Canva acquires Affinity apps in multi-million dollar deal to compete with Adobe

The Affinity suite of apps, which includes Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher, has become known as an excellent alternative to the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. But there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, as Serif – the company behind the Affinity apps – has now been acquired by Canva in a multi-million dollar deal.

Canva acquires Serif, which develops Affinity apps

The news was confirmed by both Serif and Canva on Tuesday. According to Canva, the acquisition “accelerates Canva’s enterprise ambitions, unlocking a future where professional designers can craft designs and templates with Affinity to scale across organizations with Canva.”

The Affinity suite currently has more than 3 million users across the world. The apps are available for multiple platforms, including macOS and iPadOS, and have won many industry awards, such as an Apple Design Award and Apple App of the Year for Mac and iPad. And for Affinity users, Canva says it will continue to invest in the creative suite.

Canva will continue to invest in the Affinity suite to ensure it not only meets the needs of professional designers, but also enhances their experiences and empowers them to do their best work. Together, Canva and Affinity will be a powerhouse combination built to supercharge the goals of every type of designer.

The entire Serif team, which has around 90 people, will join Canva. Although the exact value of the deal is unclear as the negotiations involve a mix of cash and stock, Bloomberg reports that it’s valued at “several hundred million pounds.”

At least for now, Affinity apps won’t be rebranded or significantly changed, but it’s likely that some kind of integration with the Canva platform will be introduced in the future. Canva also said that there are no current plans to change the subscription-free model of Affinity apps – a huge plus over the Adobe apps.

More details on the acquisition can be found on Serif’s website.