Canva Overhauls Affinity, Launches Unified Design App for Free

Canva has relaunched the popular Affinity suite of professional design software, consolidating Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher into a single, unified application that is now completely free. The all-new Affinity app, available today for Mac and Windows, also integrates Canva's AI tools for premium subscribers and introduces a fully customizable workspace. An iPad version is planned for release in the future.

The move marks a new chapter for the design suite following its acquisition by Canva last year. In its announcement, the company said the redesigned app was built in close collaboration with its community of creators and guided by Canva's Designer Advisory Board, with a focus on performance, reliability, and creative freedom.




The new Affinity app combines its vector, photo editing, and page layout tools into one platform. Users can now work on illustrations, RAW photo development, and multi-page documents without switching between applications. A key part of the new experience is a customizable workspace, allowing creatives to build and save custom 'studios' by mixing and matching tools from the different design disciplines.



For users with a Canva premium account, Canva AI tools are now integrated directly into Affinity through a new 'Canva AI Studio.' This includes features like Generative Fill, Expand & Edit, and Remove Background. The launch positions Affinity as a more direct competitor to Adobe, which recently brought its own AI-powered features to mobile with the release of its free Premiere video editing app for iPhone.




While the older V2 versions of Designer, Photo, and Publisher will continue to function for existing users, Canva has stopped selling the standalone apps. The move away from a one-time purchase model—a key reason many professionals saw Affinity as a strong alternative to Adobe's subscription-based Creative Cloud—has sparked concern about whether the suite will maintain its focus as a dedicated high-end tool. Canva has not specified if the older V2 apps will continue to receive support updates.

The new Affinity is available today for Mac and Windows. While the software is free, a free Canva account is required to download it. Existing Canva users can activate Affinity with their current accounts, and the app supports importing common file types like PSD, AI, and PDF.

More details in the full announcement linked below...

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