Get Inkscape or VectorStyler instead. . .
I thought I would give Affinity a try once it went into its loss leader freemium model once I found out I couldn't buy it anymore. The unified program seems great on paper, but it seems like a lot of basic things were broken in the integration which was not great for a first time user experience. I primarily wanted to use Affinity for its graphic design tools previously in their standalone Designer 2 software. I was quickly disappointed with what I was faced with. Affinity is unstable with odd behaviours for tools at times creating an unintuitive workflow whilst also weirdly lacking in a lot of features and true vector tools such as, "vector" brushes being pixel brushes in reality, breaking pure vector workflows with export issues with PDF and SVG formats, no image tracing, no real trim/scissors, and more.What added insult to injury is the overwhelming praise for Affinity whether that is from creators, people you ask or from personal research, none of it lines up with reality. I found the interface of Affinity to truly be awful in terms of usability and readability. The fact there is no scaling for UI makes the use of Affinity abysmal on a 4K display. The customisation is sadly a bit lackluster in almost every single regard. Affinity can do the basics of reorganising your workspace and so on, but it has no real fine control over direct previews of changes, caching, UI scaling, tool behaviours and more. I ended up uninstalling Affinity because it simply missed the mark on most levels. I decided to take a chance on a relatively new software called VectorStyler and it was simply the best purchase I had made all year. It offers everything I want from a graphics design software with an incredibly powerful feature set. The level of customisation and granular control over almost everything is incredible allowing users to create bespoke streamlined workflows by giving users the ability to create toolbox presets which can quickly be swapped out to fit the project you are doing keeping all necessary tools in sight not over cluttering the workspace while also having the essential panels you use the most for easy access. I can not recommend Affinity to anyone, especially for graphic design in particular. My Affinity is with Inkscape a truly free and open-source tool then VectorStyler as my favourite paid tool.
Ciaran
New Affinity is a huge downgrade over what it was.
The new free ap is just a serious downgrade from what Affinity was. The layout is less friendly to workflow and you can't save a custom studio workplace which makes it damn near unusable. Even without that the new layout of the program is kinda shitty? I am very disappointed.
Douglas
V3 freemium shift leaves paid users behind
The Canva acquisition and V3’s freemium approach might be good for newcomers, but for paying customers it feels like we’ve been left behind. I chose Affinity to support a perpetual model; now that trust feels broken. Please offer meaningful consideration for legacy users.
Inkey String
Should have never sold it to Canva
Should have never sold it to Canva. Canva is worst app and online application and Affinity sold it to Canva that will make it ten times worse. Paid for affinity to find out, that now it's free. Which means bloody adverts and paid premium extra now going to be future of what was good application. Wrong decision to make
Tyler Gamer
Bugs and unexplained software behavior
After years of using Affinity Photo 2, I still face a basic flaw that makes working with PNG transparency unbearable. The Opacity slider often remains disabled or ineffective—even after rasterizing the imported PNG. Instead of a smooth, intuitive experience, I’m met with bugs and unexplained software behavior that other editors handle flawlessly. The program’s supposed flexibility is overshadowed by frustrating technical limitations and inconsistent UI design. It’s sad that a tool aiming to replace Photoshop still struggles with fundamental image editing functions in 2025. Until these issues are fixed, I cannot recommend it for serious work.It’s frustrating that I can edit the same PNG perfectly fine in GIMP, a free open-source program, while Affinity Photo 2 still fails to reliably support basic opacity functions even after rasterizing.
St St
Good software, iffy marketing and service
Bought 2 copies of version 1 a few years back under their marketing that suggested you'd only have to buy it once. I think it was about a year after that they said "well actually that's unsupported now, upgrade to version 2 for around twice the price you paid for version 1", which I didn't bother with.Finally relented under the impression I'd be able to get upgrade pricing to the universal edition for both licenses - nothing on their website says the offer is restricted to one. But because both licenses are on the same account, I was only able to buy one and they clarified they need the second license to be bought at full price on a new account. Customer Services wouldn't budge an inch so I got a refund on the one upgrade I was able to process. Their greed over the price of 2 upgrades lost a sale of both, I guess 🤷Scriba looks fine or might have a dig around some other competitors.
LakesGeek
If I export to PSD to collaborate with…
If I export to PSD to collaborate with friends using Photoshop, the text turns into pixels! How does that make sense in 2025!? Total waste of money!!!Goodbye Affinity… does this happen in version 2.0 too?WHAT A SHAME
Angelo
There's no reason to use Adobe.
The TLDR takeaway is this - there's no reason whatsoever to use Adobe for photos and design. Everyone celebrates the huge difference in price, which is significant, but not if the cheaper option is really basic. Affinity is in may ways better than Adobe. When Adobe took away our pantone colour books, it was proof that it understands money more than design. Affinity has Pantone. I found it much faster, more responsive, fully featured - a really good alternative. The only thing it seems to lack is the AI garbage tools that design professionals don't use anyway. If anything, affinity may be too cheap, giving the impression that it's a second-rate alternative, but it's anything but. It's an equal competitor.This, combined with sour customer sentiment, mean that Adobe's days are numbered. It's great software.
JMahr
No Support of Affiniy Software
I had Heard nothing but good things about Affinity Designer on the internet so thought I would give it a go! I also noticed it was on offer so started my Affinity trial, a few days later I went to the site and found the purchase price had doubled and I had not finished my trial of the software I was only 2 days in.I sent them a message and asked if they would honour the deal as I had not finished the 7-day trial, I had no response from their online form after a few days so I sent them an email requesting the same, this time their auto bot answered saying they would be in contact within 24 hours. Today I am at the end of the trial with still no answer and to be frank if they cannot give me support on a simple question, I don’t think it’s worth going any further, I contacted them on the 11 December it’s now the 16th and there is no excuse for this.I have now uninstalled the software and in my situation was a complete waste of time and energy for a company that gives little to no support.
