Affinity Designer vs Penpot

- ✦ Vector Design
- ✦ Raster & Vector Hybrid
- ✦ PSD/AI Import

- ✦ UI Design
- ✦ Prototyping
- ✦ Components
Affinity Designer and Penpot are both Design Tools tools. Compare features, pricing, and ratings below to find the best fit for your team.
When to Choose Affinity Designer vs Penpot
The question that matters: “In what situation will I regret choosing A over B after 3 months?”
Affinity Designer's PSD/AI import preserves layer structure and effects intact, cutting file conversion from 4-6 hours per project to under 30 minutes.
Self-host Penpot and keep component libraries inside private infrastructure. Fintech and healthcare teams control design access without per-seat licensing fees.
One Affinity Designer file holds 16px, 24px, 32px, and 64px icon artboards. Batch export reduces handoff from 12 separate files to one organized master.
Native SVG storage means icons and illustrations paste into code without conversion. Front-end teams cut back-and-forth rounds by 40% on icon-heavy products.
Pricing Comparison & PlansHigh· Verified May 30, 2026
Affinity Studio
FreeBest for: This free plan provides core design functionalities
- ✓Fully-featured toolsets (Pixel, Vector, and Layout studios)
- ✓Customizable studios
- ✓Non-destructive editing
- ✓Pixel-perfect export
- ✓Image Trace
Canva Pro (AI Features for Affinity)
$12/user/moBest for: This plan offers advanced AI features integrated with Affinity
- ✓Generative Fill
- ✓Generative Expand
- ✓Generative Edit
- ✓Generate Image
- ✓Generate Vector
Professional
FreeBest for: Ideal for individuals or small teams getting started with design
- ✓Design and prototype tools
- ✓Collaborate with unlimited teams
- ✓Extend functionality with plugins
- ✓Open Source
- ✓World-class developer experience
Unlimited
$7/user/moBest for: growing teams needing advanced collaboration and unlimited projects
- ✓All Professional features
- ✓Capped monthly bill at $175
- ✓Unlimited storage
- ✓90 days of autosaved versions
- ✓90 days of deleted file recovery
Enterprise
$950/org/moBest for: Designed for large organizations requiring comprehensive features and dedicated support
- ✓All Professional features
- ✓Dedicated deployment support
- ✓Enterprise SSO & access controls
- ✓Certified plugins
- ✓Guaranteed response times
Private Server
$4167/org/moBest for: Suited for businesses with specific security, compliance, or infrastructure needs
- ✓Dedicated private infrastructure management
- ✓Certified plugins
- ✓Guaranteed response times
- ✓Exclusive early access to upcoming features
- ✓Single Sign On (SSO)
Capability Breakdown
9 differences found across 18 standardized features
- •Vector Design
- •Raster & Vector Hybrid
- •PSD/AI Import
- •Pen & Node Tools
- •Typography
- •Color Management
- •Non-destructive Effects
- •Artboards
- •Symbols
- •Grids & Guides
- •Export Personas
- •iPad Version
- •GPU Accelerated
- •Pixel-perfect Zoom
- •Master Pages
- •Vector Shapes Library
- •Advanced Layer Management
- •Shape Building Tools
- •Gradient Map Editor
- •Texture Brushes
- •Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts
- •Live Shapes
- •Align and Distribute
- •Snapping Controls
- •Shape Boolean Operations
- •Vector Crop Tool
- •History Panel
- •Pixel studio
- •Layout studio
- •Vector studio
- •Export persona
- •Canva AI Studio integration
- •Free updates
- •No subscription required
- •UI Design
- •Prototyping
- •Components
- •Design Systems
- •Real-time Collaboration
- •SVG-based
- •Open Source
- •Self-Hostable
- •Flex Layout
- •Grid Layout
- •Design Tokens
- •Interactions
- •CSS Ready
- •Developer Handoff
- •Plugins
Strengths & Limitations
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses: not feature lists
- +Completely free; no subscription or one-time cost
- +Unified vector, pixel, and layout tools in one app
- +Full-featured iPad version for mobile workflows
- +Integrated Canva AI for generative design tasks
- +One-time file format, no forced cloud storage
- −No variable font support, limiting advanced typography
- −Lacks advanced vector tracing (Image Trace equivalent)
- −Limited plugin ecosystem compared to Adobe Illustrator
- −No native animation or motion design capabilities
- −Collaboration features are less mature than cloud-native tools
- +Truly open-source with no vendor lock-in
- +Self-hosting option for full data control and security
- +Native SVG format for seamless developer handoff
- +Generous free cloud tier with unlimited files & projects
- +Real-time collaboration for design and code teams
- −Fewer third-party plugins and integrations than Figma
- −Performance can lag on very complex, multi-page files
- −Steeper learning curve for advanced features like Flex Layout
- −Mobile app for viewing prototypes is still in development
- −Lacks advanced features like variables and conditional logic
At a Glance
Recent Price History
Penpot removed the "Self-Hosted" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Penpot removed the "Penpot Cloud" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Penpot added a new "Private Server" plan (Custom pricing)
Plan added · May 30, 2026
Penpot updated "Enterprise" from Custom to $950/mo
Price change · May 30, 2026
Penpot added a new "Unlimited" plan at $7/user/mo
Plan added · May 30, 2026
Affinity Designer removed the "Education & Non-profits" plan
Plan removed · May 29, 2026
Affinity Designer added a new "Affinity Studio" plan at $0/mo (Free)
Plan added · May 29, 2026
Affinity Designer removed the "Affinity Designer 2 (Mac/Windows)" plan
Plan removed · May 29, 2026
Affinity Designer removed the "Affinity V2 Universal License" plan
Plan removed · May 29, 2026
Affinity Designer removed the "Affinity Designer 2 (iPad)" plan
Plan removed · May 29, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Comparisons
Sources & Data Trail · Affinity Designer
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-05-29)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.G2·G2 verified reviews · 4.5/5 · 246 reviews
- 4.TrustRadius·TrustRadius verified reviews
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Sources & Data Trail · Penpot
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-05-30)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.G2·G2 verified reviews · 4.3/5 · 10 reviews
- 4.Capterra·Capterra verified reviews · 4.4/5
- 5.StackShare·StackShare developer community
