If you’ve spent the past few years side-eyeing Adobe’s subscription fees, get ready for some good news: Affinity is now free. Yep – the entire Affinity Studio suite, now under Canva, just dropped its paywall.
Canva officially announced that Affinity Studio (the unified version of Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher) is available at no cost for all users. The only catch? You’ll need a Canva Pro plan if you want to access the new AI-powered tools.
Still, this shift is a massive win for designers—and a serious shake-up for Adobe.
Let’s break down what this means, what’s actually included, and how the design community is reacting.
What Does “Affinity Is Now Free” Actually Mean?
The announcement hit during Canva’s Keynote 2025, and the reaction was instant: confusion, excitement, and a collective “wait… seriously?”
Here’s the breakdown of what’s new:
- Canva acquired Serif (Affinity’s parent company) earlier this year.
- The three legacy apps — Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, and Affinity Publisher — have now merged into one unified app: Affinity Studio.
- The full suite of professional design tools is 100% free, available for Mac and Windows (and soon for iPad).
- AI features like background removal, text-to-image, and image clean-up require a Canva Pro subscription.
Everything else, vector editing, photo retouching, typography, layout tools, export presets, is totally free.
Canva + Affinity: The Perfect Match or Brand Identity Crisis?
When Canva announced the acquisition of Serif in early 2024, reactions were… intense. Designers wondered if Affinity would get “Canva-fied.” After all, Affinity had always been the go-to for creatives who wanted professional tools without subscriptions.
But now, the vision is clearer: Canva is positioning Affinity Studio as the “pro” arm of its creative ecosystem — aimed at designers who outgrow Canva’s drag-and-drop simplicity but don’t want to pay Adobe prices.
This gives Canva something it’s never truly had before: professional-grade desktop software.
And for designers? It means you can now:
- Create advanced branding and print materials without a subscription.
- Work offline (finally).
- Enjoy a unified workspace that covers vector, raster, and layout design in one app.
Affinity vs Adobe: The Design Showdown
Let’s be honest, Adobe has dominated the industry for decades. But Affinity has always been the rebel alternative. And since Affinity is now free, that rebel energy just got louder.
| Feature | Affinity Studio (Free) | Adobe Creative Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free (AI tools via Canva Pro) | $70+/month subscription |
| Core Tools | Vector, photo, layout in one | Separate apps (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign) |
| Learning Curve | Easier, faster UI | Steeper, complex ecosystem |
| Offline Use | Fully offline capable | Requires cloud sync for many features |
| AI Tools | Canva Pro required | Built-in (Firefly) |
| Performance | Lightweight, fast | Heavy system load |
| Platform | Mac, Windows, iPad (coming) | Cross-platform, including mobile |
Adobe still wins when it comes to deep integration, team workflows, and legacy compatibility. But for freelancers, small studios, and template-based workflows, Affinity Studio is suddenly looking very, very attractive.
The Catch: Canva Pro for AI Features
Before you start uninstalling Creative Cloud, there’s one important detail:
To unlock AI tools like text-to-image, object removal, and smart expand, you’ll need a Canva Pro account.
That’s Canva’s business model: keep the powerful AI within its paid ecosystem, but offer the professional base tools for free.
For most designers, that’s still a great deal. You can build logos, brand systems, packaging, and web mockups in Affinity without ever paying a cent.
Need AI? Just log into your Canva Pro account, and the two platforms integrate seamlessly.
What the Design Community Is Saying
Designers are talking — a lot.
Across Reddit, Threads, and design forums, the community’s reaction has been split:
Excited:
“The best Photoshop alternative just became free. This changes everything.” — CreativeBloq
Cautious:
“Free now, subscription later. Canva’s playing the long game.” — Designer on Reddit
Curious:
“If Canva nails Affinity Studio’s file compatibility and keeps it free, Adobe might finally have competition.”
Many professionals appreciate that Affinity is now free because it lowers the barrier for new designers, especially those just starting out or building template shops.
But there’s also hesitation. The design world has seen this before, a “free” phase that slowly turns into a “freemium” model.
For now, though, the sentiment is largely optimistic.
Why Designers Should Care
If you’re a brand designer, web designer, or creative entrepreneur, this shift matters more than you think.
1. It levels the playing field.
Professional design software is no longer locked behind a $70/month paywall. Affinity Studio gives small studios and freelancers access to premium tools for free.
2. It’s client-friendly.
You can hand off editable Affinity files to clients without worrying about whether they own Adobe licenses.
3. It opens new income opportunities.
You can now sell Affinity-compatible templates — something your clients (and other designers) can use for free.
4. It challenges Adobe’s monopoly.
Competition drives innovation. If Canva continues developing Affinity at this pace, Adobe may have to rethink its pricing or expand its free tools.
5. It’s future-proof.
With Canva pushing toward an all-in-one design ecosystem (AI, video, web, and print), Affinity may become the backbone of its “pro tier.” Getting familiar with it now could future-proof your workflow.
What You Can Expect Next
Here’s what’s likely to happen over the next year:
- Canva will integrate Affinity and AI more deeply, probably adding direct syncing between projects.
- Affinity templates will become a major new product category – expect marketplaces like Creative Market and Etsy to flood with them.
- Adobe will respond, likely by expanding free tools or improving Firefly AI’s integration.
- Designers will experiment – the next few months will be filled with tutorials, comparisons, and new workflows.
If you’re already building design templates or client deliverables, now’s the time to start offering Affinity versions alongside your usual ones.
The headline isn’t clickbait. Affinity is now free, for real. Canva just made one of the biggest moves in design software history.
With Affinity Studio, you get a full suite of professional tools, vector, photo, and layout, in one place. The only optional cost is AI access through Canva Pro.
For designers, this means fewer barriers, more freedom, and a serious alternative to Adobe.
Of course, “free” always comes with fine print. But for now? It’s a moment worth celebrating, especially if you love professional tools that don’t break the bank.
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