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Affinity Studio now free

(www.affinity.studio)
1199 points dagmx | 2 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.01s | source
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nirava ◴[30 Oct 25 18:07 UTC] No.45763101[source]▶
This is a deletion.

- they're completely stopping all updates to v2; even image trace won't be coming to it. You might have paid for perpetual access to it 2 months ago, but it has completely stopped. As the world moves on (new chips, new OS features, just general software movement) this will increasingly feel like a second-class experience.

- the new "free" software is a sales funnel into the paid subscription, and will also increasingly have that "second-class" feeling as new pro-only things are added to it. it is also practically guaranteed to feed your work into AI unless you buy pro sometime in the next 5 years

In short, something secure, top class, the "best the company offers" product doesn't exist anymore. What was once there isn't.

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ezfe ◴[30 Oct 25 19:37 UTC] No.45764353[source]▶
Isn't this EXACTLY what subscriptions fix, though? That you can stop paying if the product stops getting updates.

Everyone wanted a one time license, you aren't allowed to complain when that one-time licensed product stops getting updates.

Note: I own a license to V2 of the Serif suite.

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maccard ◴[31 Oct 25 09:09 UTC] No.45769885[source]▶
> Everyone wanted a one time license, you aren't allowed to complain when that one-time licensed product stops getting updates.

A one time license is sold on the promise of future updates perpetually to this version. If serif said “we’re not adding AI tools to v2, we’re going to go to v3 instead” I’d be fine with it. But instead they’re taking the updates they were providing to us anyway and packaging them up under a new revenue stream.

If they didn’t want this backlash they shouldn’t have sold perpetual licenses, they should have sold licenses with 1 year of updates.

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carlosjobim ◴[31 Oct 25 12:42 UTC] No.45771391[source]▶
> A one time license is sold on the promise of future updates perpetually to this version.

No it is not and has never been. Of course not, and you must understand that.

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1. maccard ◴[31 Oct 25 13:09 UTC] No.45771586{3}[source]▶
That’s exactly what is.

Of course legally they’re entitled to not do that, but google are also legally entitled to close your account for any reason they see fit. If they mass deactivated accounts on one of those clauses they’d likely legally be right but they’d be pulling a real asshole move, which is what affinity/canva have done here.

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2. carlosjobim ◴[31 Oct 25 14:51 UTC] No.45772605[source]▶
Surely if you want to oblige companies to release new versions because you purchased a version in the past, then you also have to oblige every customer to also purchase the new version. Which would be preposterous.

When you purchase something you should get exactly what you purchased, nothing more and nothing less. That's how business has been conducted for three hundred thousand years by now.

Affinity cannot deactivate the software you have purchased, that would be outside of the law.