Affinity by Canva: Free All‑in‑One Creative Suite with Optional AI

Affinity by Canva is a free, fully featured creative desktop app for Windows and macOS that unifies vector, pixel, and layout workflows with non-destructive editing, customizable studios, and precise export. It imports major creative formats with high fidelity and offers advanced photo, vector, and page layout capabilities, plus quick export to Canva. Canva premium users can unlock integrated AI tools; the app works offline after activation, supports unlimited installs, and opens V1/V2 files (though older apps can’t open new Affinity files).

Key Points

Free, full-featured desktop app for design, photo editing, and page layout—no paywalls; Canva account required.
Optional Canva AI Studio (with a Canva premium plan) brings Generative Fill/Expand/Edit, image/vector generation, background removal, super resolution, and more directly into Affinity.
Robust pro toolsets: non-destructive editing, customizable studios, high-fidelity import (PSD/AI/PDF/SVG/IDML/DWG), precise export, RAW and advanced retouching, vector precision tools, and print-ready layout features.
Compatibility caveat: new Affinity opens V1/V2 files, but V1/V2 cannot open new .af files; V2 gets no new features, and V2 iPad cannot round-trip with the new desktop app.
Available on Windows and macOS (Apple silicon optimized), iPad version coming; install on unlimited devices and work offline after activation.

Sentiment

The community sentiment is predominantly skeptical and apprehensive, tinged with grief for the loss of what Affinity represented as an independent, pay-once alternative to Adobe. While many acknowledge that the current state of the product is actually good and the free offering is generous, the overwhelming concern is about the long-term trajectory. A strong undercurrent of cynicism about corporate intentions pervades the thread, with the word 'enshittification' serving as a rallying cry. There is a notable minority of pragmatists and optimists who appreciate the immediate value and point to Canva's track record, but they are somewhat drowned out by the larger chorus of distrust. The discussion has an unusually philosophical quality, with extensive debates about software ownership, subscription models, and the nature of trust between companies and users.

In Agreement

The free version currently includes all features that were previously paid, with only new AI features behind a paywall, making it genuinely great value for users who do not want AI
The unified app combining Designer, Photo, and Publisher into one is elegantly executed and provides meaningful workflow improvements over having three separate applications
This is a smart strategic 'commoditize your complements' play against Adobe that benefits consumers by providing a free professional-grade alternative
AI features requiring cloud inference have real ongoing costs that justify a subscription model, while keeping the core local tools free is a reasonable compromise
Canva has a long track record with its own product of maintaining a generous free tier without paywalling previously-free features, suggesting the free Affinity tools may remain robust
Compared to DaVinci Resolve and CapCut, this freemium model is proven and can work well for users who do not want premium features
For casual and occasional users, getting professional tools for free with no strings attached is an unambiguous win
The ability to share editable Affinity files with collaborators who can now download the app for free is a significant practical benefit

Opposed

The shift from a one-time purchase model to freemium fundamentally changes incentive alignment: Canva is now motivated to push subscriptions rather than make the best possible standalone tool
This is the first step of inevitable enshittification; the pattern of free-to-paywall is well-documented and every product that has gone through this cycle has degraded
Requiring a Canva account for a local desktop app is a form of control that can be revoked at any time, eliminating the independence that made Affinity attractive
V2 perpetual license holders are effectively abandoned since updates have been stopped, and the software will gradually degrade with OS updates, especially on macOS
The 'free' model removes the option to be a paying customer with aligned interests; users are now either non-paying free users or AI subscribers, with no middle ground
Despite stated privacy policies, there is deep suspicion that user data and creative work will eventually be used for AI training through future terms-of-service changes
The last major independent competitor to Adobe's one-time-purchase model in creative tools has now disappeared, leaving no options for users who want to pay once and own their tools
Some on-device AI features like depth estimation and colorization that could run locally are still paywalled behind the subscription, suggesting the paywall is not purely about cloud costs
Open-source alternatives remain inadequate for professional workflows, leaving users trapped between Adobe subscriptions and Canva's freemium model