If you're looking for a strong Canva alternative, you're in the right place.
I've worked with visual design tools for years, creating content for social media, presentations and marketing campaigns.
Canva was one of the first platforms that really made design accessible to everyone. I still think it's great for quick graphics; it's simple, fast, and has templates for just about everything.
But as I started tilting toward creating interactive and experiential content, I kept running into its limits. Canva's animation features are pretty basic, and when you want content that actually moves and engages beyond static posts, you need something with more power under the hood.
So I did what most curious creators do: I started testing alternatives. In this guide, I've narrowed it down to the 12 best Canva alternatives (both paid and free) that I've actually used, covering everything from visual content and presentations to infographics and marketing design tools.
The tools I tested include Visme, Fotor, Animoto, Adobe Express, Piktochart, Easil, Snappa, VistaCreate, Stencil, PicMonkey, Pixlr Designer and Pixazo.
Let's examine each of these tools and see what the best design solution is for you.
Prefer watching a video? Check out our video version of the best Canva alternatives.
Canva makes design simple. You can jump in and start creating a variety of visual content that looks good without professional design experience.
The template library is massive with thousands of pre-made designs for presentations, social media graphics, reports, documents and more.
The drag-and-drop interface, along with an asset library that includes stock photos, videos, icons and logos, just makes customizing your design easy. Honestly, that explains why so many people love it.
Like most tools I’ve reviewed in this article, Canva also has a wide range of AI-powered features. You’ll find the AI design tool, text-to-image generator and AI writing assistant. Plus, you can also automatically remove backgrounds and create natural-sounding voiceovers with their AI Voice Generator.
Limitations of Canva
While Canva is a popular design app, it isn't the only option available, and it’s not the one I personally use. Although it's a solid choice for many, there are valid reasons to explore other tools.
If you're creating anything for professional print, you're going to run into problems. Print shops have a love-hate relationship with Canva files.
One printer said they've never—not once—received a Canva file with proper bleed and crop marks. People export 72 dpi PNGs when you need 300 dpi for print. They don't know about RGB vs CMYK. They don't set up bleeds correctly.
Another print shop worker put it this way: "Canva is always a nightmare to deal with from a prepress perspective. 99% of the time, we use their layout as a template to completely rebuild it in Illustrator." They're basically starting from scratch because the file is unusable.
This would pretty much apply to most of the tools on this list.
Beyond print issues, there’s limited control over the typography tools, and the data visualization is pretty bare-bones compared to professional design software. Plus, you can't work with RAW photo files or do serious photo editing.
The animation features are super basic, too. You get a few preset effects—fade in, slide, bounce—but that's about it. If you want custom animations with precise timing or complex transitions, forget it. The video editing is similarly bare-bones. You can splice clips together and add some text, but it's nowhere near what you'd get with actual video editing software.
When it comes to interactive content, you can add clickable links to presentations. But if you’re looking to create immersive, interactive experiences like quizzes, calculators, and clickable charts, your options in Canva are limited.
The free version locks away most of the good stuff, so you're nudged toward paid plans pretty quickly. For example, some of the templates are only accessible with a paid plan.
How We Tested the Best Canva Alternatives
To give you an idea of how I tested these tools, here’s a quick overview of my process:
Signed up for all tools that offered truly free accounts or trials (no credit card required)
Browsed the templates (if any available)
Created at least one project to try out features of the product, including built-in graphic assets, AI capabilities and collaboration features
Tested the export formats and other sharing options (e.g. embedding or link sharing)
For any features blocked by a paywall, I researched user experiences instead.
This is an article written by a human for humans; no robots were harmed in the making of this article 😀.
Best Canva Alternatives at a Glance
Visme: Best for creating professional interactive presentations.
Fotor: Best for creating visual presentations with a variety of professional-level design and editing tools.
Piktochart: Best for turning data into engaging presentations and infographics.
Easil: Best for collaborative presentations with easy drag-and-drop features and team-based designs.
Snappa: Best for making quick, visually appealing slides with a wide selection of templates and graphics.
VistaCreate (Crello): Best for creating social-media-friendly presentations with animated elements and customizable templates.
Stencil: Best for creating simple, visually appealing presentations with a focus on speed.
PicMonkey: Best for creating visually engaging presentations with a strong photo editing features.
Pixlr X: Best for photo editing and creating presentations that require advanced image manipulation.
Adobe Express (Adobe Spark): Best for quick and visually striking presentations with templates and easy customization.
