vioscale
Comparison

Affinity Designer vs darktable

On the evidence we track, Affinity Designer leads this comparison with a composite score of 58/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Affinity Designer full profile →darktable full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
★Affinity Designer58
darktable52
Score
Vioscale score
Affinity Designer58 / 100low · 38%
darktable52 / 100medium · 60%
Pricing
Free tier
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✓
Model
Affinity Designerfree
darktableopen_source
Price level
Affinity Designerfree
darktablefree
Transparent
Affinity Designer–
darktable✓
Security
Gdpr
Affinity Designer✓
darktable–
Scorecard
Affinity Designer–
darktable5.3
Vulnerabilities
Adoption
Dependent repos
Affinity Designer–
darktable0
Github stars
Affinity Designer–
darktable12,992
Activity
Commits last 30d
Affinity Designer–
darktable100
Release
Cadence days
Affinity Designer–
darktable76
History
Affinity Designer–
darktable20 items
License
Spdx
Affinity Designer–
darktableGPL-3.0
Language
Primary
Affinity Designer–
darktableC
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for design & creative software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Discipline
Raster / photo editing
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✓
Vector illustration
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✗
DTP / page layout
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✗
Digital painting
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✗
Platform
Platform breadth
Affinity DesignerDesktop (macOS, Windows) and mobile (iOS)
darktableLinux, Windows (10+), macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD
Output
CMYK / print production
Affinity Designer-
darktable✓
Interoperability
PSD / AI import
Affinity Designer-
darktable-
Collaboration
Real-time collaboration / cloud
Affinity Designer-
darktable✗
AI
Generative AI features
Affinity Designer-
darktable✓
Extensibility
Plugin / template ecosystem
Affinity Designer-
darktableLua API for scripting and extensibility
Pricing
Pricing model
Affinity Designer-
darktableOpen-source (free)
Free / open-source available
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Affinity Designer

Leader

Software for creating vector illustrations, editing photographs, and arranging layouts. Available free on macOS, Windows, and iOS.

Independently observed

darktable

Darktable is a free, open-source photography application providing non-destructive raw image development and editing. It functions as a virtual darkroom and lighttable, managing photos in a database with professional color management, GPU acceleration, and optional AI-powered features.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Affinity Designer

Leader
FreeFree tier

Free

as of verify ↗

darktable

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open-source

  • darktableFree
    • Non-destructive raw image editing
    • Virtual lighttable and darkroom interface
    • Digital negative database management
    • Professional color management for print output
    • GPU-accelerated processing
    • +3 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
iOS
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✗
macOS
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✓
Windows
Affinity Designer✓
darktable✓
Linux
Affinity Designer✗
darktable✓
Deployment
Self-hosted
Affinity Designer–
darktable✓

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.