October 31, 2025
Normies vs Pros: Design Cage Match
Affinity, targeting office workers over pros, making pro tools the loss leader
Canva makes Affinity free; pros groan, office warriors rejoice
TLDR: Canva made Affinity free to win over everyday office users, putting AI features behind a paywall. Comments turned into a showdown: fans of free open‑source tools say GIMP, Krita, and Blender already cover the basics, while others think Canva’s mass‑market push will reshape workplace design
Design drama alert: Canva just reset its Affinity creative suite to be free, aiming it at office workers over hardcore designers and stashing flashy AI behind a paywall. Translation: make the pros quiet, win the normies, and sell subscriptions across the whole company, not just the design team. Cue the comments exploding. The loudest chorus? The open‑source crowd yelling, “We already have free tools!” One user waved the banner of “actually good free software” while others rolled out the freebies like a buffet: DaVinci Resolve for video, Krita and Blender for art and 3D, and GIMP for photos. Another chimed in that GIMP, while tricky to learn, “does a pretty reasonable job,” and a thoughtful voice noted user experience is the real gap—with Darktable as a rare exception. Meanwhile, memes flew about “PowerPoint nation” finally getting design superpowers, and pros joked that they’ll keep their Adobe subscriptions and side-eye the AI. The battle lines: corporate convenience vs. craft loyalty, with Canva pitching itself as the Microsoft Office of design. And yes, the AI paywall sparked snark—“Wall Street wants AI, we want decent tools.” Want receipts? There’s even a HN thread for the popcorn. The vibe: Canva’s making design feel like a team sport; pros aren’t thrilled, but the office is cheering
Key Points
- •Canva is making the Affinity design suite free, with AI features locked behind a paywall.
- •The strategy targets broad workplace adoption, positioning Affinity as a loss leader to drive Canva Pro uptake.
- •The article contrasts Adobe’s historical high costs (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite at $1,229) with Canva’s approach to accessibility.
- •Adobe Creative Cloud is cited at 37 million subscribers, while Canva has 24 million paid users; many CC seats may be for light tasks via employers.
- •Microsoft 365’s estimated 440 million paid subscribers are used as a benchmark for Canva’s enterprise ambitions.