TL;DR Affinity is being very sketchy. Empty youtube channel, can’t purchase it anymore. They’ve been answering to people but never confirming the suspicions of going on a subscription model.
Context: #
Canva acquired Serif (company behind affinity) on March 26th, 2024. Meaning that Affinity would operate under Canva. Not long after they published a pledge to their community, stating that they would always be offering perpetual licenses and price it fairly and affordably.
Back in July 2024 Adobe was facing backlash over AI practices and Affinity took advantage of it and gained a popularity boost. (Check the post here). Everyone liked that, I even bought the software just for fun.
With this change, users are very rightfully panicking over it and the lack of clarity from the company, creating big discomfort and uncertainty. Let’s go over their social media responses and previous actions to come up with a logical conclusion.
Note: This is all speculation and we’ll know the truth until October 30th 2025.
Red Flag 1: No clear response. #
It would be so easy to say “We are not going subscription” and calm everyone down, but of course they aren’t completely denying it. They are reassuring that they still care about people being able to get permanent licenses, however not denying the existence of a subscription.
This raises a lot of questions and it would be very easy to assume a subscription is going to happen based on all these vague responses.
Red Flag 2: Delisted Affinity V2 #
You can no longer buy the software. It makes you wonder why. On the other hand, some people will be without this tool for a while causing discomfort.
Fun Fact: You can still use the iPad version for free!
Green(ish) Flag 1: Staying Affinity #
Not all is gloom and doom, at least we know they’re potentially keeping their name.
Green Flag 2: Modus Operandi #
We know they like the drama, remember last time they didn’t hesitate to quickly kick Adobe while they were down. We really won’t know what is going to happen until October 30th. What else is happening on October 30th? Adobe has a presentation around that time.
It could be safe to assume that they are planning a quick response on whatever is shown there and steal their thunder.
The Verdict #
My guess? It would be a great time to announce Affinity V3. Maybe a discount or free version of V2 while we’re at it and that’s why they stopped selling it. Everything else would be a PR stunt to generate noise and gain attention.
They also might be cooking up some optional AI feature similar to the existing Photoshop AI tool and that’s why they can’t say it’s not a subscription. At least I really hope that’s all it’s going to be.