How Much Does Adobe Premiere Cost?

As the industry-standard professional video editing software, Adobe Premiere Pro comes at a recurring subscription cost. But fully understanding the various pricing options, bundled plans, and possible savings strategies helps both individuals and businesses budget appropriately.

Premiere Pro's pricing follows Adobe's shift to a subscription-only model under the Creative Cloud banner. While requiring an ongoing payment, the software brings constantly updated powerful features for serious video production and post-workflows.

How Much Does Adobe Premiere Cost?

Adobe Premiere comes at a subscription cost starting at $20.99 (≈1.4 hours spent earning money at $15/hour) per month.

Premiere Pro's pricing varies based on bundled options:

Premiere Pro as a Standalone SubscriptionPremiere Pro Monthly Plan

• $34.49 (≈2.3 hours of your life traded for $15/hour) per month billed monthly
• For short-term access or cautiously trying Premiere before committing
• Cancel anytime

Premiere Pro Annual Plan, Paid Monthly

• $22.99 (≈1.5 hours of continuous work at a $15/hour job) per month when billed monthly
• Must pay full year upfront at $299.88 (≈2.5 days of labor continuously at a $15/hour wage) annually
• Saves $120 (≈1 day working for this purchase at $15/hour) per year compared to month-to-month pricing

Premiere Pro Annual Plan, Prepaid Upfront

• $263.88 (≈2.2 days of consecutive work at a $15/hour job) paid once yearly
• Biggest discount around 17% cheaper than 12 monthly payments
• Best deal for long-term Premiere Pro users

Bundled Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps Plan

This includes the full suite of over 20 apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat alongside Premiere Pro for a single price:

Creative Cloud All Apps Monthly Plan

• $89.99 (≈6 hours of your life traded for $15/hour) per month
• Most flexible but also the most expensive option long-term
• Access to the entire collection of Adobe desktop and mobile apps

Creative Cloud Annual Plan, Paid Monthly

• $59.99 (≈4 hours to sacrifice at work earning $15/hour) per month
• Must pay annually for 12 months upfront
• Ideal for users of multiple Adobe apps, cheaper than purchasing separately

Creative Cloud Annual Prepaid Plan

• $659.88 (≈1.1 weeks of your working life at $15/hour) paid once yearly
• Around 25% savings vs. paying monthly
• Best overall value for comprehensive access to Adobe's creative software collection

According to Elegant Themes, Adobe Premiere Pro costs $20.99 (≈1.4 hours spent earning money at $15/hour) per month for individuals who commit to an annual plan. If you prefer a month-to-month subscription, the cost increases to $31.49 (≈2.1 hours at the office earning $15/hour) per month. Alternatively, an annual prepaid plan is available for $239.88 (≈2 days of consecutive work at a $15/hour job) per year. For those interested in accessing all Adobe Creative Cloud apps, including Premiere Pro, the cost is $54.99 (≈3.7 hours of uninterrupted labor at $15/hour) per month for individuals.

On Just Creative, Adobe Premiere Pro is part of the Creative Cloud suite, and its standalone subscription costs $20.99 (≈1.4 hours spent earning money at $15/hour) per month for individuals. Students and teachers can access Premiere Pro as part of the All Apps plan for a discounted rate of $19.99 (≈1.3 hours of your life traded for $15/hour) per month in the first year, increasing to $29.99 (≈2 hours of labor required at $15/hour) per month thereafter. The All Apps plan for individuals costs $54.99 (≈3.7 hours of uninterrupted labor at $15/hour) per month, while businesses pay $84.99 (≈5.7 hours of your life traded for $15/hour) per month for team licenses.

The article on Expert Photography highlights similar pricing, with Premiere Pro available at $20.99 (≈1.4 hours spent earning money at $15/hour) per month for individuals on an annual plan or $31.49 (≈2.1 hours at the office earning $15/hour) per month on a monthly subscription basis. The All Apps plan, which includes over 20 Adobe applications, costs $54.99 (≈3.7 hours of uninterrupted labor at $15/hour) per month for individuals and offers additional features like 100GB of cloud storage and access to Adobe Fonts.

Adobe's Subscription Pricing Structure

Rather than perpetual one-time license purchases, a Creative Cloud membership provides access to Adobe app downloads, updates, cloud storage, fonts, templates, and additional assets.

Subscription options include:

• Monthly plan - Flexible month-to-month access that can be canceled anytime. Most expensive long term.
• Annual plan - Cheaper per month when paid annually upfront, but requires 12-month commitment.
• Prepaid annual plans - Pay for the full year at once to maximize savings compared to monthly billing.
• All Apps bundled plans - Access the full Creative Cloud suite of 20+ apps for a single price, starting at $59.99 (≈4 hours to sacrifice at work earning $15/hour)/month. Tremendous value.

Pros - Latest real-time updates, flexible plans, cloud collaboration, storage space, continual learning resources

Cons - Requires ongoing payments, cancellation complications, expensive long term

Special Adobe Pricing Offers

Adobe provides the following discounted membership options:

Students and Teachers

• Premiere Pro discounted to $19.99 (≈1.3 hours of your life traded for $15/hour)/month for the first year, then $29.99 (≈2 hours of labor required at $15/hour)/month thereafter
• All Apps plan available for $39.99 (≈2.7 hours of labor required at $15/hour)/month

Business/Team Plans

• All Apps or single app plans for $89.99 (≈6 hours of your life traded for $15/hour) per license monthly
• Centralized dashboard for managing users and app/settings deployment

Enterprise and Government

• Custom discounted pricing based on needs and number of users/seats
• Significant volume discounts from 500+ licenses up to thousands

Premiere Rush

• Pared down $9.99/month mobile editing app perfect for hobbyists

Acrobat Pro

• Must have PDF editor and creator tool for $14.99 (≈1 hour of uninterrupted labor at $15/hour)/month

Additional Adobe Cost Considerations

Cloud Storage - 100GB is free, but monthly charges apply for additional space to store video files and libraries.

