Best Canva Alternatives and Competitors in 2023

Canva is a great solution for graphic design purposes that offers a variety of features for different use cases. However, it is far from being the only solution on the market, and it is always recommended to look for a Canva alternative to see the comparison with your own eyes. This article attempts to do exactly that – assess the competition for Canva as an online image editing service.

Introduction to Canva

When it comes to online graphic design, Canva is one of the most well-known names in the field. It has been offering the ability to make beautiful graphic designs with as little effort as possible, for both competent designers and amateurs. It is a comprehensive design tool with a variety of features and options – despite the fact that some of these features are price-restricted.

Canva as a platform is distributed using a so-called “freemium” payment model – the base set of features is free, but some of the more unusual and specific ones are restricted behind a paywall. The paid version of Canva also offers the ability for your entire team to use the app with a single subscription (the price varies depending on the team size), and there are several other features, such as extended cloud storage, scheduling, and more.

However, Canva is not the only solution on the market, and it is not perfect, either – which is where the entire massive market of Canva alternatives comes from. In this article, we’re going to present 36 different alternatives to Canva, in no particular order.

Paid alternatives to Canva

Since the number of potential alternatives to Canva is incredibly big, it is possible to segregate the entire list into two groups – paid solutions and free solutions. Since most of the graphic design tools on the market are using a model that is similar to what Canva does – a free version with a basic set of features and the ability to pay for extra capabilities – all of the similar examples would be placed in the “free” category.

With that being said, solutions that have a free trial but do not have a permanent free version would still be considered “paid” when it comes to our list. As such, we are ready to start going through the list in question, starting with the smaller category that includes paid alternatives to Canva.

1. PicMonkey

When it comes to Canva alternatives, PicMonkey would be one of the closest ones in terms of features and capabilities. It is a flexible graphic design tool that is at its best when you need to create a visualization of something in a relatively short time span. User-friendliness is also one of the biggest features here, along with some unusual tools, such as photo retoucher, the ability to apply pattern effects to shapes, and not just background images, and so on. 

PicMonkey is a graphic design solution that does not have a free version. What it does have is three different tiers of subscription with variable limitations, as well as the week-long free trial for two of the three paid tiers.

2. Adobe Photoshop

While it is not that similar in its way of working, Adobe Photoshop is also a direct competition to Canva in the field of graphic design – offering some of the most advanced graphic design tools on the market, some of which are rarely used outside of the professional image editing field. Photoshop is also included in the Creative Cloud – Adobe’s own solution that provides even more editing features directly from the cloud, as the name suggests (Lightroom, Illustrator, etc.). It is more suitable for professional work, but it can also be used the same way as Canva – for a quick and simple editing session for your graphic design needs.

Adobe Photoshop offers three different subscription tiers that differ in the extent of the services provided (Photoshop, Lightroom, or the entirety of the Creative Cloud), as well as the amount of cloud storage provided.

3. Placeit

Placeit is great for creating mockups, designs and logos – and one of its biggest selling points is a massive library of templates and other objects to choose from. If you wish to generate visual assets for brand promotion purposes – Placeit is a great choice, with its user-friendly interface and great feature selection.

Placeit only has one subscription tier for its services, and does not offer a free version whatsoever. The subscription in question can be billed monthly or yearly, depending on the customer’s preferences.

4. Digifloat

Digifloat, on the other hand, is a slightly different take on the services similar to what Canva can offer. The main difference here is the fact that you do not have to design everything yourself – you are requesting a team of professional designers to do it for you. Solutions like Digifloat work as some sort of a middle ground between a standalone image editor such as Canva, and hiring a straight-up graphic designer for your team or company. It is an optimal option for smaller businesses to save both time and money without losing on the quality of the graphic design in question.

Digifloat offers a single subscription that is considerably higher than most of the field (it is also understandable, considering the feature set it offers), and it also has a two-week-long money-back guarantee for customers that were not satisfied with the results of the service for any reason.

5. DesignPickle

Another version of the similar service is offered by DesignPickle – it is a graphic design service that works with a lot of different content types, including social media banners, book covers, interactive graphic pieces, and more. The usual waiting time is two business days, at most, and the number of revisions is not limited whatsoever – creating a great service for some specific use cases.

DesignPickle is also considerably more expensive than most of Canva alternatives (which is understandable), and it also offers three different tiers of its service. The higher, more costly tiers open additional features, such as real-time collaboration, the ability to work with motion graphics, a dedicated account manager, and more.

