I’m glad I avoid posting hot takes. Yesterday, Serif, the maker of the very popular Affinity suite of apps, shared the news that it had been acquired by Canva. The thing is, the Affinity apps are very popular alternative to Adobe’s subscription apps. They’re popular because they are excellent but, notably, they are not subscription based apps but rather are available as a one-time purchase.
But Canva, a MUCH larger company, only offers subscriptions. So, predictably, a lot of people quickly jumped to the conclusion that the current version of Affinity apps would be the last available for purchase and that in the future it would be subscription only. Today Serif posted The Affinity and Canva Pledge. The first item of four:
FAIR PRICING Perpetual licenses will always be offered and we will always price Affinity fairly and affordably.
Of course, there’s no way to know if this was the plan or if they may have changed course due to a day of social media complaints. Regardless, I’m relieved that they’ve made it clear!