See PC World’s ongoing reviews of PDF editor programs for the best third-party Acrobat programs. We also talk to experts about why software subscriptions are on the rise. The following programs are the best options we’ve found to replace Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. I actually use them all-Adobe and the alternatives-because each program has unique features I can pick and choose for my projects. But a subset of users have largely left their beloved Adobe software behind for a variety of clones, shareware, and open-source products. I’ve also purchased Freehand and PageMaker, and the Macromedia products. I love Adobe products, and I’ve used them since Photoshop version 2.5. A large corporation has the budget to shoulder monthly fees, but small businesses and home users may balk, especially for programs used only occasionally. It's easy to understand why some users have been unhappy with Adobe's subscription model. In 2013, not long after I purchased the Adobe Creative Suite CS6 program, Adobe terminated the desktop versions of its software and launched Creative Cloud, offering subscription-based access only to its suite of products.
