Bundled Creative Cloud fuels Dreamweaver
Litmus
Adobe’s grip on email creation starts upstream in design, which makes Dreamweaver a default tool even when teams do not actually want an email editor. If a company already pays for Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign to make email assets, Dreamweaver usually arrives in the same Creative Cloud seat at no extra budget line. That gives Adobe distribution into email development workflows, but mostly through procurement convenience, not because Dreamweaver fits email coding particularly well.
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Dreamweaver persisted because email teams needed a side by side visual editor, table visibility, and click from preview into code. Agencies described using it mainly because those features existed, not because it was purpose built for email.
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The bundle matters because the same teams making email graphics often already live in Adobe tools. Agencies that keep Photoshop for client asset work said the full Adobe subscription costs the same with or without Dreamweaver, so Dreamweaver stays available by default.
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That creates an opening for Litmus and newer editors like Parcel. Once a tool adds email specific workflows, like linting, component systems, previews, collaboration, and easier handoff into ESPs, teams move off Dreamweaver despite having continued Adobe access.
The next phase is less about replacing Adobe in design, and more about replacing Adobe at the handoff from design into production. Email tools that connect components, previews, testing, and ESP delivery into one workflow can peel development away from Creative Cloud, even while Photoshop and Figma remain where the visual asset gets made.