Affinity Designer icon
Affinity Designer icon

Affinity Designer

 374 likes

A precise vector graphic design software built for creative professionals, offering vibrant colors, high-speed performance, live gradients, customizable shapes, and unique non-destructive features for superior design flexibility.

Affinity Designer screenshot 1

License model

Country of Origin

  • GB flagUnited Kingdom

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • iPad
4.5 / 5 Avg rating (31)
374likes
25comments

Features

Suggest and vote on features

Properties

  1.  User friendly

Features

  1.  No Subscription
  2.  Vector strokes
  3.  Open PSD files
  4.  Support for Layers
  5.  Snapping
  6.  Export to PDF
  7.  Pixel Persona
  8.  Works Offline
  9.  Dark Mode
  10.  Drawing Tablet Support
  11.  Non Destructive Editing
  12.  Pressure Sensitivity
  13.  Color Picker
  14.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
  15.  Custom Brushes
  16.  Support for CMYK Mode
  17.  Hardware Accelerated
  18.  WYSIWYG Support
  19.  Live Preview
  20.  Ad-free
  21.  Support for scripting
  22.  No Tracking
  23.  No registration required
  24.  Multi-choice brushes

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Comments and Reviews

   
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Comment summary: Affinity Designer is praised for being a fast, affordable, and feature-rich vector editor suitable for various design needs. Users appreciate its one-time purchase model and intuitive interface. However, some critique it for lacking certain advanced vector tools, automation, and specific features compared to Adobe products. It's favored among those transitioning from Adobe, though some prefer alternatives like Vectornator due to perceived bugs and missing functionalities.
Top Positive Comment
Kagerjay
Jan 4, 2018
7

I've used adobe CS6 suite for the longest time, needed a new replacement program for handling vector files and doing light editing that I would normally do in paint.net. Mostly for creating simple graphics as well for webdesign.

I wanted something similar to Apple's Sketch since windows unfortunately didn't have any close equivalents. This is the closest thing to it

I would describe Affinity Designer as a mix of Apple Sketch and Illustrator, with Photoshop (Raster image tools) baked in. There's also a seperate program specifically for working with photos, that's called affinityphotos

PROS:

  • Loads up quickly
  • Unbloated
  • $50 one time fee
  • Export Persona is amazing for quickly creating png files

The problem with using illustrator is I didn't use it everyday, so sometimes I would forget all these quirky workflows when working with it, and it'd take far too long to get something done.

I was able to create simple graphics without looking at tutorials, its very intuitive.

Top Negative Comment
Daniel Santos
Mar 9, 2022
-1

Decent for exporting in different formats and color systems, but nothing more, it lacks basic editing tools, you can't use it in any real project, the AD editing capabilities aren't bad, they just don't exist, it's a brick. Don't buy it. There are better alternatives, even FOSS.

Andy Moloney
Sep 4, 2024
0

Affordable one off purchase, absolutely one of my favourite work apps. I haven't used Adobe in years.

Neece
Jul 15, 2024
0

10+ stars. The Affinity suite, with Designer, is affordable with no outrageously overpriced subscriptions, well maintained, packed with features, and easy to use. Affinity seems to really care about their users. The programs are updated regularly, the price is very fair, and did I mention how much less resources it requires to run??

If you're coming from Adobe, or if you are new to graphic design, there is a learning curve. Some things are different, but there are tons of resources available either through Affinity themselves or the passionate Affinity community to help you get up to speed.

It's much faster than adobe, less buggy (and I'm using the beta versions!), you can import or open just about anything, and adobe files are easy to open and edit with all the layers intact, etc. You can export to almost anything as well. The programs are all integretated so nicely.

I had adobe photoshop, but could never afford to get illustrator which I also needed, so I tried Designer quite awhile ago. I love it and will never go back, even though I used Photoshop since version 2.5 back in the early 90s.

arcadelexicon
Jun 12, 2024
0

You get everything you need to create stunning designs, and vibrant art!

Audric Pherigo
Sep 10, 2022
0

I just wanted to add and it's about what others have said that Affinity Designer lacks of basic editing tools and can't be used on any projects. I totally disagreed! If you say basic tools for editing I am just wondering what kind of basic tool you meant? Just imagine what Illustrator can do, Affinity Designer can do it too and it even surpasses the Illustrator especially in performance. Maybe when you try to use Affinity Designer it's not that deep or maybe there are times when you don't get what you want to do in Affinity Designer and you give up. Affinity Designer is actually very easy to use as easy compared to that of Illustrator. As for an example, a basic editing for an element like "Clipping Path" that was used also in Illustrator. This basic editing into an element like clipping path is you can do this also in Affinity Designer in just two or three steps. If you have an image in your layer just add any shape do you like, for example a star tool shaped and positioned that shape on top of the image on the layer. Now the image that was below of the star tool shape just simply click and drag to the bottom layer onto the top layer. And you will see the result in just a few steps. We come to another basic of editing tools like the multiple pages. In illustrator when you edit multiple pages it will inevitably lag, especially if there are many pages. In Affinity Designer the multiple pages in artboards mode, it works like a charm. It's like you're only working on a single page, it's not slowing down, even if you are dragging it right and left using with the hand tool it does not change. If you're just looking for basic editing tools, you'll find them all on the left side of the toolbar in the Affinity Designer workspace.

BubbleTea
May 20, 2022
1

You buy it once, you own it forever. The software goes on sale often too! I've used it for all kinds of graphic design work for years and love how intuitive it is. I'm happy with my purchase.

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What is Affinity Designer?

Affinity Designer is a fast, smooth, and precise vector graphic design software, built over five years to cater to creative professionals. It's used worldwide for vector illustration, offering features like precise control over curves, vibrant colors, and high-speed performance.

It excels in color design, supporting all major formats, ICC profiles, and wide gamut displays. Its gradients update live on your page for unlimited control.

The software includes a precision-engineered pen tool for crafting curves, which can be fine-tuned with the node or live corner tool. It also offers customizable live shapes with automatic snapping points for precise geometry.

Affinity Designer includes rope and window stabilizers for creating smooth curves with freehand pencil and brush tools. It also supports non-destructive operations, allowing users to combine shapes using Boolean operations and edit component parts, a feature not commonly found in other applications.

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Affinity Designer information

  • Developed by

    GB flagSerif
  • Licensing

    Proprietary and Commercial product.
  • Pricing

    One time purchase (perpetual license) ranging between $20 and $75.
  • Rating

    Average rating of 4.5 (31 ratings)
  • Alternatives

    53 alternatives listed
  • News

    7 news article related to Affinity Designer
  • Supported Languages

    • English
    • German
    • Italian
    • Spanish
    • French
    • Chinese
    • Portuguese
    • Japanese

Our users have written 25 comments and reviews about Affinity Designer, and it has gotten 374 likes

Affinity Designer was added to AlternativeTo by MacAffinity on Jul 24, 2014 and this page was last updated Jun 6, 2025.