Canva alternatives – 6 best free & paid tools in 2023

1. What is Canva?
2. Prices&Rating of the tools
3. 6 best Canva alternatives
4. Are Canva alternatives good for beginners?
5. Conclusion

The following Canva alternatives are here to meet your creative needs. Whether you’re in search of a cheaper option, a new and intuitive interface, or unique editing features to elevate your design.

What is Canva?

Canva revolutionized the design world. By providing a simple yet powerful platform, even those without prior design experience can create stunning graphics.

Its user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and extensive library of professional templates have made it a go-to tool for non-designers as well as beginners looking to craft eye-catching visuals.

However, as Canva has evolved, some users have encountered downsides such as price changes, feature restrictions, and attempts to upsell customers since its acquisition by Atlassian.

Fortunately, the emergence of Canva alternatives has opened up a world of possibilities for designers seeking new horizons.

These graphic design tools offer cleaner interfaces, unique features, moreover cost-free options that can rival or surpass Canva’s offerings.

While professional design software like Adobe Photoshop may require a significant investment, the Canva alternatives we will explore in this article strike a balance between affordability and functionality.

Reasons why people look for Canva alternatives

• Pricing and cost considerations
• Feature restrictions and upselling attempts
• The desire for a cleaner and more intuitive user interface
• Specific design requirements not met by Canva
• Seeking greater creative flexibility
• Integration with preferred platforms or software
• Importance of reliable support and engaged user community

That is to say, let’s dive into this exciting landscape and discover the perfect Canva alternative to unlock your full graphic design potential.

The following Canva alternatives are here to meet your creative needs, whether you’re in search of a more budget-friendly option, a new and intuitive interface, or unique editing features to elevate your design.

Compare the best Canva alternatives

Tool	Starting price/month	Rating
1. Figma	Free and premium plans	4.8 based on 2,000+ reviews
2. Adobe Spark	Free and premium plans	4.6 based on 1,000+ reviews
3. Visme	Starts at $25/month	4.5 based on 500+ reviews
4. Pixlr	Free	4.3 based on 600+ reviews
5. Crello	Starts at $7.99/month	4.2 based on 300+ reviews
6. Stencil	Starts at $9/month	4.4 based on 400+ reviews

Please note that the prices and ratings mentioned here are approximate and subject to change. It’s always recommended to visit the respective tool’s official website for the most up-to-date information.

The 6 best Canva alternatives

1.) Figma

Looking for a Canva alternative that offers advanced graphic design capabilities and a collaborative environment?

Figma emerges as a powerful contender, since it provides an innovative platform for designing and prototyping.

As a result of its unique features and robust functionality, it empowers users to create exceptional designs and collaborate seamlessly, making it an ideal choice for designers seeking a comprehensive alternative.

Features of Figma:

• Design and prototyping platform: The tool has a comprehensive platform for designing as well as prototyping user interfaces and interactive experiences.
• Powerful collaborative features: It enables real-time collaboration, allowing multiple designers to work simultaneously on a project, making it ideal for remote teams or collaborations across different locations.
• Versatile design components: With Figma’s design components, you can create reusable elements such as buttons, icons, and UI elements, ensuring consistency and efficiency across multiple designs.
• Auto-layout and constraints: The auto-layout feature of Figma dynamically adjusts design elements to accommodate changes in content, ensuring a responsive design that seamlessly adapts to different screen sizes and devices.
• Interactive prototyping: Transform your designs into interactive prototypes by adding animations, transitions, and user interactions, providing a realistic preview of your end product.
• Developer-friendly design handoff: Developers can easily check and extract design details and elements directly from the platform.
• This helps teams collaborate effectively and smoothly transfer design work to the development stage. It eliminates the need for complex back-and-forth communication and allows for a more streamlined design-to-development process.

Pricing plans:

• Starter plan: Because Figma offers a free plan with basic design features up to two editors can collaborate on a project.
• Professional plan ($15/editor/month): Unlock advanced features, including unlimited projects, version history, and design components, as well as enhanced collaboration options, making it suitable for individual designers and small teams.
• Organization plan (custom pricing): Tailored for larger teams and organizations, this plan offers additional features such as advanced security controls, shared fonts, and centralized billing.

2.) Adobe Express (formerly Spark)

When it comes to the best Canva alternatives, Adobe Express stands out with its impressive range of features from other Canva alternatives.

As part of the Adobe suite, it offers a comprehensive design solution without the need for additional software like Photoshop or InDesign.

With a free version available and affordable premium plans, this Canva alternative presents a compelling option for users seeking a versatile design tool.

