Affinity Joins Canva: What It Means for Your License

Another day, another seemingly unwanted merger. Affinity is now part of Canva.

The reaction? A mix of surprise and concern. The community have spoken, worried that Affinity might ditch its one-time purchase model in favour of monthly subscriptions.

But let’s address the elephant in the room and the reason why this announcement has gone down like a lead balloon.

Affinity’s initial FAQ post-merger was vague, saying they had “no plans at this time to change the pricing model.” That line didn’t sit well with many. It sounded like they were keeping their options open, which isn’t what we’ve come to expect from Affinity.

Even with their recent four pledges to the community, it's still worded in such a way that guarantees wiggle room. Creatives have taken to reddit, and quite frankly, they're pissed.

"Affinity/Canva hasn't made anything more clear. And Affinity is no more. It's not Affinity you all are jumping up and down about for the announcement. It's Canva that is making the announcement, thinking you don't realize it." - SimilarToed

Why are so many creatives annoyed? Well, Affinity was an alternative to the often maligned Adobe: the creative and design powerhouse that has made plenty of questionable decisions in the past.

In a nutshell: Designers and artists prefer Affinity over Adobe variants because of Affinity's dedication to a one-time purchase.

Affinity/Canva have heard the community "loud and clear". However, that's not a guarantee they'll do anything about the concerns raised.

One of the key pledges is to keep the perpetual license model. That’s right, no subscriptions. They’ve promised that the tools we rely on for our creative work will remain accessible – just as they’ve always been.

Is this pledge more than just words? It certainly seems like a commitment to users, but I'm sceptical. It seems like this commitment would have been met with a warmer reception had it been released with the news of the merger in the first place.

Now Affinity/Canva are on the defensive. However, it wouldn't surprise me when enough time passes that Cavna, not Affinity, will dictate the pricing model. My guess is a dual one-time purchase and subscription model for those happy to pay on that basis.

As for existing one-time purchasers, I think they'll honour current users until they find a way to justify shifting everyone over to the subscription-based model.

When that happens is anyone's guess.

"Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if Canva was testing the waters to see if Affinity’s take on their customer base being anti-subscriptions was fully accurate." - silenceimpared

All we can do is wait, as is often the situation with these cases. So, let’s keep an eye on how things unfold and hope this merger brings out the best in both companies.

Affinity values our trust and loyalty, don't they?

But for how long?