In the last year there has been a lot of chatter about Adobe’s subscription model. I think that companies who release yearly paid updates to single-purchase software are worse.
I have had this happen twice in the last few years.
The first time was with Luminar. I purchased Luminar 4 and less than 6 months later Luminar Ai came out. Then 13 months later Luminar Neo came out. Each of these platforms offering a perpetual license. Never mind the fact that the software you are buying is renamed, and mildly tweaked just enough to try and sell you the new version. The amount of spam emails I get from just Luminar is astounding.
The second sfotware to do it is ON1 Raw. When I first bought it, it was not labeled the “2025 Edition” but now it carries a year, and guess what the latest version is that I also would need to pay full price for? You bet, the 2026 Edition. This is not better than Adobe’s model. I get more content updates from video games than software purchases.
What this has led to is using Apple Photos to manage and edit RAW images.
It’s not as powerful as these others but it does what I need to. Which is generally to adjust shadows, highlights, and maybe white balance. Although my latest camera purchase doesn’t need that at all.
What’s your take?
Does the subscription model bother you? Does the yearly upgrade price bother you, or are you simply fine with things the way they are?
