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    Affinity Studio now free

    (www.affinity.studio)
    1199 points dagmx | 15 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.605s | source | bottom
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    codeptualize ◴[30 Oct 25 16:19 UTC] No.45761737[source]▶
    It's a smart approach imo. They had to get a subscription somehow to support AI features which they need to compete (just usage cost wise you can't do that on a one time fee license).

    But since they promised not to go subscription when they got acquired by Canva, making it free with AI as the subscription is a clever solution to not break their promise while still introducing a subscription model.

    I think their bet is enough people will want the AI, which I think is correct.

    As a long time Affinity user, first reaction was: "see, there is the subscription", but on second thought, fair enough, well played. I'll probably get the AI subscription as well.

    I do wonder if over time more features will go into that premium plan, but we'll see.

    Edit: It seems like some of the AI stuff runs on device, they are not very clear about what does or doesn't. That makes me change my opinion a bit, as that's just straight up a freemium subscription model.

    replies(5): >>45762348 #>>45762424 #>>45762875 #>>45763020 #>>45764508 #
    dannyw ◴[30 Oct 25 17:14 UTC] No.45762424[source]▶
    Thank you (long-time Affinity user and fan, and Canva employee here :)

    Re. on-device AI features: these still have significant training costs; and Canva as a whole has paid hundreds of millions to date in royalties to creatives, including for AI training.

    Affinity is free, forever; but not open source; if that makes sense.

    replies(6): >>45762437 #>>45762538 #>>45762548 #>>45762738 #>>45763334 #>>45767283 #
    1. candiddevmike ◴[30 Oct 25 17:15 UTC] No.45762437[source]▶
    > Affinity is free, forever; but not open source; if that makes sense.

    It's free until you guys stop supporting it or go out of business, then it disappears.

    replies(2): >>45762472 #>>45763586 #
    2. Freedom2 ◴[30 Oct 25 17:18 UTC] No.45762472[source]▶
    I don't think it disappears - the copy I have will still be on my machine, and free to use as well. Unless they implemented something to remotely delete it?
    replies(2): >>45762525 #>>45762553 #
    3. candiddevmike ◴[30 Oct 25 17:21 UTC] No.45762525[source]▶
    Legally, you can't redistribute it
    4. matwood ◴[30 Oct 25 17:23 UTC] No.45762553[source]▶
    Unless you freeze your machine in its current state, software that isn't maintained will eventually stop working.
    replies(3): >>45762560 #>>45762964 #>>45763651 #
    5. Freedom2 ◴[30 Oct 25 17:24 UTC] No.45762560{3}[source]▶
    That doesn't mean it disappears though - it still exists, just in a non-working state.
    replies(2): >>45762661 #>>45762733 #
    6. t-writescode ◴[30 Oct 25 17:31 UTC] No.45762661{4}[source]▶
    And proton and the community do well to keep old things working.

    Dosbox is a testament to that.

    7. ◴[30 Oct 25 17:37 UTC] No.45762733{4}[source]▶
    8. ryandrake ◴[30 Oct 25 17:56 UTC] No.45762964{3}[source]▶
    This is only true for very badly written software, and/or on platforms that maintain very bad backward compatibility. It's not some natural law of software--it's choices that (IMO) bad developers choose to make over and over.
    replies(3): >>45763372 #>>45764076 #>>45767484 #
    9. pikewood ◴[30 Oct 25 18:25 UTC] No.45763372{4}[source]▶
    This already happened with Affinity Photo v1 on iOS; a lot of functionality did not work after an iOS update. It feels like Apple changed something in their libraries, so it doesn't even matter how robust your software is if the underlying OS doesn't honor compatibility.
    replies(1): >>45767652 #
    10. eldaisfish ◴[30 Oct 25 18:38 UTC] No.45763586[source]▶
    your gripe is valid but misdirected. I also own a copy but, the one-time validation requires a validation server. Once that server goes offline, i can no longer install Affinity on a new machine.
    11. tiltowait ◴[30 Oct 25 18:42 UTC] No.45763651{3}[source]▶
    This is how things have worked since programmable software was invented.
    12. TeMPOraL ◴[30 Oct 25 19:15 UTC] No.45764076{4}[source]▶
    Unfortunately there's also security people who work day and night to break old software and hardware that cannot keep up with the latest security standards.
    13. kyer-sh ◴[31 Oct 25 01:44 UTC] No.45767484{4}[source]▶
    It’s not just the case of badly written software. It will work until they shut off the license servers.

    Adobe CS2 is a highly-capable software suite that would happily run on today’s computers. I remember when Adobe shut down the license servers for CS2. They released a version that you didn’t need to activate to assure people that they would still be able to use the software they bought in the future. But then they got tired of hosting the download servers, so they stopped, and that was it.

    14. eldaisfish ◴[31 Oct 25 02:17 UTC] No.45767652{5}[source]▶
    ok, but if you depend on software for work or business, you do not update your OS until you can guarantee and verify that your software will work.

    The original iOS version worked. Maybe don't update iOS if you want to continue using affinity's software?

    replies(1): >>45767952 #
    15. ryandrake ◴[31 Oct 25 03:12 UTC] No.45767952{6}[source]▶
    The Apple ecosystem, in general, is notorious for this: If you update your OS, some 3rd party applications will suddenly no longer work, because Apple keeps introducing breaking changes. But, if you don't update your software, other 3rd party applications will quickly abandon you and block you from using their software until you update. So, you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Complicating this is: if your hardware is "too old" (as deemed by Apple), you can't update your software, so eventually you're left in the dust. You can't win.