Kdenlive (GPL-3.0), darktable (GPL-3.0), Audacity (GPL-3.0), Scribus (GPL-2.0-or-later), Blender (GPL), Stirling-PDF (MIT core) and PhotoCraft (MIT or Apache-2.0).

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Source: Stop Renting (https://stoprenting.dev). Methodology: https://stoprenting.dev/methodology/