Company Overview

Affinity is the professional creative software suite brand from Serif, comprising three core products: Affinity Designer (vector design), Affinity Photo (photo editing), and Affinity Publisher (desktop publishing). Affinity is renowned for its one-time purchase perpetual license model, Metal/DirectX hardware-accelerated performance, and native PSD/AI/SVG format compatibility. It is widely regarded as the most competitive alternative to Adobe Creative Cloud. Serif was acquired by Canva in 2024, and Affinity continues to operate independently.

Parent company: Serif (Affinity parent company)
Related providers: Affinity Design Resources

Core Products

✨ Affinity Designer

Professional vector graphic design software with hybrid vector/raster workflows. Ideal for UI/UX design, branding, and illustration. Competes with Adobe Illustrator.

✨ Affinity Photo

Professional photo editing and raster graphics software supporting RAW processing, layer masks, HDR merging, and panorama stitching. Competes with Adobe Photoshop.

✨ Affinity Publisher

Professional desktop publishing software for books, magazines, brochures and other print layouts with multi-page document and master page support. Competes with Adobe InDesign.

Core Strengths

Perpetual License: One-time purchase, permanent use, no recurring subscription — priced at roughly one-third of Adobe's comparable products

High Performance: Hardware-accelerated via Metal (Mac) and DirectX (Windows) for smooth, responsive operation

Cross-Platform: Windows/macOS/iPad with unified file format for seamless switching

Professional Features: Supports PSD, AI, PDF, SVG, EPS and other major formats, meeting professional design requirements

Key Milestones

  • 2014: Launched Affinity Designer, marking Serif's entry into professional creative software
  • 2015: Launched Affinity Photo
  • 2019: Launched Affinity Publisher, completing the V1 suite
  • 2022: Released Affinity V2 with major feature and performance upgrades
  • 2024: Serif acquired by Canva; Affinity continues independently with perpetual licensing

Market Position

Affinity competes in the creative software market against: