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Affinity Designer vs Stable Diffusion

Affinity Designer logo

Affinity Designer

Software

Professional graphic design software for everyone

From
$69.99/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Stable Diffusion logo

Stable Diffusion

Software

Open-source AI image generation

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Stable Diffusion has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Affinity Designer sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription: the Windows or macOS edition was priced at CA$94.99, the cross-platform Universal License at CA$224.99, and the standalone iPad edition at CA$24.99 (Internet Archive capture, 1 January 2024); Stable Diffusion generated images have lower resolution and quality at non-standard dimensions
  • They diverge on capability: Affinity Designer covers Vector drawing, Stable Diffusion covers Text-to-image.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Affinity Designer and Stable Diffusion actually diverge.

Attributes where Affinity Designer and Stable Diffusion differ
AttributeAffinity DesignerStable Diffusion
Starting price$69.99/one-timeFree
Pricing modelone-timeUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Macos, IosWeb, Local (GPU-based), Cloud APIs
Founded19942019

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Stable Diffusion

  • Text-to-image
  • Image-to-image
  • Inpainting
  • LoRA support
  • ComfyUI
  • Automatic1111
  • Multiple UIs
  • Local support

What people use each for

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

Affinity Designer

  • Logo designnot Stable Diffusion
  • Vector illustrationnot Stable Diffusion
  • Icon designnot Stable Diffusion
  • Brandingnot Stable Diffusion

Stable Diffusion

  • ai tools managementnot Affinity Designer
  • Workflow automationnot Affinity Designer
  • Reportingnot Affinity Designer

Where each one falls short

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

Affinity Designer

  • Sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription: the Windows or macOS edition was priced at CA$94.99, the cross-platform Universal License at CA$224.99, and the standalone iPad edition at CA$24.99 (Internet Archive capture, 1 January 2024)

Stable Diffusion

  • Generated images have lower resolution and quality at non-standard dimensions
  • Struggles with complex multi-object prompts and text generation
  • Poor rendering of human hands, limbs, and faces due to training data limitations
  • Trained primarily on English-language descriptions, reinforcing Western cultural bias
  • Requires significant GPU computational resources for local deployment

Pricing, plan by plan

Affinity Designer

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

Stable Diffusion

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Stable Diffusion 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 Stable Diffusion if

  • You need text-to-image.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Local (GPU-based), Cloud APIs.
  • You also want image-to-image.
Stable Diffusion review

Questions people ask

Is Affinity Designer or Stable Diffusion better?
Neither clearly leads. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99/one-time and Stable Diffusion at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Affinity Designer or Stable Diffusion?
Stable Diffusion has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $69.99/one-time for Affinity Designer and Free for Stable Diffusion.
Does Affinity Designer or Stable Diffusion run on more platforms?
Affinity Designer runs on Windows, Macos, Ios. Stable Diffusion runs on Web, Local (GPU-based), Cloud APIs.
Can I use Stable Diffusion for free?
Yes. Stable Diffusion 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 Stable Diffusion is typically brought in for.
What can Affinity Designer do that Stable Diffusion cannot?
Affinity Designer covers Vector drawing, Bezier tools, Gradient tools, Typography. Stable Diffusion covers Text-to-image, Image-to-image, Inpainting, LoRA support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Stable Diffusion: Is Stable Diffusion truly free and open-source?

Yes. Stable Diffusion is released under the CreativeML Open RAIL-M license, allowing free use for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, and the code is open-source on GitHub.

Source
Stable Diffusion: Can I use Stable Diffusion commercially for free?

Yes, if your organization has less than $1M annual revenue. Organizations exceeding $1M annually must obtain an Enterprise License from Stability AI.

Source
Stable Diffusion: What are Stable Diffusion's image resolution limitations?

The base model was trained on 512x512 pixel images, and image quality degrades noticeably when deviating from this resolution. Newer models like SDXL support higher resolutions.

Source
Stable Diffusion: Can I run Stable Diffusion locally on my computer?

Yes. Stable Diffusion is open-source and can run locally on compatible hardware, though it requires a GPU for reasonable performance.

Source
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