6. Designs.ai

As the name suggests, Designs.ai’s main selling point is the ability to implement advanced artificial intelligence for various graphic design features. The asset library of the solution is massive, and its AI capabilities are nothing short of outstanding, offering a lot of different automation tools, including automatic media generation, automatic resizing, automatic design suggestions. Additionally, there are voiceover generation, full video creation, mockup editing, and many other features.

Design.ai has three different subscription tiers, each with its own target audience and price range. Some of the more sophisticated features are available to higher subscription tiers only. The service offers a 30-day free trial of its cheapest subscription, as well.

7. Viewst

Viewst is a solution that is distributed on a B2B SaaS model that primarily targets marketers and designers. It is a great collaboration tool that enables clear communication for creative commenting and change requests, bulk editing for quick scalable creative tweaks and much more. It has a friendly interface and a variety of features, ranging from text and image editing, animating, resizing, seamlessly exporting your creatives in different formats directly to your ad accounts.It works as a great collaboration tool when it comes to creating various advertising materials as a whole.

Viewst is a flexible graphic design solution that also has multiple different paid subscription plans. Each plan offers its own set of advantages and is suitable for a specific target audience, from individuals to enterprises. There is also a two-week-long free trial available to new users, as well.

Free alternatives to Canva

Now that we went over the “paid” part of our list, it is time to start reviewing all of the free alternatives to Canva – some of which are completely free, while others work on a “freemium” model like Canva does.

8. Adobe Creative Cloud Express

Adobe Creative Cloud Express (formerly known as Adobe Spark) is the company’s take on a graphic design solution that is less sophisticated and more accessible than Photoshop – and it works rather well in this regard. Creative Cloud Express is an easy-to-use graphic design tool with a variety of tools that balance between simplicity and depth, offering animation effects, images and icons from Adobe Stock, text customization, and more.

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is distributed as a free product with the ability to subscribe to it in exchange for an extended list of features – and there’s also a month-long free trial for all new users. Adobe Creative Cloud Express is also included in each and every version of the Creative Cloud subscription, too.

9. Gravit Designer

Gravit Designer is one of many tools that attempt to combine the two different parts of graphic design – the sophisticated feature set of Photoshop and the user-friendliness of websites similar to Canva. It is a nice combination, too – Gravit Designer’s interface looks more like Photoshop with its complexity and the overall style, and there are also multiple different features that are included in favor of simplicity, including templates, shapes, effects, etc.

Gravit Designer does have a free version, but it cannot work offline, does not have any extended export options, and cannot do versioning. The paid version of this Canva alternative offers all of these features, as well as more color space support, unlimited cloud storage, and other features.

10. BeFunky

Another name that is rather famous in the field of online image editing sites like Canva is BeFunky – an extensive image editing platform that offers multiple features for image editing and graphic design as a whole. There are three different “modes'' the solution works in – Photo Editor (basic image editing capabilities), Collage Maker (mostly focused around creating various collages) and Graphic Designer (revolving around creating images for social media and other similar purposes).

BeFunky does have a free version with multiple limitations, and it also has a paid subscription that lifts these limitations – and offers more features, as well, such as A.I.-powered enhancements and effects, smart resize, color management, and more.

11. BEE

The name of this particular service is actually an acronym – BEE stands for Best Email Editor, and it claims to have the best toolset on the market to create responsive emails in a short time span. While it is not a direct competitor to apps similar to Canva, it is still an online editor with a similar toolset to a lot of the solutions we went over already. Emails are important, and BEE offers the ability to have the most responsive emails you can have.

BEE offers three different subscription tiers, with all of the tiers being targeted towards a specific audience type, from freelancers to agencies. There is also a free plan that has some limitations in several editing areas, but is still highly flexible and easy to use.

12. Fotor

Another particularly famous name on the market of websites like Canva is Fotor – a comprehensive online image editor that offers everything you might need for most of the use cases when it comes to images. There is a massive template library, multiple different image editing capabilities such as cropping, background removing, resizing and rotating, as well as an extremely user-friendly interface.

Fotor is an image editor that has a free version and a paid version. A free version is rather limited in its capabilities, does not have the entirety of the customization options, and also shows ads during usage. There are two different paid versions of Fotor, both distributed on a subscription basis, offering a lot of different additional features, from a general ad-free experience to a stock photo library, font library, cloud storage space, and more.

