Adobe Photoshop is over 35 years old and is still the program every other pixel editor measures itself against. Serif’s Affinity Photo launched in 2014 (Mac) and 2017 (Windows), positioned as a one-time-purchase alternative for photographers and designers who did not want to pay Adobe forever. In 2024, Canva acquired Serif, which created some uncertainty about Affinity’s future direction, but the apps have continued to receive updates through 2025 and into 2026. The two programs are now closer in capability than they have ever been, and the choice between them is mostly about money, the rest of your toolchain, and how heavily you rely on Adobe’s AI features.
The pricing reality
Photoshop has three pricing paths. Standalone Photoshop is 23 dollars per month (276 dollars per year). The Photography Plan, which most photographers use, includes Photoshop plus Lightroom Classic plus Lightroom CC for 10 dollars per month. The All Apps Creative Cloud plan is 60 dollars per month and includes the full Adobe suite (Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, InDesign, and 20+ other apps).
Affinity Photo is 70 dollars one-time for the universal license. That license works across macOS, Windows, and iPad. Serif sometimes runs sales that drop it to 35 to 40 dollars. There is no subscription, no monthly fee, and no time limit. Major version upgrades (V1 to V2 happened in 2022) cost around 50 dollars and are optional.
Over a five-year photo workflow, the Photography Plan costs 600 dollars, Affinity Photo costs 70 to 120 dollars (with one upgrade), and standalone Photoshop costs 1380 dollars. The Photography Plan is the cheapest way to get Photoshop, and it includes Lightroom, which is why most photographers default to it. Affinity is cheaper still if you do not need Lightroom or you already use a different RAW editor.
Feature parity for photo retouching
For the work that most photographers actually do, the two apps are close to feature parity.
Layers, masks, and blend modes work essentially the same in both. Adjustment layers (curves, levels, hue/saturation, selective color, black and white) exist in both, with slightly different naming and panel layouts. Frequency separation for skin retouching works in both, with similar quality. Dodging and burning, healing brush, clone stamp, content-aware fill, and patch tool exist in both.
RAW developing is built into both apps. Affinity has its own RAW engine called the Develop Persona, which is competent but less polished than Adobe Camera Raw. Photoshop’s Camera Raw is the same engine as Lightroom and is the more refined developing tool.
Selections are slightly different. Photoshop’s Select Subject and Select Sky tools are faster and more accurate than Affinity’s equivalent. Affinity has a Refine Edge feature that matches Photoshop’s older Refine Edge tool well, but the AI-driven masking in Photoshop is ahead.
Filters and effects are roughly equivalent. Both have liquify, gaussian blur, lens correction, perspective, displacement, and the standard photographic filters. Photoshop has more third-party filter support because of its longer history.
Where Photoshop still wins
Generative AI is the clearest Photoshop advantage. Generative Fill (introduced 2023, refined through 2025) uses Adobe Firefly to add, remove, or extend content based on a text prompt. The results are commercially licensed for Adobe customers and usable in production work. Generative Expand pushes the canvas out and fills the new area. Generative Workspace is a planning environment for visual variations.
Affinity has no equivalent generative fill. Object removal works but is closer to content-aware fill, not generative AI.
Plugin support is the second Photoshop advantage. Topaz Photo AI, Topaz Gigapixel, DxO Nik Collection, Capture One Photoshop plugin, Portraiture, AKVIS, and most professional photo plugins target Photoshop first. Affinity has plugin support but the ecosystem is smaller and many plugins lag behind their Photoshop versions.
Industry workflow is the third Photoshop advantage. PSD is the lingua franca of pixel-level design work. If you collaborate with print shops, agencies, magazines, or other Photoshop users, you exchange PSD files all day. Affinity reads and writes PSD but complex files do not always round-trip cleanly.
Smart Objects (linked files that retain editability) are more powerful in Photoshop than in Affinity. For composite work and design with reusable elements, this matters.
Where Affinity wins
Cost is the obvious one: 70 dollars versus an open-ended subscription.
Performance feels snappier on macOS and Windows. Affinity launches faster, opens files faster, and uses less memory on the same hardware. On a 16 GB MacBook Pro M3, Affinity handles a 30-layer composite that makes Photoshop pause occasionally.
The iPad version is significantly more capable than Photoshop iPad. Affinity Photo iPad has the desktop feature set, supports the same file format, and works with Apple Pencil and external displays. Photoshop iPad has caught up over five years but still has gaps.
