Canva Makes Affinity Free: What It Means for Creatives, AI, and the Battle With Adobe

On 30 October 2025, Canva has announced that Affinity — its professional design suite — will now be "completely free". The catch? All AI-powered tools will sit behind the Canva Premium subscription.

This announcement signals a BIG shift in the creative software market — one that could reshape how designers, illustrators, and photographers access professional-grade tools.

From Serif to Canva: A Quick Recap

Serif had built a reputation as the anti-Adobe: a one-time-purchase, high-performance alternative to the Creative Cloud subscription. In the old model, the Affinity Suite had 3 apps Designer, Photo and Publisher that provided direct alternatives to Adobe's Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign respectively.

Each Affinity app sold for roughly USD$49, or as a bundle for around USD$115 — a steal for the quality they offered compared to Adobe's subscription of approximately USD$49 per month!

On 26 March 2024, Serif announced it had been acquired by the Australian company Canva for approximately US$380 million. Serif is known as the U.K.-based company behind the Affinity suite of creative apps (Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher).

At the time of acquisition, Canva emphasised that the perpetual-license model would continue for Affinity:

“We are committed to fair, transparent and affordable pricing, including the perpetual licences that have made Affinity special… If we do offer a subscription, it will only ever be as an option alongside the perpetual model.”

After a long wait with lots of speculation on what the acquisition meant, Canva has announced the major change with the Affinity suite on 30 October 2025. The key points:

Single unified app called Affinity (replacing 3 separate apps Designer / Photo / Publisher)
The app is free forever, but advanced AI features now live under the Canva Premium plan.
Existing Affinity V2 apps will still be supported (for now)

“We’re making professional design accessible to everyone — no upfront cost, no compromise,” Canva said in its announcement on The Verge.

The Good: Accessibility, Power, and a Unified Workflow

1. It’s free - This instantly lowers the barrier for students, freelancers, and hobbyists. You can now access pro-grade creative tools without spending a cent.

2. All-in-one design environment - Affinity’s former modular setup (Designer, Photo, Publisher) has been merged into one app — no switching or file conversions needed.

3. AI features for power users - AI-assisted retouching, image generation, and layout optimization are now part of Canva Premium. That tiered model gives pros advanced capabilities while keeping the basics open to all.

4. Expanding the creative community - More users means more shared templates, tutorials, and resources — which strengthens the overall ecosystem.

The Bad: End of Perpetual Licenses and Growing Uncertainty

1. The death of “buy once, own forever.” - While the core app is free, the subscription wall for AI features signals the end of Serif’s signature one-time-purchase model. Given the Affinity is under a subscription, what features are offered for each tier can change instantly.

2. What happens to older versions? - Canva hasn’t clearly stated how long Affinity V2 apps will continue receiving updates or being supported. Many users fear those versions will fade quietly.

3. Subscription creep and lock-in - Canva is, at its heart, a cloud-based platform. Integrating Affinity could mean more dependence on its ecosystem — and less independence for offline creators.

4. Data and privacy questions - As AI becomes central, creatives are rightly asking: will their work be used to train Canva’s AI models? One would need to read the Ts&Cs carefully for this when signing up.

Why Canva Is Doing This: Competing With Adobe

There’s little doubt this move is a strategic strike at Adobe. Adobe dominates professional design with Creative Cloud, but it’s expensive and deeply subscription-based. By making Affinity free, Canva is positioning itself as the affordable (and now free) professional alternative.

With millions already using Canva’s web tools, the company can now funnel users into Affinity — creating a two-tier system:

Free Affinity users feed adoption, community, and visibility.
Premium subscribers unlock AI, collaboration, and cloud features — generating revenue.

For existing Adobe subscribers who are looking for a different option, this may be an early Christmas present. It will still take some time to make the transition to build up their skills in Affinity so it will be interesting to see how Adobe uses this time to counterstrike.

On the NASDAQ market, Adobe shares declined 0.5% Thursday afternoon following the announcement but later bounced higher to trade roughly flat.

“Free” for Creatives — or a Data Play?

Many independent creatives can’t afford recurring licenses, so making Affinity free is a welcome gesture BUT is it really free or are we trading our data for this? And are we comfortable with this?

It's definitely a great strategic move. By making the core product free, Canva rapidly expands its user base — and with it, the volume of design data it can analyse. Even if it doesn’t use that data directly for AI training, aggregated user behaviour provides invaluable insights for refining features, algorithms, and monetisation strategies.

So yes, it helps creatives — but it also helps Canva build a richer dataset, stronger AI, and a broader funnel into its paid ecosystem. Is this a win-win scenario for everyone?

What It Means for the Future of Design Software

Canva’s decision to make Affinity free could mark a turning point for creative tools. If successful, it might push Adobe and others to reconsider their pricing and accessibility strategies. For now, it’s a win for accessibility and creative freedom — but we should stay alert to how Canva handles AI, data usage, and future feature gating.

What It Means for Me as a Creative?

Wow! I'm processing what this means and my way of working weighing up the pros and cons.

I currently have a Serif Affinity V2 Suite and I also subscribe to a 'grandfathered' Adobe Photoshop subscription where I pay AUD$23.99 per month (AUD$287.88 annually). I work mainly in Adobe Photoshop as the features are better BUT I'd be open to explore the new Affinity app.

I'd need to spend some time working out Affinity and whether I would need the premium subscription. Given the Canva Individual Pro subscription is AUD$165 annually, it's still cheaper than my current Adobe Photoshop subscription.

Final Thoughts

The Affinity re-launch is both generous and strategic: a gift to the creative community and a calculated move in Canva’s ongoing battle with Adobe. If Canva truly maintains a robust, offline-capable, privacy-respecting free version, it could become the new standard for independent creators. But if this shift evolves into deeper subscription dependence or data monetisation, the goodwill may fade fast.

One thing is clear — the design software landscape just got a lot more interesting!

Share your thoughts! What does this mean for you?