13. Fotoram

In no relation to the previous option, Fotoram.io is an online image editing solution that has three parts to it – a photo editor, a collage maker, as well as an art photo maker. There are multiple different options available in the photo editor section, such as cropping, flipping, brightness adjustments and vignette effect control. You can also add text to images, add effects, frames and filters.

Fotoram as an image editing solution is completely free and has zero hidden costs – everything is available as is and can be used in most of the web browsers.

14. Pixlr

Pixlr attempts to combine the complexity of Photoshop with the flexibility of online image editors. As a result, there are now two parts of Pixlr – Pixlr E, which is a more complex graphic design tool, and Pixlr X, which is a quick-and-easy simplistic image editor. It has all of the features you’d expect from a Canva competitor, such as different text and fonts, a variety of templates, many different overlays, stock images, stickers, etc. 

Pixlr has both a free version and a paid version – the paid version is sold using two different subscription levels, each of which offers a set of features that were not available in the free version, be it the AI CutOut, higher image resolution support, more assets and templates, and so on.

15. Venngage

Another case-specific solution here is Venngage – a Canva alternative that specializes in creating infographics. Venngage offers a myriad of different templates for your infographic-making purposes, a drag-and-drop interface that is easy to work with, and many other features. You can use Venngage to create infographics for reports, social media visuals, as well as presentations – it has templates for pretty much anything.

While Venngage does have a free version that is not limited in terms of time, it is rather restricted when it comes to the number of designs at once, as well as the number of uploads for your infographics. There are three different paid versions of Venngage, with each version offering a specific use case and targeting specific user groups – with features like 24/7 customer support, brand kits, a dedicated account manager, as well as a variety of custom-built features.

16. Lucidpress

Personalized content is what Lucidpress strives to provide to its users – and it is also what differs it from most the apps like Canva. It is a brand templating solution that offers all kinds of content for your business’ growth. There is a massive template gallery, drag-and-drop editing capabilities, as well as design management features – including multi-factor authentication and top-tier encryption for your sensitive documents.

Lucidpress’ free version is extremely limited in its capabilities, with one of the biggest limitations being the upper limit of three documents at once. At the same time, there are multiple paid tiers of Lucidpress for different team sizes that boast a wider feature set – and there is even a free trial for the lowest paid tier.

17. Visme

Visme is another online image editor similar to Canva, but this one is more about the business side of things – charts, infographics, widgets, and more. There are many different templates to choose from, a massive library of other objects and additions included in the editor itself, as well as the ability to collaborate, multiple organizational tools, and so on. Visme can also import to and from Microsoft PowerPoint, has its own brand kit, and many other features to choose from.

Visme is presented in its limited form for free, and it also has multiple paid versions that can be billed monthly or annually, depending on the client’s intent. Paid versions of the solution unlock even more features, including more download formats, more storage, privacy controls, analytical tools, and so on.

18. Creatopy

Creatopy is one of the few solutions on the market that have evolved from an image editing solution to a complete production platform based in the cloud. It can be used to create a multitude of banner ads, both static and animated – while keeping everything organized and within the same style. There are quite a lot of unconventional features that Creatopy supports, such as custom coding, HTML5 animation, and more.

As a platform, Creatopy is extremely feature-rich, and a lot of its features can be tried even using its free version. As for the paid versions – there are three different tiers of paid Creatopy subscriptions, each with its own feature limitations (two of the three tiers also have a free 7-day trial, as well).

19. Stencil

“Casual” is the name of the game when it comes to Stencil – a graphic design tool with a rather simple feature set that includes quotes, shapes and background images. The most basic use case for Stencil is a text message over a background image, and it does not have much complexity beyond that, since it markets itself as a fast and user-friendly tool for simple design ideas and projects.

Stencil has two different  paid tiers that lift a lot of the limitations that the basic free account has, and the subscription itself can be paid on a monthly and on a yearly basis.

20. DesignCap

DesignCap is another alternative to Canva that offers a lot of the same features that Canva does, including a template library, an illustration library, font customization, the ability to add shapes, etc. There is also a drag-and-drop capability for most of the features, and the entire solution is built rather similarly to a lot of its competitors in the same field.

DesignCap offers a free version of its services, with a number of limitations in terms of templates, stock media variety, as well as the design numbers, upload numbers, etc. Both of the paid subscriptions to DesignCap offer no such limitations, and also add more features to the package, such as the bigger upload limit, bigger design library limit, and so on.

