Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity

[Night Pixel]

Ashley Hewson CEO of Serif announced today that Affinity is becoming part of the Canva family:



Text From Message:

"To our amazing Affinity community,

Today marks a momentous new chapter in our journey together.

I am thrilled to announce that Affinity is joining the Canva family.

This is a moment of great excitement, anticipation, and profound gratitude for all of you who have been part of our story so far.

We know that those of you who've put your faith in Affinity, some since we launched our very first Mac app, will have questions about what this means for the future of our products. Since the inception of Affinity, our mission has been to empower creatives with tools that unleash their full potential, fostering a community where innovation and artistry flourish. We've worked tirelessly to challenge the status quo, delivering professional-grade creative software that is both accessible and affordable.

None of that changes today.

In Canva, we've found a kindred spirit who can help us take Affinity to new levels. Their extra resources will mean we can deliver much more, much faster. Beyond that, we can forge new horizons for Affinity products, opening up a world of possibilities that would never previously have been achievable.

Canva's revolutionary approach to design democratisation and commitment to empowering everyone to create aligns perfectly with our core values and vision. This union is a testament to what can be achieved when two companies that share a common goal of making design accessible and enjoyable for everyone come together.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to our incredible Affinity team. Your passion, dedication, and relentless pursuit of excellence have been the driving force behind our success so far, and I can't wait to continue this journey with you all.

To our loyal users and the creative community, your support and feedback have been invaluable, we hope this this FAQ will answer many of your questions.

You've inspired us to push boundaries and continuously improve, and we're excited to embark on this new chapter together.

You helped us start a movement.

Today, that movement becomes a revolution.

With heartfelt thanks,"

ADDITIONAL INFO

All 90 Serif employees remain. No layoffs.

All apps continue to be one-time purchase no subscriptions.

Free updates on V2 will continue...

PRESS RELELASE:

Businesswire

Serif

User Discussion

Affinity User Discussion

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[Pixel8888]

Hope they stay subscription free

 

[Digital Nigel]

Hope they stay subscription free

Yes, indeed. I see that Canva (which I'd never heard of) uses subscription pricing for its paid-for versions:

Canva

Intuitive, AI-assisted content creation for non-designers—plus benefits for pros

uk.pcmag.com

Canva has three pricing tiers: Canva Free, Canva Pro ($14.99 per month or $119.99 per year for one person), and Canva for Teams ($29.99 per month or $300 per year for the first five people). Canva is 100% free for verified and registered schools, teachers, and not-for-profit organizations. All paid tiers include a 16% savings for annual billing over monthly.

 

[Night Pixel]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

 

[Jibzz]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

As usual, they say that they will remain subscription-free "at this time". It's an empty statement, classic PR stuff.

 

[Night Pixel]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

As usual, they say that they will remain subscription-free "at this time". It's an empty statement, classic PR stuff.

They published an FAQ here and you can choose to believe them or not. If the do go subscription in the future I will not buy. At that point Adobe is a better deal.

I assume they know if the go subscription users will ask why pay Affinity when I can get the Adobe apps for a similar price. Makes no sense for them to do this. Well maybe at a $1.00/month maybe. The "Photography Plan" is $9.95 month and if they decide to charge anything near that they lose.

Creatives who need Illustrator and In Design are not using Affinity anyway.

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[Digital Nigel]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

As usual, they say that they will remain subscription-free "at this time". It's an empty statement, classic PR stuff.

Specifically, he said v2 will remain subscription-free and continue to get free updates. He made no mention about what happens after that, and nor could he.

 

[Zeee]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

That is what Affinity said as well. Frankly I think that is not a very smart statement for Canva to make. Upgrades is major revenue for companies. Hopefully I'm wrong but I doubt it will be a one time lifetime purchase. Topaz said that too at one time but they turned it into an upgrade cycle. Companies have to survive because competition is good for all of us.

