Whenever there's a discussion about the best Photoshop replacements, Affinity usually comes up. When comparing Photoshop vs. Affinity, the latter comes pretty close to dethroning the reigning champion. However, Affinity was still a paid product, so people looking for a free alternative would end up shopping elsewhere.

And yes, I said "was," because as of today, it seems that Canva has made its entire Affinity suite free to download. There are a few caveats to using the app, but otherwise, it seems like a great way for people to get Photoshop-quality apps for no cost.

Affinity is now free... with an optional subscription

The company announced this huge update on the Canva newsroom, alongside a redesign of the Affinity website to match the new direction. The biggest change we saw is that Canva is now making Affinity mostly free to use. By the looks of the feature list, the free version appears to include all the regular tools that Affinity offers.

The website makes it very clear that the core of the app is truly free:

Affinity is now completely free, forever. The full, professional-grade Affinity experience, available to everyone.

There’s no catch, no stripped-back version, and no gotchas. The same precise, high-performance tools that professionals rely on every day are now open to all, because creative freedom shouldn’t come with a cost.

It also looks like Canva is combining the three Affinity apps—Designer, Photo, and Publisher—into one central app. The website boasts that you can access all three "without ever leaving your document," which is a pretty huge deal.

So, what about that downside? Well, while you can download Affinity for free, there is a Premium subscription plan. The plan unlocks Canva AI Studio, which adds generative AI, background-removal tools, and portrait blurring. However, it seems that the Premium plan only covers the AI tools, so if you want all the base features from Affinity, you don't need to pay up.

Also, you can't just grab Affinity for free. To download and use the app, you need a Canva account, which you can create for free. Other than those two caveats, it really does look like it's the entirety of Affinity for zero cost, which is pretty stunning.

At the bottom of the Affinity website, the company adds one last zinger toward its biggest rival, Photoshop. Right before the final download button, Canva says, "Stop renting software. Move in here." Strong move, Canva; let's see if it pays off.

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, head over to the Get Affinity page and give it a try. If you're still on the fence, check out these reasons the Affinity creative suite can replace your Adobe subscription. And if you want to see how it squares up to the free software competition, be sure to read these reasons to use Affinity Photo instead of GIMP.