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Affinity Studio now free
521–530 of 825 posts
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#522I was very surprised by this move, because the whole lingo while they were teasing it was giving me much worse vibes than what this ended up being about.
I paid for V1, paid again after they released V2 even though I was on Linux which they didn't support. I did it mostly out of support, and also because the community was making strides to get a decent wine setup working, so I would eventually get back to using it if I ever felt like it.
More diversity in creative software is always nice to have, and it's good to keep challenging the idea that "Adobe is dominant because it's the best solution". Tho I don't feel like Canva is quite the player I'd be rooting for either.
Fortunately, they seem to be handling the existing lifetime licenses a lot better than Autograph did when it got acquired by Maxon.
Overall I think I'm rooting for them. Good luck Affinity!
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#523Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Isn't this EXACTLY what subscriptions fix, though? That you can stop paying if the product stops getting updates. How? First, by that time, you've usually spent many times more than it would have cost you to own the software outright, so the vendor is already better off. Second, if you stop paying, you lose access to the software, possibly with no other way to open existing files, etc. You're the one who's being he…
Sure, if the subscription is unreasonably priced. Then yes, it will be unreasonable. Final Cut Pro is a $300 piece of software with a $50/yr or $5/mo subscription. It would take you 6 years to reach the same price which shows the subscription cost is reasonable. It's a separate issue when software is unreasonably priced in subscription mode, versus the merits of the subscription model itself.
All of my photos are stored in a big Lightroom database. If I wasn't using an old camera supported by Lightroom 5 (that I bought outright in 2011), and was using modern Lightroom instead, I would have to pay an ongoing cost just to maintain access to my photo database, in perpetuity.
This sucks no matter how much the subscription actually is right now. Losing access to all your old work in its original format if you don't pay a subscription to a company that might decide to do anything, up to and including shutting down the servers and killing the app? No thank you.
Yeah, Lightroom 5 hasn't had any updates, doesn't support any new cameras, etc. But it still works, I can still look at all the photos I took with my old camera, and all my edits, and this will work, for free, until Lightroom 5 bitrots away into not working on Windows 14 or whatever.
It sucks that I can't just buy a new version of Lightroom when I get a new camera, instead I'd have to jump ship or sell my soul to Adobe.
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#524I used Affinity for several years, so to add some background here: Serif is the company that originally built this software. -------- 2014–2024 Serif developed the Affinity suite, a collection of three independent desktop apps sold with a one-time payment model: - Affinity Designer: vector graphic design (Adobe Illustrator equivalent) - Affinity Photo: digital image editing (Adobe Photoshop equivalent) - Affinity Pub…
I am a daily user of Affinity Publisher and regular user of Affinity Photo. I bought version 1 when it came out, upgraded to version 2, and upgraded this morning to the new, free version. This is NOT FREEMIUM as I understand the model, as it is not limited in any way. This is everything they were charging for and more, now free, with free upgrades. I'm personally thrilled to get so much value for free.
Nothing is free.
If they can't monetize the product with ai subscriptions they sure as hell will end up monetizing their users and their content.
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#525Earlier quoted context omitted.
Once AI blows up in a spectacular unprofitable mess (as it will for 90% of the companies in this space), then what though?
Given that it’s the only thing keeping the US economy afloat right now? Then many of us are loosing our jobs, and no longer having access to drawing tools will matter little.
If the bubble pops, we'll lose our jobs. If it doesn't and the hype turns out to be real, then we'll still lose our jobs. Tomato, potato.
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#526Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am a daily user of Affinity Publisher and regular user of Affinity Photo. I bought version 1 when it came out, upgraded to version 2, and upgraded this morning to the new, free version. This is NOT FREEMIUM as I understand the model, as it is not limited in any way. This is everything they were charging for and more, now free, with free upgrades. I'm personally thrilled to get so much value for free.
Literally on the landing page they have two columns comparing: Affinity vs Affinity + Canva premium plans And the FAQs under it are trying, repetitively, to upsell the Canva AI plans: Are AI features available? Yes. With a Canva premium plan you can unlock Canva AI features in Affinity. Can I access AI tools without a Canva Pro or other premium plan? No, these are only available to those with Canva premium accounts.…
Freemium would imply it's a stripped down version of what they used to sell, but that's not what's happening there. You get every feature that used to be behind a paywall for free and then they slapped some AI features on top.
If anything, I'm happy it's behind a paywall instead of ruining the core experience.
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#527I used Affinity for several years, so to add some background here: Serif is the company that originally built this software. -------- 2014–2024 Serif developed the Affinity suite, a collection of three independent desktop apps sold with a one-time payment model: - Affinity Designer: vector graphic design (Adobe Illustrator equivalent) - Affinity Photo: digital image editing (Adobe Photoshop equivalent) - Affinity Pub…
I am a daily user of Affinity Publisher and regular user of Affinity Photo. I bought version 1 when it came out, upgraded to version 2, and upgraded this morning to the new, free version. This is NOT FREEMIUM as I understand the model, as it is not limited in any way. This is everything they were charging for and more, now free, with free upgrades. I'm personally thrilled to get so much value for free.
You have to wonder though - why in the world would they offer it for free? They must have a trick up their sleeve.
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#528Are there any alternatives out there that are still subscription-free and AI-free?
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#529Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's more complicated than that. Sometimes after 15 years, the founders want to move on and do something else. Or they want to build a dream house. Or their cofounder wants to get out. Or they hear the long-term vision of the acquiring company, and want to be a part of it. Although it's an uphill battle, not every acquisition ends with the product being destroyed. Just look at what Apple did with NeXT and PA Semi…
You can have controlling stake in a company without working there day to day. Apple literally destroyed those companies. After Apple acquired NeXT there was one less operating system on the market. PA Semi now doesn’t have a product that is sold to the open market.
Apple bought NeXT and made it one of the most popular operating systems on the planet.
Re: Affinity Studio now free
#530Another one bites the dust.