Adobe vs Affinity | The Ultimate Guide

As your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription renewal approaches, the thought of exploring more cost-effective alternatives might be crossing your mind. In this video, we'll compare Adobe Creative Cloud and Affinity, two popular suites that cater to different needs and preferences.
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Adobe Creative Cloud, an industry standard for decades, offers a vast range of applications spanning motion graphics, video editing, UI design, and more. On the other hand, Affinity, a newer suite owned by the UK-based company Serif, focuses on photo editing, vector graphics, and publishing.
This comparison will look at Lightroom and Photoshop vs. Affinity Photo, Illustrator vs. Affinity Designer, and InDesign vs. Affinity Publisher. Here's what we'll cover:
00:00 Introduction
00:59 Pricing
02:35 Adobe Photoshop vs. Affinity Photo
03:45 Adobe Lightroom vs. Affinity Photo
04:30 Adobe Illustrator vs. Affinity Designer
06:49 Adobe InDesign vs. Affinity Publisher
09:51 Which should you choose?
11:20 Conclusion
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[@envatotuts]

We just published our Affinity Designer for Beginners | FREE COURSE, check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaW7YaafoqaajM0

[@zeemon9623]

Suddenly this video became extremely relevant.

[@reddesert3521]

Yep, with all the controversy affinity is extra appealing now

[@douglasmcarthur4507]

I bought Affinity because I deeply resent Adobe going to subscription only. I bought the Adobe suite for about £450 back in the 90's when I had a graphic design studio, then shortly after I closed that business my InDesign was somehow blocked because I was 'out of memory'. I had no choice but to go to subscription. So since then I have been paying monthly which over a year is more than I paid for my last full package. I shudder to think how much I have paid since then. I now write and produce books and I understand that Affinity can create layouts for printed books, I am not sure about ebooks. At 74 I am still learning!

[@user-jb8sl7vo6z]

me in da future

[@chameleonedm]

Just wanted to say how much I respect a man of your generation keeping up with all these tools. It scares me sometimes to think that this stuff gets harder as we age, but you give me a lot of hope!

[@manamedia]

Great review. We completely switched to Affinity Suite in 2021 and have never looked back. DaVinci Resolve is what we use in place of PP and AE.

[@RajivChopra]

Ditto. But for photo editing, I use Photoshop and Lightroom. I like Da Vinci

[@chocolatethunnderzzdahoodbrat]

You forgot to mention that if you’re are a designer looking for mobile capabilities affinity is the best option since it has all the tools as it would on the pc version and Adobe creative cloud is limited to certain features

[@steiner554]

I dropped Adobe a few years ago and am never going back. Affinity is my favorite tool.

[@kevinhouse7143]

Hey there, nice comparison. My 2 cents as a professional freelance illustrator using mostly Affinity Designer for client work since 2014. Designer is what I use most and it has everything I need to get the job done. There are a few free or inexpensive vector tracers solutions available if I require that for a job once in a while and I don't miss those features that Illustrator has like blending or the ability to work with gradient meshes. In fact Designers ease and ability to work in raster format replaces the need for some of those "missing" Illustrator features most people bring up. The transparency tool is a big plus for my workflow with Designer and the way the layers panel works with nesting and masks is much less clunky than the layer mask workflow I remember from Illustrator (not sure if that has changed). I guess like you say it comes down to what type of work you do and if that pricing structure and working in a cloud is something you are okay with. For me I don't miss anything crucial and the Affinity line not only is up to the challenge, it often exceeds it.

[@steionescu]

Hi! Can you please recommend a vector trace tool? I use Affinity myself, but for tracing I use an old Corel Draw I've got

[@CookieWhite1400]

@@steionescu inkscape

[@NethraSeema]

Please do more tutorial courses frequently for how to use affinity suite more efficiently it will be more helpful

[@johnpeterson7264]

Now that Adobe has asserted what amounts to infinite rights over its users work product I think a lot of us are looking more and more for an effective escape from the Adobe ecosystem. It’s a shame to see this happen but I’m thankful that we now have some excellent alternatives.

[@bornoptimist5923]

hi, it's more helpful content i felt affinity is more handy as a graphic designer. could you do more content for affinity tools

[@firewalkerjon]

I have the Adobe Creative Suite but also bought Affinity when Adobe put their prices up (again). The main thing that's prevented me from going full Affinity is that Publisher can't import native InDesign files. It needs the .idml file which is automatically created if I package a document, but not otherwise. As I have work going back several years including Indesign files which haven't got the .idml version, this is a problem, especially as I have often have clients who want an old document updated.

