Open source principles are nice but unlike Affinity, GIMP was not made with graphics professionals in mind. I don’t love proprietary formats but it doesn’t matter as much for print projects which have a lifespan and revenue.
People are mourning Affinity because it was a great functional tool with no strings attached. We’ve seen this story before. It’s fine; someone else will step in with an alternative when necessary.
Prior to 2025, Affinity used a
perpetual license model. In 2025,
new owner Canva (which purchased.
Serif in 2024) released a new
version of Designer that
integrates the functionality of
Photo and Publisher into a
singular application, and switched
the program to a freemium model
monetized by artificial
intelligence features exclusive to
Canva Pro subscribers.