NOTE – The first half of this post was written back in mid-2024. With everything happening around Canva lately, we finally decided to publish it and wrap things up with our thoughts as of October 30, 2025.
Wow… that announcement on March 26, 2024 really took off and spread across every platform within hours.
In today’s post, we don’t want to dive too deep into the acquisition itself (Canva’s stake in Serif), but rather share our thoughts and what the decision could mean for the future.
A REAL COMPEDITOR
We’ve been using Serif’s apps for years. Their whole software lineup built its reputation on “independence” and the promise that once you bought the apps, they were yours — no subscription, no pay-monthly nonsense. Combined with their intuitive and accessible interface, Affinity became a long-awaited rallying cry for creatives who wanted a real alternative to the overpowering giant that is Adobe — and a clear message about software ownership.
Now, nine years later, Serif is flirting with a company that runs almost entirely on a SaaS model — browser-based, online-only, subscription-driven.
Wasn’t that exactly the kind of business model Serif used to criticize? For us, that carries a pretty bitter aftertaste.
As an agency and as freelancers, with established workflows both internally and with our clients, switching tools isn’t something we can just decide on overnight. Even the shift from Adobe Creative Suite to Affinity back then took effort, nerves, and time.
Back then, it was easy for private users — “If you don’t like it, don’t use it; just pick something else.” In a commercial environment, it’s not that simple.
And to be honest, the software landscape in this segment hasn’t evolved much. Yes, open-source tools like Gimp, Krita, and Inkscape are still around — and while we absolutely recommend them (and even use them for specific tasks), their stability and precision don’t always meet our daily needs.
FIRST SIGNS…
The first thing Affinity did after the acquisition was offer a surprisingly long trial period. When we activated it, we were shocked — 180 days! If we remember correctly, Adobe did something similar around Creative Suite 2, but their trial was only 60–90 days. And, well… we all know what Creative Suite eventually turned into.
If Serif/Canva follow a similar path, it could have massive consequences for their user base and their reputation. When your entire brand promise is “Pay once, own forever,” users will cling to that license for as long as they can (just like they did with Adobe) — before eventually jumping ship. The whole idea was always to push back against Adobe’s subscription model and the risk that software you rely on today might be unusable tomorrow.
BREAK — Up until here, this was the blog post we intended to publish back in 2024. Yes, we were already a bit late, which is why we never released it.
Exactly one year before Affinity/Canva surprised everyone again this year with another major announcement:
“Affinity is now free for all and forever.”
Looking back, we’re a bit annoyed we never published our original post — because many of the concerns we raised back then are now becoming reality (even if softened for now).
Yes, Affinity is free. For everyone. Forever. That’s the slogan.
But unsurprisingly, support for the previously paid V1 and V2 versions is slowly fading away.
So how do you fund a product that used to bring in steady income for years?
Easy — with a paywall inside the “free” app. We know this playbook all too well from mobile games and smartphone apps.
Step one: Canva’s AI features are locked behind a paid subscription.
And even though Canva stresses that the core features of the Affinity Apps will remain free, we have a hard time imagining that these AI add-ons will generate enough revenue to sustain development long-term.
Plus, Affinity’s community has always included a huge number of creatives who are skeptical of generative AI in general. At least that’s been our impression.
We do want to highlight one genuinely positive development:
Affinity has merged all parts of the suite into a single application. No more constant switching between Photo, Designer, and Publisher. Every feature is accessible in every document — made possible by their new file format: .af
Right now, we’re honestly not sure how to feel about all these changes.
On the one hand, making the suite available to everyone is great and opens creative doors for a lot of people.
But we can’t shake the feeling that the paywall will continue to grow — that new features will end up subscription-only, or worse, that existing core features might eventually require a membership too.
Let’s see together what the future holds for loyal and new Affinity users alike.