Subscription cost tracker and exit planner for Adobe users

Most Adobe subscribers don't realize how much they've paid in total until they do the math. Someone who switched from a perpetual license in 2015 and has been on a $20/month Photography Plan has paid over $2,000 — often more than they'd have paid for several perpetual versions. The moment they realize this is when they go looking for alternatives, but they run into a new problem: they've got a decade of Lightroom catalogs, Photoshop files, and adjustment presets tied to Adobe's formats, and they don't know what switching would actually cost or require.

This gap exists because Adobe has no incentive to help users understand their total cost of ownership, and because the switching cost question ('what do I lose and how do I replace it?') is complex enough that most users give up and keep subscribing. The alternative — manually researching format compatibility, preset portability, and catalog migration across multiple potential replacements — takes hours and requires technical knowledge most hobbyists don't have.

Users who complain about the subscription model are not randomly frustrated — they're at a decision point. They need a concrete answer to 'what would it take to leave and what would I save?' not a generic blog post. A tool that takes a user's subscription type, tenure, file formats in use, and workflow, and produces a migration plan with real cost comparisons and export steps for their specific catalog would serve exactly the moment of peak intent.

This is a business because the frustration with Adobe's pricing is structural and growing as the subscription compounds, and because every new year of someone staying subscribed represents another cohort of people hitting their breaking point and needing exactly this calculation. The need doesn't go away — it grows.

What to build

Build a web tool that takes a user's Adobe subscription type and start date, analyzes their Lightroom catalog size and format usage via an uploaded catalog file, and outputs a personalized switching guide: total spent to date, projected 5-year cost, specific file export steps for their catalog, and a ranked comparison of alternatives based on which features they actually use.

Where to start

Partner with or build for Fujifilm and Sony photography communities on Reddit and Facebook, where there are large concentrations of hobbyists who are already vocal about subscription fatigue and who share technical resources freely — distribution before paid acquisition.

The hard part

Lightroom catalog parsing requires handling multiple catalog versions and schema changes across years, and the accuracy of the migration guide is completely dependent on getting that parsing right — wrong output destroys trust immediately.

How it makes money

Free basic cost calculation (total spent, projected cost); $9 one-time payment for the full personalized migration guide with catalog analysis and step-by-step export instructions.