Adobe pushes users toward annual plans paid monthly but buries the 50% early termination fee deep in the enrollment flow. The FTC has sued Adobe over this practice, citing that users must pay 50% of remaining monthly payments if canceling within the first year. Many users report shock at discovering hundreds of dollars in cancellation fees.

Users cannot purchase Photoshop outright and must pay monthly forever. After 3+ years of subscriptions, users pay more than the old perpetual license cost ($700+) but never own the software. If payments stop, all access is lost immediately with no way to open files without an active subscription.

Users report installing Photoshop as a free trial only to discover Adobe had activated an annual subscription without clear disclosure. When attempting to cancel after the trial, they faced substantial early termination fees. This pattern was cited in the FTC lawsuit as deceptive enrollment.

Firefly AI features use a credits system that doesn't roll over monthly. Professional users report needing 20+ generations to get usable results, quickly depleting credits. Once credits run out, users must wait until reset or purchase additional credits via the $9.99/month Firefly Standard plan for unlimited access.

Adobe's cancellation flow forces users through multiple pages, confusing menus, and retention offers. The FTC complaint specifically cites that Adobe designed cancellation to make users give up. Users report being stuck in infinite loops on the website and experiencing disconnected chat support while trying to cancel.

Each Creative Cloud update changes the interface and moves features around, forcing users to relearn where tools are located. Seasoned professionals report frustration with workflow disruptions. Even the simple 'Save as JPG' became a convoluted 'Save a Copy' process after updates, adding unnecessary steps.

Unlike modern design tools, Photoshop lacks real-time collaboration features. Teams cannot work simultaneously on the same file, requiring complex file sharing and version control workarounds. This is particularly limiting for design teams used to collaborative tools like Figma.

Users report waiting 2+ hours on phone support despite being told 5-20 minute wait times. Chat support agents frequently disconnect or provide copy-paste responses that don't address issues. For such an expensive subscription, support quality is described as 'ridiculously bad' with agents who are 'clueless and dismissive'.

Photoshop becomes sluggish when handling large high-resolution files or documents with many layers. Performance degrades significantly without powerful hardware - Adobe recommends 16GB RAM minimum but 32-64GB for larger projects. Users on older machines experience frequent hangs and crashes.

Photoshop requires minimum 8GB RAM (16GB+ recommended), DirectX 12 GPU with 1.5GB VRAM, and substantial disk space. Each update increases resource demands. Users on older computers experience significant slowdowns, crashes, and often cannot run newer features at all without expensive hardware upgrades.

Photoshop for iPad launched as a 'full' version but lacks many desktop tools including dodge/burn, smart filters, and has only 2 basic filters (Gaussian Blur, Invert). Users expected feature parity but received a stripped-down app. Missing layer effects and smart filters frustrate professional workflows.

In 2024, Adobe faced massive backlash when updated Terms of Use revealed they 'may access, view, or listen to Content through both automated and manual methods.' Creative professionals were outraged about NDA content potentially being accessed. Adobe later clarified but the 'content analysis' setting remains enabled by default and must be manually disabled.

Photoshop's extensive toolset creates a steep learning curve for new users. The interface can be overwhelming with unlimited possibilities that become very confusing. Official Adobe documentation is often unhelpful, forcing users to rely on third-party YouTube tutorials to learn basic functions.

Users report near-daily crashes after major updates, with new features appearing untested before release. Common issues include font-related hangs, floating toolbar glitches, and shortcut keys briefly switching to wrong tools. The 2023 update was particularly criticized for bugginess.

While Photoshop supports plugins, many essential professional plugins require separate purchases on top of the subscription fee. Nik Collection, Topaz AI, and other popular plugins add significant cost. This creates a stack of subscription and license fees for professional workflows.