Affinity Designer
Penpot
| Feature | Affinity Designer | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $69.99/mo | Free / from $8/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | illustrators, graphic-designers, budget-conscious-professionals, print-designers | open-source-teams, privacy-focused-designers, developers, educational-institutions |
| Founded | 2014 | 2015 |
| Vector Editing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Raster Editing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Pen Tool | ✓ | ✗ |
| Artboards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Constraints | ✓ | ✗ |
| Export Personas | ✓ | ✗ |
| Isometric Design | ✓ | ✗ |
| Prototyping | ✗ | ✓ |
| Components | ✗ | ✓ |
| Design Tokens | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Css Output | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Affinity Designer Pros
- One-time purchase with no subscription fees
- Professional-grade vector and raster tools combined
- Excellent performance even on large canvases
- Cross-platform (Mac, Windows, iPad)
✗ Affinity Designer Cons
- Smaller plugin ecosystem than Adobe
- Less industry adoption for collaboration
- No AI-powered features yet
✓ Penpot Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable for free
- CSS-based design outputs production-ready code
- Real-time collaboration (Figma-like experience)
- SVG-native (no proprietary formats)
✗ Penpot Cons
- Performance slower than Figma on complex files
- Smaller plugin and community ecosystem
- Missing some advanced design features
The Verdict
Affinity Designer is built for illustrators and graphic designers, with a focus on vector-editing and raster-editing. Penpot targets open source teams and privacy focused designers and leads with vector-editing and prototyping.
On pricing, Penpot is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $8/mo compared to $69.99/mo for Affinity Designer. That $61.989999999999995/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Penpot has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Affinity Designer requires a paid subscription from day one.
Bottom line: Affinity Designer has a slight overall edge — but if open-source and self-hostable for free matters most to you, Penpot may still be the right call.