Adobe Faces Free Competition from Maxon, Canva, Apple

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- Adobe charges $34.49 per month for After Effects, a price now matched by free tools like Autograph and Cavalry.
- Maxon relaunched Autograph with free access for individuals after acquiring it last year; the tool previously cost $1,795 permanent or $59 monthly.
- Canva made the full Cavalry motion‑graphics suite free after its February acquisition, echoing its earlier bundling of Affinity’s design apps into a single free offering.
- Blackmagic Design added photo‑editing features and Affinity .af support in the free DaVinci Resolve 21 update, expanding its competition with Adobe Premiere Pro and Lightroom.
- Apple launched Creator Studio in January at $12.99 per month, offering Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and other apps at a fraction of Adobe’s $69.99 Creative Cloud Pro price.
Why it matters: Freelancers and small studios gain access to free tools like Autograph and Cavalry, while Adobe loses potential $34.49‑per‑month revenue per user, prompting a market shift toward cheaper alternatives.