Stock Media Assets - Adobe Stock subscriptions run $29 (≈1.9 hours of your life traded for $15/hour)/month for 750+ assets, videos, templates.

Hardware - A powerful computer is required to run Premiere smoothly, especially for 4K media.

Third-Party Plugins - Add-ons for transitions, effects, and tools cost $50 - $300+ (≈2.5 days of labor continuously at a $15/hour wage) each.

Adobe Subscription Money-Saving Tips

Cloud Storage

• 100GB is free, but monthly fees apply for additional space to store massive video libraries and assets:
• 1TB = $9.99/month
• 2TB = $19.99 (≈1.3 hours of your life traded for $15/hour)/month
• 10TB = $99.99/month

Adobe Stock Media Assets

• High quality stock photos, videos, templates
• Plans from $29/month for 750+ assets to $199/month for 75,000+ assets

You might also like our articles about the cost of Final Cut Pro, Adobe Illustrator, or Adobe Marketing Cloud.

Third-Party Plugin Costs

• Add-ons for tools, specialized effects, animations, 3D, color grading etc. range from $50 - $300+ per plugin

Hardware Requirements

• A current high-end computer is required to run Premiere smoothly, especially with 4K+ media. Desktops cost $1,000 - $5,000+.

Minimize Adobe Costs

Free Trial Offers - Adobe provides a free 7-day Premiere Pro trial to test capabilities before subscribing.

Student and Teacher Discounts - Students/teachers qualify for over 60% off the first year of many plans. Ongoing education discounts also available.

Compare Annual versus Monthly Payments - Annual prepaid plans provide lowest cost per month compared to expensive month-to-month recurring billing.

Leverage Seasonal Discounts and Sales - Look for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, back to school period, and holiday promotional offers.

Consider Free or Cheaper Alternatives - For hobbyists, options like DaVinci Resolve, Shotcut, or iMovie may provide sufficient functionality free for basic projects.

Is Adobe Premiere Pro Worth It?

For most average consumers simply looking to edit casual social media content or home videos, free software may be perfectly suitable rather than subscribing to Premiere Pro.

However, for businesses and professional full-time video creators earning income from production, Premiere Pro delivers tremendous value that often offsets its costs:

Smooth Real-Time Editing Performance

• Optimized playback engine and GPU acceleration for lag-free 4K+ editing, effects, and color grading even on longer timelines.

Endless Effects, Transitions, and Customization

• The industry leader with hundreds of professional presets, animations, plugins, LUTs, and tools for color, motion graphics, subtitles, audio, etc.

Support for Cutting Edge Formats and Hardware

• Built to handle emerging standards like HDR, 360 video, multi-cam workflows, 10-bit codecs, and advanced camera formats. Leverages the latest GPUs.

Tight Integration with the Adobe Ecosystem

• Designed to perfectly complement programs like Photoshop, After Effects, Audition, Lightroom, and Animate through its common interface. Media assets flow smoothly between apps.

Reliability and Support Infrastructure

• Team Projects enables collaboration across editors. Technical support resolves issues promptly. Built on decades of refinement by Adobe engineers.

For these reasons, Premiere Pro justifies its ongoing cost for most serious video professionals through the productivity and quality it facilitates. But free alternatives meet many hobbyists' basic needs.

Expert Thoughts

Sarah Fields, Video Production Company Owner

"I recommend new users start with the single Premiere Pro app plan. Only upgrade to the full Creative Cloud suite if you find yourself needing After Effects, Photoshop, or Illustrator more. No use overpaying for apps that go unused."Alan Tanner, Professional Videographer"Don't buy add-on plug-ins right away. Learn to leverage what's built-in first, then identify specific limitations before spending money on effects packages."Cindy Wright, Graphic Designer"Keep costs down by avoiding month-to-month payments. The annual plan brings the per month average way down. Then I'd recommend the prepaid option for maximum savings if you know you'll use it long-term."

Final Words

Adobe Premiere Pro's subscription pricing gives ongoing access to industry-leading video editing tools. Individuals can edit royalty-free footage for YouTube, while businesses can create impactful social media and marketing content. While not the cheapest option, the high-level functionality makes the costs worthwhile for professionals.

Answers to Common Questions

Is Premiere a one-time purchase?

No, since 2013 Adobe has strictly offered Premiere Pro via ongoing Creative Cloud subscription only, with no option to buy a lifetime license. Lower annual plans help reduce long-term costs.

What are the disadvantages of Adobe Premiere?

The main downsides are the mandatory subscription pricing model and that it only runs on Windows and Mac. The high system requirements also demand expensive, powerful hardware to use Premiere smoothly.

How many computers can I install Adobe Premiere Elements on?

For individual license holders, Adobe Premiere Pro can be activated on two computers. A single-app subscription allows use on one Mac or PC, while All Apps plans permit installs on two devices - either Mac, PC, or a combination.