The design-software world just got a major shake-up thanks to Affinity, and its owner Canva. As of late October 2025, Affinity’s new single-app version is free to use—but if you want the AI-powered features, you’ll need a paid subscription.
The new release merges what used to be three separate Affinity apps (Designer, Photo, Publisher) into one unified platform. It brings together photo editing, vector illustration, and page layout under one roof. According to Canva’s newsroom announcement, this revamped Affinity app is “free for everyone” and supports a wide range of file formats including PSD, AI, PDF, SVG, TIFF, and IDML.
However, the “free forever” portion has a strong caveat: while the core design tools are free, many of the advanced AI features are locked behind a subscription to Canva’s premium offering. For example, generative fill, “expand & edit”, background removal and other AI-capabilities are accessed through the new “Canva AI Studio” inside Affinity—and only with a Canva premium account.
The timing and strategy are interesting. Affinity’s earlier versions were sold under a one-time purchase model. But ahead of this launch, its store was pulled offline. The transition marks a shift from perpetual licences toward freemium + subscription-locked features.
From Canva’s perspective, the logic is two-fold: make the high-end “craft” side of design free (Affinity) to draw in professionals, and then feed projects into the “scale” side of their ecosystem (Canva) where teams and non-designers can pick up and run with them.
For creatives, this means you can now get a full-featured professional design app at no cost—but if you want the AI boost, you’ll need to pay. Some users will welcome the freedom; others will raise eyebrows at the locked-behind-subscription features.
In short: Affinity is now free to download and use for all, but its most advanced AI tools require a premium account. The move stands as a clear challenge to subscription-heavy rivals in creative-software.
