Every so often a pricing change reshapes an entire software category more than any single feature update could. That is exactly what happened when Canva, having acquired the Affinity team back in 2024, merged Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher into a single unified application and made the entire professional toolset free to use. We spent weeks putting the new Affinity through real design, photo-editing, and layout work to find out whether “free” comes with the compromises long-time professional software users have learned to expect.
Quick Verdict
| Overall Score | 4.6 / 5 |
| Best For | Freelancers, students, and professionals who want desktop-grade design tools without a subscription |
| Starting Price | Free (requires a free Canva account) |
| Standout Feature | A full professional photo, vector, and layout toolset merged into one app, at zero cost |
| Main Drawback | Premium AI tools require a paid Canva subscription, and the plugin ecosystem is smaller than Adobe’s |
From Three Apps to One, and From Paid to Free
For years, Affinity built its reputation as the credible, budget-friendly alternative to Adobe’s Creative Cloud: Affinity Designer went up against Illustrator, Affinity Photo against Photoshop, and Affinity Publisher against InDesign, each sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription. Canva acquired the Affinity team for a reported $500 million in March 2024, and after a period of relative quiet, it made its move: the three separate applications have been merged into a single unified app, simply called Affinity, and the entire core toolset is now free for Windows and macOS, with no license fee, trial limitation, or feature paywall on the fundamentals.
This is a genuinely unusual move in creative software, where the industry-wide trend for a decade has been toward subscriptions, not away from them. It is worth noting the business logic: Affinity requires a free Canva account to download and activate, which pulls users into Canva’s broader ecosystem, and while the design tools themselves are free, premium AI features are gated behind a paid Canva plan — the free tier is not a loss-leader trial, but the AI layer on top of it clearly is designed to funnel users toward a subscription eventually.
The Unified App, Tested
Merging three previously separate applications into one interface is a difficult design problem, and our testing came away impressed with how cleanly it was handled. Rather than forcing users to switch between separate programs, Affinity now organizes work by “personas” — essentially mode switches for pixel editing, vector design, and page layout — that live inside a single, consistent interface. Moving a vector illustration into a multi-page layout, or retouching a photo before dropping it into a poster design, all happened without exporting a single file or reopening a separate application, which is a real workflow improvement over the previous three-app structure.
The update also brought several genuinely requested features along with the merge: Image Trace for converting raster artwork to vectors, ePub export support for publishers, mesh gradients and hatch fills for more advanced illustration work, and a live glitch filter for stylized effects. Panels can be rearranged and combined into custom studio layouts, which experienced users of the old Affinity apps will recognize as a refined version of the customization those apps already offered.
Photo Editing Tools
For photographers specifically, the toolset carried over from Affinity Photo remains comprehensive: non-destructive RAW processing, HDR merge, panorama stitching, focus stacking, frequency separation retouching, and full layer and adjustment-layer support in 16-bit and 32-bit color. PSD compatibility was reliable in testing, opening layered Photoshop files with masks and adjustment layers intact in the vast majority of cases, which matters for anyone collaborating with Photoshop users or migrating an existing project library. Liquify and advanced masking tools performed comparably to what dedicated retouchers expect from paid professional software, not a scaled-down “free tier” version of those tools.
Vector and Layout Work
The vector design tools inherited from Affinity Designer remain precise and fast, with strong support for pixel-perfect icon work as well as freeform illustration. The layout tools from Affinity Publisher handle multi-page documents, master pages, and print-ready export competently, making the unified app a credible option for anyone producing brochures, magazines, or books who does not want to pay for InDesign. Long-time Affinity users should note that existing Affinity V2 perpetual licenses are unaffected by this change: those standalone applications continue to function and receive security updates, so nobody who previously purchased the software has lost access to what they paid for.
AI Features and the Canva Connection
The dividing line between free and paid in the new Affinity is entirely about AI. Canva Pro and Enterprise subscribers get access to a “Canva AI Studio” panel inside Affinity, bringing Generative Fill, Expand & Edit, and Remove Background tools powered by Canva’s AI infrastructure directly into the professional editing environment. In testing, these tools were competent but not best-in-class — usable for quick object removal or background work, but not a reason on their own to pay for a Canva subscription if the goal is cutting-edge generative image quality. Premium subscribers also get the convenience of exporting Affinity projects directly into Canva for further collaboration or publishing, which is a genuinely useful bridge for teams that mix both tools.
