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Canva Acquires Serif's Affinity Apps
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@Analog Kid and @GeneralChang
What are you worried about specifically?
They cannot change the license terms for a product that we have purchased outright, so are you worried about changes to the features?
Affinity is the suite of apps developed by Serif. Sounds like just Affinity.
Actually that has been done.
I don’t remember what app it was (something to do with email, I think). I bought a perpetual license and about 2 years later they went to subscription. You didn’t *have* to migrate but the cool sorting features would stop working. I jumped back to Mail and if I remember correctly the company was gone within a couple if years.
‘Does anyone else remember what I’m talking about?
I subscribed to Affinity v2 because I wanted to make sure that Serif had some ongoing revenue to keep developing. The model of selling software for a one time, low cost is really hard to sustain. It ends up starving the product of resources. I'd rather have a reasonable subscription rate if it means that the software is regularly improved.
I have the full Affinity suite of apps, after dropping Adobe Creative Suite a while back. Adobe CC wasn't too expensive for me as a freelancer, as less than one billable hour of work paid for a whole month of CC. I fully retired and although Adobe CC is probably the best subscription option out there (access to everything they make), it was a monthly bill that I no longer needed to pay. I still have 2 computers with legal copies of Adobe CS6 still running on them, so I can use them for features that are not in Affinity (things like image trace and others). If Affinity goes to a subscription model, I am out. I will keep the last working version I have and work around any limitations.
I understand why companies like the subscription model, but I hate it. Basically it is a gamble the user makes, that the developer will be adding new features to justify the monthly cost. In many cases, this is NOT the way it turns out. When Adobe was pre-subscription, I skipped a few full number upgrades because they didn't add things I cared about, but bought in later (often at more expense) when they finally did add something I desired. In those cases, it was MY decision. I spent the money for features I wanted. The subscription model is not this. You are spending money whether there are new features you need added to the program or not.
I understand why companies like the subscription model, but I hate it. Basically it is a gamble the user makes, that the developer will be adding new features to justify the monthly cost. In many cases, this is NOT the way it turns out. When Adobe was pre-subscription, I skipped a few full number upgrades because they didn't add things I cared about, but bought in later (often at more expense) when they finally did add something I desired. In those cases, it was MY decision. I spent the money for features I wanted. The subscription model is not this. You are spending money whether there are new features you need added to the program or not.
It should be for as long as your can run v2. that is a license and should be in effect for as long as you can run the software pending major OS changes. We'll see what happens with v3.
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I agree. And do not purchase anything that is a subscription.
oh HELL naw. they can keep their trashy ai garbage and shoddy subscription on their suite. i already have adobe thanks to my university, i use affinity designer just because i dislike their practices. if they implement all that i hate ill have no reason to stay nor any restraint to move over.
First, I was half-joking-- I'd be shocked if the changes I'm worried about are implemented this quickly.
But yes, I've seen perpetual products convert to subscription and then become incrementally hamstrung or covered with little reminders everywhere that I need to subscribe to pro features. PDF Expert comes to mind.
I bought the Affinity suite outright, and I can't say I'm familiar with all the terms of their license, but I doubt I'm guaranteed updates for life. I bought the version I bought, not the updated version. Leaving aside my comment about todays release, there's no reason they can't put out an update next month that changes terms. I can keep using what I have installed today, but I don't necessarily have a right to what's released next month.
Again, this is all a bit of paranoid speculation-- there's no hard evidence that they're going to change their model. I think what we're all secretly reacting to is that Affinity was a great deal for what it was and we're worried that good things can't last. Whoever bought them is going to want to earn their purchase price back-- maybe they do that by making the Affinity suite visible to more people and sell more copies, maybe by integrating with the rest of their ecosystem and encourage us to buy more of their products, maybe they raise the price of the product, maybe they go to subscriptions.
This is a tricky one, if anything changes regarding licence it will be a mess.
It can bring lots of good thing, but the scariest thing it can happen is that it changes how you buy the suite.
Affinity is my go to Suite, but will def jump ship if it becomes a subcription thing.
It can bring lots of good thing, but the scariest thing it can happen is that it changes how you buy the suite.
Affinity is my go to Suite, but will def jump ship if it becomes a subcription thing.
I'm not actually worried about anything until the entire team at Serif suddenly get canned (which is not what this is). As it stands now I expect it will be business as usual for Affinity V2, but based on this news V3 will likely move to a subscription model here in a year or two. Mostly I just thought it was a funny response.
Capture One seems to have done a nice job offering a perpetual license option alongside a subscription. I ran perpetual for years before the subscription became a better deal. I've been happy since, despite having to sign up for another monthly or yearly cost.