21. Genially

Another case-specific solution, Genially, focuses on creating entertaining presentations with the usage of both visuals and animation to entertain the target audience. Genially is at its finest when used to dissolve complex data charts into a more readable and easy to understand infographics and presentations – be it in-person or in the form of a video.

As with most of the examples above, the free version of Genially is rather limited in its capabilities, both in terms of exporting formats, as well as the template variety. As for the paid version of the solution – there are many different plans for different use cases, so it is rather easy to find the one that fits your situation the most.

22. Inkscape

The fact that Inkscape is completely free makes it even more unusual than the fact that it is one of the few open source vector graphical editors out there. The biggest advantage of vector graphics over traditional raster ones is the fact that vector graphics are not limited by pixel numbers, thus making it far easier to scale to pretty much any size. The solution itself focuses more on offering the tools to make original designs, rather than choosing a template to start from.

Inkscape is completely free and offers no paid features whatsoever.

23. Artboard Studio

Another extremely unusual player on this market is Artboard Studio. What is special about Artboard Studio is the fact that it is a solution dedicated solely to creating product mockups on a professional level. Its library of both mockup options and templates is always growing, and you can even use this same solution to create interactive presentation slides, as well.

Artboard Studio offers a free and a paid version of its solution. A free version is rather limited in its functionality, missing features such as versioning, custom fonts, collaboration capabilities, etc. The paid version of Artboard Studio gives all of these features, and more – premium templates, zero limitations in terms of project amount, a shutterstock image library, etc.

24. Piktochart

The specific niche of data visualization is rich with competition, and solutions like Piktochart are there for it, offering the ability to turn pretty much any content into infographics, charts, presentations and other report types. There is an entire library of templates, as well as many customization options for you to choose from, so that you can create your own unique take on presenting information in any way, shape or form.

Piktochart’s free version is rather limited in what it can offer – and yet it is still a great option that serves as a showcase of what the solution is capable of. All of the paid versions of Piktochart, on the other hand, can offer a wide variety of exclusive features, from custom templates and collaborations to brand assets and custom fonts.

25. Easil

If you are looking for an easy-to-use solution with the focus on social media, Easil is a good Canva alternative with a nice feature set. It has all you would need for a unique social media post (Instagram, mostly), including patterns, icons, templates, images, and even some animation capabilities. It is a great way to express your creativity, with the majority of Easil’s template designs not fitting into the “business” theme of advertisement.

Creating animated GIFs, design organizing, text masking, print quality PDFs – these are just some of the features that are available in the paid versions of Easil (two different plans, billed on a monthly/yearly basis). The free version also exists, even if it is somewhat limited in its more complicated features.

26. Flipsnack

There is a unique niche of content that is technically related to image content as a whole – flipbooks. A flipbook is a PDF file that was transformed to act similar to a book that you can flip through – and Flipsnack is one of the few solutions out there that specializes in this specific area. Flipsnack can serve as both a converter (transforming PDF files into flipbooks) and a flipbook design tool – with drag-and-drop editing and a number of other features to make this experience as easy as possible.

Despite the fact that the free version of Flipsnack is, for all intents and purposes, a showcase of its capabilities (due to a lot of restrictions in terms of both the number and the size of flipbooks), it is still a usable option for small amounts of content. There are also many different levels of paid subscription to Flipsnack, with each version having its own limitations and capabilities (this page describes all of the different features for different subscription plans).

27. piZap

piZap is a rather straightforward competitor on this market, offering three different types of tools: a Design Tool, a Photo Editor, and a Collage Maker. Each of the three tools are as straightforward as it gets – for example, Photo Editor offers a simple editing feature set. A Design Tool is helpful when it comes to creating flyers, cards, social media posts, and so on. A Collage Maker is extremely handy when you need a collage for some specific goal. 

Most of the features of piZap are free, but there is also a paid subscription that offers a number of features, including an ad-free experience, a vast library of images and objects, support for higher image resolutions, and so on.

28. Vectr

As we have mentioned before, vector-based graphic design solutions are extremely rare – which is why Vectr is the only other graphic design option on this list. It is a great tool for creating all kinds of simple vector 2D graphics with little to no effort thanks to its user-friendly interface. It is not the most complicated tool in the world, and it has no need to be complicated, either – since it can create pretty much anything from images to logos and collages, which makes it a great option for bloggers and other people that are well-versed in social media.

Vectr is a completely free online solution that has no hidden costs or paid features whatsoever.

