Is this the end of Adobe as we know it?
After months of anticipation, the new Affinity App is finally here. For months, the community speculated not only about the app itself but also about its pricing model. Almost every comment leading up to the launch warned, “If Affinity moves to a subscription model, I’m out.” The reality turned out to be quite different: the new Affinity App will be free for life. Yes, you read that correctly—FREE FOR LIFE!
Serif Studio, the company behind Affinity, has long positioned itself as the antithesis of Adobe, and this update stays true to that philosophy. One unified app now handles the core tasks of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign—without the need for a subscription to a suite of applications that most designers never fully utilise. Additional AI tools are available via a separate Canva subscription, which I appreciate because they stay out of the core app. From both a usability and a cost perspective, keeping AI optional feels like a win for the user. I personally am especially glad that Serif (Canva) resisted the temptation to bake those features directly into the software.
To me, this feels like Adobe’s “QuarkXPress moment.” Anyone who remembers QuarkXPress knows it once dominated publishing software. It was the go‑to solution for collaboration and design, but poor customer service and stagnant product development allowed Adobe to swoop in and capture the market. Could the new Affinity App do the same to Adobe?
For years, Adobe has seemed to be on a downward trajectory. I personally avoided it for decades, yet when working in teams, it’s hard to escape. Adobe for years now has focused on locking users into its ecosystem—image platforms, font libraries, cloud storage, and so on. Features that CorelDRAW offered a decade ago remained missing. It often feels like their goal isn’t to improve the software but to make it harder to leave. That kind of “enshittification” and corporate greed erodes trust. While Adobe has delivered some worthwhile updates, many of its decisions feel driven more by profit than by user needs.
I am personally not ready to abandon Adobe entirely, but I am actively shifting my workflow. I’ve already set Affinity as the default app for several file formats. Although Affinity Designer still lacks a few essential features, it covers roughly 99 % of my daily tasks. As I spend more time with the app, I’m discovering new ways of working that I prefer over my old ones. The interface feels intuitive, and anyone familiar with Adobe will notice both similarities and differences. If you’re a Photoshop power user, Affinity will not replace everything you need. But if you’re paying $100+ a month for the Adobe Creative Suite and barely scratching the surface of its capabilities, Affinity would be a perfect fit.
A few months ago I decided to move away from major U.S. tech brands, which I see also being on an enshittification march—partly over security, privacy, and AI concerns. I’ve switched to DaVinci Resolve for video editing (a free, robust alternative to Adobe Premiere), replaced Microsoft Office with LibreOffice, and ditched Gmail for more privacy‑focused email services. All these companies have grown complacent, and their products reflect that.
This should serve as a wake‑up call for Adobe. I’ve used their tools since the early days—if you know the names Thomas Knoll, Seetharaman Narayanan, you know the history. Adobe now feels like a money‑making machine, focused on quarterly earnings and squeezing every last drop of value from its customers. Like QuarkXPress, once a company gets into a enshittification groove, it becomes hard to break free.
I’m excited to explore the new Affinity App, learn its “unique quirks and features”, and rethink my workflow for the better.
Alright—time to get back to designing and “affinity” a few photos!
