18 Best Canva Competitors Worth Considering

Canva dominates the DIY design space for a reason-it's intuitive, loaded with templates, and the free tier is genuinely useful. But it's not perfect for everyone.

Maybe you're frustrated with the recent price hikes (Teams pricing jumped significantly in late 2024). Maybe you need more advanced features. Or maybe you just want to see what else is out there before committing.

I've tested dozens of design tools. Here are the Canva competitors that are actually worth your time, with real pricing and honest takes on what each does better-and worse-than Canva.

Quick Reference: Canva Pricing

Before we dive into alternatives, let's establish what you're comparing against:

For a deeper dive into Canva's features and whether it's worth it, check out our Canva pricing breakdown and full Canva review.

Why People Look for Canva Alternatives

Canva is excellent, but that doesn't mean it's the right tool for everyone. Here are the most common reasons people search for Canva competitors:

Price Increases

Canva has implemented several price increases, with reports indicating the expansion of generative AI tools as a primary driver. For teams who don't use these advanced AI features, the price bump feels unjustified. Some users on Reddit report their costs jumping from manageable monthly fees to significantly higher annual commitments.

Limited Customization

While Canva excels at template-based design, it can feel restrictive for professionals who need granular control. The platform relies heavily on preset layouts, making it harder to create truly unique, brand-specific designs. Professional designers often cite limited typography control, constrained color management, and restricted file format options as dealbreakers.

Advanced Feature Requirements

If you're doing UI/UX design, detailed data visualization, or need Photoshop-level editing capabilities, Canva simply wasn't built for that. Teams working on complex projects, high-quality print materials, or large-scale branding initiatives need tools with more horsepower.

Overwhelming Interface

Ironically, some users find Canva's feature-rich interface "bloated and clunky." With millions of templates and constant upsells to premium content, the platform can feel cluttered. Users looking for streamlined, focused tools often seek simpler alternatives.

Storage and Asset Management

Teams handling large volumes of design files or high-resolution assets quickly bump into storage limitations on lower-tier plans. The jump from 5GB on the free plan to 1TB on Pro is significant, but some competitors offer better storage-to-price ratios.

1. Adobe Express - Best Overall Canva Alternative

Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark) is probably the closest direct competitor to Canva. It has a similar template-based, drag-and-drop approach but with Adobe's design DNA behind it.

Key Features

Adobe Express offers over 220,000 professional templates and access to millions of Adobe Stock assets. The platform includes 30,000 licensed fonts with smart font pairing recommendations powered by AI. One standout feature is Quick Actions-a dedicated section for one-click tasks like background removal, QR code generation, video caption addition, and file conversion.

The integration with Adobe's ecosystem is seamless. Photoshop and Illustrator files automatically sync to Adobe Express, and you can drop PDFs directly into the editor to modify text, images, and design elements. This makes it powerful for teams already invested in Adobe Creative Cloud.

Adobe Express includes commercially safe generative AI features through Adobe Firefly, built in-house with strict ethical protocols. The stock photo library contains over 195 million royalty-free images, videos, and music-significantly more than Canva's 75+ million premium assets.

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Free plan: 100,000+ templates, 1 million+ design assets, 4,000+ fonts, 5GB storage, content scheduling for one social account, 25 generative AI credits/month

Premium: $9.99/month (monthly billing) - Unlimited projects, increased AI credits, premium templates and fonts, 100GB storage

Teams plan: Available with 2-seat minimum, billed per person

Best For

Teams already using Adobe products, or anyone who wants more editing control than Canva offers. If you need high-quality stock imagery, extensive font options, or frequently work with PDFs, Adobe Express is the superior choice. It's also better for users who value responsive customer support.

We've done a detailed Canva vs Adobe Express comparison if you want the full breakdown.

2. Figma - Best for UI/UX and Team Collaboration

Figma isn't a direct Canva replacement-it's a different beast entirely. But if you're doing UI/UX design, web mockups, or need serious real-time collaboration, it's worth considering.

Key Features

Figma is a cloud-based, browser-first vector graphics editor with prototyping tools. The platform's real strength is simultaneous multi-user editing-multiple team members can work on the same file in real-time, seeing each other's cursors and changes as they happen.

The platform includes advanced features like Auto Layout for responsive designs, Smart Animate for transitions, Vector Networks (a modern pen tool), and the Arc Tool for designing curved interfaces. Component-based design allows you to create reusable elements that update across all instances, making design systems manageable at scale.

Figma introduced three seat types: Full seats for designers ($20/month or $16/year), Dev seats for developers needing inspect and handoff tools ($15/month or $12/year), and Collab seats for stakeholders providing feedback ($5/month or $3/year).