It is not even a close comparison. There is no way to organize your photos so Photomator is a non starter.
Indeed. Serif decided to focus on users who were graphic artists. That was a big mistake because it constrained the development of the apps and caused them to ignore their other users. Affinity never reached critical mass because they did not listen to some important constituents that supported them at the very beginning. Affinity Photo is incomplete without a way to organize photos. Affinity Designer should have considered all the other ways the app could be used for creating illustrations. And now, AI is causing a massive disruption which is going to change the business for many graphic artists.
Serif's owners likely saw the writing on the wall and bailed while they could get something for what they have done. Smart financial move.
The old way of doing things is gone forever. The smart thing would be to move quickly to accelerate the disruption. Help non graphic artists create graphic art through AI and provide tools to customize the result. I am not exactly sure what the business model is but it is likely a combination of content and manipulation. Probably pay per image. You tell the tool what you want with a language prompt and the tool creates it interactively.
There will not be very many "pros" left to make this a viable market. AI will disrupt them.
The way to avoid this outcome is to build a company that offers shareholders a better return by not selling out.
I don’t have a big problem with subscriptions—at least for an app that I use regularly for work stuff. But I’d really like a solid desktop vector app with a really native-feeling UI where all the cloud stuff is optional. I’ve been using Linearity Curve (née Vectornator), which I only tried a year or 2 ago. But they went from being free (for far too long—they probably had lots of users who would have paid $50–150 for “perpetual” license) to being freemium/subscription with cloud storage required. So I’m stuck using an old version because I want my files on my filesystem and don’t need collaboration.
I’ve been thinking about just buying an Affinity license, but the UI just looks so Java-esque compared to Curve (and even iDraw, which I used before that). Might still grudgingly go for it at the sale price, on the assumption that the last 2.x version will still run on whatever Macs I’m using for at least another 5 or 6 years.
I’ve been thinking about just buying an Affinity license, but the UI just looks so Java-esque compared to Curve (and even iDraw, which I used before that). Might still grudgingly go for it at the sale price, on the assumption that the last 2.x version will still run on whatever Macs I’m using for at least another 5 or 6 years.
In my opinion the resulting image Quality is better and I prefer the workflow and the way I can customize the UI. As I last testet Lightroom a few years ago I can not compare the features.
In the latest release C1 has a "KI Masking" feature, which works well for me and can be used to mask multiple areas, maybe this is what you mean?
Last but not least C1 still has a perpetual licensing option.
Aperture did support non destructive RAW development.
Lots of cheapskates here who probably do not remember the day when a software package for design was $600 with no free updates. I'll throw anyone a subscription as long as the product is continuously being improved.
Give Photoshop Element a gander. It can do 90% of what full blown PS can do and is a one time purchase. If you're a pro, that 10% difference is worth it. For the less ambitious--and in my case, less skilled--photo editor, PS Element fits the bill for vastly less $$$.
Love old style tech, and old style business models like the purchase model, hate the subscription type, hence I went Affinity , and they are very reasonable prices too thus far.. hope sincerely this is not the end and I feel a little betrayed by this take over…
If Canva plans to combine its canva.com services with a future version of the Affinity Suite, probably V3, then I can't imagine they won't switch to a subscription based model.
Canva.com has the typical freemium plus paid plans. It would seem obvious that they'd do something similar for Affinity.
The silver lining seems that Canva probably has a lot more capital to invest in Affinity and will probably get the entire suite on par with the most advanced products Adobe offer.
And while these advancements will be paid by the users, it would seem that Canva won't charge anything near what Adobe charges.
Maybe this isn't all bad.
Canva.com has the typical freemium plus paid plans. It would seem obvious that they'd do something similar for Affinity.
The silver lining seems that Canva probably has a lot more capital to invest in Affinity and will probably get the entire suite on par with the most advanced products Adobe offer.
And while these advancements will be paid by the users, it would seem that Canva won't charge anything near what Adobe charges.
Maybe this isn't all bad.
I've been happily using Affinity Photo over the last few years, moving away from Adobe's subscription scam. Let's hope that Canva will never move Affinity apps to a subscription-based model, if not I'll need to find another solution again.
I'm really not liking the "at this time" wording in the FAQ
"There are no changes to our current pricing model planned at this time, with all our apps still available as a one-off purchase. "
I'm really not liking the "at this time" wording in the FAQ
"There are no changes to our current pricing model planned at this time, with all our apps still available as a one-off purchase. "
Yeah, that's usually code-speak for "expect changes within 12 months".ah yes, the ol' "no changes planned at this time" whenever a software company gets bought out.
PR speak for "the next major release will absolutely be a subscription"
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