Side-by-side comparison · Image, Logo & Design
Affinity vs Canva vs Nano Banana
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Designers, photographers and confident DIYers who want professional design software without an Adobe subscription.
Pick it if: Anyone who needs good-looking marketing material regularly and doesn't have a designer on call.
Pick it if: Marketers, store owners and creators who need realistic images and edits that stay true to the original person or product.
Nano Banana scores highest overall, but Affinity gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Affinity | Canva | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Free pro design app for photo editing, illustration and layout, with optional Canva AI. | Make social posts, decks and flyers from templates, with AI that writes and edits for you. | Google's image model. Describe an edit and faces and products stay the same. |
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | Your Canva subscription | $144/yr for one person | $19.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Affinity | Canva | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 3.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Affinity | Canva | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | No | No | No |
| API access | No | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | No | Yes | No |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | No | Yes | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | No | No |
| Learns your brand or style | No | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 13/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Affinity | Canva | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Individuals, for personal or business use. | Free Free Occasional posts and trying it out. | Free (Gemini app and AI Studio) Free Trying it and occasional images. |
With Canva Pro Your Canva subscription People who already pay for Canva. | ProOur pick $144/yr for one person Anyone making marketing material every week. | Google AI ProOur pick $19.99/mo Marketers and creators making images every week. | |
Canva Enterprise Custom Organisations rolling it out to a team. | Business $250/yr per person Teams who need shared brands and approvals. | Google AI Ultra From $99.99/mo Heavy daily image and video makers. | |
Enterprise Custom Large organisations with security requirements. | Gemini API From $0.034 per image Developers and automated workflows. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Download it free. Only connect a paid Canva plan if you want the AI tools inside Affinity, or if you already pay for Canva anyway. | Use Free until you find yourself fighting it, usually over the brand kit or background removal. Pro pays for itself the first time you skip a stock photo subscription. Business only makes sense once two or more people are working in the same brand. | Start free in the Gemini app to see if it suits your work. If you make images most weeks, Google AI Pro is the one to buy because it adds Nano Banana Pro and comes with Gemini, video credits and storage. Developers should use Nano Banana 2 on the API and save Pro for hero images. |
Key features
| Attribute | Affinity | Canva | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Affinity | Canva | Nano Banana |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Affinity | Canva | Nano Banana |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Affinity, Canva or Nano Banana?
Nano Banana scores highest overall in our ratings (Affinity 4.4/5, Canva 4.5/5 and Nano Banana 4.6/5). Affinity is best for Replacing Adobe apps without the subscription and logos and vector illustrations. Canva is best for social media posts and stories and quick decks and one-pagers. Nano Banana is best for editing photos by describing the change and product shots and lifestyle scenes.
Which is cheaper, Affinity, Canva or Nano Banana?
Affinity: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at Your Canva subscription. Canva: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $144/yr for one person. Nano Banana: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $19.99/mo.
Which is easier to use, Affinity, Canva or Nano Banana?
Canva rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who needs good-looking marketing material regularly and doesn't have a designer on call.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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