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Starter (Free): 3 Figma design files, 3 FigJam files, unlimited personal drafts, real-time collaboration, plugins, limited version history (30 days)

Professional: $20/month per Full seat ($16 with annual billing), $15/month per Dev seat ($12 annually), $5/month per Collab seat ($3 annually) - Unlimited files and projects, unlimited version history, team libraries, audio chat

Organization: $45/month per Full seat ($36 annually), $30/month per Dev seat ($24 annually), $10/month per Collab seat ($7 annually) - Multiple teams, design system analytics, branching, advanced permissions. Annual billing only.

Enterprise: $90/month per Full seat ($75 annually) - Custom pricing available, SSO, 4,250 AI credits per seat, dedicated support, advanced security. Annual billing only.

Note: Students and educators can access Professional plan for free with .edu email.

Best For

Design teams, UI/UX professionals, anyone doing web/app design work. If you're building digital products, need design-to-development handoff tools, or require true simultaneous collaboration, Figma is unmatched. It's essential for anyone pursuing a career in product design.

See our Canva vs Figma comparison for a deeper look.

3. Visme - Best for Business Presentations and Data Visualization

Visme positions itself as the more "business-ready" alternative to Canva. Its strength is data visualization-think infographics, reports, presentations with actual charts and graphs.

Key Features

Visme offers over 40 chart and graph types, customizable flowcharts, and 2D/3D data widgets designed specifically for business use. The Brand Wizard automatically extracts colors, fonts, and logos from your website URL, creating a cohesive brand kit in seconds.

The platform includes 10+ AI-powered tools to accelerate workflows, including AI presentation generation using your branded templates. Real-time team collaboration allows multiple users to work simultaneously, with commenting and approval workflows built in.

Visme integrates with business tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier, and Slack. The analytics feature tracks unique visitors, view time, and engagement metrics for published content-valuable for measuring presentation effectiveness.

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Basic (Free): Unlimited projects, limited templates and design assets, basic support

Starter: $29/month (or $12.25/month billed annually) - Increased template access, more export options, privacy controls

Pro: $59/month (or pricing varies by source) - Full template access, brand kit, team collaboration, most integrations, advanced privacy controls

Enterprise: Custom pricing - SSO, 2FA, dedicated customer success manager, personalized training, audit log, workflow approvals

Note: Nonprofit organizations and educational institutions may qualify for special pricing. Contact sales for details.

Best For

Businesses creating presentations, infographics, and reports with data. If you're making investor decks, internal reports, marketing analytics presentations, or training materials with charts and graphs, Visme beats Canva. It's particularly strong for B2B companies, consultants, and corporate marketing teams.

4. VistaCreate (formerly Crello) - Best Canva Clone on a Budget

VistaCreate is essentially Canva's closest clone. If you want something that works almost identically but want to explore options, this is it.

Key Features

VistaCreate offers 150,000+ professionally designed templates with animation capabilities. The platform provides access to 70 million+ royalty-free photos, videos, and vectors through integration with Depositphotos stock content (for Pro subscribers).

The drag-and-drop editor mirrors Canva's approach, making the transition seamless. Features include background remover, sticker maker, resizing tool, social media scheduler, and brand kit for managing logos, colors, and fonts.

VistaCreate is owned by VistaPrint, allowing direct integration for printing physical materials. You can design in VistaCreate and send orders to VistaPrint without leaving the platform-convenient for businesses needing business cards, flyers, or promotional materials.

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Starter (Free): 1M+ royalty-free images, videos, and vectors; 100K+ customizable templates; basic editing tools

Pro: $13/month (or $10/month with annual billing) - 70M+ premium assets, background remover, sticker maker, resize tool, team account (up to 10 users), brand kit, social media scheduler, animation features

14-day free trial available for Pro plan.

Best For

Budget-conscious users who want a Canva-like experience without committing to Canva's ecosystem. Ideal for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketers who need regular social media content, simple animations, and occasional print materials. Particularly good if you already use VistaPrint for physical products.

5. Snappa - Best for Speed and Simplicity

Snappa strips away the complexity. If you find Canva "bloated and clunky" (a common complaint), Snappa is the minimalist alternative.

Key Features

Snappa focuses on speed and simplicity. The interface is clean-everything you need is visible without menus within menus. The platform includes 6,000+ templates and 5 million+ HD royalty-free images, all included without premium upsells.

Unlike Canva's freemium model where premium assets pop up constantly, Snappa gives you access to every template, graphic, and feature even on the free plan. The catch? You can only save three designs per month on the free version.

