From Canva to Affinity: Why This Design Tool Acquisition Sparked User Backlash and Created New Opportunities

In March 2024, news broke that sent shockwaves through the design community. Canva announced it was acquiring Serif Affinity suite for a reported 380 million dollars. This was not just another corporate merger - it was an ideological battle over the future of design tools.

I spent a week lurking on Reddit r/Affinity community, and what I found was raw: anger, disappointment, and that bitter I knew this would happen resignation. One post title said it all: What a huge f you to the user base - it got over 200 upvotes and 80+ comments. This was not an isolated complaint. It was a collective emotional eruption.

Why Affinity Users Were So Angry

To understand this storm, you need to understand what Affinity meant to its users.

Affinity was not just software - it was a statement. When Adobe forced subscription-only pricing in 2013, countless designers felt betrayed. Adobe message was clear: pay monthly or get out. That is when Serif entered the market with Affinity and a bold promise: Pay once, own forever.

This was not just a pricing difference. It was a clash of values. Affinity users were not just buying features - they were buying freedom from subscription tyranny, a stance that said my tools, my rules.

So when Canva - a 26 billion dollar company built on subscriptions - announced the acquisition, the first reaction was fear. Fear that history would repeat itself. Fear that everything they had chosen Affinity for would be betrayed.

Canva Four Pledges

Facing intense backlash, the Affinity team quickly responded with four solemn pledges.

Pledge one: Affinity would remain an independent brand with an independent team. Sounds good, but history tells us every acquisition starts this way. Then teams get dismantled, brands get marginalized, and eventually they quietly disappear.

Pledge two: No forced subscriptions - at least not in the foreseeable future. Notice the wording. Foreseeable future is not forever. It is leaving the door open for change.

Pledge three: Existing V1/V2 perpetual licenses would remain valid. This one is concrete, but the real question is: will old versions still get updates?

Pledge four: Long-awaited features like variable font support would ship as free updates within a year.

Then, in October 2025, Canva dropped a bombshell - they made Affinity completely free.

Yes, you read that right. A professional design suite that used to cost money is now free. Photo, Designer, and Publisher merged into a single Affinity by Canva app, available to everyone at no cost.

The Business Logic Behind Free

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and Canva is not a charity. So why would they give away software they paid 380 million dollars for?

The answer lies in Canva business model.

Canva revenue streams are highly diversified: Pro and Teams subscriptions, marketplace commissions on templates and assets, printing services, enterprise licenses, and increasingly important AI feature payments. Free Affinity is just the top of the funnel - an incredibly attractive entry point.

The logic works like this: attract designers with free professional tools, then gradually convert them to paid users through AI features, cloud collaboration, brand management systems, and team tools. Affinity core features are free, but high-value add-ons require a Canva Pro subscription.

Adobe Nightmare, Designer Opportunity

If there is one positive takeaway from this acquisition, it is the wake-up call it sent to Adobe.

Adobe has held monopoly status in professional design software for far too long. Their pricing has grown increasingly aggressive, feature updates increasingly lackluster, and user experience increasingly frustrating. But without real competition, they could do whatever they wanted.

Now things are different. The Canva plus Affinity combination gives users their first truly viable alternative.

Let us do the math. Adobe Creative Cloud full subscription costs 55 dollars per month, or 660 dollars per year. Over five years, that is 3300 dollars. Meanwhile, Affinity core features are now completely free.

More importantly, Affinity does not lag behind in professional features. For 90 percent of design tasks - photo editing, vector design, desktop publishing - Affinity can fully replace Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

Spring Has Arrived for Indie Tools

This acquisition drama had an unexpected side effect: it awakened interest in independent software.

On Reddit and design forums, I am seeing more people asking: What else is there besides Adobe and Canva? They are not just looking for alternatives - they are looking for a different software philosophy.

The open source community has answers ready.

GIMP and Krita, two veteran open source projects, have made remarkable progress in recent years. GIMP interface might not be pretty, but its features can handle most photo editing needs - and it is forever free, forever open source.

Inkscape is the open source alternative to Illustrator. Scribus corresponds to InDesign. While they may not be as polished as commercial software in certain details, they have one huge advantage: you have complete control.

There is another trend worth watching: vertical micro-SaaS tools. Instead of using one all-in-one suite for everything, use multiple specialized tools for their respective strengths.

This is where tools like RLU.AI find their opportunity. We do not need to become the next Photoshop - we just need to do one thing exceptionally well.

How Should Users Choose?

After all this analysis, what should you, as an ordinary user, actually do?

My advice: decide based on your needs and values.

If you are a student or budget-conscious creator, the new free Affinity is genuinely a great choice. Professional-grade features with zero entry cost - that value proposition is hard to refuse.

If you are a professional designer who needs the most stable workflows and industry-standard compatibility, Adobe might still be irreplaceable.

If you are like me, uncomfortable with big company control, seriously consider open source tools. GIMP, Krita, and Inkscape have steeper learning curves, but once you get the hang of them, you will find they are more powerful than you imagined.

Final Thoughts

On the surface, Canva acquisition of Affinity is just a business merger. At its core, it is a battle over control.

Users anger is not unfounded. They chose Affinity to escape subscription tyranny, only to find themselves in another big company embrace.

But I also see the positive side. This storm has made more people think about the nature of software tools.

Open source communities are rising. Vertical tools are emerging. User choice is expanding. That is good.

For those of us building tools, this event is also a reminder: user trust is hard to earn and easy to lose.

What do you think about this acquisition? Will you continue using Affinity, or start looking for alternatives? Share your thoughts in the comments.

If you are looking for professional AI image tools, try RLU.AI AI style transformation tools. Free trial, no watermarks, 30-second results.