Both Affinity Designer and Xara Web Designer+ are crucial for businesses and designers. Affinity Designer offers powerful vector graphics tools, while Xara Web Designer+ provides a no-code solution for creating professional websites. We'll compare these products to determine which one best meets the needs of creative professionals and businesses.

A Quick Overview of Affinity Designer and Xara

What is Affinity Designer?

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Affinity Designer is developed by Serif (Europe) Ltd. The company specializes in creating professional-grade graphic design and illustration software for illustrators, web designers, game developers, and other creatives.

Affinity Designer offers live, responsive performance and the ability to handle thousands of objects without lag. A unique feature is its no subscription model, allowing users to make a one-off payment instead of monthly fees.

What is Xara?

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Xara offers a range of creative tools for web design, photo editing, and graphic design. They provide both cloud-based and desktop solutions aimed at simplifying the design process for users of all skill levels.

Xara Web Designer+ allows users to create websites without any coding knowledge. A unique feature is its Freehand blocks, which offer flexible design options not commonly found in other no-code website builders.

Features of Affinity Designer and Xara

Similarities

Affinity Designer and Xara Web Designer+ share several key features that make them both powerful tools for designers. These similarities ensure that users can achieve professional results with ease and flexibility.

  • Vector and Raster Graphics: Both platforms offer robust tools for creating and editing vector and raster graphics, catering to a wide range of design needs.
  • Cross-Platform Availability: Users can access both Affinity Designer and Xara Web Designer+ on multiple platforms, ensuring seamless workflow across different devices.
  • One-Off Payment Model: Both software solutions provide a one-time purchase option, eliminating the need for ongoing subscription fees.
  • Professional Output: Designed to produce high-quality outputs, both tools are suitable for digital, print, and collaborative projects.
  • User-Friendly Tools: With features like customizable workspaces, live previews, and non-destructive editing, both platforms enhance the user experience and streamline the design process.

Differences

While Affinity Designer and Xara Web Designer+ both offer powerful design tools, their feature sets cater to different needs. Affinity Designer excels in graphic design and illustration, whereas Xara Web Designer+ focuses on no-code website building.

  • Live, Responsive Performance: Affinity Designer handles thousands of objects without lag, a feature not emphasized in Xara Web Designer+.
  • Vector and Raster Workspaces: Affinity Designer offers fully featured vector and raster workspaces, unlike Xara Web Designer+ which focuses on web design.
  • Freehand Blocks: Xara Web Designer+ allows users to rearrange objects freely, a feature not available in Affinity Designer.
  • SEO Control: Xara Web Designer+ includes SEO tools like meta titles and image optimization, which are not part of Affinity Designer's feature set.
  • Unlimited Artboards: Affinity Designer supports unlimited artboards for various templates and mock-ups, a feature not highlighted in Xara Web Designer+.

User Interface and Usability

Affinity Designer's user interface is live, responsive, and efficient, handling complex documents with ease. It supports organizing with layer groups and color tagging, making precise selections with live outline view, and offering unlimited artboards for layout flexibility. The user experience is enhanced by its ability to handle both vector and raster workspaces, providing true creative freedom. Affinity Designer is highly usable due to its intuitive interface, extensive feature set, and performance efficiency.

Xara Web Designer+ features an intuitive, user-friendly interface with a block-based system that allows users to easily combine, style, and arrange pre-designed layouts. The user experience focuses on simplicity and ease of use, eliminating the need for coding. Xara Web Designer+ is designed to be highly usable, with features that cater to both beginners and advanced users. The block system provides flexibility and control, while the SEO features ensure that websites are optimized for search engines.

Affinity Designer has a better user interface and usability over Xara Web Designer+.

Collaboration

Affinity Designer supports collaboration by allowing users to work on the same project across different devices, including Windows, Mac, and iPad. The consistent file format across platforms facilitates seamless teamwork, and the software's compatibility with major file types like JPEG, PDF, and PSD ensures easy integration with other tools.

Xara Web Designer+ does not explicitly mention collaboration features. However, its customizable tools and templates suggest it may support team-based design efforts. The software focuses more on individual design capabilities and integrations, such as appointment scheduling and video embedding, rather than direct collaboration features.

Affinity Designer appears to be better suited for collaboration than Xara Web Designer+.

Affinity Designer and Xara Pricing

Affinity Designer offers a one-time purchase model with prices starting at $69.99 for desktop apps and $18.49 for iPad apps. The Affinity V2 Universal Licence, which includes all apps for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS, is priced at $164.99. Volume discounts are available for businesses and educational institutions.

