Affinity Photo 2, Designer 2 and Publisher 2 for iPad are now free
Serif has made the iPad editions of its Affinity software, image editing app Affinity Photo, vector design software Affinity Designer, and page layout tool Affinity Publisher available for free.
The change comes ahead of a big announcement about the Affinity software on 30 October.
How do I get the iPad editions of the Affinity tools for free?
The iPad editions of the Affinity tools are versions of Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher with UIs adapted for use on a touchscreen.
You can download the current versions – Affinity Photo 2 for iPad, Affinity Designer 2 for iPad and Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad – from the App Store.
All three are compatible with iPadOS 15.0 and above.
The apps install in trial mode, but the in-app purchase needed to unlock a full license has been reduced from $18.49 to $0, and users are reporting on Reddit that it works just fine.
How long will the iPad editions of the Affinity tools be available free?
The change coincides with Serif removing the desktop editions of the Affinity tools from sale on its website.
A notice on the homepage reads, enigmatically, “Creative freedom is coming”, with the date “October 30” beneath it.
On social media, Serif has said that it is “making space for what’s next” and that the “short pause lets us transition cleanly without confusion between versions.”
You can read our FAQs on the announcement in this story.
Are the iPad editions of the Affinity tools being discontinued?
It isn’t clear why Serif has chosen to make the iPad editions of the Affinity tools available free, rather than removing them from sale, as it has done with the desktop editions.
On Reddit, several users speculate that the iPad apps are being treated differently because Serif doesn’t plan to continue developing them, but there has been no official confirmation of this.
We’ll update this story if more information becomes available: presumably after the announcement on 30 October 2025.
Download Affinity Photo 2 for iPad from the App Store
Download Affinity Designer 2 for iPad from the App Store
Download Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad from the App Store
Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.