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Design · head to head

Adobe Creative Cloud vs Earthly

Adobe Creative Cloud logo

Adobe Creative Cloud

Design

Creativity for all

From
$20.99/month
Free plan
No
Visit Adobe Creative CloudFull review
Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit EarthlyFull review

The short version

  • Earthly is free; Adobe Creative Cloud starts at $20.99/mo.
  • Only Adobe Creative Cloud lists premiere Pro; only Earthly lists policy as code.
  • Where Earthly falls short: pricing model not published; requires sales contact.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Adobe Creative Cloud and Earthly actually diverge.

Attributes where Adobe Creative Cloud and Earthly differ
AttributeAdobe Creative CloudEarthly
Starting price$20.99/monthFree
Pricing modelSubscriptionNo pricing published on website
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, iOS, Android, WebWeb, API
CategoryDesignDeveloper Tools
Founded19822020

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Adobe Creative Cloud

  • Photoshop
  • Illustrator
  • InDesign
  • Premiere Pro
  • After Effects
  • Lightroom
  • XD
  • Creative Cloud Libraries

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Adobe Creative Cloud

  • Graphic designnot Earthly
  • Photo editingnot Earthly
  • Video productionnot Earthly
  • Web designnot Earthly
  • Digital artnot Earthly

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot Adobe Creative Cloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Adobe Creative Cloud

  • The vendor's own Plans and Pricing page as captured by the Internet Archive on 1 January 2022 listed, in US dollars per month: Photography (20GB) at $9.99, Photography (1TB) at $19.99, Creative Cloud All Apps at $52.99, Acrobat Pro at $14.99, and single apps such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and InDesign each at $20.99, all with a 30 day free trial and a separate Adobe Stock add-on

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

Pricing, plan by plan

Adobe Creative Cloud

$20.99/month
  • Photography$20.99/mo
    • Lightroom
    • Lightroom Classic
    • Photoshop
  • Single App$22.99/mo
    • One app of your choice
    • 100GB cloud storage
    • Portfolio website
  • All Apps$59.99/mo
    • 20+ Creative Cloud apps
    • 100GB cloud storage
    • Portfolio website
  • Teams$89.99/mo
    • Everything in All Apps
    • 1TB cloud storage
    • Advanced admin console

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Adobe Creative Cloud if

  • You need photoshop.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want illustrator.
Adobe Creative Cloud review

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Questions people ask

Is Adobe Creative Cloud or Earthly better?
Neither clearly leads. Adobe Creative Cloud starts at $20.99/month and Earthly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Adobe Creative Cloud or Earthly?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $20.99/month for Adobe Creative Cloud and Free for Earthly.
Does Adobe Creative Cloud or Earthly run on more platforms?
Adobe Creative Cloud runs on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web. Earthly runs on Web, API.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Adobe Creative Cloud starts at $20.99/month.
What is Adobe Creative Cloud best used for?
Adobe Creative Cloud is most often used for graphic design, photo editing, video production, web design. Of those, graphic design and photo editing are not what Earthly is typically brought in for.
What can Adobe Creative Cloud do that Earthly cannot?
Adobe Creative Cloud covers Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro. Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
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