Animoto: Best for creating video presentations and slideshow-style content with music and animations.
Pixazo: Best for creating branded presentations with drag-and-drop features.
*Disclaimer:The comparisons and competitor ratings presented in this article are based on features available as of February 5, 2026. We conduct thorough research and draw on both first-hand experience and reputable sources to provide reliable insights. However, as tools and technologies evolve, we recommend readers verify details and consider additional research to ensure the information meets their specific needs.
Canva Alternatives Comparison Chart
Software
Key Features
Pricing
Best for
Core Uses
G2 Rating
Visme
Advanced data visualization, customizable templates, infinite canvas, photo & video editing, animation, AI tools, collaboration, analytics
Free; paid plans from $12.25/month
Businesses, startups, teams
Presentations, infographics, interactive content, short-form video
Visme is a graphic design tool that goes beyond what you’d expect from a regular tool. The drag-and-drop editor is intuitive, easy to use and packed with features.
It’s a versatile tool that caters to the needs of both individuals and large businesses. However, it is specifically designed for businesses and offers a range of innovative features to help you create engaging graphics.
With more than 10 AI-powered tools, it makes your workflow more efficient. Furthermore, the charts, graphs and 30+ data widgets help you bring your numbers to life, while the advanced interactive graphics keep your audience engaged.
These features make the design process faster and more accessible.
Watch the explainer video below to find out more.
Here are some features that make Visme stand out from other Canva alternatives:
Advanced Data Visualization Tools
Whether you’re looking to visualize complex data or effectively communicate insights, Visme's data visualization tool has got it. It’s packed with 40+ charts and graphs, customizable flowcharts and plenty of customizable 2D and 3D data widgets, including progress bars, radial gauges, population arrays, watches and more.
But that’s not all! You can also use our 3D animated data widgets, which add a new level of depth to your presentations, reports, infographics and any document you create with this tool.
Animation and Interactivity
Visme offers a robust suite of animation and interactive features, such as exclusive animated illustrations, popups, hover effects, and links to other slides or external websites.
Amp up your content and drive audience engagement using next-level 2D and 3D animated icons, clickable popups, illustrations, special effects, enter and exit effects and much more. To make your content more interactive, you can embed videos, polls, surveys, and quizzes, as well as connect to other third-party integrations.
Professionally Designed Templates for Business Needs
Visme also has a curated library of professionally designed templates created by an in-house team of designers, with the needs of business users in mind.
Unlike generic template collections, each Visme template is unique and designed to help you achieve specific goals. The library spans over 140+ categories tailored for essential business use cases.
Regardless of your skill level, you can create top-level infographics, web and social media graphics, flyers, interactive projects, presentations, whiteboards, wireframes, logos, charts, magazines and other multi-page documents that can be printed or embedded on your site.
Create videos and GIFs for social media, as well as animated slides for pitch decks, business marketing or even HR-related projects. There are templates for hundreds of business, training, education and other professional use cases.
With Visme’s easy-to-use editor, all of these templates can be fully customized. You can edit content, add or subtract pages, swap image(s), apply custom colors and much more.
If you're running your own business or a creator managing multiple brands at the same time, you’ll love the practicality and simplicity of Visme’s Brand Wizard. It’s definitely a game changer and I’m surprised not more tools offer this.
With Visme's brand wizard, you can apply brand identity to your designs with just one click. Copy and paste your website URL, and the tool will automatically extract your brand colors, brand fonts and company logo and save them for future use.
You can also create a set of branded templates specifically for your business. These templates come pre-populated with your brand elements, like brand colors and logos, making it easier than ever to create on-brand content.
Hyper-Customization
The level of customization Visme offers makes it one of the best Canva alternatives for graphic design. It enables teams to create visually stunning graphics and documents while maintaining complete control over the entire design process.
You can adjust the style and technicalities of charts and graphs, tailor interactive elements and provide specific analytics data that matters most to your business.
With Visme, you can easily assign specific roles and permissions to each team member, ensuring that everyone has the appropriate level of access to projects. This includes the ability to lock down specific elements, such as slides or templates, to prevent errors or unintended changes.
Visme's Slide Library and My Blocks feature allow you to save and reuse frequently used elements and slides, ensuring consistency in your brand's visuals.
Also, to save you more design time, Visme comes with a Dynamic Fields feature that allows you to update information across multiple projects simultaneously. Simply save your information by creating the fields, and whenever you insert them anywhere in the documents, they automatically populate the information.
