Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Affinity Suite no longer for sale...Is this the end?

AlumaMac

AlumaMac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2018
440
786
Not looking good over at Affinity.

Product can no longer be purchased from Affinity website or Mac App Store, support forum going read-only on Oct. 6 and replaced with Discord. Major announcement, "Creative Freedom is coming" on October 30.
 
  • Wow
  • Sad
Reactions: th0masp and SoupyTwist
I got an email from them that their new thing was coming end of the month, it made me glad as I took it to mean they were still doing well.
If they're no longer updating AP, well I guess I'll keep using my M1 Studio for as long as it'll turn on... :confused:
 
It’s definitely not the end. I wish other companies would pause current sales to prevent customers buying old products a couple of weeks before replacements are released.
 
  • Like
Reactions: arkitect
I suspect they'll be announcing new versions with integration with Canva (which of course is a subscription). Everything will be about getting your work into Canva and every big new feature will probably be somehow tied to Canva – particularly any AI-related junk they toss in.

They'll probably keep the perpetual license model as an option, but I think the future of Affinity apps is in working with Canva, not independent work with no ties to the mothership.

Of course, I could be completely wrong and this is all just hype for new versions of the three apps, and maybe a new app (a digital asset management system app, perhaps. Something like Lightroom but for everything, not just images).
 
  • Like
Reactions: th0masp
I wouldn't be surprised to see the next incarnation of their product line up will be subscription based
 
Yeah, smells like genAI, doesn't it. Really big icons and hamburger menus, Tiktok integration- it's going to be so great.

At any rate something totally not compatible with the current range of products, and also with a different licensing system, else locking the forums and their store makes no sense. They just want the old thing gone and not talked about anymore. 🙄
 
th0masp said:
Yeah, smells like genAI, doesn't it. Really big icons and hamburger menus, Tiktok integration- it's going to be so great.

At any rate something totally not compatible with the current range of products, and also with a different licensing system, else locking the forums and their store makes no sense. They just want the old thing gone and not talked about anymore. 🙄
Click to expand...
They are not going to release a whole new version just with GenAI. They need AI to be competitive if they actually want to be competition in even the slightest way to to Adobe.
 
They made it clear during the Canva announcement, that perpetual licenses would still be available - Next to subscription licenses, if you read between the lines. So likely there will as minimum be some AI add-on license.

Got all the apps for free for iPad OS, very nice!

Had planned to buy v2 for macOS during Black Friday if the apps came on sale, but I guess that won't happen now.
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
They made it clear during the Canva announcement, that perpetual licenses would still be available - Next to subscription licenses, if you read between the lines. So likely there will as minimum be some AI add-on license.

Got all the apps for free for iPad OS, very nice!

Had planned to buy v2 for macOS during Black Friday if the apps came on sale, but I guess that won't happen now.
Click to expand...
Do the iPad apps run in MacOS? I know some apps do, I wonder how those would work if they would let you install an iPadOS app in MacOS.
 
wonderings said:
They are not going to release a whole new version just with GenAI. They need AI to be competitive if they actually want to be competition in even the slightest way to to Adobe.
Click to expand...

In my mind it's not going to be a new version of Affinity. It'll be a whole new thing built around a new concept else they'd just keep the store going and simply issue licenses for the upcoming version to those buying now.

And what else would you expect from a new software developed these days than mass-market broadest appeal possible in line with the current trends? Surely not the nth incremental update to decade-old graphics tools used by a niche audience who fled Adobe.

GenAI guided by sketching on a canvas instead of prompts perhaps?

Aaanyway, my current licenses should serve me well for years to come. Mac will become incompatible quickly but I'm glad I got the Win versions along with the Mac ones when they were still really dirt cheap.
 
  • Like
Reactions: attila, MarkC426 and AlumaMac
Here's something I found on Reddit, sounds plausible, only requiring minium effort for the company :p and would explain the situation with the store:

"Given I’ve seen several of these ads now, “freedom” is the magic word in all of them.
My guess they are going to move to a “freemium” model. Basic app costs nothing, but advanced features require a subscription.
My gut says they may even rebrand to something like Canva Pro so they can say they kept their promises about no subscriptions for “Affinity” products."

(link to original thread)
 
wonderings said:
Do the iPad apps run in MacOS? I know some apps do, I wonder how those would work if they would let you install an iPadOS app in MacOS.
Click to expand...
I don’t think so.
When purchases where available, you could buy
1. iPad version
2. Desktop version
3. Bundle of both
 
MarkC426 said:
I don’t think so.
When purchases where available, you could buy
1. iPad version
2. Desktop version
3. Bundle of both
Click to expand...
I have the whole thing, was on sale a while back for V2 with a universal license that covers the iPad versions and Win/PC versions. Was just curious as I had never given that a thought of running an iPad version on a MacOS.
 
This is usually applicable when the app isn’t available on the Mac App Store also.
It quite often says when you search for an app on the Mac App Store which is only on the iPad store ‘designed for iPad’, but may work on Mac.
 
AlumaMac said:
Not looking good over at Affinity.

Product can no longer be purchased from Affinity website or Mac App Store, support forum going read-only on Oct. 6 and replaced with Discord. Major announcement, "Creative Freedom is coming" on October 30.
Click to expand...
I have V2 universal license and got the email a few days ago too. According to my license agreement, it's for lifetime.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2025-10-02 at 5.43.41 PM.png
    Screenshot 2025-10-02 at 5.43.41 PM.png
    43.5 KB · Views: 19
  • Like
Reactions: MarkC426
my Affinity subscription is lifetime as well,
but I purchased a lifetime scaring (should be scamming) software that went kaput for support during Seq.
who doubled their fees and delete old members who weren't monthly.
so who can really trust a garage run-owned design company based in Europe?
 
Dolphins1972 said:
I have V2 universal license and got the email a few days ago too. According to my license agreement, it's for lifetime.
Click to expand...
Sure, it's a license for version 2. It does not explicitly include any future ones - and I don't think it even covers the previous version.

So, you'll be able to install and run this one indefinitely and in the even that the company decides to shut down the activation servers they'll probably pull an Adobe (CS2) or Avid (Media Illusion, my gawd - has it been this long? :D ) and make a patch available that skips the licensing check.

This company has been bought out a while back, after all. We've seen this whole corporate-merger playbook before, haven't we? In this case a company with a particularly old-fashioned approach to licensing got bought by the new guys.
 
One of the reasons I prefer PhotoLine: the license works off-line. Simple serial like in the 'old days' of shareware (which is the term, coincidentally, the PhotoLine devs still use to describe their licensing model).

No license servers to deal with, one serial works with both the Mac and Windows version, Linux WINE support by the devs, and a portable version that works straight off a USB drive or key.
 
As far as Affinity's current situation is concerned: I have no opinion about it yet. Could be good news or bad news.

I do feel that the way they are handling things right now is less than stellar, and it is causing a lot of stress and unnecessary panic among existing users.
 
th0masp said:
Sure, it's a license for version 2. It does not explicitly include any future ones - and I don't think it even covers the previous version.
Click to expand...
This is the case for the Mac app version.
I originally bought V1, but then had to re-buy V2 when it was released.
 
  • Like
Reactions: th0masp
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back