Photoshop vs Affinity Photo

This is the comparison we get asked the most. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard, runs on a $22.99/month subscription, and ships with a steady pipeline of new features. Affinity Photo by Serif is a one-time $69.99 purchase, opens PSD files, and aims to give you 90% of Photoshop's feature set without the recurring fee. Which one should you actually use?

The short answer depends on what you do with image editing and how you feel about subscriptions.

The short answer

If your work depends on Photoshop's machine-learning features (Generative Fill, Select Subject, Neural Filters), there is no real alternative. Pay the subscription. If you do not need those features, Affinity Photo covers everything else and the one-time pricing model is a better fit for anyone who edits photos a few times a month.

Where Photoshop wins

Photoshop's lead is concentrated in three areas:

Machine learning features. Select Subject, Generative Fill, Neural Filters (Smart Portrait, Skin Smoothing, Style Transfer): none of these have an Affinity equivalent. If your workflow depends on AI cutouts or generating new pixels from text prompts, Photoshop is the only option.

Plug-in ecosystem. Photoshop has 30 years of third-party plug-ins for retouching, color grading, and specialty effects. Affinity Photo accepts some plug-ins but the ecosystem is much narrower.

Industry compatibility. Photographers, agencies, and studios are running Photoshop. If you need to send a file to a client or collaborate with another retoucher, sending a PSD is the lowest-friction path.

Where Affinity Photo wins

Pricing. $69.99 once vs $22.99 every month. After three months, Affinity has paid for itself. Over five years, you save more than $1,200. For anyone who edits photos as a hobby, this is the dominant argument.

Performance. Affinity Photo is fast. It opens large files quicker, scrolls smoother, and uses less memory. On older hardware the difference is noticeable.

Frequency separation built-in. Photoshop requires you to set up frequency separation manually or via an action. Affinity has a dedicated frequency separation command in the Filters menu. Small thing, but if you retouch portraits regularly, it matters.

Who should pick which?

Pick Photoshop if: you are a working photographer or designer; you need Generative Fill, Select Subject, or Neural Filters; you collaborate with other Photoshop users; you already pay for a Creative Cloud plan.

Pick Affinity Photo if: you edit photos a few times a month; you do not need AI features; you want one-time pricing; you are on older hardware; you are switching from a casual tool like Photoshop Elements.

The honest middle ground: own Affinity Photo for everyday work, subscribe to Photoshop for one month at a time when you need a feature only Photoshop has. Adobe's monthly rolling plan makes this easy and works out cheaper than annual subscription if you only need it occasionally.