The sentence that changed the shelf

Most “Canva alternative” lists still price Affinity as a one-time $70–$90 download. That is stale.

On 23 August 2026, Canva’s own Affinity download page prints “$0, free.” The FAQ is blunt: every tool in the Pixel, Vector and Layout studios is included, with free updates, and you do not need Canva Pro to use those studios. You do need a Canva account — free is enough — because Affinity is now a Canva product.

That is a bigger fact than Plasfy’s $199 lifetime deal. Affinity was already the serious desktop editor people named when they were tired of Photoshop’s subscription. Canva bought it and took the price to zero.

What official pages say you get

The Get Affinity page lists: vector, pixel and layout in one app; customizable studios; non-destructive editing; pixel-perfect export; PSD, AI, PDF, SVG and IDML import; one-click export to Canva; full RAW editing; retouching tools they name as inpainting, healing, dodge and burn; batch macros, HDR merge and panoramas; pen/node/pencil tools; print-ready CMYK, spot colour, preflight and bleed.

Desktop is what they are shipping. The same FAQ says there is no release date yet for the new Affinity on iPad, and tells people to keep running V2 on iPad for now. I am not going to invent a tablet app.

You must be online to download and activate the licence with the Canva account. After that, they say you can work offline, including for extended periods.

What is still paid

Canva AI inside Affinity — generative fill, expand, generate images and vectors, remove background, super resolution, brand system — is documented as a Canva premium unlock (Pro, Business, Enterprise or Education).

So: the editor is free. The Canva AI layer is not. That is the opposite of Plasfy’s “pay once, everything unlocked” pitch, and it is the opposite of “Affinity replaced Canva.” Affinity is the desktop suite. Canva is still the template-and-brand web app. They now share a login.

Not Photoshop, not Canva, not Photopea

If you want Photoshop’s subscription, cloud libraries and Adobe’s plugin world, Affinity is a different vendor. I did not copy Adobe’s current monthly price onto this page. Open Adobe’s own plan page if that number is why you are leaving.

If you want Canva’s 1.6 million free templates in a browser, Affinity will feel empty. It is a blank professional surface.

If you want a no-account PSD editor in a tab, that is Photopea, written up separately. Affinity is a desktop install tied to a Canva login.

How I would choose, labelled as opinion

If I was paying Adobe only for layers, RAW and print PDF, I would download Affinity on a free Canva account before I renewed.

If I make Instagram posts from templates, I would stay in Canva Free and ignore Affinity until I actually need a desktop studio.

If I already paid Plasfy $199 to escape Canva, I would still open Affinity. The official price is $0. The jobs overlap less than the marketing implies.

I have not run a client print job through the new Canva-era Affinity. I am repeating their pages, not a press proof.