Paul Edgar Grimes
Nothing but good experience since the 90s.
Back in the day I used to use Photoshop for everything, then Photoshop shop stopped selling there software and started renting it, the whole Landlord approach to software where you do not have to improve on anything cos people have to keep paying even if you make it worse. I looked around and found Affinity Photo. Do not think it is quite as good as Photoshop but its like a good 90% as good and one purchase got me it forever, not just that but they then started dropping free updates and boom it was soon every bit as good, got Design and Publisher too and noticed it was by Serif a UK based firm who made my desktop publisher back in the mid 90s and where great then. The company has been bought up recently and bit worried about if that might change them but seems not to have. They gave so many great updates to version 1 and when 2 did come along they released it cross platform, always work on Mac but a friend switched to Windows and could not use her Version 1 copy and buying version 2 knowing I get the Mac version but also the PC if I ever do want to switch is great. Love you Serif do not go changing.
Jackson Quarrell
Why Affinity Earns My Loyalty: A Review of Their Customer-Centric Approach
Affinity has always been a value-centered brand that genuinely cares about both the quality of its products and the satisfaction of its users. While many brands focus on maximizing profits and squeezing out every penny, Affinity chooses to do right by its customers with straightforward and simple purchase models. That's why their apps remain indispensable in my toolkit, and I feel a deep sense of loyalty toward their brand. Great job, team, and I think your 6-month model is brilliant. I wish you every success with it.
Fleming Digital
Had Been Loving since version one
Had Been Loving since version one. However, last October they introduced a bug for certain users with certain machines and setups and that they won't even respond to our issue. I'm now stuck on an old version (the version before the bug) and it is causing all kinds of headaches especially when dealing with others in my team that use Affinity and aren'r subject to the bug (file sharing isn't possible). Also, Affinity was purchased by Canva and this seemed to further cause the product to go down hill.
GPowerHost
Great apps, great support
Great apps, great support. I use their software regularly for work and leisure projects.
Alessandro Mulloni
Was good...
Was good, however they have show blatant disregard for the game development community by constantly ignoring feature requests and help tickets. They said their target demographic was different which means we don't get any support :/Lovely UI, little confusing in places, awful staff and support on forums. Will do everything in their power to blame it on something other than their own software.. If your a game dev, look somewhere else please, they do not have the tool nor care to cater to you
Robbin
Great Value!
I was a long time Adobe user and still acknowledge that its the go to software in the industry - - BUT the Affinity software is a Fantastic substitute! And over the years it's only become more competitive. My team and I started using Affinity when Adobe went to a forced subscription model and now my team almost exclusively uses Affinity through now, with an exception for Publisher. The best part is a license is SO MUCH less than Adobe. 10/10 recommend as the value is superior.
Nathaniel Shane
Have to buy a new licence to switch from PC or Mac
The software is good, and offers a great alternative to Adobe which is insanely expensive. I don't like how you have a PC or Mac licence though. People do sometimes switch from one to another, or use one at home and a different one at work. I resented having to buy a new licence just because I don't use a mac any more. Customer services said it was somewhat standard in software and gave the example of how if you buy a videogame it is licenced for only one console, but I think that comparison is pretty weak and I don't think I've encountered it before. I don't see how hard to could be to have some kind of cross-grade price.
lee
Professional Software For Professionals
The affinity programs are professional software for professionals, most of the negative reviews are from non-professional users. I'm using Designer, and Photo for years and I'm very satisfied with the pay model, so you don't need to subscribe. All affinity programs have great variation of features. Also the UI is quite good compared to Adobe products. Affinity software made a good job in many different tasks of my work in the games industry and for studying. I'm happy that there are people out there developing Affinity.
Katejsej
Dreadful Customer Service
As as a user of version 1 of Affinity Photo I was keen to update to version 2 of the software. However, there is no discounted upgrade option for a single app. I later learned that there was an initial 40% off promotion for a short time after launch, so I contacted customer services to see if there was anything they could offer me in terms of a discount to upgrade. Their response was extremely disappointing, they strongly suggested that I already knew the product had been discounted and then proceeded to lecture me on internet security through what I deemed to be a series of condescending and sarcastic comments. Truly awful customer service.It seems incomprehensible that someone who has never owned the software before could purchase at a 40% discount, but a previous customer looking to upgrade has to pay full price. This company will not be receiving any more of my money going forward.
Chris
Look for something else
I really wanted to like it, but I simply can't. Usability is a pain and it isn't a cheap option anymore. Bad on the iPad, freezes, app closes on it's just. It's just expensive. I bought 7 versions on iPad, MacBook and Windows.
Bohme
I recommend 100%
My old Adobe license, that I payed top Dollar for back then, suddenly was shut down as Adobe wanted to force its customers to pay for yearly subscriptions.I have been looking for a serious alternatives to Adobe since then, and Affinity was my choice of replacement.I use both Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher on PC and…iPad! Yes, they do pro-grade apps for iPads, which is super cool. They have iOS versions as well.The Affinity apps are not as advanced as Adobes full range of top professional software, but for me they meet my needs just fine as they are quite advanced after all. I haven’t had any stability issues with the software.I recently upgraded from V1 to V2 without any hesitation. The price is very modest in my opinion, and the upgrade process was flawless and very easy, I think. I have also bought some add-ons without any problems.I can fully recommend buying Affinity’s software products, and I am glad to support a European company that delivers serious competition to the near-monopoly companies.
Lars Munkedal
