Canva Launches Creative OS, Makes Affinity Free

Canva unveiled a major product overhaul called the Creative Operating System and its first in-house Design Model, which generates editable, multi-layered designs that preserve layout, typography and brand logic. The rollout embeds generative AI across the platform — including Video 2.0/Magic Video, AI voice narration, interactive Forms, an Email Designer, integrated Sheets and Code, the @askcanva assistant, and a marketing product (Canva Grow) linking asset creation to performance analytics. Canva says the model was trained on its proprietary templates and user data to understand layout, colour, typography and brand rules, positioning the company as a challenger to Adobe and other AI creative tools. As part of the launch, Canva made the Affinity suite free forever and merged Designer, Photo and Publisher into a single desktop app (Windows/Mac, iPad coming) available with a free Canva account, while reserving advanced AI features such as generative editing and background removal for Canva Premium. Executives and Serif CEO Ashley Hewson framed the Affinity move as expanding access to pro-grade tools while funneling users toward optional paid AI and marketing upgrades aimed at commercial customers.