 

[Night Pixel]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

That is what Affinity said as well. Frankly I think that is not a very smart statement for Canva to make. Upgrades is major revenue for companies. Hopefully I'm wrong but I doubt it will be a one time lifetime purchase. Topaz said that too at one time but they turned it into an upgrade cycle. Companies have to survive because competition is good for all of us.

Affinity has always offered free upgrades for each major release. But the do charge for the major release. So when they go to version 3.0 there will be an upgrade charge. Historically Affinity has not done major upgrades frequently.

 

[Digital Nigel]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

As usual, they say that they will remain subscription-free "at this time". It's an empty statement, classic PR stuff.

They published an FAQ here and you can choose to believe them or not. If the do go subscription in the future I will not buy. At that point Adobe is a better deal.

I assume they know if the go subscription users will ask why pay Affinity when I can get the Adobe apps for a similar price. Makes no sense for them to do this. Well maybe at a $1.00/month maybe. The "Photography Plan" is $9.95 month and if they decide to charge anything near that they lose.

Yes, and they know that most people chose Affinity because of its pricing model and level, rather than because of any technical advantages over Adobe. If it switches to Adobe-style pricing, it will have thrown away its main advantage.

 

[Zeee]

Hope they stay subscription free

In the video I posted Hewson said they will remain one-time purchase with free upgrades.

That is what Affinity said as well. Frankly I think that is not a very smart statement for Canva to make. Upgrades is major revenue for companies. Hopefully I'm wrong but I doubt it will be a one time lifetime purchase. Topaz said that too at one time but they turned it into an upgrade cycle. Companies have to survive because competition is good for all of us.

Affinity has always offered free upgrades for each major release. But the do charge for the major release. So when they go to version 3.0 there will be an upgrade charge. Historically Affinity has not done major upgrades frequently.

No they do have majors frequently. That could change too. We'll see. Hopefully it works out for users. I had V1 which I got for $25. It was a back up for PS is I never used it. I just opened into and then for an update.

 

[lacogada]

Ashley Hewson CEO of Serif announced today that Affinity is becoming part of the Canva family:

Curious as to what are the advantages to doing this ?

 

[Digital Nigel]

Ashley Hewson CEO of Serif announced today that Affinity is becoming part of the Canva family:

Curious as to what are the advantages to doing this ?

Yes, I'm struggling to spot the synergies between the two companies. It's not about cost saving, so presumably they can each borrow the other's technology to enhance the two product lines. Perhaps they also see cross-selling opportunities?

 

[Zeee]

Ashley Hewson CEO of Serif announced today that Affinity is becoming part of the Canva family:

Curious as to what are the advantages to doing this ?

It's a business. It was doing very well or very badly. Someone else wanted it and the seller made out well or the buyer got it for a steal.

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You just need to keep the forests wet

 

[gmcooper]

It's probably really simple - the Affinity founder cashed out.

 

[gmcooper]

I wonder if there really is any future for one time purchase retouching software. Affinity was charging c. $50 one time. Can Canva make any money at that rate? Adobe was charging several multiples of that rate when they decided to eliminate one time purchase.

 

[Pixel8888]

Ashley Hewson CEO of Serif announced today that Affinity is becoming part of the Canva family:

Curious as to what are the advantages to doing this ?

The current AI trend requires major investments to compete with Adobes deep pockets and AI innovations.

 

[Zeee]

It's probably really simple - the Affinity founder cashed out.

The most probable answer. It happened here once and then Amazon was going to shout the place down.

 

[Digital Nigel]

I wonder if there really is any future for one time purchase retouching software. Affinity was charging c. $50 one time.

It also charged again for major new versions.

Can Canva make any money at that rate?

It appears that Serif was profitable, but it didn't spend a lot of R&D. The entire headcount was only 90 people.

Adobe was charging several multiples of that rate when they decided to eliminate one time purchase.

 

[Digital Nigel]

It's probably really simple - the Affinity founder cashed out.

We don't know that. He may have accepted stock, not cash, and may now be a significant shareholder in Canva.