If you have an Enterprise plan, you can customize Visme even further by turning features on or off as needed, tailoring the platform to your team's unique workflow and requirements.
Collaboration Features
Team plans have collaboration features to help teams work on projects together both synchronously and asynchronously. You can set user roles and permission levels (such as Can View or Can Comment), add and remove users, assign user roles, edit and deactivate users.
This is particularly useful for managers, designers, marketers and content creators because they can work together to create the best visual graphics for the company.
It includes dedicated workflow management features to streamline the entire design process. Manage roles, tasks, deadlines and progress right within the platform. This eliminates endless email threads and scattered messages, ensuring everyone is on the same page—LOVE THIS!
AI Tools and Capabilities
Visme has a full suite of AI-powered tools to help you take your visual content design to the next level. Compared to other features, Visme has a more extensive library of AI tools.
Here are my absolute favorites:
AI Design Generator: This lets you create eye-catching designs from a simple text prompt. Just describe the type of project you need to create—a presentation, social graphic, document, or printable—provide details about the subject of your project, choose a style and the AI Designer will generate a fully customizable design for you.
AI Resize intelligently transforms your designs, including image and font sizes, and prepares them for easy sharing across multiple social media networks.
AI Image Generator: Helps you generate unique and professional photos, paintings, pencil drawings, 3D graphics and icons in minutes.
AI Writer: This helps you generate killer first drafts for your sales, marketing, business and other writing needs.
AI Image Edit Tools: These are excellent for amplifying your designs and images. Easily edit, touch up, unblur, upscale images and remove backgrounds with a few clicks.
AI Document Generator: This lets you create reports, plans, case studies, whitepapers, manuals, proposals and any other type of document you can think of.
AI Brand Design Tool: This tool automatically builds a complete brand kit that includes your logo, fonts, and colors from your website URL, so every design stays on-brand.
Edit with AI: This AI feature updates content inside an existing template by asking you a few quick questions. It’s useful when you come across a project design that appeals to you, but the content doesn’t quite fit your needs.
AI Text-to-Speech: This tool converts written text into natural, human-like voiceovers for videos or presentations.
Photo and Video Editing Tools
Visme also has a built-in photo editor that lets you enhance your images right inside your browser. You don't have to use a separate tool to add filters and overlays, resize, crop or rotate your photos.
Did you know you can upload photos to your project using a URL or directly from your laptop camera? Yes, you heard that right.
Visme’s photo editing tool also lets you drag-and-drop royalty-free stock photos or upload your own images, add text on top and even add creative cutout frames to your images.
Analytics Features for Teams and Large Businesses
Visme offers teams and enterprises the ability to track views and generate leads with live projects. You can design any type of project, publish it to the web and will host it for you.
Gain valuable insights into your audience engagement and content performance through analytics tools. Track crucial metrics like:
Views
Unique Visits
Average Time Spent
Completion Rate
Visitor IP and Location
Multiple Download and Sharing Options.
Another one of my favorite features is that it offers several ways to share your content online and offline. You can download your designs in high-quality PDF, PNG, JPG, GIF and HTML5 formats, or publish your visuals online and generate a private or public link.
Who is it for?
Visme is an all-in-one business and visual design tool for companies of all sizes. It makes work easier for startups, corporations, enterprises, teams and agencies.
Plus, it's collaborative and design features are great for sales and marketing teams, project and product teams, L&D teams, HR teams, IT teams, designers and visual content teams.
This tool integrates with HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier, Slack, YouTube, Dropbox, Google Analytics, and Livestorm to name a few. Learn more about Visme's integrations here.
Pricing
It has a free plan that you can use for as long as you want. It's a great way to test out the tool and get a feel for all that it has to offer.
Basic: Free
Starter: $12.25/month
Pro: $24.75/month
Visme for Teams: Request for pricing
Note: Visme offers discounted pricing plans for students, educators and nonprofits.
Advanced photo editing and retouching tools, HDR support, batch processing
Basic photo editing capabilities
AI Tools
AI image and video tools including image generator, enhancer, remover, sharpener, and upscaler
Limited to image generation, background removal, and Magic Eraser
Collage Layouts
Dedicated collage maker with flexible layout controls
Template-based collage layouts
RAW Support
Supports RAW image formats
No RAW format support
Design Templates
Limited design templates
Significantly larger template library
Collaboration
No built-in collaboration features
Real-time team collaboration
G2 Rating: 4.2/5 (300+ reviews)
Fotor is another exciting Canva alternative I tested. It’s a versatile online photo editor that offers a wide range of tools and features for editing and enhancing digital images.
