Pinta vs Affinity by Canva
Both are free/open-source alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Pinta
A lightweight, open-source editor for quick everyday image edits.
Pinta is a simple, MIT-licensed image editor modeled on Paint.NET, for the large group of people who pay for Photoshop but mostly crop, resize, annotate, and make quick adjustments. It offers layers, a solid set of adjustments and effects, and an interface you can learn in minutes, on Linux, Windows, and macOS. It is deliberately not a professional tool: there is no PSD support and nothing like Photoshop-depth retouching — but if your needs are genuinely simple, it may be all the editor you need.
Affinity by Canva
The full pro suite — pixel, vector, and layout — now genuinely free.
Affinity was the classic one-time-purchase Photoshop rival; after Canva's acquisition it was relaunched in late 2025 as a single free desktop app combining what used to be Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher — full pixel, vector, and layout studios with no feature limits or subscription. It's closed-source and needs a Canva account to activate (it works offline afterwards), and Canva's AI extras are the paid upsell. For someone who wants professional-grade Photoshop power without a subscription and without open-source trade-offs, this is now the strongest commercial answer.
Side by side
| Pinta | Affinity by Canva | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 92 | 42 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Proprietary (free) |
| Pricing | Free and open-source | Free (all pixel/vector/layout tools); Canva premium plans unlock the AI features |
Pinta edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Pinta
Strengths
- +Simple and fast for everyday edits — crop, resize, annotate, adjust
- +MIT-licensed and cross-platform (Linux, Windows, macOS)
- +Layers and useful adjustments/effects without a learning curve
- +Small footprint; runs well on older hardware
Trade-offs
- −Nowhere near Photoshop's depth — no advanced retouching, masking, or prepress tools
- −No PSD support (native format plus OpenRaster and standard image formats)
- −Small maintainer team and a modest development pace
- −Far smaller ecosystem and fewer tutorials than GIMP or Krita
Affinity by Canva
Strengths
- +Professional-grade suite, genuinely free — no feature gates
- +Pixel, vector, and page layout in one app
- +Works offline after activation; native macOS and Windows
Trade-offs
- −Closed-source; requires a Canva account to activate
- −Long-term direction now depends on Canva
- −iPad version still catching up
Facts verified 2026-07-06. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.