For professional vector illustration, Affinity Designer 2 is genuinely capable—many illustrators use it for commercial work—but Adobe Illustrator still has the deeper feature set, especially for complex production workflows and seamless collaboration.
Here's how they compare in the areas that matter most.
| Area | Illustrator | Affinity Designer 2 |
|---|
| Bézier editing | Excellent | Excellent |
| Pen tool precision | Excellent | Excellent |
| Node editing | Excellent | Excellent |
| Brush system | More powerful | Very good |
| Appearance stack | Industry-leading | More limited |
| Live effects | More extensive | Strong but fewer options |
| Pattern tools | More mature | Good |
| Gradient mesh | Yes | No true equivalent |
| Blend tool | Advanced | More limited |
| Perspective tools | Yes | Limited |
| Plugin ecosystem | Extensive | Small |
| AI file compatibility | Native | Imports/exports with limitations |
Feature depth
Bézier curves
This is one area where the two are remarkably close.
Affinity Designer has:
- Precise node editing
- Smooth/cusp/smart nodes
- Accurate handle manipulation
- Excellent snapping
- Pressure-adjustable strokes
For drawing clean vector shapes, many professionals find it every bit as capable as Illustrator.
Brushes
This is where Illustrator starts to pull ahead.
Illustrator includes:
- Art Brushes
- Pattern Brushes
- Scatter Brushes
- Bristle Brushes
- Calligraphic Brushes
- Variable Width Profiles
- Width Tool for editing strokes after drawing
Affinity has vector brushes and pressure profiles, but:
- fewer brush behaviors,
- less flexibility for procedural brushes,
- and fewer options for modifying an existing brush stroke non-destructively.
If your illustrations rely heavily on expressive brushwork, Illustrator offers more control.
Appearance and non-destructive editing
This is arguably Illustrator's biggest advantage.
The Appearance panel lets you assign multiple editable:
- fills,
- strokes,
- effects,
- transforms,
- opacity settings,
to a single object.
For example, one path can contain:
- three strokes,
- two fills,
- offset paths,
- Gaussian blur,
- transform effects,
- drop shadows,
all remaining editable.
Affinity has:
- Live Layer Effects
- Live Boolean operations
- Adjustment layers
- Non-destructive masking
These are excellent, but they don't fully replicate Illustrator's Appearance workflow.
Advanced illustration tools
Illustrator also has a deeper set of specialized tools, including:
- Gradient Mesh
- Blend Tool
- Envelope Distort
- Puppet Warp
- Image Trace
- Perspective Grid
- Symbol tools
- Pattern creation
- Extensive Graph and chart features
Affinity covers the essentials very well but omits or simplifies several of these advanced capabilities.
File compatibility
This is the area where Illustrator has the clearest advantage in professional environments.
Opening Illustrator files
Affinity can import many .ai files successfully, particularly those saved with PDF compatibility enabled.
However, some Illustrator-specific features may not translate perfectly, including:
- Appearance panel stacks
- Live Effects
- Gradient Meshes
- Certain brush types
- Symbols
- Envelope Distorts
- Plugin-generated objects
These elements may be flattened, expanded, or rasterized during import.
Delivering files to clients
If clients request:
Affinity generally performs very well.
If clients require:
- fully editable
.ai files,
- or expect to continue editing your artwork in Illustrator,
then Illustrator remains the safer choice because it preserves all native features without conversion.
Performance
Affinity Designer is often praised for:
- fast startup,
- responsive navigation,
- smooth zooming,
- efficient handling of large documents.
Illustrator has improved substantially over the years, but performance can still vary depending on document complexity and the effects in use.
Which is better for professional illustration?
If your work is primarily about creating finished artwork and exporting to standard formats, Affinity Designer 2 is a strong professional tool. It offers excellent drawing precision, a modern interface, and a capable non-destructive workflow.
If your work involves collaboration with agencies, publishers, or other designers using Illustrator, or you rely on advanced features like the Appearance panel, Gradient Mesh, sophisticated brush systems, or expect to exchange fully editable .ai files, Illustrator remains the more comprehensive option.
For many freelancers, a practical approach is:
- Choose Affinity Designer 2 if you value a streamlined workflow and primarily deliver PDFs, SVGs, EPS, or raster exports.
- Choose Illustrator if client compatibility, the broadest feature set, and access to the industry's deepest vector illustration ecosystem are priorities.
