- Affinity is now free for all
- One app for Photo, Designer, and Publisher
- Canva's premium subscribers also get AI tools inside Affinity
Affinity is now free. You read that right. No catch, no charge - three of my favorite professional-grade apps for graphic design, photo editing, and desktop publishing are now completely free for everyone.
Alongside dropping the perpetual license (in a sea of subscriptions, that was always refreshing), Affinity has also rolled Photo, Designer, and Publisher into a single app.
According to the company, it brings “professional vector, photo, and layout tools together in one powerful space, featuring everything you need to design, edit, and publish without switching apps or breaking flow.”
Or paying any money, for that matter.
Free - but at what cost?
Since being bought by Canva back in 2024, there were concerns that the software would follow in the footsteps of its owner and introduce subscriptions for users and businesses.
In fairness, Affinity was quick to quash those rumours. At the time, it remained committed to the perpetual license model, promising in no uncertain terms that subscriptions were not on the cards. No way, no how.
After that, there was little news. Until, out of the blue, the Affinity website went dark. Users could no longer buy the software, and were greeted only with a banner promising “ Creative freedom is coming.”
Then, earlier this month, Affinity made all three existing apps free for iPhone and iPad users (I covered the news here).
It turns out the emphasis was not on creative, but on freedom.
And this is the full Affinity experience, too. Not a stripped back version, but all the tools, all the features, everything that made Affinity great is in place. With a few extras.
Users with a Canva premium account will now get access to the platform’s AI tools inside Affinity with the new Canva AI Studio. That means the introduction of tools like Generative Fill, Expand & Edit, and Remove Background, putting Affinity more on par with unspoken arch-rival Adobe.
That’s what I find especially interesting about the move. Affinity already offered some of the best alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Together with the pro-grade software, the pull of a one-off fee compared to Adobe’s ceaseless subscriptions was a big one.
Now, with the removal of any costs whatsoever, I’ll be interested to see how this will shake up the creative software landscape, and whether Adobe users will switch over (I suspect Affinity is keen to see if this will happen, too).
You can get the new Affinity suite from its new website by clicking here.
➡️ Read our full guide to the best photo editors
1. Best overall:
Adobe Photoshop
2. Best Adobe alternative:
Affinity
3. Best Photoshop & Lightroom alternative:
CyberLink PhotoDirector 365
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