29. VistaCreate

Another design tool that promotes itself as the easiest one to use overall is VistaCreate, formerly known as Crello. VistaCreate’s capabilities cover most of the features that any Canva alternative has, including image layering, resizing, adding objects and text messages, etc. It’s a great option for smaller companies and businesses that aim for simple promotional content – and the built-in template library works great in this regard.

VistaCreate’s basic version has a somewhat limited feature set and only allows up to 5 downloads per month – but it’s also free, and the paid version is rather cheap on its own (can also be billed annually, and not just monthly).

30. Desygner

Creating marketing materials is the main purpose of Desygner – be it business cards, social media images, email banners, or web ads. It is a rather competent solution that offers most of the features you’d expect from a solution of this category – use templates, add images and shapes, add and customize text, and so on. There is also the capability to work with simple animations, the ability to work on a lot of different devices (PC, Mac, smartphones), etc.

Desygner is a free solution with a capability to unlock more features with a paid subscription. Some of the paid advantages include sharing the solution with up to 5 people, versioning, PDF importing, scheduling, as well as zero limitations on all of the previously mentioned categories such as assets, templates, and so on. There is also a separate, more costly subscription for businesses specifically.

31. Snappa

While it does not have templates when it comes to business-related features, Snappa is at its best when used by bloggers or social media managers. It is a rather simple and user-friendly graphic design tool that offers a lot of the classic image editing features – be it adding text, adding effects, resizing, adding objects, using templates, and so on. What it does not have is the ability to work with animation in any way.

Snappa has a free version with somewhat restricted features, and there are also two different paid versions, with each version lifting up downloading restrictions, offering social media integration, offering more users per account, etc.

32. Design Wizard

Design Wizard’s biggest theme is “casual graphic design” – with most of its features targeted at bloggers and social media users first and foremost. It can work with both images and videos, has the majority of the classic graphic design features that Canva has, and it is also somewhat reminiscent of Photoshop with its terminology (the usage of “artboards”, “layers”, etc.). What it does not have, however, is the ability to add design elements to projects, be it illustrations, icons, or any data visualization tools.

While the Design Wizard on its own does have a free version, its downloading capabilities are distributed using a “pay-as-you-go” model, which makes it somewhat unfair to call it completely free. What it does have, however, are two different paid plans that include multiple premium features, from font uploads to additional storage for your projects.

33. Photopea

Image editing, image conversion and web design – all of this can be done using Photopea, a web-based image editor that wastes no time in trying to sell its features. The moment you click on the link – you are already using the editor in question, and it is quite capable in terms of what it can do, including layering, filtering, support for many file formats, etc.

Photopea is also free and its only possible transaction removes the advertisements from the screen of the solution – with zero features locked behind a paywall.

34. Pablo

Pablo is one of the few solutions on this list that are completely free and require no money to work with at all. Its biggest advantage is the ease of use, and it focuses solely on creating simple images by combining a background image with a text message of sorts. That way, it can create product images, banners, blog post images, inspirational quotes, ads, and more. 

Pablo is a solution that is distributed free of charge and requires no additional payments to use. There is no requirement to register or log in to use it, either – but there is a useful extension for Google Chrome.

35. Colorcinch

Simplicity is one of the main selling points for Colorcinch – a graphic design solution packed with all kinds of features. It has a massive library of icons and objects, over a million stock photos to choose from, and an interface that is easy to navigate and work with. Colorcinch can add effects and overlays to images, resize and enhance them, or even transform into something else entirely – giving you all of the control over this process.

Colorcinch is a free image editing solution that has no requirement of signing in before starting your work on an image. What it does have is a paid subscription that unlocks some of the more sophisticated features, including removing the background, replacing a specific color, disabling all of the restrictions when it comes to asset libraries, etc.

36. FotoJet

FotoJet is a rather simple image editing solution that fits on the list of programs like Canva rather well. It can offer image editing capabilities, it can create collages, and you can use it to create your own designs, as well. The solution is supported by a massive library of templates to choose from – and it is extremely easy to upload the results of your work to social media websites. There is a single big flaw in FotoJet that you have to keep in mind, too – it does not have the ability to upload custom images into the solution.

FotoJet is a free solution that is supported by advertisements – and it does also have a paid version with a variety of features added and/or improved over the basic package. FotoJet also offers a free 7-day trial for its paid version.

Conclusion

The market of online image editors is massive, and the number of Canva competitors is truly impressive – this list alone proves it, and there are many other solutions that we did not go over, as well. All of this serves as a great reminder how fierce and competitive this particular market is.