Canva Acquires Serif's Affinity Apps

Canva has acquired Serif's Affinity suite of creative apps, marking a significant stride in its competition against Adobe with a deal valued at several hundred million dollars (via Bloomberg).

affinity designer running on macos big sur
Canva is an Australian online design company valued at $26 billion. Its platform offers user-friendly design tools aimed at non-professionals and has a user base of over 175 million people worldwide. The acquisition of the Affinity apps marks a change of strategy for Canva, targeting professional designers and creatives who have traditionally relied on Adobe's suite of products.

Affinity's software, encompassing photo editing, vector illustration, and desktop publishing tools, has been been lauded for its performance, affordability, and one-time purchase model – a stark contrast to Adobe's subscription services. The apps have garnered a strong following among Mac users in particular.

The acquisition includes the transition of Serif's 90-person team to Canva, ensuring continuity in the development and support of Affinity apps. Cliff Obrecht, Canva's co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, emphasized that Affinity's portfolio is the "final piece in our jigsaw," indicating how the apps are expected to complement Canva's existing array of AI-powered design solutions and collaborative online workspaces.

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Top Rated Comments

appleguy123 Avatar
9 months ago
Probably goodbye to one time purchase then.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
9 months ago
Oh please don't degrade the quality of these apps - they are so good, I use them every day.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple$ Avatar
9 months ago
Better than being bought by Adobe.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
boswald Avatar
9 months ago
I really hope there’s no subscriptions. I’m sick to death of them.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stiligFox Avatar
9 months ago
Noooooo


EDIT: I reckon it could be worse. Canva is an Australian, private company that’s been around since 2013 - at least it’s not some Wallstreet bound flash-in-the-pan AI company that’s public and it’s only role is to make more money for it’s investors.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechZeke Avatar
9 months ago

Probably goodbye to one time purchase then.
Hope not. As a casual user, it's nice to have a genuine Photoshop competitor that doesn't require a subscription.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)