Want to build websites? Here's how to download Dreamweaver for free, or with a Creative Cloud subscription
(Image credit: Adobe)
Want to download Dreamweaver? In our guide, we'll show you how to do so for free, as part of a free trial, or as part of an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
Launched in 1997 by Macromedia, which was then acquired by Adobe in 2005, Dreamweaver is a web development tool that creatives have been using for decades now to create websites.
We'll be brutally honest: we don't think it's the best web design software you can get these days (see our list of the best web design software for more options). However, if you're used to its way of working, you may prefer to stick with what you know. Or maybe you have a colleague that knows its ins and outs, and is willing to teach you.
Furthermore, if you're interested in subscribing to the Creative Cloud for other tools, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects or Premiere Pro, then it won't cost you anything extra to download Dreamweaver and try it out for size. (Surprised by the cost of a Creative Cloud subscription? See our guide to the latest Adobe discounts). Plus, check out our Adobe software list to see which programs you might be missing.
Read on as we explain how much Dreamweaver costs, how to get it for free, how to download and install Dreamweaver, and more.
Can you download Dreamweaver for free?
Download a free trial of Dreamweaver for PC or Mac Try the latest release of Dreamweaver free with a seven-day trial from Adobe. If you like it, you can convert to a paid subscription during or after the trial. There’s no obligation to buy the software, but the onus is on you to cancel before the end of the trial.
Yes, you can download Adobe Dreamweaver free, in the form of a free trial. This gives you seven days to try it out and discover if it’s right for you.
A free trial is the only way to download Dreamweaver for free without breaking the law. Yes, you might find a website offering a totally free download of Dreamweaver. But we'll be honest, it'll probably contain a virus, or some other nasty way of ruining your life. It's just not worth the risk.
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To take out a free trial to Dreamweaver, you’ll need to create an Adobe ID, if you don't have one already. This is easy to do, and free. Just head to the Adobe Account Page, click 'Create Account' and follow the steps. Once you've generated your ID, head to this Adobe page, click on 'Free trial' (next to the blue 'Buy Now' button at the top) and follow the instructions.
You'll be asked to enter your credit card details, but as long as you cancel in good time, you won’t get charged. However, if you decide to keep subscribing after the trial ends (or just forget to cancel), payments will be deducted from your card.
The cheapest way to buy Dreamweaver is through the Single App plan, which at time of writing costs $20.99 / £19.97 / AU$29.99 per month on an annual plan. This includes 100GB of cloud storage, along with access to Adobe Portfolio, Adobe Fonts, and Adobe Spark.
An alternative method is to buy Dreamweaver through the Creative Cloud All Apps option. This gives you access to Adobe’s entire collection of creative desktop and mobile apps, including Dreamweaver. (If you’re not sure which Creative Cloud apps might prove useful, see our Adobe software list). This normally costs costs $54.99 / £51.98 / AU$79.99 per month on an annual plan.
Dreamweaver discount for teachers and students
Student and teacher plan: Get Adobe CC All Apps plan for just $19.99 / £16.24 / AU$21.99 per month If you're studying or working in education, Adobe's Student and Teacher plan gives you around 60 per cent off an All Apps Creative Cloud subscription, including Dreamweaver. Click the link above or 'View deal'.
If you’re a student or teacher, you can buy Dreamweaver as part of a discounted All Apps plan with a saving of around 60 per cent off for your first year. Right now, you get the entire Creative Cloud suite of apps, along with 100GB cloud storage, Adobe Portfolio, Adobe Fonts, and Adobe Spark, for just $19.99 / £16.24 / AU$21.99 per month for the first year, and then $29.99 / £25.28 / AU$43.99 the following year. Note that the student and teacher discount is only available on an All Apps plan.
How do I download and install Dreamweaver?
If you're installing Dreamweaver for the first time or on a new computer, you just need to sign up for a free trial or subscription. Then go to Adobe's Download Dreamweaver page and follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the software. If this is your first time installing any Creative Cloud app, the Creative Cloud desktop app will install at the same time.
Dreamweaver is less popular within the web design community than it used to be (Image credit: Adobe)
What is Dreamweaver?
Dreamweaver is software for PC and Mac that allows you to build websites. When it was first released, it was broadly appreciated as a way of saving you much of the repetition of hand-coding. Instead, you could just use drag and drop to build a website quickly and easily.
Around a decade ago, though, it started to fall out of favour with the web designer community. Many argued that the sites it outputted were full of bloated, buggy and inelegant code. Adobe responded by making the software more code-centric, and nowadays, it's recommend you have some understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript to use it.
However, in many ways that means it offers the worst of both worlds. It's not simple to use if you don't understand code at all; in that case, we'd recommend one of the best website builder platforms like Wix or Squarespace. But if you know some code and want to build working websites, there are better web design tools to focus on, from UX tools like Figma to frameworks like React; certainly that's what other professional web designers will tell you, anyway.
So is Dreamweaver a serious web design tool overall? Ultimately, as a way of learning code and improving your knowledge, it does have a fair bit to offer. Do you like the idea of starting with a template, then tweaking the code and seeing what difference that makes to your website, in real time, in a separate part of the screen? If the answer to that is yes, that's a good enough reason to try Dreamweaver out for size. And its built-in code hints and good documentation will help you along too.
Dreamweaver's split-screen view offers a good way to learn coding (Image credit: Adobe)
Is Dreamweaver included in Creative Cloud All apps?
Yes, Dreamweaver is included in an Creative Cloud All apps subscription. You can also subscribe to Dreamweaver as a single app. You can see a full list of all the Creative Cloud apps in our Adobe software list.
Where do you buy Dreamweaver?
The only way to buy Dreamweaver is as part of a Creative Cloud subscription direct from Adobe, for which you pay monthly or annually. There are two broad options. The first, and cheapest, is to subscribe to Dreamweaver only. The second is take out an All Apps subscription. The latter will cost you more, but gives you access to all of the Creative Cloud apps, along with other benefits.
If this cost seems too high, bear in mind that Adobe often runs special promotions; we track the best in our guide to Creative Cloud discounts. There are also discounts for students and teachers (see below), as well as separate pricing for businesses, schools and universities.
How do you build websites with Dreamweaver?
Once you've downloaded Dreamweaver, how do you get started? Well, if you're unfamiliar with the way Dreamweaver works, you'll need to do a bit of training, because it's not a lot like other web design software. The best place to start is Adobe's selection of Dreamweaver tutorials, which will show you the interface and walk you through the basic concepts and techniques, before leading you through specific projects.
Alternatives to Dreamweaver
Squarespace is easier to use than Dreamweaver (Image credit: Tom May)
If you don't know anything about coding, an easier approach than using Dreamweaver is to use one of the best website builder platforms, such as Wix, Weebly and Squarespace. These make it super-easy to build a website, using drag and drop; just select a template, add your content, and you're most of the way there.
The downside to this approach is that you'll have to pay for the service, and you won't get much control over the look and feel of your site. You'll have more flexibility with WordPress.org, which is free, open source software that's been used to create about a quarter of the existing websites in existence today. On the downside, it does involve quite a bit of a learning curve, although you won't have to learn code itself.
Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects.