[@ambrosepottie]

My issue as well. I've decided to continue with inDesign as my only Adobe cc software, $29 Canadian vs. $72 Canadian monthly. I'll continue doing that until i'm completely comfortable with Publisher, also spending some time each day converting old files to .idml files. Photoshop and Illustrator are used in a much more primitive fashion by me and Infinity's versions should be fine.

[@docmeat]

Terrific review, made the plunge to Affinty recently, haven't had to look back (yet). Very impressed thusfar.

[@mrfluidvision]

Very helpful, thank you and great work as always!

[@KuttyJoe]

Today was strange. I woke up and as about to get started working and I had an idea. I'd just learned about this new feature in Affinity Designer 2 where you can align/distribute/ and resize objects to the same size about a week ago and it crossed my mind. I thought to myself, Serif makes these features that nobody asked for while not doing the ones that people want. I got started on my work in Illustrator. I never use Affinity Designer although I do have the software for a rare few things. One thing that I do typically is take a handful of objects and do align/distribute on them. Today, I had a ton of them to process in this one document and they also were different sizes. So guess what? On the same day that I wrote off the feature that Serif makes that nobody asked for, I actually needed that feature. I jumped over to AD and gave it a shot and it worked, although I still needed to go back to Illustrator for 1 particular distribution feature that AD wasn't able to do, it still saved me a lot of time.

[@mialoron8455]

I was never a fan of adobe.. so much features which i do not use, it just makes the software slow, clanky and unstable.. Affinity is truly a God send to me.. since i started using Affinity i never looked back..

[@jenmaysad]

Hey. What about the update to licensing from Adobe. It appears they can 'use/own' any of your content. Does Affinity have a similar licensing structure?

[@FlameRat_YehLon]

Affinity also has the benefit of having one single file type for all the softwares, and opening and saving the same file in all 3 softwares are lossless, even though not everything is easily accessible in all software. And I'd say one downside of Affinity is, it's hard to tell the actual size of a pixel layer, which can cause issue when dealing with binary image (as it can create gradient in what's supposedly black and white only image). Photoshop's smart layer can be opened in a separate window and edited like non smart layer, which is kinda more intuitive when needed. But then also smart layer isn't the most intuitive thing to use in Photoshop. Which is made worse when there are still so many schoolbook that don't talk about the use of smart layers.

[@SimplybeingR]

Thanks for this video for the comparison- I have both and want to learn Affinity

[@YvonneFrindle]

One area where Affinity Publisher runs rings around InDesign is optical margin alignment. I'm actually a little astounded at just how primitive this feature is in InDesign: first it's buried in an unintuitive location and then it's basically one check box and a numeric setting. And it simply cannot cope with centred text, nor does it allow any custom settings or nuanced adjustments. Publisher, on the other hand, has full-featured control over this aspect of typesetting. You can use the built-in settings of your font, or you can choose to manually adjust some or all of those, for both left and right margins. And it works with centred text as well as left-aligned and justified text. Basically if you care about niceties of typesetting or if you want your headlines and display type to look visually aligned without mucking around with tabs, etc., then Publisher is the way to go. I currently use both apps, since some clients need me to work in InDesign, but when it's entirely up to me, I opt for Publisher, for this and many other reasons.

[@inSurfersParadise]

I detest Ransome ware. Affinity took some getting used but I adjusted my thinking and it allowed me to radically upgrade my workflow and client offer. It is very fast and deals with very large PDFs that are larger than Adobe allows. The compatibility of the files and consistent user experience in the three programs is excellent. For my work it is a superior product.

[@ivan-_-8577]

Now it’s worth adding the point that Adobe steals your work and appropriates the rights to it without paying attention to the NDA.

[@Itielbryce]

I use adobe creative cloud but I am definitely planning my move to affinity

[@KuttyJoe]

I think I'm finally ready to try to get away from Adobe. But, honestly there's nothing out there as powerful as Adobe. But Adobe is just getting so buggy right now, and they're not able to resolve the issues, while the software continues to get more expensive. Things are even worse because I'm making good use of Astute Graphics plugins and I would only get those through Adobe Illustrator. But, if I could get away from Adobe, I would save all of that money, plus the monthly fee for Astute Graphics as well. The challenge is in maintaining my fast workflow as I switch over to using several programs to make up for 1.

[@sketchyspot]

Cancelled my Adobe subscription yesterday.

