Here is the unlisted demo video from their newsletter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP_TBaKODlw
Key bits:
After acquiring Serif last year, Canva is now relaunching its Adobe-rivalling Affinity creative suite as a new all-in-one app for photo editing, vector illustration, and page layouts. Unlike Affinity’s previous Designer, Photo, and Publisher software, which were a one-time $70 purchase, Canva’s announcement stresses that the new Affinity app is “free forever” and won’t require a subscription.
Affinity’s one-time-purchase model was one of the most appealing things about its older software offerings, standing in stark contrast to Adobe’s controversial subscription-based creative suite. While Canva’s own design platform can be used for free, it also locks most of its capabilities behind subscription paywalls, which raised concerns that Affinity would adopt Canva’s subscription-based approach following the acquisition. The company is trying to put those fears to rest for good by repeatedly mentioning how “free” the new Affinity app is, but the AI integrations will likely be met with some resistance by creatives who oppose the technology.
I’m glad they didn’t add any subscription pricing, and while I don’t know if they’ll actually be able to fund it through the optional AI subscriptions alone, at least it can be used offline for those who want any AI things. Now my only complaint is the lack of a solid Linux client.
Oh shit. I bought an Affinity lifetime thing a couple of years ago. Oh fuck, I didn’t realise I was supporting canva. Are they gonna force me to upgrade into this bullshit? God damn it, Affinity Photo and Designer were pretty good.
Any good alternatives out there? Ideally something cheap, I am not flush with cash at the moment 😬
Affinity wasn’t owned by canva back then. And you can still continue to use your v1 and v2 (though I don’t know how you would download the apps, now that the login page is gone)
The login page for the old apps is at the bottom of the page in the footer.
That being said, I really miss this being a premium offering.
Thanks!
I will continue using v1 (I have v2 but I never got around to using it). Sadly windows/macos only… (in wine it kinda works but that’s not good enough for me)