Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover design & graphics. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Affinity | Piktochart | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $15 |
| Pricing model | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Not stated |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | macOS, Windows | Web |
| Covers | Photo Editing, Design & Graphics | Design & Graphics |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
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.
Only on this side
Infographics and reports from templates
Piktochart turns a report or a set of figures into something a person will actually read: an infographic, a one-page summary, a poster for a wall. Templates handle the layout and the editor keeps you inside them, which is the point for anybody who does not design for a living. There is a free plan, and the paid ones are priced per member.
Our note
Piktochart is narrower than Canva and better at the one thing it does, which is making a long document of numbers look deliberate. Choose Infogram instead if the charts need to stay tied to their data.
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.