Microsoft Publisher is being retired. Here is what we suggest instead

Microsoft is retiring Publisher in October 2026. If your church or circuit uses it to produce orders of service, newsletters, posters or flyers, you will need something else in place before then.

We have heard this come up in several conversations with circuit administrators and operations officers recently, so we wanted to share what we think are the best alternatives — both of which are free for registered charities.

The short version

Both are made by the same company - Canva bought Affinity last year - and you can use them together. Many churches will want both.

Affinity Publisher 2

Affinity Publisher is the closest direct replacement for Microsoft Publisher. It is a full desktop publishing application, designed for the same kinds of documents: orders of service, newsletters, booklets, leaflets, posters. It is more capable than Publisher in almost every way, and once you are used to the interface it is straightforward to use.

Cost: Normally £164.99 as a one-off purchase. Free for registered charities through Affinity's charity programme.

How to get it:

1. Visit affinity.serif.com/en-gb/non-profit-licence/
2. Register your charity using your charity number
3. Once approved, download Affinity Publisher 2 to install on your computer

The charity licence also includes Affinity Designer (for logos and illustrations) and Affinity Photo (for photo editing) — effectively a full Adobe Creative Suite equivalent, at no cost. They work on both Windows and Mac.

Good to know: Affinity can open most Microsoft Publisher files, though complex layouts may need a little tidying up. If you have a library of Publisher files you want to bring across, allow some time for the migration.

Canva Pro

Canva takes a different approach. Instead of working from a blank page, you start from thousands of ready-made templates and adapt them. It runs in a web browser so there is nothing to install, and it is the best tool we have found for people who are not confident with design.

Cost: Normally £10.99 per month. Free for registered charities through Canva's charity programme.

How to get it:

1. Visit canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits/
2. Complete the nonprofit verification (you will need your charity number and a letter or document confirming your charity status)
3. Once approved, you get free access to Canva Pro — premium templates, unlimited storage, brand kit tools, and the ability to create your own templates for your church or circuit

Good to know: Canva is brilliant for social media posts, posters, flyers, simple brochures, presentations, and anything where you want to work quickly from a template. It is not as strong as Affinity for long, precise documents like full orders of service or multi-page newsletters.

Which one should you choose?

Most churches will benefit from having both — Canva for the quick, templated work and Affinity for the longer, more traditional documents.

If you can only pick one, we suggest Affinity Publisher 2 as a direct replacement for Publisher. It is the closest like-for-like match and will cover the widest range of what Publisher was doing.