[@spreadyourwings178]

can you do a tutorial video for kittl design software tool

[@minhasnewsletters1360]

Nice video! I will have a look into the affinity software right now. I’m just afraid of taking the plunge and whether my learning curve will be steep or not. As a solo designer, it would be huge savings for me.

[@soullessemperor6572]

i you good at using photoshop or designer i garantee the learning curve will way easy

[@AsabaNdimofor]

It’s a much more simpler and intuitive interface. You won’t have a problem.

[@yoRRnl]

As a freelancer myself, I have tried the Affinity way, but it bites a lot when i work with other teams. Outside my office, it is all Adobe minded. It was time consuming solving issues. So keep this in mind! Also, the AI impact in the Adobe tools is kinda high. Specialy in Photoshop these days, it can save up time. Also the huge bennefit in Adobe is the CC library system. So, from a professional point of view.. tha 50 dollar ish a month for tier 1 tools is not that much. But, having no subscription at all is interesting from Affinity. There is no win/win sadly.. so, be aware of that!

[@AsabaNdimofor]

Yeah. I actually missed a job opportunity because I couldn’t work very smoothly with Adobe apps. For example, just adding a simple shadow to a PNG requires me to manually enter digits into photoshop and preview it until it’s right, whereas on affinity photo, what you get is a slider. I wonder why PS interface is still so sucky.

[@jacobcurran7529]

I hadn't even thought about it till your outro, but affinity really is SO much more stable. I've had many a session working multiple items in both photoshop or illustrator, only to have the application send me to the blue screen of death. Affinity really is quick and clean.

[@joelengblom8967]

The biggest problem for me as a beginner graphic designer is that I want to make good looking mockups and that seems almost impossible without adobe photoshop. Sure some files work kinda in affinity photo aswell but its very limited and often doesn't work as smoothly. So even if affinity designer works good for creating logos I have no good way of making mockups. If anyone has tips for me I would appreciate it very much! :)

[@JohnDoukasPhotography]

As much as I dislike Adobe's pricing model and bug-filled updates, there are some features that Adobe has that Affinity doesn't quite match. I hope Affinity keeps going though, as Adobe needs some actual competition. About a year ago I decided to cancel my Adobe account as I was paying $60 a month for the full suite, just to access 4 apps. They then offered me a discount code to only pay $30 a month for the whole suite. Recently that discount expired and I changed to only use Lightroom and Photoshop for $20 a month. For video editing I use Davinci, which is way better than Premiere. I'm looking at getting Affinity publisher to design some books.

[@Dimipim1]

thank you!

[@flobodet1412]

Thank you

[@Tanoaproductionsfiji]

Great presentation! minimal and clear.. and beautiful.... thank you

[@Spamkromite]

I'm really sold to Affinity now. Though my main concern is the library of filters that it has, because I use a ton of them in Photoshop but I need to find the equivalents in Affinity to fully transition to the new app 🥺

[@jordanking7711]

Definitely Affinity Used to LOVE Photoshop and Lightroom, but since Adobe dropped perpetual licenses, no thank you. To each their own but I'm not paying a fee every month just to 'rent' their software, even if it does come with free updates.

[@mtm7031]

Now days i use Affinity software

[@TomLoveman]

I have an annual relationship with Adobe of breaking up, waiting for Adobe to beg me to come back and giving me a $25.99/month rate for 12 months. I'm very open to trying new tools though and Adobe's recent EULA scandal find me looking at alternatives more closely. I've downloaded Davinci Resolve to try it out and videos like this, give me pause to consider changing over the rest.

[@SirAndoy]

For Motion Design, Davinci Resolve is a great alternative to adobe.

[@Chris3s]

I heard that many miss after effects in that area, any experience with that?

[@Frank-yb9hf]

adobe just sucks. It is way to expensive in most countries.

[@massimodambrogio]

Affinity FTW

[@ollym990]

As always, lack of competition has given Adobe the ability to charge whatever they want, so the fact Affinity is a fraction of the cost and is clearly pulling customers away, might make them rethink this in time.

[@CMoDZ3D]

i'm really surprised you chose affinity for graphic design

[@AsabaNdimofor]

Your mind will be blown on how simple it’s UI is. You don’t even have to think.

[@philipkisibo6670]

Where can i download adobe from bro kindly

[@jordanking7711]

It depends on what you're looking for. Regardless it's on their website. He's talking about the company and not the products themselves. A lot of people may not know that Affinity is owned by Serif, so they just Affinity for sake of simplicity.