Adobe Creative Cloud


Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications and also some optional cloud services. In Creative Cloud, a monthly or annual subscription service is delivered over the Internet. Software from Creative Cloud is downloaded from the Internet, installed directly on a local computer and used as long as the subscription remains valid. Online updates and multiple languages are included in the CC subscription. Creative Cloud was initially hosted on Amazon Web Services, but an agreement with Microsoft led to the software being hosted on Microsoft Azure beginning in 2017.
Adobe offered individual products as well as software suites containing several products with a perpetual software license.
Adobe first announced the Creative Cloud in October 2011. Another version of Adobe Creative Suite was released the following year. On May 6, 2013, Adobe announced that they would not release new versions of the Creative Suite and that future versions of its software would be available only through the Creative Cloud. The first new versions made only for the Creative Cloud were released on June 17, 2013.

Current applications and services

The Adobe Creative Cloud retains many of the features of Adobe Creative Suite and introduces new features; foremost is the instant availability of upgrades, saving to the cloud, and easier sharing. In June 2014, the company announced 14 new versions of the Creative Cloud essential desktop tools, four new mobile apps, and the availability of creative hardware for enterprise, education and photography customers.
The video disc authoring program Adobe Encore and the web-focused bitmap editor Adobe Fireworks were both discontinued by Adobe in 2013, but were still available as downloads via Creative Cloud until May 2019.

Packages

Adobe offers four tiers of the Creative Cloud subscription service for individuals :
  • Photograph, which contains some photography-related features of Adobe Creative Cloud and access to Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC.
  • Single App, which contains all the features of Creative Cloud plus access to a single application of the user's choice in the suite out of a list of 11 selected applications.
  • All Apps, the main tier of Creative Cloud that contains all the features of Creative Cloud plus access to all applications within the suite.
  • All Apps + Adobe Stock, which contains all the standard features of Creative Cloud plus features for Adobe Stock.

    Desktop, mobile, and web services

The following contains the services found on Creative Cloud.
IconsProduct nameLatest major versionAvailable inSupported OS
AcrobatDC 23.0Standalone package
Creative Suite
Creative Cloud
Technical Communication Suite
Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, web
AeroBeta Standalone productWindows, macOS, Android, iOS
After EffectsCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Suite
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
Animate CC 2024 Standalone package
Creative Suite
eLearning Suite
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
AuditionCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Suite
eLearning Suite
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
BehanceN/AStandalone product
Creative Cloud
Android, iOS, web
BridgeCC 2026 Creative Suite
eLearning Suite
Photoshop
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
Capture9.1.3, 9.1.1 Standalone product
Creative Cloud
Android, iOS
Character AnimatorCC 2026 Standalone product
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
Color N/AStandalone product
Creative Cloud
Web
CompStandalone product
Creative Cloud
Android, iOS
Creative Cloud Desktop app6.0.0Standalone product
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, web
DimensionCC 2025 Standalone product
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
DreamweaverCC 2025 Standalone package
Creative Suite
eLearning Suite
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
Dynamic LinkN/AStandalone package
Creative Cloud
Creative Suite
Windows, macOS
ExpressN/AStandalone package
Creative Cloud
Web, Android, iOS
ExtendScript ToolkitCCStandalone package
Creative Cloud
Fonts N/AStandalone package
Creative Cloud
Web
Fresco5.7.0Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS, iOS
IllustratorCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Creative Suite
Windows, macOS, iOS
Illustrator DrawAndroid, iOS
InCopyCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Creative Suite
Windows, macOS
InDesignCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Creative Suite
Windows, macOS
LightroomCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Creative Suite
Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, web
Lightroom ClassicCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
Media EncoderCC 2026 Creative Cloud
Creative Suite
Windows, macOS
PhotoshopCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Suite
Creative Cloud
eLearning Suite
Windows, macOS, web
Photoshop CameraStandalone package
Creative Cloud
Android, iOS
Photoshop Fix1.3Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Android, iOS
Photoshop MixStandalone package
Creative Cloud
Android, iOS
Photoshop Sketch3.4Standalone package
Creative Cloud
Android, iOS
PortfolioN/AStandalone package
Creative Cloud
Web
PreludeCC 2025 Standalone package
Creative Suite
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
Premiere ProCC 2026 Standalone package
Creative Suite
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS
Premiere RushCC 2025 Standalone
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Spark Page3.1.0Standalone
Creative Cloud
iOS
Spark Video2.1.4Standalone
Creative Cloud
iOS
StockN/AStandalone
Creative Cloud
Web
XDCC 2024 Standalone
Creative Cloud
Windows, macOS

Hidden helper tools

  • Adobe IPC Broker is an app bundled with Creative Cloud running in the background. This hidden program runs a process that integrates multiple Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

    Discontinued products

  • Flash Builder, formerly Flex Builder, was an integrated development environment built on the Eclipse platform meant for developing rich Internet applications and cross-platform desktop applications for the Adobe Flash platform.
  • Flash Professional is Flash's content authoring application.
  • Fuse, formerly Fuse Character Creator, is a 3D character animation application originally developed by Mixamo. It was acquired by Adobe Systems in June 2015 and was discontinued while in beta testing.
  • Ideas CC is a mobile digital sketchpad app that lets you design almost anywhere using vectors, layers, and color themes.
  • Kuler CC, later called Adobe Color CC, was a color theming app for mobile devices. It was developed and marketed by Adobe Inc. through Adobe Creative Cloud.
  • Muse is a discontinued offline website builder used to create fixed, fluid, or adaptive websites, without the need to write code.
  • Premiere Clip is a timeline based video editing software on mobile platform.
  • Preview CC is an app for previewing mobile designs.
  • Scout is a profiling tool for Flash SWF files.
  • SpeedGrade was a tool for performing color corrections and developing looks for Premiere projects. SpeedGrade was discontinued on August 22, 2017, but could still be used by subscribers at the time. Features from SpeedGrade are now found in the Lumetri Color Correction feature in Premiere Pro.
  • Story was a screenwriting and film/TV pre-production online application which integrates with the Premiere Pro family. It allows users to create movie scripts for their movies.
  • Voco is an unreleased audio editing and generating prototype software by Adobe that enables novel editing and generation of audio.

    Reception

The change from perpetual licenses to a subscription model was met with significant criticism. Although Adobe's cloud-based model caused disagreement and uncertainty, and incited annoyance and conflict, a survey by CNET and Jefferies revealed that despite complaints most of its 1.4 million subscribers plan to renew.