The interface (called Personas in Affinity terminology) is cleaner. Photo Persona, Develop Persona, Liquify Persona, Tone Mapping Persona, Selections Persona, and Export Persona each have a focused tool set. The learning curve is slightly steeper because of the persona system, but power users get to features faster once learned.
No subscription dependency. If your internet goes down, Adobe’s licensing servers go down, or you stop paying, Photoshop eventually stops working. Affinity keeps working forever.
Designers vs photographers
Photoshop is the default for graphic designers, web designers, UI designers, and digital painters because the rest of the Adobe suite (Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere Pro) integrates with it. Sharing PSD files with clients and collaborators is friction-free.
Affinity Photo, paired with Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher (also one-time purchases), is a credible alternative for independent designers. The full Affinity V2 Universal License bundles all three apps for 165 dollars one-time. For solo designers and small studios, this can replace the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
Photographers using Lightroom Classic plus Photoshop have a different tradeoff. The Photography Plan at 10 dollars per month bundles both, so the cost difference versus Affinity is smaller than it looks. Many photographers stick with the Photography Plan specifically because Lightroom Classic plus Photoshop plus the AI features cost only 120 dollars per year as a bundle.
Picking the right one
Pick Photoshop if you collaborate with Photoshop users, you use Adobe’s generative AI features in production work, you use third-party plugins heavily, you already pay for the Photography Plan, or you do composite design work where Smart Objects matter.
Pick Affinity Photo if you want to avoid subscription software, you do mostly photo retouching and basic compositing, you edit primarily on iPad, you want a one-time cost, or you do not need generative AI in your daily workflow.
Pick both if you can: 70 dollars for Affinity is low enough that having it alongside the Photography Plan is reasonable. Affinity makes a strong backup for the day your Adobe subscription has a problem or for the iPad-first work where it is genuinely better.
For more on photography software, see our Lightroom Classic vs CC comparison and our deep dive on free RAW editors.
Frequently asked questions
Is Affinity Photo really a Photoshop replacement in 2026?+
For photographers, mostly yes. Affinity Photo handles RAW developing, layers, masks, frequency separation, focus stacking, panorama stitching, HDR merging, and most retouching workflows at a level very close to Photoshop. The gaps are AI tools (Affinity has fewer and slower generative features), industry plugin support (Topaz, Nik, and DxO plugins target Photoshop first), and team collaboration features (no shared cloud documents like Photoshop's Creative Cloud Libraries). For pure photo editing, Affinity is a credible primary tool. For commercial design teams already on Adobe, switching is harder.
What is the actual five-year cost difference?+
Photoshop alone is 23 dollars per month (276 dollars per year). The Photography Plan that bundles Photoshop with Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC is 10 dollars per month (120 dollars per year). Affinity Photo V2 is a one-time 70 dollars (US pricing) for the universal license that works on macOS, Windows, and iPad. Over five years, Photography Plan costs 600 dollars total, Photoshop alone costs 1380 dollars, and Affinity costs 70 dollars plus one paid upgrade (V3 likely arrives 2027 to 2028) at around 50 dollars. Affinity wins on cash cost by a wide margin.
Does Affinity Photo run on iPad like Photoshop does?+
Yes, and the iPad version is fuller-featured than Photoshop iPad. Affinity Photo for iPad has the same desktop feature set, the same file format, and runs on any iPad with iPadOS 16 or newer. Photoshop iPad has improved through 2024 and 2025 but still lacks some desktop features (smart objects work but are limited, some filters are missing, automation is reduced). For iPad-first photographers, Affinity Photo is the stronger choice.
Can Affinity open and save PSD files cleanly?+
Mostly yes. Affinity opens PSD files with most layers, masks, and blend modes preserved. Saving back to PSD works for basic files but complex Photoshop-specific features (smart objects with linked files, adjustment layers with specific Photoshop variants, some text features) may not round-trip cleanly. For solo work, this rarely matters. If you collaborate with Photoshop users daily, expect occasional incompatibilities.
What about generative AI tools like Photoshop's Generative Fill?+
Photoshop has a clear lead on generative AI in 2026. Generative Fill, Generative Expand, Generative Workspace, and the Firefly model integration are all production-ready and produce useful results in seconds. Affinity has basic AI tools (object removal, AI-assisted selection) but no full generative fill equivalent. If generative AI is core to your workflow (composite work, retouching with cloned elements, sky replacement), Photoshop is the better tool. If you mostly use traditional retouching and editing, Affinity is fine.
Jamie Rodriguez
Jamie Rodriguez writes for The Tested Hub.