Duke University's Adobe Alternatives
Duke University has built a page for Adobe alternatives in an effort to identify a list of recommended alternatives. In most cases, one does not need the full functionality of an Adobe creative product, so semi-alternatives are listed as well. For example, Preview on Mac and Word 2013 on Windows are sufficient for many people that would have bought Acrobat in the past. Both free and paid options are listed.
Their recommended options are based primarily on their user feedback and cost. Some of the other options (or options not listed) may be more appropriate for your users. Acrobat, Photoshop, and Illustrator replacements are by far the most sought after.
Acrobat –
Recommended:Qoppa PDF Studio Pro (Windows & Mac), Preview, Word 2013 (both Free)
Other options: Nitro, Nuance, Foxit, PDFtk, Bluebeam Revu, Skim
Photoshop -
Recommended: Pixelmator (Mac), GIMP (Windows)
Other options: paint.net, Pixlr, Xara, Acorn, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Aperture, Pinta, CinePaint, Krita, IrfanView
Illustrator -
Recommended: Affinity Designer (Mac), Inkscape (Windows)
Other options: Pixelmator, Sketch, Openoffice Draw, Serif DrawPlus, Xara Xtreme, CorelDRAW, SVG-edit
Premiere -
Recommended: Lightworks (Windows), Final Cut Pro (Mac)
Other options: Avidemux, iMovie, VideoLAN, ScreenFlow, OpenShot, Corel VideoStudio, Sony Vegas Movie Studio, Kdenlive, Windows Movie Maker, PiTiVi, T@b ZS4, Cinelerra, Pinacle Studio, EditStudio, PowerDirector, EZVid, VideoPad, Kino
After Effects -
Recommended: Blender (Windows), Apple Motion (Mac)
Other options: WonderShare Video Editor, Wax, Jahshaka, Nuke, eyeon Fusion (expensive)
InDesign -
Recommended: LucidPress, Scribus
Other options: Microsoft Publisher, PrintWorks, Serif PagePlus, iStudio Publisher, FormatPixel, Swift Publisher, Quark Xpress, Passepartout, Sigil, Calibre
Audition -
Recommended: Audacity
Other options: LMMS, GarageBand, Ardour
Dreamweaver -
No definitive recommendations.
Some options: RapidWeaver, Coda, SeaMonkey, BlueGriffon, Amaya, Flux, Espresso, Aptana Studio, Eclipse, KompoZer, Bluefish, Nvu, Expression Web, Visual Studio, Vim/Emacs
Flash -
No definitive recommendations.
Some options: Synfig Studio, Flash Develop, Stencyl