Adobe InDesign vs PageStream
Adobe InDesign
adobe.comPageStream
pagestream.orgSide by side
| Figure | Adobe InDesign | PageStream |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19.99/mo | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 2 |
| Spec score · Desktop Publishing Software | 9.2 (#4) | 8.0 (#13) |
| Support | Adobe’s InDesign Help Center provides tutorials, technical requirements, troubleshooting articles, and product documentation. | Free support includes an internet mailing list, private email support, FAQs and free updates. |
| System requirements | InDesign 21.x requires Windows 10 or 11 64-bit, at least 8GB RAM, AVX2 and an internet connection; macOS 12 or newer is required for current versions. | The documentation states that PageStream 5.0 for Windows requires Windows 95 or later or NT 4.0 or later through Vista and Windows 7, with 60MB of disk space. |
Plans
Adobe InDesign
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachers$19.99 a month
- InDesign$22.99 a month
- InDesign$22.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro$34.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro$34.99 a month
- InDesign for teams$37.99 a month
- InDesign for teams$37.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro for teams$99.99 a month
- InDesign annual prepaid$263.88 a year
In their own words
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a professional page-layout application for designing, preflighting, and publishing content for print, web, and tablet apps. It can produce brochures, digital magazines, eBooks, posters, and presentations, with precise typography controls and access to Adobe Fonts. Adobe describes layout and AI features including Flex Layout, layout-aware Rewrite, PDF-to-InDesign conversion, generated alt text, and Generative Expand. InDesign integrates with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat, and includes tools for sharing assets, receiving feedback, and collaborating with stakeholders. It runs on macOS and Windows as a desktop app, not a mobile app, and is available only through a membership plan. A seven-day trial provides the full version but converts to a paid Creative Cloud membership unless canceled before it ends. The InDesign plan includes 100GB cloud storage and 25 monthly generative credits; Creative Cloud Pro plans include access to 20+ apps. For versions 21.3 and later, Adobe lists at least 8GB RAM and an internet connection for activation, subscription validation, and online services.
PageStream
PageStream has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.