The platform integrates with Buffer and social media accounts for direct posting, streamlining social media workflows. One-click background removal is the only AI feature currently available.

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Free: 6,000+ templates, 5M+ HD photos, 3 downloads or shares per month, access to all features and graphics

Pro: $15/month (billed monthly) - Unlimited downloads and shares, integration with Buffer and social media accounts

Best For

Entrepreneurs, bloggers, and marketers who want quick social media graphics without the learning curve. Perfect for users who create a high volume of simple designs and are tired of Canva's constant premium upsells. If you value speed over extensive features, Snappa delivers.

6. Piktochart - Best for Infographics and Reports

If your primary use case is visualizing data-infographics, reports, presentations with charts-Piktochart specializes in exactly that.

Key Features

Piktochart is purpose-built for data visualization with professional templates specifically designed for infographics, reports, and presentations. The platform excels at turning raw data into engaging visuals through customizable charts, graphs, and data widgets.

The editor is intuitive for presenting numbers and facts visually, with tools optimized for this specific use case rather than general design. Templates are categorized by purpose-research reports, marketing infographics, educational materials-making it easy to find the right starting point.

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Free plan available

Pro plans: Start around $14/month (pricing varies)

Best For

Content marketers, educators, analysts, and consultants who create data-heavy visual content. If you regularly present research findings, create annual reports, explain complex processes through visuals, or need infographics for content marketing, Piktochart is purpose-built for your needs.

7. Pixlr - Best Free Photo Editing Alternative

Pixlr is more of a Photoshop alternative than a Canva alternative, but it's worth mentioning if your main need is photo editing rather than template-based design.

Key Features

Pixlr offers a wide range of photo editing tools including layers, filters, adjustment tools, and effects. The interface is browser-based but mimics traditional photo editing software, making it familiar to Photoshop users.

The platform has two versions: Pixlr X (simplified for quick edits) and Pixlr E (advanced with layer support). Both work in browser without downloads, and can handle basic tasks like cropping and resizing as well as advanced features like color manipulation, masking, and retouching.

AI tools include background removal, which is particularly useful and works quickly. The free version is ad-supported but functional.

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Free: Ad-supported, basic features

Paid plans: Starting from $4.90/month

Best For

Users who need actual photo editing capabilities beyond what Canva offers. Ideal for photographers, content creators who work with images extensively, or anyone needing Photoshop-level editing without Adobe's price tag. Choose this if your primary need is editing existing images rather than creating designs from templates.

8. Photopea - Best Free Photoshop-Like Tool

Photopea is the dark horse on this list. It's essentially a free, browser-based Photoshop clone that's surprisingly powerful.

Key Features

Photopea replicates Photoshop's interface and capabilities in a browser. It handles PSD files natively, supports layers, masks, adjustment layers, smart objects, and most Photoshop features. The platform can also open files from Sketch, Figma, XD, and GIMP.

Advanced editing includes color manipulation, filters, layer effects, vector editing, text tools, and batch processing. Everything runs in browser with no downloads or account required.

What's Good

What Sucks

Pricing

Free: Ad-supported, full features

Premium: Available to remove ads

Best For

Users who need Photoshop-level editing without paying Adobe prices, and don't need templates. Perfect for designers who know Photoshop but want a free alternative, or anyone doing serious image manipulation. Not suitable if you're looking for quick social media graphics.

9. Simplified - All-in-One Marketing Platform

Simplified combines graphic design with AI copywriting, video editing, and social media management-positioning itself as a complete marketing solution rather than just a design tool.

Key Features

Simplified offers design tools comparable to Canva but adds AI-powered copywriting for social media posts, blogs, and ads. The platform includes video editing capabilities, a content calendar for planning posts, and direct social media publishing.

The AI writing assistant can generate captions, headlines, and long-form content in multiple languages and tones. This integration of design and copy makes it efficient for solo marketers and small teams managing multiple channels.

What's Good

What Sucks

Best For

Solo marketers, small business owners, and small marketing teams who want an all-in-one solution. Ideal if you're managing social media, creating graphics, writing copy, and scheduling posts-and want everything in one platform to streamline workflows.

10. Easil - Best for Collaborative Brand Management

Easil focuses on brand consistency and team collaboration, making it particularly strong for marketing teams and agencies managing multiple brands.

Key Features

Easil's Brand Control feature allows administrators to lock certain design elements-logos, colors, fonts-ensuring team members can create on-brand content without accidentally breaking brand guidelines. This is crucial for franchises, multi-location businesses, and agencies.

The platform offers drag-and-drop design with extensive templates, but the standout is its collaboration and approval workflow. Teams can create, review, approve, and publish content all within the platform.

