Concepts vs Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Concepts
This flexible vector-based sketchbook offers an infinite canvas for ideation and design. Easily sketch, take notes, and create detailed designs with editable strokes and powerful tools. Share your work in various formats for seamless collaboration and professional output.
- Infinite canvas
- Vector-based sketching
- Realistic pens, pencils, and brushes
- Editable vector elements
- Unlimited layers
- Scale and measurement tools
- Object libraries
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Think, plan & create – Concepts is a flexible vector-based sketchbook where you can take your ideas from concept to reality. Concepts reimagines the ideation process – offering a safe and dynamic workspace to iterate and explore your ideas, organize your thoughts, and experiment with designs. With our infinite canvas, you can: • Sketch plans and whiteboard ideas • Make notes, doodles, and mindmaps • Draw storyboards, product sketches and designs Concepts is vector-based, making every stroke editable and scalable. With our Nudge, Slice and Select tools, you can easily change any element of your sketch without redrawing it. Talented creators at Disney, Playstation, Philips, HP, Apple, Google, Unity and Illumination Entertainment use Concepts to develop and realize extraordinary ideas. Join us! Concepts has: • An infinite canvas with optional paper types and grids • Realistic pens, pencils and brushes that flow with pressure, tilt and velocity or create your own • A tool wheel or bar you can personalize • HSL, RGB and COPIC color wheels • Editable vector-based sketching – move, organize and edit the tool, color, size, scale, smoothing, opacity; transform or nudge lines to shape them • Unlimited layers • Scale and measurement tools that calculate real-world dimensions With Concepts, you can: • Drag + drop images + PDF files • Create, store and share vector Object libraries • Export images, vector SVG + PDFs to scale for printing or efficient flow between apps (including Procreate, Sketchbook, AutoCAD and Adobe) • Share directly to email, text, Files, cloud, photos, or your favorite social apps and present with AirPlay or a second screen • Store your work safely in your personal iCloud Drive FREE FEATURES • Infinite canvas • A selection of paper, grid types & tools to get you started • The full COPIC color spectrum, RGB and HSL color wheels • Five layers • Unlimited drawings • JPG exports PAID FEATURES Subscription: • 200+ brush and Object libraries, features, and services • Enjoy Team Sharing for smooth collaboration, including live-sharing of object libraries, color palettes & brushes, with new updates arriving all the time • Unlocks everything across platforms • TRY PREMIUM FREE FOR 7 DAYS One-time-purchases: • Buy the Essentials for life and unlock selection & editing tools, infinite layers, shape guides, custom brushes, custom grids, and exports to PNG / PSD / SVG / DXF. • Pay for advanced features as you need them – object packs & professional brushes are sold separately • Limited to the platform you purchase on Terms & Conditions: • Monthly and yearly subscription payments are charged to your iTunes account at the time of purchase. • Your plan will renew automatically at the end of the billing period unless canceled 24 hours before the billing period ends. • You can cancel or make changes to your subscription at any time in your iTunes Account settings. • Unused portions of any free trial period are forfeited if you make changes to your subscription. We’re dedicated to quality and update frequently based on your feedback. Your experience matters to us. Chat with us in-app via Ask Us Anything, email us at concepts@tophatch.com, or find us anywhere with @ConceptsApp. COPIC is the trademark of Too Corporation. Many thanks to Lasse Pekkala and Osama Elfar for the cover art!
Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad
Create professional documents like books, brochures, and magazines on your iPad. This powerful app offers advanced layout, typography, and image editing tools optimized for touch and Apple Pencil. Seamlessly manage files and export in various professional formats.
