Affinity Designer

Name: Affinity Designer
Rating: 82

Professional design, no subscription

Professional vector and raster design tool from Serif, now free after Canva's acquisition. A powerful Illustrator alternative with one-time pricing and no recurring fees.

Our take

Affinity Designer 2 was already a fantastic Illustrator alternative at $50 one-time — now that Canva has made it completely free, the value proposition is unbeatable. The dual Pixel and Vector personas let you switch between raster and vector workflows without leaving the app. Performance is excellent, the pen tool rivals Adobe's, and PSD/AI file compatibility is solid. The trade-offs: no real-time collaboration, no plugin ecosystem, and the community is smaller. If you work solo and want pro-grade vector tools without paying a subscription, Affinity Designer is the obvious choice.