I'm also looking for an Adobe alternative. Already buyed Publisher and decided to replace Illustrator & Photoshop too. Since yesterday i'm in Test period for the Designer. Yet for my first artwork on Affinity Designer I'm missing Text disortion/warping.
It's really sad to read, that this tool is missing for years. This tool seems important for a lot of users. Looks like I have to stay Adobe User. Without Text warping it's not possible for me to work with Affinity Designer and without using Designer / Photo, it's not practical for me to work on Publisher.
Gave a lot of hope on Affinity but this old unsolved thread about the missing tool makes is disappointing.