- Optimized iPad gesture controls
- Professional layout tools
- Advanced typography controls
- Image and graphics editing
- Productivity features
- Import/export options
- Professional output formats
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Work wherever and whenever you want without compromise, with Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad, the on-the-go version of our award-winning desktop publishing software. This equally powerful page layout and design app has everything you need to create books, brochures, posters, reports, letters, portfolios, magazine layouts, book covers, ebooks, and so much more. OPTIMIZED FOR IPAD • Fully integrated and optimized iPad gesture controls to speed up your workflow • Command controller hosting on-screen modifiers • Quick Menu for context-sensitive access to commands • Context bar for all tools • Sliders for various attributes • Zoom to fit/zoom to previous, snapping, and preview mode options • Metal accelerated to achieve blazing-fast performance, even when editing large images • Sensitive to pressure, tilt, and angle, the app harnesses the full power and precision of Apple Pencil • Full iCloud drive integration allows for seamless file management, storage, and sharing • External display support with separate configuration options PROFESSIONAL LAYOUT TOOLS • Facing page spreads • Live master pages • Advanced guides, grids, and snapping • Tables and custom table formats • Wrap text around any object or image • Create text frames of any shape • Link multiple text frames together across your document • Footnotes, sidenotes, and endnotes ADVANCED TYPOGRAPHY • Full control over character and paragraph styles • Comprehensive OpenType support • Write text along any path • Advanced flow options and hyphenation PERFECT IMAGES & GRAPHICS • Link or embed images in your document • Place PSD, AI, PDF, JPG, TIFF, PNG, DWG, or Affinity files • Correct and enhance images with non-destructive adjustment layers • Precision engineered pen and node tools for creating vector curves and shapes • Boolean operations to add, subtract, combine, and divide shapes BUILT FOR PRODUCTIVITY • Section manager to organize your documents • Savable undo history with alternate futures • Smart master pages • Automatically generate indexes and table of contents • Manage and create anchors • Save documents as template files to re-use time and time again • Collate your document alongside all used image and font resources into a folder using the Package feature • PDF passthrough • Autoflow of multiple images and multi-page PDFs • Running headers • Cross-references ADVANCED OPTIONS FOR PLACING CONTENT & IMPORT/EXPORT • IDML & XLSX import • Import/export from Adobe InDesign ® and other programs • Layer visibility override for placed linked files (PDF/DWG/DXF/PSD and Affinity files) • Place linked web images using URLs • Dropbox API integration to retain placed resource linkage across multiple devices • AutoCAD DWG/DXF import, place, and edit (maintaining layer structure and scaling) PROFESSIONAL OUTPUT • End-to-end CMYK, PANTONE© and spot color • Live preflight checking • PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, PDF/X-4 output for professional printed works FULL INTEGRATION WITH OTHER AFFINITY APPS • Instantly switch to the advanced photo editing features of Affinity Photo and precise vector tools of Affinity Designer without leaving Affinity Publisher with StudioLink • The most fluid workflow ever conceived in a creative suite of applications
Screenshots
Verdict
Concepts and Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 77% of Concepts's written reviews are positive against 47% of Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad's. Concepts also leads on ratings volume (26K vs 581) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Concepts sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Concepts against 4.6 for Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Concepts has 26K ratings behind it against 581, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Concepts's written reviews are positive against 47% of Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad's.
Concepts ships an update fortnightly, Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Concepts | Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (26K ratings) — better | 4.6 (581 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.1% of reviews — better | 47.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 26K — better | 581 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #185 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 258 MB | 1.7 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TopHatch, Inc. | Serif (Europe) Ltd. |
Customer experience
Concepts
Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad
User reviews
Concepts
From 26K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Infinite canvas
- 👍 Intuitive and customizable interface
- 🎨 Powerful drawing and sketching tools
- 💡 Versatile for various use cases (architecture, design, note-taking)
- 🔒 Responsive customer support
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Steep learning curve for some users
- 💰 Subscription model can be expensive for casual users
- 🔧 Limited text handling and editing capabilities
- 🔀 Inconsistent behavior of certain tools (e.g., eraser, alignment)
Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad
From 581 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful, desktop-level design
- 👍 Seamless integration with other Affinity apps
- 🚀 Smooth and responsive on iPad
- 💡 Universal license for all platforms
- 👍 Intuitive and clean user interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🐛 Stability and reliability issues
- 🐛 Compatibility problems with external keyboards
- 🐛 Glitches with linked images and text
- 🐛 Lack of precision and customization options
Bugs and requests
Concepts
Reported bugs
4 issues- Memory issues when working with large, complex drawings
- Inconsistent behavior of the eraser tool
- Inaccuracies in the snap-to-grid and measurement tools
- Exporting issues, such as loss of data or poor quality
Requested features
5 requests- Improved text editing and formatting options
- Better color selection and customization tools
- Collaboration and real-time sharing features
- Seamless integration with other design/productivity apps
- Syncing and backup capabilities across devices
Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashing when working with large files
- Corrupted layers and lost work
- Printing issues and scaling problems
- Inconsistent behavior with text formatting and layout
- Laggy performance and freezes when scrolling through font lists
Requested features
5 requests- Support for right-to-left text (Arabic, Persian, etc.)
- More templates and pre-designed layouts
- Improved file management and renaming capabilities
- Better support for large, complex documents
- Enhanced keyboard shortcuts and power user features
In-app purchases
Concepts
- Everything Monthly$4.991 Month
- Everything Monthly + Trial7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Everything Yearly$29.991 Year
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- Everything Yearly + Trial7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Shape Library$1.99
- Pen Brush Pack$1.99
- Body Forms$1.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Make Your Own Objects$3.99
- Essentials (iPhone Only)$4.99
- PDF Essentials$4.99
- Pro Pack [Legacy]$7.99
- 10 Object Packs$14.99
- Essentials$39.99
Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad
- Free 7-Day TrialFree
- Publisher 2 for iPad LicenseFree
- Affinity Collection for iPad$36.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Affinity V2 Universal License$164.99
Questions
Is Concepts free?
Is Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad free?
Which has better reviews, Concepts or Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad?
Do Concepts or Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad have ads?
Which is updated more often, Concepts or Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad?
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