Affinity made a pretty big move: the separate Affinity apps are now rolled into one single app called Affinity. If you have used Photo, Designer, and Publisher before, the old back-and-forth between apps is the part this update is trying to clean up.
The headline is that the app is free, but there is an important caveat. The core Affinity tools are available in the new unified app, while some of the new AI features sit behind a Canva Pro subscription.
Quick Answer
The short version: Affinity is now one app with different work areas called Studios. Vector is the Illustrator-style area, Pixel is the Photo-style area, Layout is the Publisher-style area, and there are additional Studios for things like retouching, color grading, slicing, Canva, and custom tool setups.
If you already use Affinity, the biggest win is that your document stays in one place. You can open an image or project and move between pixel editing, vector work, and layout tools without sending the file from one app to another. The AI and Canva features are optional, but many of those require a paid Canva plan.
What Changed
Before this update, Affinity was a suite of separate apps. You had Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Publisher, with separate tools depending on what kind of work you were doing.
Now those tools live inside one app. Instead of launching a different app, you switch Studios from the top of the interface. That means the same document can move between photo editing, vector design, and layout work without feeling like you are leaving one product and opening another.
That is the part that stood out to me right away. The old Affinity suite was already affordable compared with Adobe, but the new structure makes the workflow feel cleaner. I could switch from Pixel to Vector almost instantly, and the tools on the left and panels on the right changed with the Studio.
How Studios Work
Affinity is using the word Studios for the different tool environments inside the app. Think of them like the old apps or major workflows, but packed into one interface.
When I switched to Vector, the toolbar and side panels changed to match vector design work. When I switched back to Pixel, the photo editing tools came back, including things like histogram and color controls. Retouching and color grading also have their own tool setups.
There is also a menu with more Studios than you may see at first. In my setup, I could turn on Layout and Slice from the three-dot menu. There is also a Create Studio option, which lets you build your own mix of tools for the way you work.
That custom Studio idea is practical. Not everyone edits photos, builds thumbnails, designs graphics, and lays out documents the same way. Being able to make a Studio with the tools you actually use could save a lot of clicking around.
- Vector is the Designer-style workspace.
- Pixel is the Photo-style workspace.
- Layout is the Publisher-style workspace.
- Retouching and color grading have their own tool-focused areas.
- Create Studio lets you build a custom workspace.
Pricing And The Canva Caveat
The app itself is free, but the AI side is where the Canva subscription comes in. Canva owns Affinity now, and this update is where that connection starts to show more clearly.
The free plan gives you the core Affinity experience. The Canva Pro plan is listed at about $120 per year or about $15 per month, and that is what unlocks the paid AI features marked with the crown icon.
For existing Affinity users, that distinction matters. If you were already using Affinity without those AI features, you can still keep doing the regular Affinity work in the new app. The subscription question is really about whether the Canva AI tools are worth it for your workflow.
I signed up for the year because there was a 30-day trial window, so my plan is to actually test whether the AI features are useful enough before deciding if it is worth keeping.
Getting Started
To download the new Affinity app, you do need to create or sign into an account. Mac and Windows were available at the time I tested it, while the iPad version was listed as coming soon.
On first launch, Affinity opens with a welcome window. It includes recent documents, favorites, templates, and a Learn section. The Learn videos appear to download to the computer rather than just stream inside the app.
Templates are also built into the workflow. I tested this with a basic thumbnail project, and you can export a file as a template by going to File, Export, and choosing the template option. That makes sense for repeat projects like YouTube thumbnails, social graphics, or document layouts.
Machine Learning Modules
The AI tools use machine learning modules that can be installed from Affinity settings. When you try to use some AI features for the first time, the app prompts you to open settings and install the needed model.
One selection model is free and is used for more precise pixel selections. Other models had a crown next to them, which means they require the Canva Pro subscription.
There are also processing options for CPU, GPU, and Apple Neural Engine support. On my machine, CPU and GPU were enabled, and I found an option to include the Neural Engine as well. Changing that setting required restarting the app.
This area felt a little early. The app had only been out for about a day when I tested it, and I did run into a few moments where restarting seemed necessary to make changes stick. That does not ruin the app, but it is worth knowing if you are jumping in right away.
Selection Test
I did a quick subject selection test to compare the regular Affinity-style selection workflow with the Canva AI selection workflow inside the new app.
Using the Affinity selection tool, I selected a subject, refined the edge, and created a mask. It worked, but the result was not perfectly clean on the first try. With more manual refinement, it could be improved, which is basically how these tools have worked for a while.
Then I duplicated the layer and tried the Canva AI subject selection. That result was noticeably cleaner with less effort. It was not a full scientific test, and I only spent a short amount of time with it, but for a quick mask, the Canva AI result looked better out of the gate.
That is probably the main question for a lot of people: not whether the AI exists, but whether it saves enough time to justify the Canva Pro subscription.
Adobe Comparison
Affinity has always been interesting because of the pricing. The old suite was much cheaper than paying for a full Adobe subscription, especially if you do not make enough from creative work to justify a large yearly software bill.
This update makes Affinity feel more competitive from a workflow perspective, not just a pricing perspective. Having photo editing, vector design, and publishing tools in one app is convenient in a way Adobe does not really match with its separate app model.
The harder question is AI. Adobe has been pushing hard on AI tools, and Affinity now has a path there through Canva. From what I saw, the AI models look like local downloads, which could leave room for improvement over time. But it is too early for me to say whether that is enough to pull people away from Adobe by itself.
For everyday creators, the unified app may be the bigger deal than the AI. If you make thumbnails, graphics, documents, simple edits, and layouts, having one workspace that shifts with the task is genuinely useful.
Key Takeaways
- Affinity is now one unified app instead of separate Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps.
- The main work areas are called Studios, including Vector, Pixel, Layout, Retouching, Color Grading, Slice, Canva, and custom Create Studios.
- The core app is free, but many Canva AI features require a Canva Pro subscription.
- Machine learning modules can be installed from Affinity settings, with some free and others marked for Pro users.
- Switching between Pixel and Vector work felt seamless because the document stays inside the same app.
- In a quick subject selection test, the Canva AI mask looked cleaner with less effort than the regular selection workflow.
Watch the Video
The video above for the full walkthrough inside the new Affinity app, including the first-launch experience, Studio switching, settings, machine learning modules, and the side-by-side subject selection test.
