What Are Canva Alternatives

Canva alternatives are graphic design tools that offer similar features to Canva—such as drag-and-drop editors, templates, and content creation tools, but come from different companies and platforms.

Some are completely free and open-source, meaning you have more control, no paywalls, and often more flexibility for custom design needs.

8 Free Open Source Alternatives to Canva (That Actually Work)

If you’re not ready to shell out for Canva Pro—or if you’re into more flexibility—these tools are great options.

Most of these tools are 100% free, with no paywall. And while they might take a little more time to learn, the freedom and flexibility are worth it—especially if you’re building a side hustle or trying to level up your design game.

Canva Alternatives That Are Not Open Source

Who Should Use These Alternatives?

• Budget-conscious creators who don’t want to pay for Canva Pro
• Freelancers or marketers who need more control over their designs
• Tech-savvy users who want open-source flexibility
• Beginners looking for free tools to learn design

Why You Might Switch From Canva:

• You want more control and the ability to customize the tool itself
• You’re frustrated with Canva’s freemium limits (e.g., locked templates, background remover)
• You need a free solution with no monthly fees
• You want tools that work offline or have more advanced features for specific design types

What is Canva? A Complete Guide to the Graphic Design Tool

For those who’ve ventured into graphic design or required a snappy presentation, Canva probably rings a bell. But there’s so much more beneath the surface.

Established in 2012, Canva, a brand under the company Canva Pty Ltd emerged as an intuitive design tool for every user spectrum – from novices to professionals.

Its mission? To uncomplicate graphic design processes, enabling users to craft remarkable content seamlessly.

Now it has at least 125 million users worldwide and having reached $1 billion in revenue in 2023, there are speculations about Canva going public or releasing Canva stock.

In today’s era, where social channels span from Instagram reels to Facebook groups and LinkedIn pages, creating engaging visual content is most important.

Canva, not to be confused with Figma and Canvas, is a pioneering graphic design platform. It’s a simple tool that fills the void between content creation and polished social media post presentation.

Is Canva A Social Media Platform?

Is Canva a social media platform? No — Canva is not a social media platform. While it offers design elements and social media templates suitable for various platforms, its primary function is as a graphic design tool, akin to Adobe Express.

However, with the Canva content planner and Canva social media scheduler features, you can certainly use it as a robust social media management tool.

How Canva Can Grow Your Social Media Following?

In the dynamic realm of social media, where content is paramount and visuals dictate engagements, ensuring your posts are eye-catching is essential.

The Canva editor, armed with an intuitive interface and a range of design tools, could be your Ultimate Toolkit.

Yet, beyond mere design, how does Canva bolster your online footprint and foster follower growth? Here’s how Canva transitions from a mere design tool to a titan for social media growth .

1. The Canva Brand Kit

Branding is pivotal in creating a distinctive and memorable identity for any business or individual. The Canva Brand Kit is designed to help users maintain consistent branding across their designs effortlessly. Here’s what it entails:

• Logos: Users can upload and store different versions of their logos. This ensures quick access and consistent use across designs.
• Colors: Branding often requires specific color codes. Within the brand kit, users can save their brand’s color palette. This means no more manual input of color hex codes; with one click, the right shade is applied.
• Fonts: Typography plays a crucial role in branding. Canva Brand Kit lets users save specific fonts that align with their brand’s personality. Whether you’re looking for something professional or playful, you can keep it consistent.
• Templates: Businesses can create custom templates aligned with their branding, making it easier to generate consistent content.

2. Content Creation with Canva

The heart of Canva lies in its vast array of content creation tools. Whether you’re a seasoned designer or a beginner, Canva levels the playing field.

• Design Types: From presentations and posters to social media posts and infographics, Canva offers a myriad of pre-set design types with the right dimensions.
• Templates: Overwhelmed by the blank canvas? Canva’s vast library offers thousands of professionally designed templates that can be customized to one’s needs.
• Elements & Icons: Canva provides a treasure trove of design elements – illustrations, shapes, icons, and more. These can be dragged and dropped into designs.
• Photos: Don’t have your images? No problem! Canva offers a wide variety of stock images that can be easily incorporated into designs.
• Animations & Videos: With the increasing demand for dynamic content, Canva also offers tools to create animated graphics and short video clips.

3. The Canva Content Planner

The Canva Content Planner is an invaluable tool for social media managers, content creators, and marketers. Instead of switching between multiple platforms, Canva offers an integrated solution:

• Schedule and Publish: Users can not only design content but also schedule it for publishing directly to various social media platforms.
• Calendar View: The planner displays a calendar, giving users a holistic view of their content schedule, ensuring they never miss a post.
• Drag & Drop: Found a better date for a post? Simply drag and drop it to the desired day in the content calendar.
• Collaboration: Teams can collaborate on the content calendar, making sure everyone is aligned on the content strategy and schedule.
• Reminders: The planner sends reminders for scheduled posts, ensuring timely publishing.

4. Scheduling Posts with Canva

In an age where consistent online presence is vital, Canva’s post-scheduling tool is a boon for social media managers and brands.

• Seamless Integration: Once your design is complete, instead of downloading and then uploading to a separate scheduling tool, Canva lets you schedule right from the platform.
• Multiple Platform Support: Schedule your content across various platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more. This ensures synchronized content delivery across channels.
• Targeting Audiences: Canva understands global audiences. With its time zone considerations, you can post at times most engaging to your audience, wherever they are.
• Recurring Scheduling: Automate your periodic content, such as weekly promotions, by setting them up as recurring posts.
• Post Previews: Eliminate guesswork. See how your post will look on its respective platform before it goes live.
• Stay Informed: Canva’s notifications ensure you’re updated on the status of your scheduled posts, be it a successful post or an error that needs fixing.