Installation and System Requirements
Getting started requires downloading the unified app and signing in with a free Canva account — there is no separate license key or payment step involved, and the whole process took only a few minutes during testing. The app runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs as well as Windows 10 and 11, and performance felt comparable to the previous generation of standalone Affinity apps, which were already known for being lighter and more responsive than Adobe’s Creative Cloud applications on similar hardware. Large multi-layer photo files and complex vector illustrations both handled smoothly on mid-range hardware during our testing, without the occasional stutter that heavier, more cloud-dependent design tools can exhibit.
One practical note for teams migrating existing files: importing complex Adobe-format documents, particularly Illustrator files with heavy effects or InDesign layouts with many linked assets, took noticeably longer than opening native Affinity files, and occasionally required manual cleanup of certain effects that do not translate perfectly between formats. This is a known friction point with any cross-platform migration and not unique to Affinity, but it is worth budgeting extra time for if a full studio switch is being planned.
Pricing and Plans
| Tier | Price | What’s Included |
|---|---|---|
| Affinity (core app) | Free | Full photo, vector, and layout toolset; PSD/PDF/SVG import and export |
| Affinity + Canva Pro AI | Requires Canva Pro subscription | Adds Generative Fill, Expand & Edit, Remove Background inside Affinity |
| Legacy Affinity V2 (Photo, Designer, Publisher) | Existing perpetual licenses honored | Standalone apps continue to function and receive security updates |
Notably, there is no premium tier for the design tools themselves — the entire professional editing toolset is free regardless of Canva subscription status. The only thing a Canva Pro or Enterprise plan unlocks inside Affinity is the AI layer, which keeps the pricing structure unusually simple compared to most software in this category.
Pros and Cons
- Pro: A genuinely professional design suite at zero cost, with no feature-gated paywall on core tools
- Pro: Unified app removes the friction of switching between photo, vector, and layout modes
- Pro: Strong PSD compatibility eases collaboration with Photoshop users
- Pro: Existing paid license holders keep their software unaffected
- Con: Requires a free Canva account, which some privacy-conscious users may be wary of
- Con: Premium AI tools are noticeably behind dedicated generative AI tools in output quality
- Con: Plugin and extension ecosystem remains far smaller than Adobe’s
- Con: iPad version was delayed relative to the desktop release, limiting mobile workflows
How Affinity Compares
Against Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, Affinity now wins decisively on price while remaining slightly behind on plugin ecosystem depth and some of the more advanced compositing and prepress features professionals rely on for the most demanding jobs. Against Canva’s own core editor, Affinity is the more precise, less templated tool — better suited to original illustration, detailed photo retouching, and print-grade layout, while Canva remains faster for template-driven social and marketing content. For anyone weighing whether to keep paying for Adobe Creative Cloud purely out of habit, Affinity is now a serious enough alternative that the decision deserves a fresh look.
Final Verdict
Making a professional-grade creative suite completely free is a bold move, and in testing, Affinity by Canva mostly earns the hype around it. The unified app is well designed rather than a compromised mashup of three older programs, the core editing tools hold up against paid competitors, and existing users lose nothing in the transition. The premium AI tools are the weakest part of the package and are not a compelling reason to subscribe to Canva Pro on their own, but that is almost beside the point: the core professional toolset being free, forever, with no catch on the fundamentals, is the story here, and it is a genuinely significant shift in the creative software market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to pay anything to use Affinity by Canva?
No. The full photo, vector, and layout toolset is free, and only the optional AI features inside the app require a paid Canva subscription.
What happened to Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher?
They have been merged into a single unified application called Affinity. Anyone with an existing perpetual license for the older V2 applications can continue using them, as those standalone apps still function and receive security updates.
Does Affinity work on iPad?
An iPad version of the new unified app was delayed relative to the desktop release; existing Affinity iPad apps remain available in the meantime.
Is Affinity a real replacement for Adobe Creative Cloud?
For the large majority of photo editing, illustration, and layout work, yes. Adobe still holds an edge in plugin ecosystem depth and some advanced prepress and compositing workflows used by the most demanding studios.
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