The tool’s advanced features:

• Extensive library of templates: Choose from a massive library of templates for social media graphic design, presentations, collages, and more. Create graphics tailored to your needs.
• Occasion-specific templates: Discover premade professional templates for social media. Just as well as for holidays, sales, and other occasions, allowing you to quickly create stunning visual content for specific events.
• Branding feature: Easily incorporate your logo, color scheme, and font when photo editing, using the branding feature, ensuring consistency and brand recognition.
• Seamless sharing and integration: Utilize sharing tools to send your designs to others or seamlessly transfer them to other programs within the Adobe Creative Cloud, therefore streamlining your workflow.
• Extensive digital asset collection: Access a vast array of backgrounds, icons, stock photos, and other digital assets to enhance your designs and create images that bring your creative visions to life.
• Convenient download options: With a quick Download button, generate your designs in formats such as PNG, JPG, or PDF, ensuring compatibility and ease of use.
• Google Drive integration: Save all your designs directly to Google Drive, providing a secure and accessible storage solution.

Pricing plans:

• Starter plan: Create graphics and more without limits and access to thousands of icons and images at no cost. However, designs will bear the Adobe Express watermark.
• Individual plan ($9.99/month): Unlock premium functionalities, including asset sharing, collaboration options, premium templates, personalized branding, Adobe Creative Cloud sharing, and the removal of the watermark.
• Team plan ($19.99/month): Build upon the Individual plan by managing multiple accounts, facilitating seamless collaboration and coordination among team members.

3.) Visme

Visme, as one of the best Canva alternatives, offers a slightly higher price point due to its focus on intricate designs like infographics and marketing documents.

It excels in generating charts and widgets for internal sharing within your company, making it an excellent choice for collaboration among teams.

Register your social media accounts and start marketing with this Canva alternative.

Best features of Visme:

• Stunning templates: Visme provides a wide range of templates with pre-designed layouts for creating visually appealing infographics, charts, and more.
• Brand kit integration: Maintain consistency by utilizing the brand kit feature, ensuring your designs reflect your established color scheme and logo.
• Importing and exporting capabilities: Seamlessly import and export designs to and from PowerPoint, enabling easy integration with existing presentations.
• Privacy controls: Certain plans offer privacy controls, allowing you to control the visibility and accessibility of your projects.
• Extensive library of multimedia assets: Access a vast collection of images, audio, video, illustrations, GIFs, and more to enhance your designs.
• Robust collaboration tools: Engage in team collaboration through comments, annotations, user types, and folder permissions, facilitating effective teamwork.
• Organization and management tools: Benefit from a file manager, analytics, and easy sharing with team members to enhance organization and productivity.

Pricing plans:

• Free plan: Ideal for starters, this plan includes up to five projects, limited templates, JPG downloads, limited charts, and public projects, accompanied by Visme branding.
• Standard plan ($25/month): Unlock 15 projects, increased storage, access to all assets, PDF downloads, all chart types, and enjoy the removal of Visme branding. Premium support is also included.
• Business plan ($49/month): Gain unlimited projects, advanced download formats, folders for better organization, privacy controls, analytics, and enhanced collaboration features.
• Enterprise plan: This top-tier plan encompasses all features from previous plans, offering additional storage, improved analytics, onboarding support, and more.

4.) Pixlr X

Pixlr stands out as a top graphic design software, serving as both an online Photoshop alternative and a Canva alternative.

With Pixlr E offering the capability to create complex designs and Pixlr X providing a streamlined design process, Pixlr proves to be a versatile solution.

Notably, Pixlr X presents a cost-effective choice compared to Canva and other similar graphics design tools, including PicMonkey.

Features of Pixlr:

• Dual functionality: Pixlr provides access to both an advanced photo editing tool and graphic editing features, offering a range of possibilities to create images.
• Extensive stock resources: Explore thousands of stock images, overlays, and stickers to enhance your designs and unleash your creativity.
• AI CutOut tool: Simplify photo editing processes by utilizing the AI CutOut tool, which allows you to easily eliminate unwanted elements from your designs.
• Vast collection of texts, icons, and other assets: Access a wide range of texts, icons, and other assets to personalize and customize your designs.
• Beautiful templates and preset dimensions: Choose from a variety of stunning templates and preset dimensions, providing a solid foundation for your design projects.
• Advanced image editing capabilities: Pixlr X offers one of the more advanced image editing tools available, surpassing the features provided by Canva and many other alternatives.

Prices of Pixlr X:

• Free version: Enjoy full access to Pixlr’s basic editing tools, along with limited access to overlays and stickers. Please note that this version is supported by ads.
• Premium plan ($7.99/month): Unlock additional overlays, icons, and stickers, and gain access to video tutorials, templates, and a broader range of assets. Experience an ad-free environment for uninterrupted design work.
• Creative Pack ($29.99/month): This comprehensive plan offers the largest collection of templates, assets, overlays, and stickers, catering to advanced design needs and providing ample creative resources.

5.) Crello

Crello presents a familiar interface similar to Canva, featuring a convenient search bar for effortless access to thousands of templates and preset dimensions, specifically tailored for designs such as Facebook posts and other social media images.

Within Crello’s drag-and-drop editor, users can add objects, establish color palettes through the branding kit, and easily drag-and-drop items like objects, stock photos and text boxes to any desired location.

