In this comparison between Canva Pro and the Free version, I'll outline the key distinctions between these two versions of the widely-used DIY graphic design tool. This analysis aims to assist you in determining whether the Free version of Canva suffices for your needs or if upgrading to Canva Pro is a better choice.
Canva is designed to simplify the creation of visual assets, even for those without graphic design expertise. It has gained popularity among small business owners and solopreneurs due to its extensive collection of customizable templates, graphics, images, and videos. These resources can be utilized to craft a diverse range of marketing materials, including social media graphics, videos, presentations, slides, posters, business cards, and printed products.
Now, for many people starting with Canva, there’s a key decision to be made — between the ‘Canva Free’ and ‘Canva Pro‘ plans. Which version is right for you?
Let’s find out, starting with a look at Canva Free.
Canva Free features
As its name suggests, this plan is entirely free. And it’s surprisingly feature-packed.
On the plan, you get free access to:
- 250,000 free templates
- 8,000+ design layouts (social media posts, presentations, letters, etc.)
- Over 1 million free graphic elements, photos, and videos
- The ability to add members to your team and collaborate with them
- 5GB cloud storage that you can use for keeping your design assets on Canva (i.e., uploaded logos, your photos, etc.).
- The option to save your work into unlimited folders
- The option to export your work into various file formats.
You can use the free plan indefinitely, and as you can see from the feature set above, it’s highly functional too. So Canva Free definitely represents a good option for anyone who is starting a new business but doesn’t have a huge budget to put into graphic design.
There are some significant downsides of the free Canva plan, however — with three in particular worth singling out as particularly strong reasons for upgrading to Canva Pro.
First, there’s the lack of branding tools. On the paid-for plan, you can upload a logo, define your brand color palettes, add your fonts, photos, graphics, and icons, and incorporate all these easily into proceedings — but on the free Canva plan, you can’t.
Second, on the free plan, there are no filters for showing only the free design elements. When you search for a design element (for example, a photo, icon, graphic, etc.), Canva Free shows you all the relevant results for these – i.e., it includes all the elements that you only get on Canva Pro.
There’s no way to filter out these paid-for results, which can result in a rather lengthy trawl through assets you can’t use before you find a free element that works for your design.
(Technically, you can insert a premium stock image/graphic into a design created with Canva Free — but it will contain a Canva watermark).
Finally, the free plan gives you rather limited output options: you can’t adjust compression settings for your images, and you can’t download SVGs (vector graphics) or PNGs with transparent backgrounds.
Canva Pro features
Canva Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription. The tool costs $14.99 per month if paid for monthly, or $119.99 if you pay upfront for a year.
Either way, a Canva Pro account unlocks a huge number of additional important features — for me, the key ones are…
More stock photos, videos, and graphics
The free version of Canva, whilst still generous in terms of the royalty-free images and graphic elements it provides, limits you to a more basic library of stock images and graphics.
With Canva Pro, you get a huge range of additional stock photos and graphics (100 million+ in total); and you also get access to a much more extensive audio and video library.
Specifically, Canva Pro gives you access to:
- 25,000 audio tracks
- Around 10 million pre-licensed 4K and HD video clips.
The free version of Canva doesn’t provide you with any audio, and the number of free videos available is extremely limited in comparison to the ‘Pro’ version.
Given how much stock photography, video, and audio generally costs, access to such a large content library for such a low monthly fee is one of the most compelling reasons for upgrading to Canva Pro.
More templates
Although the Canva free plan gives you a lot of professionally designed templates to work with — over 250,000 — you get far more of them on the Canva Pro one: 610,000+.
The Magic Switch tool
Another tempting aspect of Canva Pro is its Magic Switch feature (previously known as ‘Magic Resize’) — this lets you repurpose existing designs for different platforms easily.
You simply open an existing design, and then use Canva Pro’s Magic Switch tool to automatically reformat it to suit different social media channels/purposes. You can then output these all in one go, which is a huge time-saver.
