Adobe Creative Cloud vs Affinity vs Luma Dream Machine vs Runway
A side-by-side look at Adobe Creative Cloud, Affinity, Luma Dream Machine and Runway for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
-
Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop and Firefly AI in one subscription
- Price
- From $9.99/mo (Firefly Standard); Creative Cloud Pro $69.99/mo list ($34.99/mo first 3 months for new subscribers)
- Learning
- Steep
- Best for
- Editors who finish in Premiere and After Effects and want generative fill, extends and title or motion work in the same app
-
Free pro photo, vector and layout editor from Canva, with paid Canva AI tools
- Price
- Core app free; Canva AI tools inside Affinity need a paid Canva plan
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Key art, posters and title cards for a film or doc, built without a Photoshop subscription
-
Agent-run video and image studio with Ray3.2 camera control and multi-model access
- Price
- From $30/month (Plus), or $25/month billed yearly ($300/yr)
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Storyboard-driven shorts and ads where keyframe timing matters (Ray3.2 and Scenes)
-
Gen-4.5 video, Aleph 2.0 video editing and an agent that builds whole ad campaigns
- Price
- Free (125 one-time credits); Standard $15/mo ($12/mo billed annually)
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Previs and shot tests with Gen-4.5 before committing to a shoot
The short version
Where they differ
- Affinity is the only one without text to video.
- Affinity is the only one without image to video.
- Affinity is the only one without video to video.
- Affinity is the only one without voice / TTS.
- Affinity is the only one without music & SFX.
All 4 offer: image editing, upscaling.
Feature by feature
Adobe Creative Cloud vs Affinity vs Luma Dream Machine vs Runway: capabilities
| Adobe Creative Cloud | Affinity | Luma Dream Machine | Runway | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From $9.99/mo (Firefly Standard); Creative Cloud Pro $69.99/mo list ($34.99/mo first 3 months for new subscribers) | Core app free; Canva AI tools inside Affinity need a paid Canva plan | From $30/month (Plus), or $25/month billed yearly ($300/yr) | Free (125 one-time credits); Standard $15/mo ($12/mo billed annually) |
| Infinite canvas | Yes | No | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Node / flow builder | Not confirmed | No | Partial | Yes |
| AI agent | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Text to image | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text to video | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Image to video | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Video to video | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Native audio in video | Not confirmed | No | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Lip-sync | Not confirmed | No | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Voice / TTS | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Music & SFX | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Upscaling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Character consistency | Not confirmed | No | Yes | Partial |
| Camera control | Partial | No | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Custom training | Yes | No | Partial | Partial |
| Third-party models | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Not confirmed | Partial | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Desktop / local | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Commercial use | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
Adobe Creative Cloud
| Creative Cloud Pro | $69.99monthly (annual plan billed monthly) |
|---|---|
| Creative Cloud Standard | $54.99monthly (annual plan billed monthly) |
| Single app (Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator) | $22.99monthly (annual plan billed monthly) |
| Photography | $19.99monthly (annual plan billed monthly) |
| Firefly Standard | $9.99monthly |
| Firefly Pro | $19.99monthly |
| Firefly Pro Plus | $49.99monthly |
| Firefly Premium | $199.99monthly |
Affinity
| Affinity (core app) | Freen/a |
|---|
Luma Dream Machine
| Plus | $30monthly, or $25/mo billed yearly ($300/yr) |
|---|---|
| Pro | $90monthly, or $75/mo billed yearly ($900/yr) |
| Ultra | $300monthly, or $250/mo billed yearly ($3,000/yr) |
| Team | Contact salescustom |
| Enterprise | Contact salescustom |
Runway
| Free | $0none |
|---|---|
| Standard | $15monthly |
| Pro | $35monthly |
| Max | $95monthly |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
Adobe Creative Cloud
Pick it for
- Editors who finish in Premiere and After Effects and want generative fill, extends and title or motion work in the same app
- Agencies and brands that need commercially cleared generative assets for client delivery
- Motion designers who build mograph in After Effects and generate stills or plates in Firefly
Stands out
- Only suite where editing, motion graphics, grading, audio and stock sit in one subscription with Firefly generation layered on top
- Adobe's own Firefly models are marketed as commercially safe (licensed and public-domain training data), and paid plans carry commercial rights
Watch out
- Full suite is expensive: Creative Cloud Pro is $69.99/mo list, and generation is metered on top
- The AI layer is split across Firefly credits, beta agents and partner models, so costs and availability differ per feature
Affinity
Pick it for
- Key art, posters and title cards for a film or doc, built without a Photoshop subscription
- Logo, lower-third and end-card graphics that need vector output and print layouts
- Cleaning up and masking still frames before feeding them to an AI video model as references
Stands out
- The core app is free for individuals with no watermark or trial clock, which is the main gap against Photoshop's 7-day trial and paid-only plans.
- One app covers raster, vector and page layout as switchable studios, so a logo, its print layout and its photo mockup stay in one document.
Watch out
- No video generation or video editing; stills and graphics only
- AI features sit behind a separate Canva subscription, with a monthly allowance that runs out quickly on heavy generation
Luma Dream Machine
Pick it for
- Storyboard-driven shorts and ads where keyframe timing matters (Ray3.2 and Scenes)
- Agencies producing one hero spot resized to many placements (Variants)
- Creature and character motion with consistent references (Master Reference Assets)
Stands out
- Agent-run workflow: Luma Agents plan, select models, generate and iterate from a brief, with a separate Brainstorm mode that doesn't spend credits on renders.
- Shot-level control on Ray3.2: up to 16 keyframes per clip, frame-by-frame direction, and Luma Scenes storyboards you can retime before rendering.
Watch out
- Entry price is $30/month, above the $15 Runway Standard list price
- Agent credit usage makes it hard to predict clips per plan before buying
Runway
Pick it for
- Previs and shot tests with Gen-4.5 before committing to a shoot
- Fixing finished footage with Aleph 2.0, such as swapping backgrounds or wardrobe across a clip
- Agency ad and campaign work using Agent, Brand Kits and Projects
Stands out
- Gen-4.5 and Aleph 2.0 sit in one credit pool with third-party models such as Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.5, Wan 3.0 and Nano Banana Pro, so you can compare models without separate subscriptions.
- Aleph 2.0 edits existing footage rather than generating new clips, which keeps the rest of a shot stable.
Watch out
- Credits burn fast: about 12 credits per second for Gen-4.5 and about 28 for Aleph 2.0
- Single generations run about 10 seconds, so longer scenes need stitching
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page, checked against vendor pricing and changelog pages (oldest check: ). Sources are listed on each tool's page.
Build a different comparison →