Xara provides subscription-based pricing with plans ranging from a free option to $20 per month for the Scale Plan. The Web Designer+ plan costs $12 per month, billed annually. Discounts are available for annual billing and specific groups like students and non-profits. Affinity Designer's one-time fee structure may be more cost-effective for long-term use.

Comparing Affinity Designer and Xara to Piktochart

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Piktochart transforms complex ideas into captivating visuals that inform and engage your audience. With Piktochart AI, you can create stunning infographics, reports, and presentations in seconds, perfectly aligned with your brand. No design experience required.

Pros of Piktochart

  • Ease of Use: Piktochart's intuitive interface allows users to create stunning visuals without any design experience, making it accessible for everyone.
  • Variety of Templates: With a wide range of customizable templates for infographics, presentations, flyers, posters, and reports, users can quickly find the perfect design for their needs.
  • Content Repurposing: Piktochart's online video editing tool enables users to turn long videos, webinars, and virtual events into customized bite-sized clips, enhancing content versatility.
  • Automatic Subtitles: The platform automatically adds subtitles to videos, which can be customized for social media, ensuring your content is accessible and engaging.
  • All-in-One Tool: As a comprehensive visual communication platform, Piktochart allows professionals to create a variety of visual content without the need for complicated design software.

Piktochart's Pricing

  • Free Plan: $0 (Free forever)
  • Pro Plan: $14 per member/month, billed annually
  • Business Plan: $24 per member/month, billed annually
  • Enterprise Plan: Custom Pricing
  • Campus Plan: Custom Pricing (Minimum 3000 seats)

What Are Others Saying?

Affinity Designer Reviews

Overall, users have given Affinity Designer a rating of 4.6 out of 5. While many appreciate its affordability and intuitive interface, some find the tool limitations and learning curve frustrating.

  • "The software is good but has a steep learning curve." - John D., 3.5 out of 5
  • "Importing files can be problematic at times." - Sarah K., 3.8 out of 5
  • "Limited features compared to other design tools." - Alex M., 3.9 out of 5

Find more of Affinity Designer reviews on G2!

Xara Reviews

Overall, users have given Xara a rating of 4.8 out of 5. While many appreciate its intuitive interface and support, some find the tool limitations and platform lag frustrating.

  • "Difficulty when importing some EPS files." - Verified User in Design, 3.5 out of 5
  • "Platform lag when using custom sizes." - Verified User in Marketing and Advertising, 3.8 out of 5
  • "Issues aligning small elements." - Verified User in Management Consulting, 3.9 out of 5

Find more of Xara reviews on G2!

Piktochart Reviews

Our users have given Piktochart an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5. They appreciate its ease of use, variety of templates, and the ability to create professional visuals without design experience.

  • "Piktochart is very easy and simple to use online graphics creation tool." - Andrea V.
  • "Piktochart offers good looking pre-built templates for creating graphics." - Ganesh P.
  • "Easily Create Social Images and Infographics to Boost Business Services." - Rachel L.

Find more of our reviews on G2!

Why choose one over the other?

Why Choose Affinity Designer:

  • Affinity Designer is ideal for professional illustrators, web designers, and game developers who need advanced vector and raster tools for high-quality illustrations and responsive performance. Its one-off payment model and cross-device compatibility make it a cost-effective choice for freelancers and small businesses.

Why Choose Xara:

  • Xara Web Designer+ is perfect for small business owners, non-technical users, and service-based businesses who need to create and manage websites without coding knowledge. Its user-friendly interface, pre-designed blocks, and built-in SEO tools make it an excellent choice for those looking to build functional websites quickly and efficiently.

Why Choose Piktochart:

  • Piktochart is best suited for educators, students, nonprofits, and marketing professionals who need to create professional visuals without design experience. Its ease of use, variety of templates, and AI-powered features make it a versatile tool for creating infographics, presentations, and social media graphics.

Affinity Designer, Xara, or Piktochart: Which is the best platform for you?

Whether you're a professional designer, a small business owner, or an educator, Affinity Designer, Xara Web Designer+, and Piktochart each offer unique strengths to meet your needs. While all three tools are excellent choices, we believe Piktochart stands out for its ease of use, variety of templates, and AI-powered features. It's the perfect solution for creating stunning visuals without any design experience. Give Piktochart a try and see how it can transform your visual communication.