Features:

• Extensive collection of over 30,000 design templates catering to various needs, including blogging, headers, social media, business cards, and marketing materials.
• Rapid photo editor tool for precise selection and extraction of specific sections.
• Diverse photo filters to instantly transform the look and atmosphere of your designs.
• Image rotation and flipping capabilities for enhanced customization.
• Quick background removal feature, outperforming many other editing tools in terms of speed.
• Engaging effects like frames and speech bubbles to add flair to your designs.
• Sleek design elements such as shapes, stickers, and badges for creative embellishments.
• Audio editing tools allow you to incorporate music into pictures and audio into videos.

Pricing:

• Starter plan: This free plan provides access to over 30,000 templates, a vast library of more than 650,000 stunning stock photos, up to five design downloads per month, and over 32,000 video clips and animations.
• Pro plan ($9.99/month): Upgrade to the Pro plan for unlimited downloads, access to all assets available in the free plan, team collaboration features, priority support, and background removal tools.Additionally, the paid plan offers the option of annual payment, providing a cost-saving opportunity.

6.) Stencil

Stencil is a simple graphic design tool that allows you to generate high-resolution images without the need for complex software like Photoshop.

This photo editor is particularly suitable for small businesses seeking simplicity in creating compelling visual content.

Features:

• Unique design features: Enjoy convenient tools such as a color picker, live previews, and safe areas, enhancing your design process and ensuring optimal results.
• Instagram SMS feature: Seamlessly send your designs directly to Instagram, streamlining your social media sharing experience.
• Social sharing: Effortlessly share your creations across all popular platforms, expanding your reach and engagement.
• Extensive asset library: Access millions of photos, thousands of templates, and a wide range of other useful assets like quotes, fonts, icons, and graphics, empowering you with diverse resources for your designs.
• Over 100 preset sizes: Choose from a variety of preset sizes to ensure your photos perfectly fit various platforms, including social media and presentations.
• Integration with Buffer: Connect with Buffer to schedule your social media images directly from Stencil, providing a streamlined workflow for your social media marketing.

Pricing:

• Free plan: Enjoy the free plan, offering up to 10 images, 10 collections, and 10 Instagram shares per month.
• Pro plan ($15/month): Upgrade to the Pro plan for comprehensive features, including access to millions of photos and icons, beautiful templates, logo designs, watermarks, font uploads, premium support, and increased limits on images per month and Instagram shares.
• Unlimited plan ($20/month): Opt for the Unlimited plan to unlock all features of the Pro plan, with the added benefit of unlimited images and collections, along with up to 100 Instagram shares.

Can you use a Canva alternative as a beginner?

Absolutely!

Canva alternatives like Adobe Spark, Visme, Crello, Pixlr X, and Stencil are ideal for individuals who may not have extensive design experience or technical skills.

These tools offer user-friendly interfaces, pre-designed templates, and intuitive features, making it easy for beginners to create visually appealing graphics, social media posts, presentations, and more.

What are the other target audiences?

Small businesses

These Canva alternatives are well-suited for small businesses that require professional-looking designs without the need for complex software.

You found cost-effective solutions for creating marketing materials, infographics, social media graphics, and other visual content to enhance brand presence and engagement.

Social media marketers

With the rise of social media platforms, these tools offer specific features and templates tailored for social media marketing.

There is an easy process of creating eye-catching posts, optimizing images for various platforms, and scheduling content. Chiefly making them valuable assets for social media marketers.

Content creators

Whether you’re a blogger, YouTuber, podcaster, or digital content creator, Canva alternatives can assist in producing visually engaging content.

These tools provide a range of design options, templates, and media assets to enhance the overall aesthetics of blog headers, YouTube thumbnails, podcast cover art, and more.

Collaborative teams

Some Canva alternatives, such as Visme and Adobe Spark, offer collaboration features that allow team members to work together on design projects.

This is particularly beneficial for businesses with multiple team members involved in content creation, enabling seamless collaboration, feedback exchange, and efficient workflow.

Conclusion

Canva, a popular Australian online design service, has gained widespread popularity for its rich set of tools and user-friendly interface.

While Canva offers a range of features, it’s worth exploring free alternatives that provide similar functionality.

It caters to both amateurs and professionals. Thus including social media managers who rely on it to create visually appealing images for posts.

One key advantage of the tool is the ability to save pre-designed templates, simplifying the process of creating similar images.

While there are a combination of free and paid features, the free version still provides access to many essential tools.

However, as with any online service or program, alternatives to Canva exist.

Although they may initially feel less convenient, users can adapt to each alternative over time. The aforementioned editors can serve as viable replacements for Canva, suitable for beginners and experienced users alike.

When considering alternatives, it’s important to assess the functionality and usability of each application.

Users will find that transitioning from one editor to another can be a relatively quick and seamless process.

Frequently Asked Questions