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MIXED
66/100
ALIGNAI SCORE
CONFIDENCE 72.7%
Mixed Reviews
A
Affinity
Professional graphic design, photo editing, and desktop publishing software suite
MIXEDCreative
Pricing
Paid
Learning curve
Moderate
Time to value
Days

Models & versions

64
Affinity Designer
48
Affinity Photo
51
Affinity Publisher
BEST FORSoloSmall Team
COMMUNITY SENTIMENT
PositiveNegative
WORKS FOR

graphic design on iPad, graphic design on desktop, photo editing

KEY INSIGHT

It's a powerful, cost-effective alternative to Adobe for individual designers who need professional tools on iPad and desktop.

DOESN'T WORK FOR

complex desktop publishing workflows, collaborative team projects

BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS

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Community Reviews

Reviews from Reddit, Product Hunt, Hacker News & AlignAI members

MIXED

I haven t used Affinity Publisher much, and found a few minor things frustrating (paragraph formatting specifically in the older V2 version), but other than that Photo, Designer and Publisher have been solid.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Used for publishing/design, but not extensively.

WORKED

I have been very happy with Affinity Designer (equivalent to Adobe Illustrator) which I purchased some time ago before the acquisition.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Used as an equivalent to Adobe Illustrator.

WORKED

The things an architecture student needs it for are: Photo retouching: Photoshop - Affinity Pixel... Vector drawing: Illustrator - Affinity Vector... Board and Book Layout InDesign - Affinity Layout.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Photo retouching, vector drawing, and board/book layout as replacements for Adobe tools

WORKED

I've been using the affinity suite since v1 for nearly a decade. Upgraded to v2 when that came out, and use it weekly on my iPad and Desktop.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Graphic design on iPad and Desktop for nearly a decade

MIXED

I would love to jettison Photoshop Illustrator and just use Affinity. But... it would just be an endless headache to deal with file conversions.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Graphic design as a potential replacement for Adobe

WORKED

I count myself as one of them... that pay for Affinity because it is a nice low cost tool.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: General design as a low-cost tool

MIXED

I've also tried Affinity Photo and Designer, but I definitely prefer the software I mentioned above.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Tried it for graphics work.

MIXED

It seems that Affinity Designer still hasn't caught up to this 2003 software.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: vector graphics (implied comparison)

WORKED

I expressly bought this software (Designer, Photo, Publisher) out of principle, against Adobe s enshittification and monopolisation, and because it was premised on pay once; own it forever.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Desktop publishing as an alternative to Adobe

WORKED

I expressly bought this software (Designer, Photo, Publisher) out of principle, against Adobe s enshittification and monopolisation, and because it was premised on pay once; own it forever.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Photo editing as an alternative to Adobe

WORKED

I expressly bought this software (Designer, Photo, Publisher) out of principle, against Adobe s enshittification and monopolisation, and because it was premised on pay once; own it forever.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Graphic design as an alternative to Adobe

MIXED

Affinity ain’t perfect either. It’s not quite on par with the features of Adobe’s products. I’m routinely frustrated by missing features.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Graphic design/creative work

WORKED

On the other hand you are overlooking fundamentals where Affinity is so much better than Adobe - stability, speed, connection between the software.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Graphic design/creative work

MIXED

Now the question is, will I ever get any updates to Photo Design Publisher? I don’t need new features, but I do care about bug fixes and such.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Desktop publishing, concerned about future updates and bug fixes

WORKED

Looking at Canva’s pricing page makes me glad I have a perpetual license to Affinity’s products.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Graphic design/illustration with a perpetual license

WORKED

Looking at Canva’s pricing page makes me glad I have a perpetual license to Affinity’s products.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: Graphic design/photo editing with a perpetual license

WORKED

I depend on Affinity products, and am not sure how to take this news.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: depends on their products (likely design/creative work)

WORKED

I do think Photo is a lot more usable than Designer and I could see myself using that instead of Photoshop.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: photo editing

MIXED

in many ways Designer is leagues better. I've been using vector graphics software since Corel Draw 4 and Illustrator still seems the gold standard.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: vector graphics design

WORKED

I paid for Affinity Photo because of its reasonably priced perpetual license, being a great alternative to Adobe's tools for my work.

Hacker News • HackerNews • Use case: as an alternative to Adobe tools for their work

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