What's Good

What Sucks

Best For

Marketing teams, agencies, franchises, and organizations that need to maintain strict brand consistency across multiple users and locations. If brand control is your primary concern, Easil's features specifically address this pain point.

11. Fotor - Photo Editing with Design Capabilities

Fotor positions itself between pure photo editors and design platforms, offering professional-level photo editing tools alongside design templates.

Key Features

Fotor includes advanced photo editing like HDR processing, beauty retouching, and batch processing. The platform also offers design templates for social media, but its strength is in photo manipulation rather than creating designs from scratch.

AI-powered features include background removal, AI photo enhancer, and AI art generator for creating unique imagery. One-click enhancements make it accessible to beginners while maintaining advanced tools for professionals.

What's Good

What Sucks

Best For

Content creators and marketers who need both photo editing and design capabilities. Good for Instagram influencers, bloggers, and small businesses that work extensively with photos and need to edit before incorporating into designs.

12. Creatopy - Best for Animated Ad Design

Creatopy (formerly Bannersnack) specializes in creating animated ads and banners, making it ideal for digital advertising campaigns.

Key Features

Creatopy focuses specifically on display advertising, offering templates optimized for every ad size across major platforms. The animation tools allow you to create eye-catching ads without video editing experience.

Bulk creation features let you generate dozens of ad variations quickly-essential for A/B testing. Direct integration with ad platforms streamlines the publishing process.

What's Good

What Sucks

Best For

Digital marketers, advertising agencies, and businesses running significant paid advertising campaigns. If you're creating display ads regularly and need animation capabilities, Creatopy's specialized focus delivers better results than general design tools.

13. Stencil - Fastest Social Media Graphics

Stencil's entire value proposition is speed. It's built specifically for creating social media graphics as quickly as possible.

Key Features

Stencil offers 5 million+ royalty-free photos and 1 million+ quotes built into the platform. Templates are optimized for every social media platform with proper dimensions pre-set.

The Chrome extension allows you to create graphics directly from websites-highlight text, right-click, and generate a shareable graphic with that quote. This workflow is lightning-fast for content curation.

What's Good

What Sucks

Best For

Social media managers who need to create dozens of graphics weekly. If your primary job is feeding social media channels with visual content and speed is more important than complex design, Stencil is purpose-built for your workflow.

14. Gravit Designer - Free Vector Design Tool

Gravit Designer is a free, cross-platform vector graphics editor that bridges the gap between simple design tools and professional software like Illustrator.

Key Features

Gravit offers vector editing tools including the pen tool, bezier curves, boolean operations, and path editing. It works cross-platform (web, Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS) and can export to multiple formats including PDF, SVG, and EPS.

The platform is more like Illustrator than Canva-focused on creating vector graphics from scratch rather than working from templates. This gives complete creative control and customization.

What's Good

What Sucks

Best For

Designers who need vector editing capabilities without paying for Illustrator. Good for logo design, icon creation, and illustrations. Not suitable for beginners or those looking for template-based workflows.

15. Design.com - Simple AI-Powered Design

Design.com uses AI to create custom logos and brand materials, focusing on simplicity and speed for small businesses.

Key Features

The platform asks questions about your business and design preferences, then generates multiple logo concepts using AI. Once you choose a logo, it creates a complete brand kit with color palettes, fonts, and templates.

The AI-driven approach makes it accessible to non-designers, though it sacrifices customization for simplicity.

What's Good

What Sucks

Best For

Brand new businesses that need a logo and basic brand identity quickly and affordably. Good for entrepreneurs with zero design experience who need something professional-looking to get started.

16. Canva Competitors: Specialized Tools Worth Mentioning

Animaker - Video and Animation

If your primary need is video creation and animation, Animaker offers cutting-edge AI-powered tools for end-to-end video creation. It's built specifically for video, making it more capable than Canva's video features. Good for L&D teams, marketers creating video content, and social media managers focused on video.

Prezi - Presentation Software

Prezi creates non-linear, zooming presentations that stand out from standard slide decks. If you're tired of PowerPoint-style presentations and want to create more engaging, story-driven presentations with movement and depth, Prezi offers a completely different approach.

Marq (formerly Lucidpress) - Brand Template Management

Marq is a web-based layout and design tool with real-time collaboration and exceptional brand template management. It's particularly strong for organizations needing to maintain brand consistency while allowing non-designers to create materials.

Renderforest - All-in-One Branding

Renderforest offers video creation, logo animation, websites, mockups, and graphics in one platform. It's good for small businesses wanting everything in one place, though individual features may not be as robust as specialized tools.

