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Adobe Illustrator vs Affinity Designer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Adobe Illustrator
Ranking in Graphic Design Software
6th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Affinity Designer
Ranking in Graphic Design Software
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Graphic Design Software category, the mindshare of Adobe Illustrator is 4.1%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Affinity Designer is 6.5%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Graphic Design Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Affinity Designer6.5%
Adobe Illustrator4.1%
Other89.4%
Graphic Design Software
 

Featured Reviews

SuperSonic - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Intuitive vector editing has improved illustration quality and supports smooth team collaboration
Learning and training new team members on Adobe Illustrator is quite easy. Adobe Illustrator integrates nicely with other tools or software I use, as it has most of the integrations. I manage version control or file management with Adobe Illustrator, and it is easy to keep files organized. I do not remember how often I receive updates or new features in Adobe Illustrator, but the frequency is acceptable. Adobe Illustrator handles large or complex files pretty well. My advice to others looking into using Adobe Illustrator is to use it and check if it fits you. I would rate Adobe Illustrator a 9 out of 10.
JP
Cultural and Quality Manager at Openreach
An affordable and stable solution that enables users to create excellent designs
I use it in a business setting. I use the solution to create designs and send them to our team. I tried to get our design team to start using it. We get a lifelong membership for less cost. I haven't had the opportunity to scale the product. People who would start working with the solution must watch the videos on how to use it. It has a lot of functions. We need to spend a little bit of time watching some videos to learn the basics. Once we've done that, it opens up many avenues for us to explore and be creative. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Adobe Illustrator is a go-to software for us."
"Adobe Illustrator's nodes and intuitiveness make my workflow smoother."
"We can do a lot of different design work using the tool."
 

Cons

"The only improvement I see is that Adobe Illustrator sometimes crashes, and even though we save our workflow, you cannot keep saving every second."
"My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing reveals that the cost is high, which is the biggest downside of Adobe Illustrator."
"We cannot make GIFs using the tool."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It is cheaper than Photoshop and Adobe InDesign."
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Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Adobe Illustrator?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Adobe Illustrator is very convenient.
What needs improvement with Adobe Illustrator?
The only improvement I see is that Adobe Illustrator sometimes crashes, and even though we save our workflow, you cannot keep saving every second. They can optimize it to minimize these crashes.
What is your primary use case for Adobe Illustrator?
My main use case for Adobe Illustrator includes designing logos and tasks that require design work. Adobe Illustrator is a go-to software for us. A recent project where I used Adobe Illustrator is ...
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lush, Paper Moose, Nissin, Hugo & Marie
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Canva, Adobe, Serif and others in Graphic Design Software. Updated: July 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.