Affinity design platform is now a free all-in-one app for photo, vector, and layout design
After a long wait in which Serif removed downloads of its main design apps and made them free on iPad while teasing a “big announcement,” the company has now finally revealed that it has replaced its previous paid Affinity design suite with a single all-in-one app simply called “Affinity,” which is now completely free for all users. The new app combines the core tools from Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Publisher into one workspace for photo editing, vector illustration, and page layout, removing the need for separate purchases or subscriptions.
The move surprised many, as users had expected the company to abandon the perpetual license model that made the suite one of the best alternatives to Adobe design suite and switch to a subscription model following Canva’s acquisition of Serif last year. Instead, Canva launched the new Affinity suite with free access and emphasized its “free forever” promise, ensuring that all previous photo, vector, and layout tools remain available at no cost.
The new interface introduces customizable studios that let users mix tools from Pixel, Vector, and Layout environments, arrange panels, and share workspace setups. The app supports PSD, AI, PDF, SVG, TIFF, and IDML files and introduces a universal .af file format. It also includes features like Smart Master Pages, shared text styles, and GPU-accelerated real-time editing. The new app is available now for Windows and Mac, with an iPad version coming soon.
It’s also important to note that users will need a free Canva account to use the new app, although a Canva Pro subscription is only required for advanced AI-powered features like Generative Fill and image generation. This technically makes the new app more “freemium” than entirely free, but those AI tools are optional and not necessary for accessing the core creative features. As for the previous standalone apps, the company confirmed that existing paid customers can continue using them, although they are no longer available for sale or download, indicating a shift toward the new unified platform.
- Vector Graphic App
- Freemium • Proprietary
External links
- Introducing the all-new Affinity: Professional design, now free for everyoneCanva Newsroom • Official source
- Affinity just combined three apps into one free program for all creativesCreative Bloq
- Affinity's pro-grade creative software is now completely free for allTechRadar
- Affinity is Back and Now It’s FreeThurrott.com
- Affinity’s new design platform combines everything into one appThe Verge
- Affinity's entire suite goes completely free on Mac with new all-in-one appApple Insider
Comments
This is the death of the app. Ever since Canva took over it was clear that this buy once and own it was gonna go, and that they will force subscription and/or spyware software ... this is a sad day.
I'm still very skeptical about the whole "free forever" model of business.
Having said that, I'm glad Affinity still remains a viable alternative to Adobe.
Adobe and freebies don't go along. When something is free, you're the product, as the saying goes
FREE is good news if they do manage to update the app and keep it free. My initial impressions of the app are good, and you can opt out from data sharing on app launch. I also don't mind to data share if the app is free. I also don't mind to pay for an app which is not subscription-based. I am not sure what is Canva strategy right now, but it is a kick in Adobe balls :)
if a produit from a big company is free it's because the product is the user so no good :)
all 3 app in 1 app they said, ok let me check:
HOW 1,40go can include ALL from 3go? ok 3 app got the same UI so in one app that reduce but the UI donc use 1.60go so something is missing
so for me, goodbye affinity — it died the day serif sold out. welcome back GIMP, even if its UI feels like punishment. at least it's free, open, and not trying to monetize my workflow with ads and telemetry.
It's called optimisation and I have been using those 3 apps since the beginning and so far, I am able to do the same with Affinity by Canva.
Been using it all day while also dialing in the custom "Studios" I made. Quick export is really convenient. So is being able to float/dock the contextual bar. Only used the generative fill tool on the AI side on some background objects that looked annoying to deal with and it worked fine. Works great, nothing but improvements - especially workflow improvements.
Unfortunately, my opinions are based around working and getting things done. I'm not a pessimistic contrarian Redditor so I can't really do the mental gymnastics needed to find something trivial to whine about. The new logo is ugly, I guess?
It never starts with problems. It starts with promise of progress, convenience and value. However, you have to consider that service can not run for free. Companies have to have money come in now or in the future. When you buy software to run on your computer or server you buy a software license for perpetuity or X numbers of years, you know where the company you are dealing with gets money. When service is free or extremely cheap, you have to realize that they will get their money from you some other way. And they get it from you in terms of data collection, fees, and so on.
So make sure you back up your work and data every day to your own computer or server. Because one day payment will be due, and it will come due, and you have to be ready to switch and do not lose your work.
They get the money from the Canva Pro subscription and, over the past ~10 years, they have given me zero reasons as to why I shouldn't trust them. And if one day they pull some Adobe-level shit the only thing that will change is my opinion of them. Maybe I'll look for an alternative, probably not. But like I said, I'm more focused on getting things done. I don't really care about data collection, fees, or activism.
Alright. Here we go. Let's see how this plays out.
It's free as Photoshop was free in the 2000s. And was still free until your whole life doesn't depend of it. Then it's $35 a month until you're start a farmer carrier.