It has a user-friendly interface, making it accessible to users of all skill levels, and the AI-powered features like image generator, photo editor, headshot maker, photo enhancer and background and object remover make it a strong Canva alternative.
To create content for your social media and business, you’ll have to go into the “Graphic Designer”. Apart from the Designer’s aesthetic, I liked how easy it was to access everything. They have a dedicated button for AI image generation, but I couldn’t try it firsthand as it isn’t available to users of the free version. They also offer basic data visualization tools like bar charts, pie charts and line charts.
The photo and icon library is great, pre-built text effects are decent and it also offers online storage and sharing capabilities, making it a convenient option for those who want to access and share their edited images from anywhere.
Who is it for?
Fotor also has an option to edit videos. But you’ll be directed to a different tool—Clipfly—to do it, and you’ll have to sign up for it separately.
Limited variety of online templates for social media
AI Tools and Capabilities
AI Image Generator
AI Professional Headshot Generator
AI Photo Editor
AI Video & GIF Generator
AI Video Editor
AI Background Remover
AI Art Generator
Who is it for?
Fotor is a versatile platform catering to photographers, designers, bloggers, small businesses, students, social media users and anyone seeking an easy way to edit photos, create graphics and design visual content.
Integration
Similar to Pixlr, Fotor has an API that allows apps to be integrated with it but only a few.
Pricing
Fotor has three pricing plans.
Fotor Basic: Free
Fotor Pro: $3.99/month
Fotor Pro+: $7.49/month
Tool #3: Piktochart
Feature
Piktochart
Canva
Infographic Focus
Purpose-built infographic templates with strong data storytelling emphasis
General-purpose templates across many design types
Chart Customization
15+ chart types with live data support, but no interactive or dynamic widgets
30+ mostly static charts and graphs
Map Visualizations
Interactive maps with regional and location-based data
Limited map templates with minimal customization
G2 Rating: 4.4/5 (160+ reviews)
If you need to turn ideas or data into professional visuals without spending hours on layout and design, Piktochart is one of the best AI graphic design tools out there.
Piktochart has been a favorite for years for building infographics, reports, and presentations. The large template library is still one of their biggest strengths. You can choose from hundreds of ready-made templates, from marketing dashboards to annual reports. The easy-to-use drag and drop editor lets you customize them with your own text, data, colors and branding.
Their AI visual generator makes things even faster. First, you pick your format: infographic, print (flyers, posters, brochures), social media, presentation or document.
Then, you enter a simple prompt. For example, I tried it out with this prompt:
“Create an infographic outlining five key steps for building a successful business plan in 2026.”
Here’s the result.
The AI generated several clean and well-structured infographic options. The copy wasn’t perfect, but it was easy to edit. I quickly swapped out icons, changed colors, and adjusted images to match my brand style all within minutes.
AI Tools and Capabilities
AI Infographic Generator: Converts your prompt into ready-to-edit infographics, complete with suggested layouts.
AI Design Generator: Automatically builds presentation, report, or flyer layouts for faster content creation.
AI Image Generator: Generates icons, illustrations, or photos to match your topic.
AI Chart Generator: Turns raw numbers into clean, visually appealing charts you can tweak on the fly.
AI Outline: Creates a clear, structured outline for the visuals you want to design (like infographics and documents).
AI Background Remover: Removes backgrounds from your photos and graphics.
AI Image Modifier: Improves your existing visuals (change objects, styles, elements) with natural-language prompts.
Pros
Extensive library of customizable templates for infographics, presentations and reports
Great starting point for infographics, presentations, and reports
Drag-and-drop editor is easy to use, even for non-designers
Huge library of icons, charts, and stock photos
AI speeds up brainstorming and layout design
Cons
Copy generation can be generic, so you’ll need to polish the text
Limited custom fonts on the free plan
Complex animations are not as advanced as dedicated video tools
Who is it for?
Piktochart is perfect for marketers, educators, and business professionals who need to visualize data, simplify complex ideas, or create polished reports quickly. It’s particularly valuable if you create a lot of infographics, dashboards, or internal presentations.
Integration
Exports to PDF, PNG, or PowerPoint. Can embed charts and graphics into websites or share via direct link.
