The Affinity suite of programs has emerged as a viable competitor to Adobe Creative Cloud, which includes Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher. However, a lot is happening behind the scenes, as Canva has purchased Serif, the firm behind the Affinity programs, in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Serif and Canva confirmed the announcement on Tuesday. According to Canva, the acquisition “accelerates Canva’s corporate ambitions, enabling a future where experienced designers can build designs and templates with Affinity and scale across organizations with Canva.”
The Affinity suite currently has more than 3 million users worldwide. The apps are available for various platforms, including macOS and iPadOS, and have received numerous industry accolades. Examples include an Apple Design Award and Apple App of the Year for Mac and iPad. Canva also promises to continue investing in the Affinity creative suite.
The entire Serif crew, roughly 90 people, will join Canva. Although the actual value of the agreement is uncertain because the negotiations involve a mix of cash and shares, Bloomberg estimates that it is worth “several hundred million pounds.”
For now, Affinity apps will not be rebranded or drastically changed, although interaction with the Canva platform is likely in the future. Canva also stated that there are no plans to change Affinity’s subscription-free strategy, which is a significant advantage over Adobe’s products.