I was never told of a cancellation fee.

...is it possible to cancel without paying the fee?

By @Ximithie249224281z9d

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All depends on when you cancel. 

• Within first 14 days of service, there is no fee to cancel. 
• After 14 days, there is a 50% termination fee for annual plans.  If you have 6 months remaining, the fee is 3 months worth or payments.
• If you wait until your 12th month to cancel -- before it auto renews, there is no fee to cancel.

adobe's getting better at making the annual plan cancellation fee more obvious, and complaints like yours less understandable.

currently, i think the fee is obvious because of this first thing you see after selecting a plan.  it's no longer hidden in fine print:

and if you don't understand that line, you can click the info icon and get more detailed info.

Did you order online? 

You agreed to the subscription & cancellation TERMS. 

Otherwise, you could not have ordered the subscription. 

CONTACT ADOBE SUPPORT:
================
Online Chat: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen
Phone M-F, during normal business hours: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html

You should have read the terms of the subscription before entering your credit card number.

See here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/manage-account/using/creative-cloud-subscription-terms.html

You can go to Adobe Customer Service to see if they will make an exception for you

(make sure to sign in to your Adobe account first and allow popups on your browser):
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen will automatically open the chat window.
Type "Agent" in the chat box to bypass the chatbot and be connected to a person.

You may also be able to contact Adobe by phone:
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html

Moved to account... forum.