How to Choose the Right Canva Alternative

With so many options, here's a practical framework for choosing:

Start With Your Primary Use Case

Different tools excel at different things:

Consider Your Team Size

Collaboration features vary significantly:

Evaluate Your Skill Level

Budget Considerations

Free options with genuine value:

Best value paid options:

Integration Requirements

Consider your existing tech stack:

What About Canva Itself?

Look, Canva is still excellent for most people. The free tier is genuinely useful-over 1 million templates, 3 million+ stock assets, and a drag-and-drop editor that actually works. Over 225 million people use it monthly for a reason.

If you haven't tried Canva yet, you probably should before jumping to alternatives. Try Canva here to see if it meets your needs.

Check out our Canva tutorial and how to use Canva guide to get started.

Current Design Tool Trends

The design tool landscape is evolving rapidly. Here are key trends shaping Canva alternatives:

AI Integration Everywhere

AI features are racing ahead. Visme, Adobe Express, and others are competing to automate design tasks fastest. Background removal, AI image generation, and text-to-design features are becoming standard. The question is no longer "does it have AI?" but "how good is the AI implementation?"

All-in-One Platforms

Tools are expanding beyond pure design. Simplified combines design, copywriting, video, and scheduling. Visme adds data visualization. The trend is toward complete marketing solutions rather than single-purpose tools.

Improved Collaboration

Real-time collaboration is table stakes now. The focus is shifting to workflow management-approval processes, version control, and permission management. Enterprise features are trickling down to smaller team plans.

Brand Consistency Tools

As teams grow, maintaining brand consistency becomes critical. Brand kits, locked elements, and template systems are becoming more sophisticated across all platforms.

Specialization vs. Generalization

Some tools (like Canva) try to do everything. Others (like Piktochart or Creatopy) specialize deeply in specific use cases. Both approaches have merit depending on your needs.

Common Mistakes When Switching From Canva

Expecting Identical Workflows

Each tool has its own logic. Don't expect VistaCreate or Adobe Express to work exactly like Canva. Budget time to learn new interfaces.

Not Testing Free Trials

Most tools offer free trials. Test them with real projects before committing to annual plans. What looks good in marketing materials may not fit your workflow.

Ignoring File Portability

Can you export your designs in formats you need? Can you take files with you if you switch tools again? Check export options before investing heavily in any platform.

Overlooking Learning Resources

Smaller tools have smaller communities. If you rely on tutorials and community support, consider whether the tool has adequate resources. Canva's huge community is an underrated advantage.

Underestimating Team Training

Switching tools requires training time. Factor in the productivity loss during transition, especially for larger teams. Sometimes the devil you know is more efficient than the angel you don't.

Which Canva Competitor Should You Choose?

Here's the quick decision framework:

The Verdict: Is There a True Canva Killer?

No single tool beats Canva at everything. Canva's strength is being genuinely good at almost everything-not the best at any one thing, but good enough at all of them. That's why it dominates.

The "best" Canva alternative depends entirely on what you need most:

Adobe Express comes closest as an all-around alternative, especially if you value better stock photos, more fonts, and Adobe integration.

Figma is essential if you're doing UI/UX work-not really comparable to Canva, but industry-standard for its category.

Visme wins for business presentations and data visualization-genuinely better than Canva for this specific use case.

Snappa beats Canva on simplicity and speed for basic social media graphics.

Most users don't need to switch from Canva. But if you've hit its limitations-or just want to compare before committing to a paid plan-these alternatives each excel in specific areas where Canva falls short.

The best approach? Start with Canva's free plan to understand the baseline. Then test alternatives' free trials to see if their specific strengths matter for your workflow. Don't switch just to switch-switch only if an alternative genuinely solves a pain point Canva creates.

Still undecided? Our full Canva alternatives guide goes even deeper, or check out our Canva free trial information to test it properly before deciding.

Final Thoughts: The Design Tool Landscape

The explosion of design tools is great for users. Competition drives innovation and keeps prices reasonable. Canva's dominance pushed Adobe to create Express. Figma's success forced everyone to improve collaboration features.

The downside? Choice paralysis. With dozens of good options, picking one is harder than when Canva was the only game in town.

My advice: Don't overthink it. Pick a tool that handles your most common use case well, has pricing you can afford, and integrates with your existing tools. You can always switch later-most designs are portable.

The "perfect" tool doesn't exist. The right tool is the one you'll actually use consistently. Sometimes that's Canva. Sometimes it's not. Only you can decide based on your specific needs, budget, and workflow.

Start somewhere, create something, and adjust as needed. The tool matters less than what you create with it.