Extensive asset library including photos, icons, illustrations, and video
Data Visualization
No built-in data visualization tools
Built-in charts and graphs for basic data visualization
G2 Rating: 4.0/5 (10+ reviews)
Another Canva alternative that I’ve used and like is Easil.It has a clean user interface, plenty of fresh and vibrant templates, creative design elements like stickers, QR codes and illustrations and advanced collaboration features that allow multiple team members to work on a single project simultaneously.
While signing up for the platform, I was automatically given a 30-day free trial of Easil Plus, where I could truly appreciate all it has to offer. This includes its content-locking features, layers drag-and-drop and a well-organized photo and video library that makes it super easy for beginners and designers to sift through assets and create amazing designs. You also have the ability to create animated GIFs in this design tool.
Once you choose a template style and size to work on, Easil rounds up multiple platforms for which you can repurpose that design. So, instead of tweaking the size of the design one by one, you can simply click on the “Edit Collection” button to design it all in one go. This is particularly useful for creators and small business owners building a presence on multiple social platforms.
There’s also a dedicated tutorial section on Easil’s dashboard to help you make the most of the tool, and there are a bunch of tutorial videos on their YouTube channel as well to help you achieve the same.
AI Tools and Capabilities
Background Remover: Removes backgrounds from images instantly, making it easy to create clean social posts and marketing materials.
Pros
Clean UI and easy to use
Plenty of built-in templates with unique designs
Supports real-time collaboration
Users can keep track of their projects with the 'My Workspace' button, and access them across devices
Cons
Some users complain about the response times of Easil’s customer support
Easil is for anyone who needs to design social media visuals and blog-related graphics. With 1,000+ social media templates and drag-and-drop features, it’s a worthy Canva alternative.
It isn’t suited for the corporate space as most, if not all, designs are trendy. And it’s particularly not for anyone looking for AI-powered capabilities like the brand wizard, presentation or document maker and image or text generator. Easil is more for bloggers and creative entrepreneurs.
Integration
While researching this tool, I wasn't able to find anything specific about official integrations to this tool. It's recommended based on their support page to contact the app directly.
Pricing
You can use Easil’s basic plan for free, which comes with plenty of free templates and design elements. To access advanced features, consider subscribing to one of Easil’s paid plans:
Easil Plus: $6.25/month
Easil Edge: $49/month
Enterprise: Custom prici
Tool #5: Snappa
Feature
Snappa
Canva
Template Library
Smaller collection of templates
Significantly larger template library (10× more)
Video Editing
No video creation or editing features
Built-in video creation and basic editing tools
Brand Management
Basic brand and team collaboration features
Advanced brand kits and comprehensive team collaboration
AI Tools
No native AI tools
AI design tools, Magic Write, AI photo editor, background removal
Data Visualization
No data visualization features
Ready-made charts and graphs for basic data visualization
Snappa also makes the list of best Canva alternatives thanks to its ability to design eye-catching blog graphics and a long list of social media templates covering almost all social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitch, SoundCloud and Zoom.
Once inside the dashboard, users can either enter the custom graphic size or choose one of the pre-built templates to get started. There are more than 6,000 templates to choose from, so you’ll easily find something that matches your aesthetic.
I found the Snappa editor to be clean and simple. Everything is well organized and easy to access. You can choose photos, colors and patterns as backgrounds, add text and effects and design elements like icons, vectors, photos and shapes to create unique designs. The vectors are displayed in all black and can be color-customized. However, there are no animation features and you can’t create GIFs.
Snappa also doesn’t have any AI capabilities that most design tools like Visme, Canva and Adobe offer. It also doesn’t come with any business-related templates like documents, presentations, newsletters, brochures and eBooks. But for its ability to design engaging social media graphics, Snappa is a great alternative to Canva.
AI Tools and Capabilities
No dedicated AI tools.
Pros
Drag and drop interface makes it a great pick for beginners
Buffer integration lets you schedule your social media content in advance
Comes with 6,000+ pre-built social media templates
Offers advanced collaboration features in the tool’s Team version
Cons
One user complained about the exporting options in Snappa graphics, as designs can’t be exported as a vector file format
Built-in templates aren’t suitable for all business needs
Lack of custom drawing features for users who want to create graphics from scratch
Who is it for?
Snappa is mostly directed at social media marketers, small businesses and bloggers, and the pre-built template designs and sizes offered by the tool reflect that. And the Buffer integration for social media scheduling in the paid versions is a big pull for that market.
