Canva just acquired some of our favorite graphic design software

News
By
published

Psst! Want to to buy some graphic design software?

Affinity Design 2 in use showing a race car design
(Image credit: Affinity / Canva)

Update: Since news broke of the Canva Affinity acquisition, both teams have now confirmed the perpetual license will stay. Read more here. 

Canva has revealed the acquisition of three of our favorite graphic design software - and we don’t know how to feel about it. 

In a twist announcement, the company behind some of the best graphic design software for marketers and non-designers announced it’s bought Affinity’s Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps. 

But what will this mean for Affinity and Canva users, and does this risk becoming another Adobe-Figma debacle? 

Canva and Affinity sitting in a tree

For several years now, Canva has been on a serious mission - both to become an all-in-one visual communications platform and increase its presence in Europe. Like the company’s previous purchases of data-viz firm Flourish, and stock image sites Pexels and Pixabay, the Affinity acquisition delivers on both of Canva’s goals. 

However, it’s not currently clear what, if any changes Affinity or Canva users can expect with this announcement. For the interim, at least, we’d expect to see very few changes. 

Discussing the new partnership, Ashley Hewson, CEO of Affinity, said: “Since the inception of Affinity, our mission has been to empower creatives with tools that unleash their full potential, fostering a community where innovation and artistry flourish. Canva’s commitment to empowering everyone to create aligns perfectly with those values.” 

“From sales and marketing, to brand and creative teams, the need to create effective and engaging visual content is on the rise. The Affinity team comes with an incredible caliber of talent and technology and we're delighted to welcome them to Canva as we enter our next phase together,” said Canva co-founder and COO, Cliff Obrecht. 

While acquisitions don’t always go as planned (we’re looking at that ill-fated $20bn Adobe-Figma love-in), we’re cautiously optimistic about this merger. Serif’s line-up of Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher are easily some of the best alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign available. 

And, in our experience, Canva offers one of the best design experiences for non-designers (or those who like their design software simple and clean). So, at first glance, this could be a match-made in heaven. 

But we sound a note of caution. One of the reasons why the Affinity trio of apps gets an Editor’s Choice is the inclusion of a one-off fee, so there’s no need to subscribe. With Canva pushing its Pro subscription in the free design app, will we see Serif’s software go the same way? 

For more. check out our Affinity Designer 2 review, Affinity Publisher 2 review, and Affinity Photo review. 

Read more from TechRadar Pro

Steve Clark
Steve Clark
B2B Editor - Creative & Hardware

Steve is TechRadar Pro’s B2B Editor for Creative & Hardware. He began in tech journalism reviewing photo editors and video editing software at the magazine Web User, where he also covered technology news, features, and how-to guides. Today, he and his team of reviewers test out a range of creative software, hardware, and office furniture. Once upon a time, he wrote TV commercials and movie trailers. Relentless champion of the Oxford comma.