RindrawRindraw vs Affinity
Compared in October 2026. Both apps change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher are now one free app from Canva, called Affinity3. It's an excellent design suite, and it costs nothing. Choose Rindraw if you draw by hand on an iPad or iPhone, or want a drawing app without an account. Choose Affinity if you design on a computer: vectors, photo editing and page layout, on Mac or Windows, for free.
The main difference
Affinity is three apps in one1: a vector editor like Illustrator, a photo editor like Photoshop and a page layout app like InDesign, built for a mouse, a keyboard and a large screen. Drawing is one thing it does among many.
Rindraw does one thing, drawing and painting, and is built around a pencil. It keeps each stroke as the path your Pencil took, with its pressure and tilt, so you can recolor a line, bend it or export the drawing bigger and it stays sharp. Its brushes have grain and texture, and what you export is a picture, not a vector file.
Side by side
| Rindraw | Affinity | |
|---|---|---|
| Mac | Yes | Yes1 |
| Windows | No | Yes1 |
| iPad | Yes | Not yet. The older Affinity Designer 2 for iPad is free but no longer updated, and can't open the new app's files1, 2 |
| iPhone | Yes | No1 |
| Price in the US | $12.99 once, for iPad, iPhone and Mac | Free. Canva's AI tools need a premium Canva plan1 |
| Account | None | A Canva account, and online once to activate1 |
| Vector design and page layout | No | Yes, both1 |
| Photo editing | Basic: adjustment layers, filters and masks | Full, with RAW development1 |
| A stroke after it's drawn | Stays a stroke you can recolor, bend or scale up, with its texture | A vector curve in vector work, pixels in pixel work |
| Animation | Frames, onion skins and playback, out as GIF, animated PNG or video | None built in |
| Generative AI | None | Generative fill and more, with a premium Canva plan1 |
| Since | 2026 | 2025, after Affinity Designer (2014)3 |
Where Affinity is better
- It's free. Every vector, photo and layout tool, with no payment1. Rindraw costs $12.99.
- Design work. Logos, icons, type, print layout with CMYK and spot colors, and vector files such as SVG. Rindraw isn't a vector or layout app.
- Photos. RAW development, retouching, HDR and panoramas1. Rindraw's adjustment layers and filters are for finishing a painting.
- Windows, and Adobe's files. It runs on Windows, and imports Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign files1.
Where Rindraw is different
- On iPad and iPhone now. The new Affinity has no iPad version yet1. Rindraw runs on iPad, iPhone and Mac, with your drawings, brushes and palettes in iCloud Drive on each.
- Made for a pencil. Pressure, tilt and barrel roll on Apple Pencil, wet paint that mixes on the canvas, and Procreate's gestures, such as two-finger tap to undo. On a Mac, a pen tablet's tilt and eraser end work too.
- Lines you can still change. Recolor finished lineart, warp a pose or export poster-size from a sketch, keeping each stroke's grain, without redrawing it.
- No account. No sign-in, no analytics and no tracking. See the privacy policy.
- Built not to lose work. Every stroke is saved as you draw it, and your undo history is still there after you close the app.
Using both
Draw in Rindraw on an iPad, then lay the piece out or add type in Affinity on a computer. Rindraw saves drawings as layered PSD files, which Affinity imports with their layers1. Going the other way, export a PSD from Affinity and Rindraw opens it with its layers, masks and blend modes. Rindraw doesn't open Affinity's own .af files.
Moving from another app? See how to bring your work over from Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, ibisPaint, MediBang Paint, Infinite Painter, Sketchbook, Adobe Fresco, Tayasui Sketches, ArtRage, Rebelle, Corel Painter, PaintTool SAI, Krita, or Photoshop.
Sources
Checked on October 15, 2026.
- Get Affinity: free with a Canva account; Windows and macOS, iPadOS coming; Canva AI tools with a premium Canva plan; imports PSD, AI, PDF, SVG and IDML; V2 iPad apps can't open new .af files.
- Affinity Designer 2 for iPad on the App Store (US): free; version 2.6.4, September 23, 2025.
- Affinity (software), Wikipedia: released in 2025 as the successor to Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher; Designer first came out in 2014; version 2 is no longer maintained.
Affinity and Canva are trademarks of their owners. Rindraw is made by Sawir Studio and isn't affiliated with Affinity, Serif or Canva.
