Adobe Express vs. Affinity Publisher

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Express
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
The vendor states Adobe Spark allows users to create beautiful graphics, web pages, and video stories in minutes, offering free themes, fonts, and images, as well as editing. Imagery assembled or created can be presented through Spark Post, Spark Page, and Spark Video. Adobe Spark is available through a Creative Cloud subscription, free with the Starter Plan, or on a single product license via the Team or Individual plan.
$0
Affinity Publisher
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Affinity Publisher replaces the former PagePlus desktop publishing application, from Serif Europe headquartered in Nottingham.
$24.99
Pricing
Adobe ExpressAffinity Publisher
Editions & Modules
Free
$0.00
Premium
$9.99 / $99.99
Monthly / Annual, prepaid
Affinity Publisher
$24.99
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe ExpressAffinity Publisher
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe ExpressAffinity Publisher
Considered Both Products
Adobe Express
Chose Adobe Express
We use Adobe Creative Cloud Express in addition to all of the above, depending on the project. It stacks up extremely well against all other products, except Premiere Pro on the video side (obviously). In the area that we use it most - for the on the fly social media - it is …
Affinity Publisher
Chose Affinity Publisher
The features in Affinity Publisher easily stack up against the much more expensive Adobe suite of products. With the ability to open all file types it is a bit of a workhorse for all things. We have been using it for social media template designs as well as client booklets and …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Adobe ExpressAffinity Publisher
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 9.0 out of 10
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
iMovie
iMovie
Score 9.1 out of 10
Canva
Canva
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro
Score 9.0 out of 10
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe ExpressAffinity Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(29 ratings)
9.0
(7 ratings)
Usability
9.4
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(10 ratings)
8.6
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
9.5
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe ExpressAffinity Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
I would recommend Adobe CC Express, especially if the colleague were an established Adobe user. The interface is designed so that anyone familiar with Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, or any other Adobe software products, will be familiar. This is a product that competes with Canva, but it's great to have the simplicity of Canva with an interface that feels familiar from day one.
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Serif Europe
If you are looking to get started using a publishing / creation application, Affinity Publisher is the one to go for. With a quick learning curve on all the basic functions, you'll be flying in no time. And then there is a whole heap of great features to get into as you become more comfortable with the software. The only down side is if clients are using Adobe programs, there are sometimes problems working with imported layers, but this is minor compared to the ease of use and features.
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Pros
Adobe
  • Out-of-the-box templates save a lot of time and effort for designers and new users.
  • Collaboration to share resources and monitor task status centrally.
  • Great design elements bring a wow factor to digital content.
  • Single design tool for all types of content design.
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Serif Europe
  • Supports just about any format you'll need for your project.
  • The variety of templates makes startign projects simple.
  • The program is just really powerful and fairly priced.
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Cons
Adobe
  • Adobe Creative Cloud Express's video possibilities could be improved - I'd really like to see more options for animating text. Animoto is a great example of this. But the video is already improving, so perhaps these options are coming!
  • Sometimes images don't download properly from the web app and I have to download using the phone app and then transfer to my desktop for scheduling.
  • It would be cool if there was an approve / feedback option, so you could request feedback from a team member without having to share a link and send a separate email.
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Serif Europe
  • Menu differences can be an impediment to new users from other softwares
  • Some functions are not in places I would expect
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Usability
Adobe
The overall usability of the software was strong. The application, especially relative to other Adobe services like Photoshop that can demand a lot of knowledge and skill, was highly easy to use. At the same time, that also speaks to the somewhat limited amount of customization opportunities that allow content designers to truly create content that is dynamic, engaging, and different than the standard stuff that floods our vision every day.
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Serif Europe
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
Because adobe is so widespread the community support is amazing. I have never actually used adobe support short of their website, but I go to youtube a lot to get my questions answered. You can google any problem you have and not have any issues finding an answer. In my opinion, community support is much more meaningful and helpful than support directly from the company
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Serif Europe
Our team typically uses other online resources instead of contacting developers/manufacturers for support. That being said, there is a forum and a growing, vibrant community of users available to answer questions and "make the switch." A simple "whatever function we used to use in Adobe InDesign," followed by "Affinity," usually gets us on the right track to an answer. YouTube and their forums are our team's go-to sources for help.
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
I used Canva for a long time, but since we already had the Adobe Creative Suite and Adobe Creative Cloud Express was included, I went ahead and started using Adobe Creative Cloud Express, as it was more cost-effective. Unfortunately, Adobe Creative Cloud Express doesn't offer any content calendar and scheduling, so it was a difficult choice.
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Serif Europe
Affinity Publisher is a more cost effective way to achieve the same goals as InDesign and Quark. I'm sure there are various differences that Affinity may lack, however we have yet to run into one that our business has needed, or even recognized. It has completely replaced any desktop publishing for our organization without issue.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
Adobe Creative Cloud Express is included with an Adobe Creative Cloud account. Our company has a corporate team membership so it is nice to have a professional and powerful tool that anyone on our team can use for free. The pricing structure of giving the tool away for free will be fundamental to users utilizing the tool. Similar tools, such as Canva, cost significantly more but do not offer the same features
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Serif Europe
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Adobe
The professional services for Adobe Creative Cloud Express is top notch and should be highly commended. I am thoroughly impressed with how far Adobe has come. In the past, I had several issues with how something were handled, but in the past few years things have been better than ever and they get no complaints from me
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Serif Europe
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • I started with the free version, but I soon found that I was unable to save my custom templates.
  • With the paid plan, The number of templates and art work are greatly increased.
  • Using this subscription was a timesaver, thus saving in creative time.
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Serif Europe
  • I wish we could push it out to all staff but we can't quite afford the cost.
  • Amount of features can be overwhelming for first time users and take more time.
  • This program will save time once employees figure it out.
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ScreenShots

Adobe Express Screenshots

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