It doesn’t come with any presentation or newsletter designs and doesn’t offer any data visualization tools either. This makes it unsuitable for businesses or academics. Overall, I’d say, Snappa is for casual design with a purpose.
Integration
Based on what's available on Snappa's support page, it seems to only integrate with Buffer, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Pricing
You can get started with Snappa for free using the Starter version. For access to more advanced features like social media integrations, custom font uploads, image background removal and team collaboration features, consider subscribing to one of the paid plans:
Pro: $10/month
Team: $20/month
Tool #6: Vista Create
Feature
VistaCreate
Canva
Animations
85K+ animated design objects and motion elements
Fewer animated assets with basic animation effects
Data Visualization
No built-in data visualization tools
30+ built-in charts and graphs
AI Tools
AI writer, image generator, background remover, object remover
VistaCreate (ex-Crello) is another powerful Canva contender that comes with a variety of brilliantly designed templates in different styles and formats. It can help you create social media and blog graphics, short-form videos and high-quality print and marketing assets with ease.
The editor includes a large library of animated illustrations, image, video and music library, pre-designed font styles and background options that are suitable for most design needs. You can even upload your own brand assets and share it among your teams for a smooth workflow.
I like the number of download options offered by VistaCreate, plus the endless resize options to repurpose existing content. Even though I haven’t tried out the sticker maker feature and background removal option since it's blocked by a paywall, they’re certainly a nice option to have while designing content.
AI Tools and Capabilities
AI Image Generator: Creates new images, graphics, or illustrations from text descriptions.
AI Background Remover: Removes backgrounds in one click to create professional cutouts.
AI Object Remover: Deletes unwanted objects from photos for a polished final design.
Pros
Clean, easy-to-use interface with drag-and-drop capabilities
Built-in photo, video and music library
Allows file conversion in multiple formats
Cons
One user complained about the background removal tool being buggy
Some users say that they were unable to download and share their projects
The tool doesn’t let you save videos that are longer than a minute
Who is it for?
VistaCreate is for anyone who has been using Canva and wants a bit of a change. The images are different because they are from a different provider. The pre-built text effects are similar to Canva, and the stickers are a lot like Instagram stories so it’s easy to create those faster.
After testing out the tool, I noticed that even though VistaCreate does include some business-related templates, the design tools are more fun than professional. There’s a limit to how professional you can get with VistaCreate. This might be a reason not to buy, depending on if you're using it for personal or professional projects.
So, in my opinion, VistaCreate isn’t for people who need to visualize data. It’s more for bloggers and small businesses that need to create visuals for social media.
Integration
I wasn't able to find anything on the official site, but a source from Sourceforge shares that VisatCreate only integrates with Shift, YouTube, CloudSocial, Visaprint and Hello Woofy.
Pricing
You can get started with VistaCreate for free with their Starter plan that offers plenty of pre-designed templates, assets and direct social media sharing. But to access the advanced features like premium templates and assets, background remover, infinite brand kits and sticker maker, you’ll have to purchase the Pro plan for $10/month.
Tool #7: Stencil
Feature
Stencil
Canva
Browser Extension
Chrome extension for quick image creation
No native browser extension
Template Variety
1,350+ customizable templates
Vastly larger template collection
Asset Library
5M+ stock photos, 3.1M icons and graphics
141M+ premium photos, videos, graphics, and audio assets
Collaboration
No collaboration or team features
Advanced team collaboration and sharing features
AI Tools
No native AI tools
Multiple AI tools for design, writing, and image editing
Animation / Interactivity
No animation or interactive features
Basic animation and transition effects
G2 Rating: 4.5/5 (20+ reviews)
Stencil is another interesting Canva alternative I’ve tested that can be used to create unique social media and blog graphics. It’s a simple and easy-to-use design tool that comes with an extensive library of photos and icons and has over 1,350 pre-built templates to help you design engaging content.
Stencil lets you upload your own images and logos for use in projects, and once you’re done tweaking your designs, you can save them for future use. Share your saved projects directly from Stencil to your favorite social platforms.
I also found it super convenient to change the canvas size in Stencil—all you have to do is click on the tiny button under your project image and you’ll be able to choose the social platform that concerns you. They’ve got sizes for most blog graphics and social platforms like Facebook, X, Pinterest, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Tumblr, VK, Twitch, Spotify and Etsy. There are a total of 143 presets to choose from.
