Affinity vs BeFunky Comparison 2026
Affinity is a free desktop application with three full studios for pixel, vector and layout work, the kind of depth that used to cost a subscription. BeFunky lives in a browser tab and is built for fast, shallow edits: crops, colour, a collage, a caption, with exports included even on its free plan. The choice is depth against speed: Affinity rewards learning layers and masks, while BeFunky gets a hundred product photos through a batch edit before Affinity would finish loading the first one.
Photo, vector and layout, free for individuals
Photo editing and collages in a browser
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Affinity | BeFunky | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $6.99 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | One-time purchase | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Not stated |
Affinity
Photo, vector and layout, free for individuals
Affinity is three professional applications in one window: a pixel editor, a vector editor and a page layout tool, with no round trip between them. Canva bought it and made it free, which is the largest thing to happen to paid creative software in years. Files from the Adobe applications open with their layers intact.
Our note
This is the most significant thing to happen to paid creative software in years, and there is no catch that we can find. If you edit photos or lay out documents and have been renting the ability to do it, install this before renewing anything.
BeFunky
Photo editing and collages in a browser
BeFunky covers retouching, collages and simple graphic design in one browser tab, with the batch tools that make a hundred product shots survivable. It is aimed at people who want an edit finished rather than at people who want layers. Exports work on the free plan, which is rarer than it sounds in this category.
Only on this side
Why people weigh these two
- BeFunky instead of Affinity
- BeFunky runs in a browser with no install, from $6.99 a month, for quick photo edits and collages rather than Affinity's full desktop suite.
- Affinity instead of BeFunky
- Photo, vector and layout, free for individuals; the layers-and-masks direction BeFunky's own listing points deeper editors toward.
Which one should you pick
Choose Affinity if the work involves layers, masks or print output, or if a subscription for image editing has been an ongoing cost. It is free for individuals with nothing held back across all three studios, and it opens PSD files with their layers intact. The trade is that it runs on macOS and Windows only, with no browser version.
Choose BeFunky if the job is retouching and simple graphics done quickly in a browser, especially in batches. The free plan exports with no subscription at all, and Plus at $6.99 a month billed annually opens the full effect and template library. Pro at $12.49 a month billed annually adds 5,000 batch AI credits a month that do not roll over, which suits a recurring product catalogue rather than an occasional edit. Anybody thinking in layers and masks will find this frustrating and should use Affinity instead.
Common questions
- Is Affinity really free, or is that a trial?
- It is free for individuals with no restrictions, across the pixel, vector and layout studios, after Canva bought the company. The only gated part is Canva's AI tools inside it, which need a separate Canva premium plan. BeFunky is free only at a shallower tier, with AI tools and some assets held back.
- Does BeFunky's free plan let you export?
- Yes, and that is unusual for this category: edits download with no subscription required. What the free plan withholds is the AI tools and some assets, not the exports themselves.
- What happens to unused AI credits on BeFunky?
- They do not roll over. Pro at $12.49 a month billed annually includes 5,000 batch AI credits a month, and whatever goes unused resets rather than accumulating.
- Can Affinity open files from Photoshop or Illustrator?
- Yes. PSD, AI and IDML files import with their layers and structure preserved, which BeFunky, built as a browser editor for simpler edits, is not designed to handle.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.