5. Canva Social Media Templates

With the various platforms and post types, creating fitting designs can be overwhelming. Canva social media templates come to the rescue:

• Tailored Designs: Canva offers platform-specific templates, ensuring your content always looks its best, whether it’s an Instagram story or a Facebook cover photo.
• Variety: From minimalist to elaborate designs, the Canva library covers a wide range of aesthetics to align with your brand’s voice.
• Editable Elements: Each template is fully customizable. Change colors, fonts, images, or layouts to fit your brand’s message.
• Updated Trends: Canva’s team ensures templates are in line with the latest design trends, making sure your content remains fresh and engaging.
• Collaborative Features: Work on templates with your team in real-time, collect feedback, and iterate faster.

6. Stepping Up the Design Game With Canva Pro

While Canva’s free version offers an abundance of features, Canva Pro takes your design journey to a professional level.

• Magic Resize: With a single click, adapt your design to various formats. No need to redesign for each platform or post type.
• Brand Kit Integration: Save your brand’s logos, colors, and fonts, ensuring consistent branding across all designs.
• Extensive Asset Library: Access a wider range of premium images, videos, icons, and fonts.
• Background Remover: One of the standout features—easily remove backgrounds from images, making them blend seamlessly with your designs.
• Priority Support: Get your queries addressed faster with priority customer support, ensuring smoother design workflows.
• Collaborative Team Folders: Organize designs, templates, and assets with team folders. Collaborate efficiently and maintain brand consistency.

Is Canva Open Source?

Let’s clear this up: Canva is not open source. That means you can’t peek into its code, change how it works, or share your own version of it. Canva is built and owned by a private company, and they like to keep things under wraps.

Instead, Canva runs on a freemium model—basically, a fancy way of saying: “Here’s a bunch of cool stuff for free, but if you want the really cool stuff, you’ll need to pay.”

So, why does this matter? And what should you use if you’re looking for something more flexible, especially if you’re on a tight budget or want more control?

Let’s break it down.

Why Canva Isn’t Open Source

Here’s the deal:

1. They Want Control: Canva keeps its code private so they can control updates, features, and how the whole platform works.
2. It’s a Business Move: This helps them make money through premium upgrades.
3. They’ve Built Unique Tools: Canva’s features—like drag-and-drop design, animations, and smart templates—are kind of their secret sauce. Sharing that with the world? Not happening.

What You Can’t Do With Canva

• You can’t tweak or customize the software to fit your exact needs.
• If Canva changes something you don’t like, tough luck. You’ve got to go with it.
• Some of the best features (like background remover or premium templates) are locked unless you pay for Canva Pro.

So, What Is Open Source?

Open source software = free to use, free to change, free to share.

You get full access to the code, which means developers (and even curious teens) can customize it, improve it, or build on it. It’s all about collaboration and freedom.

Canva, on the other hand, is proprietary—closed off and owned by a company.

Can You Cancel Canva Anytime?

If you are currently on a Canva Pro account, you can cancel Canva anytime and still use the premium features until the end of your subscription month.

But if you are on the Canva free version, you can’t cancel it. You can either upgrade to Canva Pro or delete your account.

If you are on the Canva Pro free trial, you can cancel the free trial anytime before the Canva free trial expires and your pro plan will change to the free version after 30 days of the pro plan.

How to Delete Your Canva Account

Done with Canva? Here’s how to delete Canva account: Go to Account settings > Login & Security > Delete Account and enter DELETE by spelling the whole word out in all-caps.

Follow my step-by-step guide here to delete your Canva account:

Step 1: Account Settings

On the Canva website, go to the global navigation menu. Click on your profile picture and select Account settings in the dropdown menu.

Alternatively, select the gear icon to access the Accounts settings directly.

Step 2: Login & Security

You will now see your account page. On the top of the side panel, click on Login & security.

Step 3: Delete Canva Account

The login page appears on the right side. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select the Delete account button.

A pop-up will appear asking if you are sure you want to delete your account in case you’ve clicked the button by mistake.

What Happens After You Cancel Your Canva Subscription

The good thing about Canva is, you have another 14 days to log back into your account and reactivate and restore your deleted designs if you changed your mind.

After 14 days, all your old designs, folders, templates, uploads, as well as teams and apps will be permanently deleted. Any shared design with other accounts will also be removed.

Make sure to have all your designs backed up or exported to your computer before deleting your account, especially if you used to be on a Canva Pro subscription.

Previously you may have used elements, graphics, and images from Canva that are only accessible in the pro accounts.

Even within 14 days of restoring your deleted account, your Canva Pro account may have expired by then, which means you will lose free access to your brand kit, premium images, and graphics.

Once you are sure, type the word “DELETE” in the given field and click the Delete account button.

Is Canva The Same As Canvas?

No — Canva is NOT the same as Canvas.

Canva is a cloud-based graphic design tool comparable to Adobe Express, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Designer, and even tools under Adobe Creative Cloud, such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign.

On the other hand, Canvas is an online Learning Management System (LMS) primarily used for Canvas courses in educational and corporate settings.

Canvas isn’t about graphic design, visuals, or social media graphics. It’s a Learning Management System or LMS brand created by Instructure Inc. The purpose of this tool is central to modern education.

Unlike Canva or Canva Pro, which might be used by a graphic designer to create a design element or visual content, Canvas is about delivering and managing educational content.

Is Canva Publicly Traded?

NO — As of now, Canva is a privately held company under Canva Pty Limited. It is not publicly traded. The #1 Best Workplace for Innovators company with 125 million users worldwide has so far chosen to raise capital through venture capital funding.

Not to forget Canva reached $1 billion in revenue thanks to 500000 customers in 2023. [Source: GetLatka]

While there have been discussions about a Canva IPO, investors are still awaiting an official announcement.