Affinity Is Now a Free Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator Alternative
Affinity Photo and the other Affinity apps have a popular alternative to Adobe software, especially since they didn't require a subscription for access. Canva, the new owner of Affinity, has revealed a revamped version that is completely free to access.
The new Affinity is a single application, with combined vector, photo, and layout tools together in one place. The photo and image editing tools should still be comparable to GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, and Krita, and the vector editing is similar to Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape. You can switch between the different modes with the Vector, Pixel, or Layout tabs at the top of the window.
The other significant functional upgrade is customization. You can build your own workspace with features and tools from any of the Affinity modes, and you can save different setups for different projects or tasks. Workspace configurations can even be exported and shared with other people.
Affinity is now free to use, instead of requiring a one-time purchase. The only monetization revealed in the announcement was Canva AI Studio, which enables generative fill, 'Expand & Edit,' and background removal if you have a Canva premium account. The other features and core application are free to download.
Canva promises that Affinity will be "completely free, forever," and "there's no catch, no stripped-back version, and no gotchas." Hopefully that remains true, but we've seen plenty of other companies set up a free application or service to attract users, then start charging for basic functionality or access to future updates. You also need a Canva account to use it right now, which seems like a catch to me.
This is clearly Canva's attempt to compete more directly with Adobe, after the company's existing design tools already became a popular alternative to Photoshop or Illustrator for basic design tasks. You can also use Photoshop and Illustrator files in Affinity, along with other formats like PDF, SVG, TIFF, and IDML. Hopefully, the new app continues getting better and stays free to use.
Canva said in a blog post, "While the all-new Affinity has been reimagined, it still feels instantly familiar to those who know it best. The tools, workflows, and precision you rely on are all here – refined but not replaced. Every update builds on what professionals already love, so you can pick up where you left off and feel right at home."
You can download Affinity from the official website for Windows and macOS (both on Intel and Apple Silicon). An iPad version of the new app is not yet available, but you can still download Affinity Designer 2 , Affinity Photo 2 , and Affinity Publisher 2 for those platforms.
Source: Canva
