Canva vs Figma: A Direct Comparison for Business Users

Here's the short version: Canva and Figma are both design tools, but they're built for completely different people doing completely different work. Canva is for non-designers who need to create marketing materials quickly. Figma is for professional UI/UX designers building digital products. There's very little overlap in who should actually use each tool.

If you're here because someone told you "just use Canva" or "just use Figma" without context, let me break down exactly when each tool makes sense.

The Quick Answer: Who Should Use What

Use Canva if:

Use Figma if:

Still not sure? Keep reading for the details.

Pricing Comparison: What You'll Actually Pay

Let's get into the numbers, because this is usually the first question.

Canva Pricing

Canva has four main tiers:

Important note: Canva raised their Teams pricing significantly, jumping from around $180/year to $300/year minimum for a 3-person team. This caused some backlash in the community. The price increase was driven largely by their new AI features in Magic Studio, which have been used over 16 billion times since launch.

For a deeper dive, check out our Canva pricing breakdown or see if there's a Canva discount available.

Figma Pricing

Figma updated their pricing structure significantly in March with new seat types. Here's the current breakdown:

Understanding Figma's New Seat Types

Figma introduced three distinct seat types to give organizations more billing control:

This new structure addresses the old problem where viewers could accidentally upgrade themselves, causing surprise charges. Now admins have much tighter control over who can do what.

Important: The pricing changes and prorated billing went into effect at your first renewal on or after March 11. Organization and Enterprise plans no longer offer monthly billing - you're committing for a year.

Feature Comparison: What Each Tool Actually Does

Canva's Strengths

Canva excels at making design accessible to people who aren't designers:

Learn more in our full Canva review or Canva tutorial.

Canva's New AI Innovations

Canva has made massive investments in AI technology:

These AI features have been used over 16 billion times since Magic Studio's launch, according to Canva's partnership with OpenAI.

Figma's Strengths

Figma is built for professional product design:

Figma's Design System Capabilities

Figma has become the industry standard for building and maintaining design systems:

Where They Overlap (Sort Of)

Both platforms have added features that blur the lines:

But here's the reality: Canva's prototyping is extremely basic compared to Figma - simple links between pages without advanced interactions. And Figma's template-based design workflow can't match Canva's speed for marketing materials. They've expanded into each other's territory, but neither has displaced the other in their core use case.

Ease of Use: The Learning Curve Reality

This is where the difference is stark.

Canva requires essentially no training. The interface is designed for absolute beginners. You're guided to choose a design type, shown relevant templates, and can produce something decent in minutes. The drag-and-drop functionality works exactly as you'd expect. You can access it from the homepage, inside the editor, or even through mobile apps on smartphones and tablets.

The mobile experience is particularly strong - you can design on the go seamlessly, making it perfect for social media managers who need to create content from anywhere.

Figma has a steeper learning curve. While it's more intuitive than older tools like Adobe Illustrator, you still need to understand concepts like:

The interface differs significantly from the "PDF-like" Canva approach. When working in Figma, you enter a canvas area - a blank space resembling a digital artboard where you can create unlimited designs in one file, easily compare them, and prepare various versions.

However, Figma provides extensive documentation, community resources, and tutorials to help new users. The collaborative aspect means team members can learn from each other in real-time, which accelerates the learning process.

If you've never used design software and need to create an Instagram post in 20 minutes, Canva wins. If you're willing to invest time learning a professional tool, Figma's power becomes accessible within a few weeks.

Template Libraries: Quantity vs. Quality

Canva's Template Advantage

Canva is the clear winner for template quantity and variety:

Figma's Community Approach

Figma takes a different approach:

The verdict: Canva dominates for general-purpose templates across industries. Figma's templates are fewer but highly specialized for digital product design.

Collaboration Features: How Teams Work Together

Both tools allow real-time collaboration, but they approach it differently.

Figma's Collaboration Excellence

Figma was built from the ground up for team collaboration:

Canva's Collaborative Approach

Canva also supports team collaboration:

For design teams building products together, Figma's collaboration is significantly more sophisticated and fluid. The ability to create shared design systems that update everywhere is game-changing for large organizations.

For marketing teams reviewing social posts or creating campaigns, Canva's collaboration is perfectly adequate and easier for non-designers to understand.

Design Systems & Consistency at Scale

Figma: Built for Design Systems

Figma has become the industry standard for building and maintaining design systems:

Why Figma Excels:

Real-World Impact:

Companies like Spotify, Uber, Microsoft, and Airbnb use Figma to maintain design consistency across hundreds of designers and thousands of screens. The ability to centralize design decisions and push updates globally is invaluable at scale.

Canva: Brand Consistency Focus

Canva approaches consistency differently:

Canva's approach works well for small teams or agencies managing multiple client brands. But it lacks the systematic, component-based approach that large product teams need.

Prototyping Capabilities: Static vs. Interactive

Figma's Prototyping Power

Figma enables sophisticated interactive prototyping:

Figma prototypes simulate the actual user experience so well that they're often used for user testing before any code is written. Product teams can validate flows, test different approaches, and iterate quickly.

Canva's Basic Linking

Canva's prototyping is much more limited:

If you need to test how users will navigate through an app or website, Figma is essential. If you just need to show slides or link a few pages together, Canva works fine.

Developer Handoff: From Design to Code

Figma's Developer-Friendly Approach

Figma is designed to make the design-to-code handoff smooth:

Dev Mode Features:

Pricing Note: Dev Mode seats cost less than full design seats - typically $25-35/month depending on plan tier. This makes it affordable to give developers the access they need.

Canva: Not Built for Development

Canva isn't designed for developer handoff:

As one Reddit user noted: "You can't hand off Canva work to a developer properly. Figma has inspect features to allow developers to build your designs correctly."

If you're creating marketing materials that will be used as images, this doesn't matter. If you're designing a product that needs to be coded, you need Figma.

Platform Availability & Accessibility

Canva's Accessibility

Figma's Accessibility

Canva has a stronger mobile experience, making it better for on-the-go content creation. Figma is primarily desktop-focused, which makes sense given the precision required for UI/UX work.

AI Features Comparison

Canva's AI Arsenal

Canva has gone all-in on AI with Magic Studio:

Usage limits vary by plan. Free users get limited AI credits, Pro users get 500 monthly credits for Magic Write plus 500 AI image generations, and higher tiers get more.

Figma's AI Integration

Figma has taken a more measured approach:

Figma's AI strategy focuses on augmenting professional workflows rather than replacing design skills. The integration with coding AI tools is particularly forward-thinking.

Integrations & Extensions

Canva's App Marketplace

Canva has around 900 apps and integrations:

Figma's Plugin Ecosystem

Figma boasts over 1,750 plugins for professional workflows:

Both platforms can be extended significantly, but Figma's plugins are more numerous and geared toward professional design and development workflows.

Export Options & File Formats

Canva Export Capabilities

Figma Export Capabilities

Canva has more variety in output formats for finished deliverables. Figma focuses on formats designers and developers need for implementation.

The Real Decision: What Are You Building?

Forget features for a second. Here's the practical breakdown:

Choose Canva For:

Try Canva Free →

Choose Figma For:

Industry-Specific Use Cases

For Marketing Agencies

Canva is the winner for most agencies managing multiple clients:

However, if your agency specializes in web design or app design, Figma becomes essential.

For SaaS Companies

Figma is non-negotiable for product companies:

Many SaaS companies use both: Figma for product design, Canva for marketing materials.

For E-commerce Businesses

Canva covers most needs:

If you're building a custom e-commerce site with unique UX, you'd use Figma for the interface design, then Canva for ongoing marketing.

For Startups

Start with the free plans of both:

Most early-stage startups can operate on free plans for both tools for quite a while before needing to upgrade.

For Non-Profits

Both platforms offer free premium plans for verified non-profits:

If you qualify, apply immediately - these programs offer tremendous value.

For Education

Both platforms have generous education programs:

These programs make professional design tools accessible for learning environments.

Can You Use Both? (Yes, and Here's How)

Absolutely. Many teams do. A common setup:

Workflow Example: SaaS Company

  1. Product Design Phase: Design team creates UI in Figma, builds component library, creates prototypes for user testing
  2. Development Phase: Developers use Figma Dev Mode to inspect designs and get code snippets
  3. Launch Phase: Marketing team creates launch materials in Canva - social posts, email graphics, blog headers
  4. Ongoing: Product updates happen in Figma, marketing campaigns happen in Canva

The "Canva vs Figma" framing implies you must choose one. In practice, they complement each other well because they barely compete.

Common Mistakes & Misconceptions

Mistake 1: Using Canva for App/Website Design

While technically possible, this creates problems:

Use the right tool for the job - Figma for digital products.

Mistake 2: Using Figma for Social Media Graphics

Figma can create social graphics, but it's overkill:

Use Canva for quick marketing content production.

Mistake 3: Assuming More Expensive = Better

Figma's Organization plan at $45/month per user isn't "better" than Canva Pro at $15/month - they solve different problems. Pay for the features you actually need.

Mistake 4: Not Using Free Plans First

Both tools offer generous free tiers. Test them before paying anything:

What About Alternatives?

If neither tool fits your needs perfectly:

Canva Alternatives

For more options, check our full alternatives roundup.

Figma Alternatives

Why Most Choose Canva or Figma

Despite alternatives, these two dominate because:

Pricing: Which Offers Better Value?

For Individual Users

Canva Pro at $120/year offers incredible value:

Figma Professional at $144/year is reasonable if you're doing professional design:

Verdict: Canva offers more value for general users. Figma is worth it for professional designers.

For Small Teams (3-10 people)

Canva Teams: $300-1,000/year for 3-10 people

Figma Professional: $432-1,440/year for 3-10 people

Verdict: Depends entirely on what your team does. Marketing team = Canva. Product team = Figma.

For Enterprises

Canva Enterprise: Custom pricing (typically $2,000-30,000 annually)

Figma Enterprise: $75/seat/month ($900/year per person)

For a 100-person team:

Verdict: Canva is significantly cheaper at enterprise scale, but again - different use cases.

Making Your Decision: A Framework

Still unsure? Answer these questions:

Question 1: What are you designing?

Question 2: Who's doing the designing?

Question 3: Does it need to be coded?

Question 4: How complex is the design work?

Question 5: What's your budget per person?

Current Trends & Future Outlook

Canva's Direction

Canva is expanding aggressively:

Canva is evolving from a design tool into a complete visual communication platform.

Figma's Direction

Figma is doubling down on professional workflows:

Figma is becoming even more essential for the design-to-development pipeline.

Where They Might Collide

Both tools are expanding into adjacent territory:

But their core audiences remain distinct, and that's unlikely to change. A marketing manager will always find Canva easier, and a UI designer will always need Figma's precision.

Real User Experiences

What Canva Users Say

From reviews across G2, Capterra, and Software Advice:

Positive:

Negative:

What Figma Users Say

From reviews across multiple platforms:

Positive:

Negative:

Bottom Line: The Final Verdict

Don't overthink this:

For marketing materials and social content: Use Canva

For UI/UX and product design: Use Figma

For teams doing both: Use both tools

If you're still unsure after reading this entire guide:

Both free tiers are generous enough to make an informed decision before paying anything.

The truth is, most growing businesses eventually use both - they're not competing tools, they're complementary ones serving entirely different needs in your design workflow.