Software Recommendations 2025

Wade S

Cut Subscription Costs

Software subscriptions are expensive. Adobe Creative Cloud alone costs about $600 a year—nearly $6,000 over a decade. Multiply that across tools, and you’re likely overspending. The good news: many safe, high-quality alternatives are free or far cheaper.

What to Ask Before Switching

Do you use most of the features, or just a handful?
Is it required by your job or clients?
Does it actually save enough time to justify the price?

If not, it’s time to switch.

Adobe Alternatives

Paid

Affinity Suite — $224 AUD, one-time purchase.

Free

GIMP — Image editing
Kdenlive — Video editing
Inkscape — Vector graphics
Krita — Digital painting

Brand	Cost/Year	Alternative	Cost
Adobe	$600	Affinity	$224 one-time
		Open Source	$0

Video & VFX Alternatives

DaVinci Resolve — Free; Studio $295.
Blender — 3D, editing, compositing. Free.
Natron — Node-based compositor. Free.

Resolve and Blender are professional-grade with strong communities. Over 10 years, you save thousands.

Office Software

Skip the $179/year Microsoft Office bill.

LibreOffice — Free
OnlyOffice — Free
OpenOffice — Free

10-year savings: ~$1,790.

Code Editors & IDEs

IDE’s:

JetBrains IDEs — $60–$289 USD/year personal, $799+ commercial.
Visual Studio — Free community edition; paid plans $499+.

Editors:

VS Code — Free.
Vim / Kate — Free.

Using lightweight editors plus command-line tools is often faster—and cheaper—than full IDEs.

3D Modeling

Maya — $1,945 USD/year, strong but expensive.
Blender — Free, open-source, growing fast.

Maya is still an industry standard, but Blender offers a no-cost, full-featured alternative.

Final Word

Most people don’t use enough premium features to justify the cost. By switching where you can, you’ll save thousands over the next decade—without losing capability.

Wade Schneider