Affinity creative software suite acquired by Canva

Canva has acquired Affinity, a creative software suite, positioning themselves as a contender against Adobe in the digital design industry.

Canva 12 and Affinity announced the deal this week, which gives the former ownership over Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher.

These are three of Affinity‘s popular applications used for Windows, Mac, and iPad that provide features similar to Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.

The acquisition provides mutual benefit for both companies. While Affinity needs to attract more creative professionals, Canva needs an avenue to help integrate their services with.

As of the start of the year, Canva’s platform attracted 170 million monthly users worldwide. These are a lot of netizens who likely don’t use Adobe software.

Again, Canva doesn’t have its own design applications for creative professionals like illustrators, photographers, and video editors. This is where the Affinity acquisition could work wonders.

Affinity apps are used by over three million global users, which is a fraction of Adobe’s user base. However, their apps provide creatives with a one-time purchase with no ongoing subscription fees, earning them a loyal user base.

So for creatives who actively look for alternatives to Adobe’s subscription-based digital design ecosystem, Affinity’s apps might just be it.

Canva co-founder Cameron Adams said that Affinity will still remain a separate entity from their platform, with small integrations expected over time.

This acquisition will provide Canva with more opportunities to compete with Adobe across the creative software market.