What is the difference between Affinity Designer and Excalidraw?

Affinity Designer is best for Designers wanting professional tools without subscriptions, while Excalidraw is best for Anyone wanting quick hand-drawn diagrams. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99 one-time and Excalidraw starts at Free.

Is Affinity Designer or Excalidraw cheaper?

Affinity Designer starts at $69.99 one-time. Excalidraw starts at Free and is free.

Is there a free alternative to Affinity Designer?

Yes, Excalidraw offers a free tier.

Affinity Designer vs Excalidraw

Affinity Designer is professional vector graphic design software with one-time purchase pricing, while Excalidraw is virtual whiteboard with a hand-drawn aesthetic for diagrams, sketches, and brainstorming. The biggest difference up front: Excalidraw is free, while Affinity Designer starts at $69.99 one-time. Affinity Designer is built for designers wanting professional tools without subscriptions, whereas Excalidraw targets anyone wanting quick hand-drawn diagrams.

At a glance

	Affinity Designer	Excalidraw
Best for	Designers wanting professional tools without subscriptions	Anyone wanting quick hand-drawn diagrams
Starting price	$69.99 one-time	Free
Free tier	—	✓
Open source	—	✓
Free tier available	—	✓
Open source	—	✓
Embeddable	—	✓
Hand-Drawn Style	—	✓
Multi-Platform	✓	—
One-Time Purchase	✓	—
Open Source	—	✓
PSD Import	✓	—
Real-Time Collab	—	✓
Vector Design	✓	—

Affinity Designer

Strengths

Vector design tools handle illustrations, icons, and UI assets at any resolution
Includes One-Time Purchase as a core feature, purpose-built for design workflows
Pricing starts at $69.99 one-time, which includes the full design feature set
Established product with 12+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $69.99 one-time — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Output quality depends on your design skills — templates only go so far
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Affinity Designer → Full review

Excalidraw

Strengths

Open source and transparent
Hand-drawn aesthetic makes diagrams feel informal and approachable — great for early ideas
Fully open-source — you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in
The core product is free with no paywalled essentials

Weaknesses

May lack some advanced features
Self-hosting is free but requires server maintenance and DevOps knowledge
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Output quality depends on your design skills — templates only go so far

Try Excalidraw → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Excalidraw is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99 one-time. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Affinity Designer offers Multi-Platform, One-Time Purchase and PSD Import that Excalidraw lacks. Excalidraw brings Embeddable, Hand-Drawn Style and Open Source that Affinity Designer does not have.

Team fit: Affinity Designer is geared toward individual users and small setups, while Excalidraw is aimed at any size teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Open source: Excalidraw is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Affinity Designer is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Affinity Designer's biggest strengths are: vector design tools handle illustrations, icons, and ui assets at any resolution. includes one-time purchase as a core feature, purpose-built for design workflows. Excalidraw's biggest strengths are: open source and transparent. hand-drawn aesthetic makes diagrams feel informal and approachable — great for early ideas.

Watch out for: With Affinity Designer, users commonly note that starts at $69.99 one-time — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With Excalidraw, the main complaint is that may lack some advanced features.

Choose Affinity Designer if...

You need a tool built for designers wanting professional tools without subscriptions
You specifically need Multi-Platform and One-Time Purchase
You care about includes one-time purchase as a core feature, purpose-built for design workflows
Your team size fits the individuals profile Affinity Designer is designed for

Choose Excalidraw if...

You need a tool built for anyone wanting quick hand-drawn diagrams
Budget is a hard constraint — Excalidraw is free, Affinity Designer is not
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Embeddable and Hand-Drawn Style
You care about hand-drawn aesthetic makes diagrams feel informal and approachable — great for early ideas