Affinity Designer
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 8 vector graphics editors by recommenders
People recommend it as a capable Illustrator alternative that is well priced. The most common caveat is that the newer version after Canva's acquisition requires email sign-in.
People recommend it as a capable Illustrator alternative that is well priced. The most common caveat is that the newer version after Canva's acquisition requires email sign-in.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 82%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong Illustrator alternative
“I have been very happy with Affinity Designer (equivalent to Adobe Illustrator) which I purchased some time ago before the acquisition.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026” “Affinity Designer being a great Illustrator alternative”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Apple has decided to compete for creativity app users” “just as good and in some cases better than Adobe's apps”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “ArtCraft Apps – open-source Adobe compatible suite written in Rust” - Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Thoughts and Feelings Around Claude Design”
Go-to vector design tool
“the one that I had done by hand in Affinity Designer”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “What Is a Nomogram and Why Would It Interest Me?” “If I need Designer, I reach for Affinity Designer V2”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “ArtCraft Apps – open-source Adobe compatible suite written in Rust”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Rough on Linux via Wine
“Now, I won't say it is a smooth experience, one of the workarounds that I needed to do is use Wine's virtual desktop”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too” “I tried the wine setup for it and it just doesn't work to a usable extent.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”
Other vector graphics editors people recommend
The four most recommended other vector graphics editors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inkscape | 95 | 24 | 80% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Adobe Illustrator | 17 | 20 | 46% | 10 | — | — |
| Affinity DesignerThis page | 14 | 3 | 82% | 9 | — | Approved |
| SVG Path Editor | 8 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| VectorNest | 8 | 1 | 89% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
17 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Serif had more luck converting Illustrator users to Affinity Designer”
“If I need Designer, I reach for Affinity Designer V2”
“just as good and in some cases better than Adobe's apps”
“~1-1.5 seconds for Affinity Designer was amazing”
“Affinity Designer being a great Illustrator alternative”
“The old Affinity Designer 1 doesn't send any data to servers, so I'm still using it instead of the new app.”
“the one that I had done by hand in Affinity Designer”
“After Canva bought Affinity, you now have to authenticate with your email from time to time when you launch the desktop app.”
“You can go that route with Affinity Designer”
“I have been very happy with Affinity Designer (equivalent to Adobe Illustrator) which I purchased some time ago before the acquisition.”
“No software? DaVinci Resolve? Affinity Designer?”
“well priced because of competition”
“Never understood why Figma, Sketch, or Affinity Designer never implemented it.”
“it will show a totally different directory, presumably the last directory you've exported that file type”
“Affinity Designer had poor RTL support for the longest time, due to certain assumptions built into their text rendering engine from the start.”
“I tried the wine setup for it and it just doesn't work to a usable extent.”
“Now, I won't say it is a smooth experience, one of the workarounds that I needed to do is use Wine's virtual desktop”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.