Affinity Designer vs Lucidchart
Affinity Designer and Lucidchart are both design tools tools. Affinity Designer is aimed at freelancers and agencies, while Lucidchart is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Both have a free plan.
Professional vector design app, free since Canva
Diagramming app for flowcharts, org charts and cloud architecture
| Pricing | Free | Freemium · $9 |
| Starting price | Not published | $9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Agencies | Small businesses, Enterprise, Developers |
| Platforms | macos, windows, ios | web, ios, android |
| Country | GB · 2014 | US · 2010 |
| 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 Lucidchart if
Engineering, IT, product and operations teams that need accurate, data-linked diagrams embedded in their documentation tools.
- Excellent for structured technical and process diagrams
- Strong Atlassian, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integrations
- Data-linked diagrams stay current without manual edits
Look elsewhere if: Teams wanting freeform brainstorming boards or UI design (Miro, Figma, Whimsical).
Affinity Designer vs Lucidchart pricing
Affinity Designer
- Affinity$0Free for individuals; org SSO via sales
Lucidchart
- Free$03 editable documents, limited objects per document
- Individual$9/moBilled annually; unlimited documents, premium templates
- Team$10/user/moBilled annually; 3-user minimum, collaboration and admin
- EnterpriseCustomSSO, advanced security, data governance, Lucid Suite
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
Lucidchart · Key features
- Shape libraries for flowcharts, BPMN, UML, ERD and network diagrams
- AWS, Azure and Google Cloud architecture shapes
- Org charts generated automatically from CSV employee data
- Data linking from Google Sheets or Excel with conditional formatting
- Lucid AI that drafts diagrams from a text prompt
- Visio import and export plus SQL import for ERDs
Cons
- Free plan is capped at three editable documents
- Team plan requires at least three paid users
- Freeform whiteboarding is weaker than Miro
Affinity Designer vs Lucidchart: FAQ
Do Affinity Designer and Lucidchart have a free plan?
Yes, both Affinity Designer and Lucidchart have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Affinity Designer or Lucidchart?
Lucidchart lists small businesses as a core audience, while Affinity Designer is aimed more at freelancers and agencies.