Canva Pro’s Magic Switch doesn’t just let you alter your designs for different channels and sizes though.
It also lets you create multiple versions of your design for different languages thanks to a built-in translation tool.
You simply click the Magic Switch button at the top of the Canva interface, choose the language you want to translate your design into, and click translate. Magic Switch then creates a translated version of your design for you.
This is ideal when you have to create multiple versions of the same design for use in different territories.
Background removal
On the Canva Pro plan, you get access to a background removal tool. This is particularly useful for creating headshots or thumbnails for YouTube videos easily.
More AI-powered design tools
Canva has recently introduced quite a few AI-powered design features to the platform — 14 different AI tools!
While some of these new tools — such as Canva’s ‘Magic Write’ writing assistant and Canva’s ‘text to image’ generator — can be used on all plans, you can only use them a handful of times on the free Canva plan.
With ‘Canva Pro’, by contrast, you not only get access to the full suite of Canva’s ‘Magic Studio AI features, but the monthly usage limits for each AI tool are fairly generous and should cover most users’ requirements without difficulty.
Customizable templates
While the free version of Canva only lets you work with pre-designed Canva templates, in ‘Canva Pro,’ you can create fully customizable templates. This means that you can create reusable, fully on-brand templates that work better for your organization.
Storage and folders
With Canva free, you get 5GB of storage, which can be used to store your assets (photos, videos, logos, etc.). However, this can be used up quickly if you are working with large assets, particularly video and audio.
Customer support
All Canva plans to provide access to email support, and this is technically available 24/7.
However, the turnaround times are quite different for ‘Canva Pro’ and ‘Canva Free’. While with the Pro plan, you can expect a reply to your query within 24 hours, you may find yourself waiting up to 1 week for help queries if you’re using ‘Canva Free.’
So, should you upgrade to Canva Pro?
Given that there is a lot of functionality available in Canva Free, not everybody will need to upgrade. But in summary, to make a decision on Canva Pro vs Free, I’d suggest asking yourself these questions:
- Do you regularly need to use your brand logo, fonts, and color schemes when designing visual assets?
- Do you need extensive control over the output formats of your designs?
- Is creating vector graphics a key part of your design requirements?
- Have you a regular need for background removal or transparent PNGs?
- Do you need access to a large library of videos and videos?
- Does your design work need to be translated into multiple languages?
- Do you need regular access to AI design features?
If the answer to most of these questions is ‘yes,’ then of the two versions of Canva available, I’d recommend going with a Canva Pro subscription.
If you need more than 1 account, then you’ll have to use Canva for Teams.
Otherwise, a Canva Free account will suit you perfectly fine.
Canva Pro vs Free FAQ
Can I try Canva Pro for free?
Yes. For a limited time, you can avail of a 30-day trial of Canva Pro.
How much does Canva Pro cost?
Prices vary by country but in the US, a Canva Pro account costs $14.99 per month if paid for every month, or $119.99 if paid for annually. This plan gives you 1 user account.
Can I export my designs with Canva Free?
Yes, you can export your designs with the free version of Canva — however, you won’t get access to compression tools and you won’t be able to export in SVG and transparent PNG formats.
What are the main advantages of using Canva Pro over Canva Free?
The main advantages of Canva Pro over the free version are its much larger library of royalty-free stock photos, videos, and audio and the way it lets you upload and use your brand assets.
What is Canva for Teams?
Canva for Teams is aimed at larger businesses than Canva Pro or Canva Free. It starts at $29.99 per month, for which you get 5 user accounts (if you need more, additional fees apply). Canva for Teams provides more control over your team members’ access, workflow, design approval, and publishing rights on social media platforms. It also lets you create more brand kits.
Do I need to install any software to make Canva work?
Canva is a browser-based app — you don’t need to install anything to use it (that said, downloadable versions for Macs, PCs, Chromebooks, and mobile devices are also available). You will need an active Internet connection to use Canva however, regardless of whether you’re using the browser or app-based versions of the tool. You can’t use Canva offline.
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