Unfortunately, though, Stencil falls behind in several areas compared to other tools on our list. It doesn’t have AI capabilities, animation or interactivity features, team collaboration features or video background support. Overall, I like how organized and simple everything is in Stencil.
AI Tools and Capabilities
No dedicated AI tools.
Pros
A straightforward interface makes it easy to use
A large variety of photos and design elements
You can customize project sizes with just a single click
I would recommend Stencil to anyone looking to create content quickly without any need of advanced tools. It’s a great pick for content creators who make quotes regularly as Stencil has plenty of pre-designed templates to choose from, which a good reason to buy.
It can also be used by small business owners and designers selling digital or physical products on Amazon and Etsy as preset canvas sizes support these selling platforms too.
Integration
Stencil comes with 14 app integrations, some of which include Buffer, Facebook, Dropbox, Instagram, Google Drive, Twitter and Unsplash.
Pricing
Stencil has a free account with a limited number of images a month and other similar limits. To access more advanced features like an extensive photo and asset library, premium support and branded templates, you’ll have to subscribe to one of the paid plans:
Pro: $9/month
Unlimited: $12/month
Bring your information to life.
Create your own free Visme account and start creating stunning visual content that your audience will love.
9,000+ vector graphics, fonts, stock photos, and videos
141M+ premium photos, videos, graphics, and audio
Template Range
Thousands of customizable templates
Around 5× more templates overall
Data Visualization
No built-in charts or graphs
30+ built-in graph and chart types
AI Features
No native AI design tools
AI design tools including text-to-design, image generation, background removal, Magic Resize
Animation & Interactivity
No animation or interactive elements
Animations, basic interactivity, and page transitions
Photo Editing Depth
Advanced retouching, touch-up tools, and photo effects
Basic to moderate photo editing capabilities
G2 Rating: 4.4/5 (400+ reviews)
PicMonkey is another brilliant Canva alternative with powerful features. It has professionally designed templates on multiple topics and use cases, including social media, blog, corporate and non-profit.
I found it easy to edit the templates, and it was equally straightforward to start a project from scratch. But what I found most convenient was how easy it was to change the layers of the project.
The editor offers a large selection of design tools to work with. The most notable of all the editing features is the photo touch-up. It does a lot of what Photoshop can do, but is easier to use.
Another feature I adore is the pattern and effects tools, which can be applied not only to the background but also to shapes in the design. You can also tweak the theme of your designs with a single click—another nice addition.
There are several tools like animations, pro effects and smart resize that I couldn’t access as they required the PicMonkey Pro subscription. But from what I have read online, they work great too.
Once you're finished editing your project, you can download your designs or export them directly to social media platforms. However, these options are only available for the Pro versions of the tool.
AI Tools and Capabilities
No dedicated AI tools.
Pros
Easy-to-use design interface
Extensive library of templates, themes, fonts and graphic elements
Photo touch-up tool makes editing images a breeze
Supports content import from a variety of sources, including Google Photos, Instagram and Flickr
The drawing feature is a nice addition to let designers get creative
Cons
Limited features in the free version
The tool doesn’t seem to handle large-size formats all that well
Some users complained that the background remover wasn’t up to the mark
Limited undo/redo functionality
Who is it for?
PicMonkey is suitable for a vast audience, very similar to Visme and Adobe on this list. It’s great for creating professional-looking visual graphics for any purpose.
It’s also especially suited for users who need photo retouching features as well as graphic design tools.
Overall, in my opinion, PicMonkey is for creative entrepreneurs, bloggers, small business owners and startups. However, it isn’t for data visualization users or academics.
Integration
I wasn't able to find information on PicMonkey's page on integration, but a source from Slashdot shares that it integrates with Shift, Desktop.com and YouTube.
