Which popular platforms for content creators changed their prices in 2024?
Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic shut the world down, countries have been dealing with long-reaching aftereffects. You've probably heard about big price changes is unexpected places. From the oft-cited (and oft-overblown) "price of eggs" to viral videos about $18 fast food combo meals, price hikes in the consumer world certainly feel unavoidable lately.
And while wages in the country are actually exceeding increases in costs, the people who typically get left out of that conversation are creative types working multiple jobs or earning income independently. So we wondered — are the tools and popular platforms that content creators use also getting more expensive?
There are thousands upon thousands of tools available for content creators. And many of them only really need a few pieces of gear, like a good phone, good Internet, a light, and an app or two to make the majority of their content. But plenty of others require a more robust creator stack in order to churn out high quality content.
When it comes to physical tools like phones and computers, prices have stayed fairly reasonable. One report shows that the average price of a smartphone actually dropped 10 percent between 2021 and and 2024 (though they are expected to rise 15 percent overall by 2029). However, the most popular phone for creators — the Apple iPhone — increased 23 percent between 2019 and 2024, while Android phones increased 29 percent in that same time period. If tariffs hikes happen under the incoming Trump administration, prices for phones, laptops, and other common pieces of hardware could shoot up as much as 45 percent.
Software is typically considered a bit more stable and predictable. Some of the most popular platforms among content creators include:
Of course there are thousands of others, including direct competitors to these and ones that satisfy other needs. When it comes to software, content creators rely on all kinds of platforms, both free and paid, to get the job done.
This is just a very brief list of some of the major platforms that made price changes .
Adobe Creative Cloud. Adobe products got more expensive by about $2 per month per product if you purchase them individually. If you use the entire suite, they increased by about $5 per month. The increases are typically around 10 percent. Adobe also added several new features and platforms, making the price increase more inline with a general product upgrade.
Splice. Used by producers, musicians, and composers the world over, Splice increased the price for its basic Sounds 100 plan for the first time since 2015. Now, users for the most basic plan will pay $9.99 per month instead of $7.99. But unless you've had the Sounds 100 plan for years — you wouldn't be able to access it, anyway. That's because the plan was terminated (for everybody who didn't already have it) years ago. Now, the most basic plan, Sounds+, costs $12.99.
Mailchimp. Mailchimp has been making significant product changes — including to their plans and prices — since Intuit acquired the company in 2021. Mailchimp's free tier is still a great deal for creators looking to get started with a mailing list, but it can quickly scale up in cost from there.
Microsoft 365. Though maybe not as popular among the typical content creator, plenty still use Microsoft 365 — which will be increasing by about 5 percent on average this year.
Pro Tools. Still the most popular music recording software among professional studios (though its market share has certainly decreased over the last 10 years), Pro Tools raised its prices for its studio-and-up level software by a fairly staggering amount. The monthly subscription plan went from $29.99 per month to $34.99 per month (a nearly 17 percent increase) while the perpetual upgrade license increased from $399 to $499, a 25 percent increase.
Squarespace. The popular website builder increased their prices mid-year, with monthly prices for a basic subscription increasing to $25 per month (but $16 per month if you pay annually). While still a fairly affordable option for a website-in-a-box platform, the new prices certainly took some by surprise. But that's nothing compared to Wix, a Squarespace competitor that made major changes to the way they calculate pricing. As a result, some users reported increases anywhere from 75 percent to 250 percent. Notably, Wix does still offer a limited free plan.
Notion. A popular organization and note-taking tool, Notion is increasingly finding a home in content creator workflows. This year, the booming startup announced a price increase of $2 per premium user — though the free version is still available.
Shopify. The leader in e-commerce site builders surprised a lot of users with a big increase in 2024. This came on the back of price increases in 2023, as well (however, these were largely avoidable if you agreed to fork over the money for an annual subscription instead of the monthly rate).
Luckily it's not all talks of price increases, though. Some important pieces of software have managed to stay the same price over the past few years, even if that bag of Cheetos hasn't.
DaVinci Resolve. A comprehensive editing software used by social media creators and professional filmmakers alike, DaVinci Resolve has managed to keep its prices affordable. How affordable? Well, there's a free version that covers about 90 percent of what an average user needs. The Studio version has managed to stay under $300 since it came out (with the occasionally 20 percent off sale), and it still comes with many of Blackmagic Design's camera purchases. Even more impression? The software routinely gets major upgrades. It remains arguably the best value in content creation.
Logic Pro. Apple's flagship audio competitor to Pro Tools has stayed a very affordable $200 with perpetual upgrades since the software made the switch to all-digital years ago. Logic Pro 11 is a major upgrade that hit the app store in mid-2024, but even with the update, the price remains the same (with free updates for existing users).
Discord. Though it has a fairly complicated pricing table based on location, popular community engagement and fan club tool Discord managed to keep its annual prices for Discord Nitro the same at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
Final Draft. Though certainly not necessary to write screenplays, Final Draft is the industry standard when it comes to them. The latest edition (Final Draft 13) came out this year, and while it did increase in cost for new users to $249, the price to upgrade from previous editions remained at $99.
Captions. Likely the most popular automatic caption app for content, Captions did add new pricing tiers to its app — but the Pro plan (which suits most average content creation needs) held steady at $9.99 per month.
We'd be remiss if we didn't mention some of the price increases — many of them welcome — for platforms that ultimately pay creators. We're talking about platforms like Spotify, YouTube Premium, and Apple Music, all of which finally started charging more money. Why do we say finally? Because there are direct relationships between those prices and what creators get paid — particularly when it comes to Spotify.
Most video streaming platforms also increased their prices or re-introduced advertisements as a way to offset costs. It sure seems like the days of accessing everything for nearly nothing are over. Now, with the fragmentation of streaming platforms, having access to all of them could cost more than a cable bill. (Though it's worth nothing the content available is still miles beyond what cable used to offer).
Ultimately, price increases are usually a mixed bag. Many times, they come because the software itself got much better. Sometimes they come after years of undervaluing the software. And sometimes they feel like they came out of the blue simply because they can.
No matter how they happen, they are a fact of content creator life. The good news is there are always new — sometimes more affordable — options opening up. And the even better news is there are increasingly more ways for creators to earn money and make those subscription prices just a fraction of their overall income.
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