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Design · head to head

Affinity Designer vs Earthly

Affinity Designer logo

Affinity Designer

Design

Professional graphic design software for everyone

From
$69.99/one-time
Free plan
No
Visit Affinity DesignerFull review
Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit EarthlyFull review

The short version

  • Affinity Designer is a professional vector graphics editor.
  • Earthly is free; Affinity Designer starts at $69.99 one-off.
  • Only Affinity Designer lists vector drawing; only Earthly lists policy as code.
  • Where Affinity Designer falls short: premium AI features require separate Canva subscription; pricing for those plans not disclosed.
  • Where Earthly falls short: pricing model not published; requires sales contact.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Affinity Designer and Earthly actually diverge.

Attributes where Affinity Designer and Earthly differ
AttributeAffinity DesignerEarthly
Starting price$69.99/one-timeFree
Pricing modelOne-timeNo pricing published on website
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, iOSWeb, API
CategoryDesignDeveloper Tools
Founded19942020

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Affinity Designer

  • Vector drawing
  • Bezier tools
  • Gradient tools
  • Typography
  • Pixel-perfect editing
  • Artboards
  • Symbols
  • Non-destructive effects

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Affinity Designer

  • Logo designnot Earthly
  • Vector illustrationnot Earthly
  • Icon designnot Earthly
  • Brandingnot Earthly

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot Affinity Designer
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot Affinity Designer
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot Affinity Designer
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot Affinity Designer

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Affinity Designer

  • Premium AI features require separate Canva subscription; pricing for those plans not disclosed
  • Core Affinity tools are free but Canva premium add-on costs are not detailed

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

Pricing, plan by plan

Affinity Designer

$69.99/one-time
  • Standard$69.99 one-off
    • Full version
    • All features
    • Lifetime updates

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Affinity Designer if

  • You need vector drawing.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, iOS.
  • You also want bezier tools.
Affinity Designer review

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Questions people ask

Is Affinity Designer or Earthly better?
Neither clearly leads. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99/one-time and Earthly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Affinity Designer or Earthly?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $69.99/one-time for Affinity Designer and Free for Earthly.
Does Affinity Designer or Earthly run on more platforms?
Affinity Designer runs on Windows, macOS, iOS. Earthly runs on Web, API.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99/one-time.
What is Affinity Designer best used for?
Affinity Designer is most often used for logo design, vector illustration, icon design, branding. Of those, logo design and vector illustration are not what Earthly is typically brought in for.
What can Affinity Designer do that Earthly cannot?
Affinity Designer covers Vector drawing, Bezier tools, Gradient tools, Typography. Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Affinity Designer: Is Affinity Designer free?

Yes, Affinity Designer is completely free. Every tool in the Pixel, Vector, and Layout studios, plus all customization and export features, are available at no cost with no seat count restrictions or payment requirements.

Source
Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
Affinity Designer: Are there premium features available in Affinity by Canva?

Affinity by Canva includes optional AI features available through separate Canva premium subscriptions (Pro, Business, Enterprise, Education tiers). Core design tools remain free; premium AI functionality requires a Canva subscription.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
Affinity Designer: Do I need to pay for Affinity Designer updates?

No. Affinity by Canva receives free updates and new features over time. The core application and all design, editing, and layout tools are updated at no additional cost.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
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