Affinity is the better app overall, scoring 8.9 to 8.4. Affinity wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Framer on 1.
Designers and photographers who want a free alternative to Adobe's desktop apps
Designers, startups and freelancers who want a polished marketing site without code
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Affinity | Framer |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Design & Creativity | Design & Creativity |
| Category rank | #4 of 10 | #8 of 10 |
| Developer | Canva | Framer B.V. |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web | — | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Affinity better than Framer?
Affinity is the better app overall, scoring 8.9 to 8.4. Affinity wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Framer on 1.
Which is cheaper, Affinity or Framer?
Affinity: Free for individuals; Canva AI tools inside Affinity need a Canva premium plan. Framer: Free plan on a Framer domain; Basic, with a custom domain, starts at $10 a month. On value for money, Affinity scores higher.
Do Affinity and Framer work on the same devices?
Only Framer runs on Web.
Which is more private, Affinity or Framer?
Affinity scores higher on privacy (8.0/10). Covered by Canva's privacy policy, and a Canva account is required. Canva says work made in Affinity is not used to train AI, and your files are stored locally on your device.
Strengths and weaknesses
Affinity
- Pro-level design, photo and layout tools for free
- Files stay on your device and work offline
- One app instead of three separate programs
- Requires a Canva account to activate
- Canva AI features need a paid Canva plan
- No iPad version yet
Affinity used to be three separate apps you bought. Now it's one free app with Vector, Pixel and Layout studios, so you can draw a logo, retouch a photo and set a magazine page without switching programs. The September 2026 update added a Blend Tool, scripting and native InDesign file import. You need a Canva account to activate it, the AI tools cost extra, and there's still no iPad version.
Full Affinity review
Framer
- Publish polished sites without writing code
- Hosting and CMS built in, nothing to set up
- Free plan to build and test before paying
- Extra editors cost $20 a month each
- Usage overages for bandwidth, pages and CMS
- No mobile apps for editing on the go
Framer lets you design a website on a canvas, much like Figma, then publish it straight to built-in hosting on a global CDN. A CMS, localization, staging, A/B tests and an AI agent handle jobs that usually need a developer. The free plan is fine for trying it on a Framer subdomain. Costs climb with extra editors and usage overages, so price it out before you commit.
Full Framer review
