Prepaid membership, not a wallet
The usual product is a prepaid subscription for a set period, redeemed against an Adobe account. It extends access rather than sitting as a balance.
That is cleaner than credit in one way — no question about whether it can reach the billing — and less flexible in another: it only buys that plan, for that long.
Which plan matters a lot
The range runs from a single application to the full suite, and the price gap between them is very large. A code for one plan does not upgrade somebody on a different one.
Ask which plan they use, by name. Getting this wrong is the main way this gift fails.
Students and teachers
Education pricing is substantially cheaper and is bought through a different route with proof of enrolment. If the recipient is a student, buying them a full-price gift may be spending several times what they would pay themselves.
Check before buying. It is a rare case where the considerate thing is to ask directly.
Existing subscribers
Someone already on an annual plan may not be able to apply a prepaid code until their current term ends, or may need to cancel auto-renewal first. Worth warning them so the code does not sit unused and expire.
Region
Country-specific, and plans and prices differ by market.
Asking for one
The exact plan name, the country, and the length. See the software guide.