The Affinity Suite is really nice for what it is, but "more powerful" than Adobe's apps?? Puh-leez! They can't even come close to the feature set of any of the three Adobe apps they compete with – Particularly Affinity Publisher.
I started using them in December 2021, and I'm still surprised to find so many things that are better in their Photo app than Photoshop. Photoshop is a dinosaur, it's been the same thing for decades and they keep slapping features on top.
I agree with
@zevrix - they are fantastic apps for content creators who have basic needs, don't share working files with anyone else, have no need for add-ons, extensions, or scripting – and who don't work in a corporate, agency, or commercial printer environment.
That's where you're wrong, they provide way more than basic needs. You're talking about the Affinity Suite as if it was Microsoft Paint or something similar, when they are really powerful and well designed programs. Also, you should do your homework before you state that they don't have add-ons, when a simple google search shows that it has add-ons:
Beautiful brushes, versatile textures, stunning overlays, helpful templates and more—enhance your work with one of our creative content packs.
affinity.serif.com
Now, you may in any case that it doesn't have the add ons that you or some people may need, and that's fair, but it does have add-ons.
Affinity has no PDF solution, no DAM system app like Lightroom or Bridge, lacks the free use of thousands of commercial fonts, no video solutions, no audio solutions, no animation solutions, no.... oh heck, my list can go on but it's getting too long.
No PDF solution? Well, first I need to ask you what exactly do you mean by that. Maybe you're referring to some specific PDF need. However, I opened plenty of PDFs in Affinity Publisher without any problem, and exported them as PDFs as well. I can't remember if A Photo has PDF export, but I know Designer and Publisher do.
Lightroom is not a DAM, it's a cataloging app for photos, and a very good one, even if it's rather slow unless you have an insanely fast Mac or PC. But yes, since I stopped paying for Adobe CC in 2020 I've been trying to find a Lightroom equivalent and there's nothing that has the same features. If I could buy it, I would, but I'm not renting software.
The one thing that puzzled me in your statements above is "lacks the free use of thousands of commercial fonts". I have no clue what you mean by that. All three Affinity apps use the fonts you have installed in your system. You can use them for free, as long as they are free fonts or you paid for them if they're not. I really would like to know what you meant by that.
My point is, of course there are case scenarios for which certain companies need the Adobe apps, but most Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign users use those because of the same vicious circle, everybody uses Adobe because everybody uses Adobe. It's not because it's good, or because it provides a good value, because it's the most expensive solution for creatives these days. You rent mediocre software for $720 a year. I paid $100 in December 2021 when it was on sale and right now it's $165. Whenever they decide to release a version 3, I will be happy to pay probably $100 for the upgrade. All three apps had tons of updates since I bought them, all free of course.
FCPX along with Compressor and Motion is a suite I paid $400 for in 2015 and it's been updated dozens of times since then without asking me for a dime. DaVinci Resolve Studio is $300, or comes with any Blackmagic Design camera, and you never pay again for an update, either minor or major version.
So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, Adobe is dead. Hopefully some day they will be done, since creatives are fed up with not only the quality of their software, but the invasive policies for their AI platform.
