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Affinity Studio now free

(www.affinity.studio)
1200 points dagmx | 11 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.012s | source | bottom
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pentagrama ◴[30 Oct 25 17:21 UTC] No.45762521[source]▶
I used Affinity for several years, so to add some background here:

Serif is the company that originally built this software.

--------

2014–2024

Serif developed the Affinity suite, a collection of three independent desktop apps sold with a one-time payment model:

- Affinity Designer: vector graphic design (Adobe Illustrator equivalent)

- Affinity Photo: digital image editing (Adobe Photoshop equivalent)

- Affinity Publisher: print and layout design (Adobe InDesign equivalent)

They were solid, professional tools without subscriptions like Adobe, a big reason why many designers loved them.

-------

2024

Canva acquired Serif.

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2025 (today)

The product has been relaunched. The three apps are now merged into a single app, simply called Affinity, and it follows a freemium model.

From what I’ve tested, you need a Canva account to download and open the app (you can opt out of some telemetry during setup).

The new app has four tabs:

- Vector: formerly Affinity Designer

- Pixel: formerly Affinity Photo

- Layout: formerly Affinity Publisher

- Canva AI: a new, paid AI-powered section

Screenshot https://imgur.com/a/h1S6fcK

Hope can help!

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dangus ◴[30 Oct 25 18:53 UTC] No.45763807[source]▶
I realize that money rules everything but I find it so confusing that so many companies will spend a decade building a great product and then just exit with full knowledge that it will be the inevitable end of the relevance of their work.

You might think that some founders somewhere out there would be motivated by some level of ego to say “no, I won’t sell out, I built this amazing thing and the highest bidder owner will milk it dry.”

But no, in technology the cult of the exit rules all. The end goal isn’t to build something great that last, putting food on the table for the long term. the end goal is to sell to the highest possible bid capitalist leech and move on to the next one.

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1. turnsout ◴[30 Oct 25 19:59 UTC] No.45764598[source]▶
It's more complicated than that. Sometimes after 15 years, the founders want to move on and do something else. Or they want to build a dream house. Or their cofounder wants to get out. Or they hear the long-term vision of the acquiring company, and want to be a part of it.

Although it's an uphill battle, not every acquisition ends with the product being destroyed. Just look at what Apple did with NeXT and PA Semi…

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2. dangus ◴[30 Oct 25 22:13 UTC] No.45766034[source]▶
You can have controlling stake in a company without working there day to day.

Apple literally destroyed those companies. After Apple acquired NeXT there was one less operating system on the market. PA Semi now doesn’t have a product that is sold to the open market.

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3. ascorbic ◴[30 Oct 25 23:06 UTC] No.45766459[source]▶
Apple bought NeXT and made it one of the most popular operating systems on the planet.
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4. tracker1 ◴[30 Oct 25 23:51 UTC] No.45766847[source]▶
What do you think MacOS since v10 is?
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5. turnsout ◴[31 Oct 25 01:12 UTC] No.45767319[source]▶
lmao ok
6. 9rx ◴[31 Oct 25 10:08 UTC] No.45770272{3}[source]▶
MacOS v10+ accounts for NeXTSTEP, but what do you consider to be the current MacOS (classic) to satisfy the not having one less operating system condition?
7. dangus ◴[31 Oct 25 12:15 UTC] No.45771188{3}[source]▶
But if Apple didn’t buy them, Apple would have made their own operating system and NeXT might still be here today with their own operating system.

Like I said, a competitor was removed from the market.

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8. dangus ◴[31 Oct 25 12:16 UTC] No.45771195{3}[source]▶
It’s the ashes or NeXT.

If Apple hadn’t bought them, they’d have to make their own OS or license something else, and NeXT would potentially still be here making their OS.

We have one less choice on the market because Apple acquired them.

See also: DarkSky. No more Android version!

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9. turnsout ◴[31 Oct 25 13:00 UTC] No.45771517{4}[source]▶
Hate to break it to you, but NeXTSTEP failed in the marketplace. If Apple hadn't bought them, they'd still be gone.

But more importantly: who cares? There is no moral imperative to keep products alive. It's just stuff that people make. Products come and go, and founders owe you nothing.

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10. dangus ◴[31 Oct 25 16:35 UTC] No.45773934{5}[source]▶
Who cares right? Maybe Apple and Google and Microsoft should just merge. Then we can just use the same operating system for everything.

Can’t think of any downside!

I’m not mourning the loss of a product, I’m lamenting the negative externalities of acquisitions. Some of them are a net positive for sure but it seems like those are in the minority.

11. ascorbic ◴[01 Nov 25 08:29 UTC] No.45780081{4}[source]▶
The only operating system that was killed was Mac OS 9, while NeXTSTEP lives on in billions of devices today