
Ease of UseĪffinity Designer still requires upfront learning, but it has a clean, intuitive user interface and is less cluttered, focusing on the essentials and allowing for ease of use.įor ease of workflow, users can use the persona toolbar which divides the vector, pixel and export tools into three separate sets-users can switch between tool sets without workflow interruption. They are ‘in-app purchases’ if you want to add additional functions to it, so you can easily control your software budget and build your tools and filters over time. While Adobe Illustrator is only offered in a subscription-based model (the lowest price being $20.99/month), Affinity Designer is available as a one-time purchase of $49.99 with no subscription fee and free updates for life PLUS an additional 50% student discount (students, can I get a whoop whoop?!). When we’re talking budget-friendly, Affinity Designer is the best value by far and will save you the most cash in the short and long term. Affinity Designer is more cost-effective with a similar final output.

It’s suitably simple for beginners to use as a learning tool but sufficiently powerful for freelance graphic artists on a budget. If you’re a student, freelance graphic artist on a budget, hobbyist or professional and in need of a vector-based programme, Affinity Designer is an impressive, low-budget alternative to Adobe Illustrator. While Adobe and Affinity each have their highlights, here we do a quick comparison: Affinity Designer vs Adobe Illustrator Who is Affinity For? Niiiiice! Designers who frequently work in both programs could find this element very helpful. Mouth-watering stuff.īoth vector-based programs feature great tools and strong user interfaces, each for creating final professional designs, making the selection all the more challenging! But at the end of the day, when it comes to choosing Adobe or Affinity, it will come down to your main design needs and, of course, cash!ĭeveloped by UK-based Serif Labs, Affinity Designer has been created specifically for professional designers and resembles a hybrid of Illustrator and Photoshop, with its editing and pixel layer creation ability. So, specials on the designer’s menu today are the two delectable design programs to compare: Affinity Designer vs Adobe Illustrator. It has dominated (do we hear monopolised?) the industry for over 20 years.Īffinity software is newer, less well-known and MUCH cheaper, but offers alternatives for only Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign.

Adobe is like Gordon Ramsay, with fancy equipment and top skills, and Affinity is like Jamie Oliver, with more of a focus on simplicity.Īdobe software is the design industry stalwart and is widely used for graphic design, photo editing, video editing, animation and web development. If you aren’t sure what the difference between Adobe and Affinity is, we would best describe them to be like two rival chefs in a cooking competition.
