Interview: Canva reveals what creativity means in the age of AI and why Affinity is free for all

I spoke to Anna Wood, Product Marketing Lead at Canva about the company's latest updates and what it all means for designers and creators

Features By Steve Clark published 13 December 2025

(Image credit: Canva)

Canva has been hitting the headlines of late, with a stream of updates - including the launch of its Creative Operating System and, more eye-catchingly, the big news that one of my favorite pro-grade design platforms Affinity is now free for everyone.

Keen to find out what's really going on, I asked Anna Wood, Product Marketing Lead at Canva what the latest developments mean for users.

• Canva’s ‘Creative Operating System’ positions it as a central hub, not just a tool. What does this signify about Canva's ambition beyond visual communication, and how do you define your competition now that you're an ‘OS’?

When we refer to Canva as a “Creative Operating System,” what we’re really saying is – this isn’t just a tool to make a single graphic anymore. We’re building something much bigger. We like to see it as this all-in-one platform that enables the entire creative journey, from your first idea all the way to publishing and tracking performance. Whether you're designing, collaborating with a team, running a campaign, teaching a class, or using AI to speed things up, it all happens in one place.

When it comes to competition, we’re not just playing in someone else’s lane. We’re creating an entirely new category around visual communication. No one else in market offers a platform where design, collaboration, and publishing happen seamlessly. Now with our new Canva Design Model, we also offer fully editable AI outputs with manual control, wrapped into a platform where everything from forms and email design and video is connected. It’s this blend of simplicity, power, and interoperability that really sets Canva apart.

• Affinity is now free for all forever. It’s a major disruption to the creative software industry. Why now? And why switch from a successful perpetual license model to go free, rather than a subscription?

When Affinity joined Canva, we saw a chance to do things differently. Too many designers have been stuck with expensive subscriptions or clunky software that gets in the way. We’ve heard the same thing from thousands of creatives: they want speed, power, and freedom. So we rebuilt Affinity with the community—every detail shaped by real feedback and our Designer Advisory Board. And then we made it free.

We didn’t want cost to be the reason someone couldn’t create. Going free opens the door to millions more designers and lets us focus on long-term value: growing the community, deepening engagement, and connecting Affinity with the broader Canva platform.

• What will the transition from three separate Affinity apps to an all-in-one tool be for existing users and professionals whose workflows rely on Designer, Photo, and Publisher?

The functions of Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher are reflected in the Vector, Pixel and Layout Studios in the new Affinity, so existing users will quickly feel right at home. Switching between them is simpler than ever and users can even create their own custom Studio, containing their most-used tools from all three.

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