Affinity Photo vs Photoshop: The Subscription-Free Alternative That Actually Works

Affinity Photo has been the "Photoshop killer" for over a decade. It never actually killed Photoshop, but it did something more useful: it gave designers a professional image editor without the subscription. In 2026, with v1 now free and v2 at $69.99 one-time, the value proposition is harder to ignore than ever.

What Affinity Photo matches

The core image editing workflow in Affinity Photo is genuinely comparable to Photoshop. Layers, masks, adjustment layers, blend modes, curves, levels, selections, healing brush, clone stamp, dodge and burn, liquify, HDR merge, panorama stitching, RAW processing, batch editing. All of it works, and works well.

PSD file support is solid. You can open Photoshop files, edit them, and save them back as PSD. Layer styles, smart objects (as embedded documents), and most adjustment layers translate correctly. This makes migration painless for teams that have existing Photoshop assets.

Performance is fast. Affinity Photo handles large files (100+ megapixel images, hundreds of layers) smoothly on modern hardware. The rendering engine is well-optimized, and operations like filters and adjustments feel responsive.

Where Photoshop is still ahead

AI features. Photoshop's Generative Fill is a genuine advantage. Extending backgrounds, removing complex objects, and generating content from text prompts. Affinity Photo has no equivalent. If you use Generative Fill regularly, this is the single biggest reason to stay with Photoshop.

Plugin ecosystem. Photoshop's third-party plugin ecosystem is massive. Nik Collection, Topaz, Luminar, and hundreds of specialized tools. Affinity Photo supports some Photoshop plugins, but compatibility is not universal.

Actions and automation. Photoshop's Actions system and scripting capabilities are more mature. If you have complex automated workflows built on Photoshop scripts, migrating them to Affinity Photo's macro system requires effort.

Industry integration. Some workflows assume Photoshop. Print shops may require PSD files with specific layer structures. Some stock photo platforms have Photoshop-specific templates. These integrations are slowly becoming format-agnostic, but they still exist.

The pricing math

Photoshop: $22.99/month single app, or $9.99/month with the Photography Plan (includes Lightroom). That is $119.88 to $275.88 per year.

Affinity Photo v1: Free. Affinity Photo v2: $69.99 one-time.

If you buy Affinity Photo v2, it pays for itself versus the Photography Plan in seven months. Versus the single app plan, three months. There is no annual renewal. You own it.

Who should switch

Switch to Affinity Photo if:

• You use Photoshop for standard image editing (retouching, compositing, color correction)
• You do not depend on Generative Fill or AI features
• You want to stop paying monthly for image editing software
• You open PSD files from clients or collaborators

Stay with Photoshop if:

• Generative Fill is a regular part of your workflow
• You depend on specific third-party plugins that only work with Photoshop
• Your team has Photoshop Actions that would be expensive to recreate
• You already pay for Creative Cloud for other Adobe apps

Try Affinity Photo

For UI designers specifically

Neither Affinity Photo nor Photoshop is a UI design tool. Both are image editors. If you need to prepare photos, create marketing visuals, or edit raster assets for your UI work, Affinity Photo handles that job at a fraction of Photoshop's cost. Your primary UI design tool should still be Figma, Penpot, or Sketch.