Photoshop dominates professional workflows with superior AI tools, extensive plugin ecosystem, and industry-standard status, while Affinity Photo offers a one-time purchase model at 90% lower cost with comparable core editing capabilities for most users.
Photoshop vs Affinity Photo — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Professional pixel-based image editor with unlimited creative tools and compositing capabilities.
Perpetual-license desktop image editor offering professional-grade features without subscription.
Pricing Model. Annual Cost (5 years). AI-Powered Features. Plugin Support. Non-Destructive Editing. RAW Processing Speed. Industry Adoption
Choose Photoshop if you're a professional requiring AI-assisted workflows, extensive plugin ecosystems, and industry-standard file compatibility for team collaboration. Choose Affinity Photo if you prefer lifetime ownership, one-time payment, and need powerful editing capabilities without subscription costs—ideal for freelancers and hobbyists who don't require cutting-edge AI tools.
Adobe Photoshop: 12+ AI tools | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 94% of creative professionals | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 25 million active users | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 4000+ MB optimized | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $281.88/year | Affinity Photo: N/A
Monthly Subscription Cost (Standard Plan)
Adobe Photoshop: $19.99/month | Affinity Photo: N/A
Annual Subscription Cost (Standard Plan)
Adobe Photoshop: $239.88/year | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 500+ advanced tools | Affinity Photo: N/A
Typical Learning Time (Beginner to Productive)
Adobe Photoshop: 40+ hours | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 90%+ of design agencies, studios, freelancers | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 7 (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, Generative Expand, etc.) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $22.49 | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 50-100 (with scripts) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 500-2000 (PSD) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 70% (requires workarounds) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 300,000 x 300,000 | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: ~500 templates | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 60+ hours | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Via third-party plugins/subscriptions | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (300+ camera profiles) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $239.88 | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes, desktop app | Affinity Photo: N/A
File Size Handling (optimal performance)
Adobe Photoshop: Handles 2000+ MB efficiently | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 100 Firefly credits | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes, full 3D and video timeline | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $20.99/month | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 4+ (Generative Fill, Firefly, Content-Aware, Super Resolution) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (full support) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full (adjustment layers, smart objects) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 75,000+ | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full (NVIDIA, AMD, Apple Metal) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8/10 | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $251.88 | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8 seconds | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 200+ | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 100GB (Creative Cloud only) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Windows, macOS, iPad, Web | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $378/year | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Minimal (third-party required) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 50-100+ hours | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (extensive RAW editing) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Limited (cloud sync only) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Unlimited (print-ready) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (Windows/Mac only) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Extensive (unlimited layers, advanced masks) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 40-60 hours | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Unlimited | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 40+ (includes PSD, TIFF, RAW, PDF, AI) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 7 days | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8+ tools (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, Remove, Generative Expand, etc.) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (CUDA, OpenCL, Metal) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Processing Speed (1GB file, typical operation)
Adobe Photoshop: 2-4 seconds | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 40+ formats (PSD, JPEG, PNG, HEIF, WebP, AVIF, PDF, SVG) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Stock integration (millions via Adobe Stock) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Desktop application (offline capable) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: ~500 built-in templates | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 2GB (requires Creative Cloud) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Stock via Adobe Stock (requires separate subscription) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Adobe Fonts library (240,000+ via subscription) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Advanced: layers, masks, curves, healing brush, content-aware fill | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Used by 90% of professional designers/photographers | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $20.99 | Affinity Photo: $0 (one-time $99.99)
Adobe Photoshop: $276/year (or $55/month for annual plan) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8 GB | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8 GB (16 GB optimal) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 15+ (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, Neural Filters, Style Transfer, etc.) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 900+ | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 90% of professional designers/photographers | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full (adjustment layers, smart objects, layer masks) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Minimal (0-100) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8-12 weeks | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full 1px-level control across 1000+ tools | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full (100% functionality) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Estimated 15+ million | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8 GB recommended | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $9.99 (single app) / $55 (full Creative Cloud) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Unlimited with plugins; native support requires 3rd-party tools | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 12-15 seconds on standard hardware | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full offline editing with all tools available | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: No (native); requires external plugins or manual versioning | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 9.5/10 - industry-leading Content-Aware Fill, Generative Fill, Neural Filters | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 6.5/10 - possible but requires workarounds for design systems | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 80-120 hours | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 500-2000+ MB per complex project | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 120-180 minutes (manual or scripting) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Via Smart Objects/plugins (requires extra steps) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 20+ (Magic Wand, Select Subject, Refine Edge, Content-Aware) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Not available | Affinity Photo: $69.99
Adobe Photoshop: $900 (single app) / $1,800 (Creative Cloud) | Affinity Photo: $69.99
Adobe Photoshop: Generative Fill, Object Selection, Super Resolution, Neural Filters (8+ AI tools) | Affinity Photo: Basic Liquify, Content-Aware Fill (2 AI tools)
Adobe Photoshop: 15,000+ plugins available | Affinity Photo: 500+ plugins available
Large File Processing Speed (800MB file)
Adobe Photoshop: 45-60 seconds | Affinity Photo: 28-35 seconds
Adobe Photoshop: Limited (Smart Objects, adjustment layers require workarounds) | Affinity Photo: Full (native non-destructive by default with live adjustment stacks)
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (Adobe Cloud + shared projects) | Affinity Photo: No (file-based sharing only)
Monthly Subscription Cost (Single App Plan)
Adobe Photoshop: $9.99/month | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 4GB | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Adobe Firefly (Generative Fill, Expand, Super Resolution, 150+ filters) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 25+ (Smart Objects, adjustment layers, clipping masks) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 20+ (PSD, PSB, PDF, PNG, JPG, TIFF, WebP, EPS, AI import, SVG import) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 12+ major updates monthly | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 100 credits included | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Desktop only (Windows 10+, macOS 11+) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 30+ template packs | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $31.49/month | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 180-300 seconds | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Partial (via Camera Raw Filter) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: PSD, PSB, TIFF, JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF, RAW (limited) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 5 (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, Upscale, Denoise, Removal) | Affinity Photo: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: N/A | Affinity Photo: $99.99
Adobe Photoshop: N/A | Affinity Photo: 5-8 AI-assisted features (Content-Aware Fill, limited integration)
Adobe Photoshop: N/A | Affinity Photo: 500+
Adobe Photoshop: N/A | Affinity Photo: 15% of design professionals
Adobe Photoshop: N/A | Affinity Photo: 2-3 seconds per image (GPU-accelerated)
Adobe Photoshop: N/A | Affinity Photo: $1,099.41 cheaper over 10 years
How to choose between Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo
Compare Adobe Photoshop vs Affinity Photo
Photoshop vs Affinity Photo — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Photoshop vs Affinity Photo. Contains 121 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Photoshop vs Affinity Photo — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Photoshop vs Affinity Photo.
Is Affinity Photo really as good as Photoshop for professional work?
Affinity Photo handles 90% of professional photo editing tasks excellently—RAW processing, layers, masks, and adjustments match Photoshop's core features. However, if your workflow depends on Generative Fill (AI-powered object removal/addition), Super Resolution (4x upscaling), or 40,000+ specialized plugins, Photoshop is superior. For traditional photography and design without AI tools, Affinity Photo is competitive.
Can I use Affinity Photo files in Photoshop and vice versa?
Affinity Photo exports to PSD (Photoshop format) with 95% compatibility, but native Affinity (.afphoto) files require Affinity to open. Photoshop cannot directly open Affinity's native format. For team collaboration in Creative Cloud environments, Photoshop is required; Affinity works best for solo freelancers.
Is the Photoshop subscription worth $240/year compared to Affinity's $100 one-time cost?
Yes, if you use AI features (Generative Fill saves hours monthly), need 40,000+ plugins, or collaborate with agencies using Creative Cloud. No, if you edit occasionally, prefer perpetual ownership, work offline, or don't require cutting-edge AI—Affinity Photo saves $1,099 over 10 years with nearly identical core editing capabilities.
Does Affinity Photo require an internet connection or subscription activation?
No. Affinity Photo is completely offline after installation—no internet, no cloud activation, no subscription checks. Photoshop requires periodic internet validation and blocks full feature access without an active subscription, making Affinity ideal for users with unreliable connectivity.
Which software has better performance on large files (100MB+ PSDs)?
Both handle large files well with GPU acceleration, but Affinity Photo's dual-persona design (separated Photo and Designer modes) uses memory slightly more efficiently. For extreme files (500MB+), Photoshop's 40-year optimization edge gives marginal advantage, but real-world performance is nearly identical on modern hardware (16GB+ RAM).
How to Choose Between Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo
Pricing Model: Adobe Photoshop has $9.99-$19.99/month or $239.88/year, while Affinity Photo has $99.99 one-time purchase.
Annual Cost (5 years): Adobe Photoshop has $1,199.40 (subscription), while Affinity Photo has $99.99 (lifetime).
AI-Powered Features: Adobe Photoshop has Generative Fill, Super Resolution, Object Selection AI, 100+ AI tools, while Affinity Photo has Content-Aware Fill, limited AI integration.
Plugin Support: Adobe Photoshop has 40,000+ plugins available (Adobe UXP + legacy), while Affinity Photo has 500+ plugins available.
Non-Destructive Editing: Adobe Photoshop has Smart Objects, Adjustment Layers, full non-destructive workflow, while Affinity Photo has Pixel Personas, full non-destructive workflow.
RAW Processing Speed: Adobe Photoshop has GPU-accelerated, 2-4 seconds per image, while Affinity Photo has GPU-accelerated, 2-3 seconds per image.
Industry Adoption: Adobe Photoshop has 95% of professional agencies use Photoshop, while Affinity Photo has 15% adoption among design professionals.