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Affinity Designer vs desigma

Affinity Designer and desigma are both design tools tools. Affinity Designer is aimed at freelancers and agencies, while desigma is aimed at creators and freelancers. Both have a free plan.

Affinity Designer

Professional vector design app, free since Canva

desigma

Free, open-source, offline interface design tool written in Rust

PricingFreeOpen source
Starting priceNot publishedNot published
Free planYesYes
Free trial——
Built forFreelancers, AgenciesCreators, Freelancers, Developers
Platformsmacos, windows, iosmacos, windows, linux
CountryGB · 2014—
Rating——

Choose Affinity Designer if

Designers wanting a professional Illustrator alternative.

  • Free (2025)
  • Professional quality
  • Fast performance

Look elsewhere if: Collaborative UI design (Figma).

Choose desigma if

Designers and developers who want a free, offline, open-source design editor and are comfortable with alpha software.

  • Completely free with a permissive open-source license
  • Native Rust renderer stays fast on large files
  • Files stay local and the app works offline

Look elsewhere if: Teams that rely on stable collaboration, plugins and support for daily client work (Figma, Penpot).

Affinity Designer vs desigma pricing

Affinity Designer

  • Affinity$0Free for individuals; org SSO via sales

desigma

  • Free$0MIT or Apache-2.0 licensed, no account, works offline

Affinity Designer · Key features

  • Vector and raster workflows in one app
  • Artboards and symbols
  • Precise typography and print tools
  • iPad version
  • PSD, AI, PDF compatibility
  • Unified with Photo and Publisher

Cons

  • Less collaboration than Figma
  • Smaller plugin ecosystem
  • Some Adobe file incompatibilities

desigma · Key features

  • Frames, auto layout, components, variants and instance properties
  • Variables with modes bound to fills, sizes and spacing
  • Prototyping with Smart Animate, overlays and variable logic
  • Keyframe motion timeline with GIF, WebM and PNG export
  • Import of Figma .fig files, Figma REST JSON and Pencil files
  • Dev mode code for CSS, Tailwind, React, SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose

Cons

  • Early alpha, not yet ready for daily professional work
  • Unsigned builds trigger warnings on macOS and Windows
  • Collaboration, plugins and PDF export are beta or limited

Affinity Designer vs desigma: FAQ

Do Affinity Designer and desigma have a free plan?

Yes, both Affinity Designer and desigma have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.

Not sure yet?