Pricing
You can try out PicMonkey with a free trial for 7-days, after which you’ll need to subscribe to one of their paid plans:
Basic: $7.99/month
Pro: $12.99/month
Business: $23/user/month
Tool #9: Pixlr X
Feature
Pixlr X
Canva
Design Assets
Limited stock photos, overlays, and effects
141M+ premium photos, videos, graphics, and audio assets
Template Range
Very limited, image-focused templates
Roughly 5× more templates across multiple formats
Data Visualization
No built-in charts or graphs
30+ built-in graph and chart types
AI Features
AI background remover, AI photo editor, image generator, video generator, face swap
AI design assistance including Magic Design, Magic Resize, background removal, text-to-image
Animation & Interactivity
No animation or interactive elements
Animations, transitions, and basic interactivity
Photo Editing Depth
Advanced, layer-based photo editing
Basic to moderate photo editing tools
Layer Control
Full layer system with blend modes and masking
Very limited layer control
Selection & Masking
Advanced selections, cutouts, and refinements
Basic background removal
Brand Management
No brand management features
Brand Kits for logos, colors, and fonts
Collaboration
No collaboration or team features
Real-time collaboration and commenting
G2 Rating: 4.4/5 (700+ reviews)
I also tried out Pixlr as a potential Canva alternative. It’s essentially a suite of powerful and versatile AI design tools that can help you create amazing visual content. They have a pro-level photo editor in Pixlr Editor, a quick and easy-to-use AI editor in Pixlr Express and Pixlr Designer where you can animate your content and access 50,000+ pre-designed templates.
For this review, I’ll be focusing primarily on Pixlr Designer as it’s the closest Canva alternative Pixlr offers.
The tool has an accessible, clean user interface with intuitive controls and a rich library of photos, pre-designed fonts and creative design elements like stickers, icons and overlays. I like how everything is nicely tucked away on the side with just 4 interactive buttons; design, text, media and animate.
You can also use Designer to create photo collages. And I love the Product Shot feature that lets you create AI-powered product images. Simply upload your product photo and play around with the background and effects and hit save.
Pixlr Designer also lets you add page and layer animations to your content. You can then press the play button on the bottom left to see how the design looks—simple and works like a charm.
Pixlr has other AI-powered tools as well including the AI image generator, face swap, background and object removal, AI generative fill, photo touch-up, image resize and more. But you can’t use any of those features in the Designer itself, you’ll have to open multiple tabs to get this done.
AI Tools and Capabilities
AI Background Remover: Makes precise, transparent backgrounds instantly.
AI Photo Editor: Auto-adjusts lighting, contrast, and colors for better image quality.
AI Image Generator: Turns text prompts into creative graphics and unique images.
AI Video Generator: Generates high-quality videos from images or descriptions.
AI Face Swap: Swaps faces in photos for fun or creative marketing campaigns.
Pros
Clutter-free user interface
Drag-and-drop layers
Offers several AI-powered design tools like AI image generator, generative fill and background removal
Cons
Limited templates and design assets as compared to other tools on the list
Pixlr is suitable for several use cases. It has an online photo editor that’s suitable for casual photographers and content creators. They have an advanced photo tool that’s geared toward people looking for Photoshop-level quality and capabilities.
Designer is for small business owners, amateur designers, web developers and social media managers looking for a quick and easy way to design graphic content. It offers user-friendly tools for basic to intermediate editing tasks.
Integration
Pixlr only offers integration through its Developer API, enabling third-party developers to embed Pixlr's editing features with specific applications like Google Drive and Gmail.
Pricing
Pixlr has a free plan. The paid plans are as follows:
Plus: $1.49/month
Premium: $6.49/month
Team: $11.99/month
Tool #10: Adobe Express
Feature
Adobe Express
Canva
Design Assets
Access to thousands of Adobe Stock assets (paid tier) and Adobe Fonts
141M+ premium photos, videos, graphics, and audio assets
Template Range
350,000+ professionally designed templates
Millions of templates across virtually every design format
Data Visualization
Limited chart and graph options
30+ built-in graph and chart types
AI Features
AI background remover, video caption generator, logo generator, clip generator, text effects, template generator
Magic Design, text-to-image, Magic Resize, background removal, and more
Animation & Interactivity
Basic animation presets
Basic animations, transitions, and light interactivity
Collaboration
Real-time collaboration with version control
Real-time collaboration, comments, and version history
Adobe Express (Formerly Adobe Spark) is an online Adobe tool for quick graphic design. It’s definitely not Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, but it does the job quite well and is one of the best alternatives to Canva.
I found the tool’s interface clean and simple, and love how the onboarding process for new projects is so streamlined. It lets you create social media graphics in most common sizes, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X, TikTok, YouTube and Twitch.
You can also design unique and engaging presentations, reports, resumes, infographics and newsletters using the tool.
Adobe Express also helps you create simple, responsive websites and short animated videos. The design tools inside the editor look simple at first but are actually quite good under the surface. There's curved text, interesting animation effects, clean icons and images from Adobe Stock.
The tool also has several AI capabilities. You can create unique images, remove/add objects with a simple prompt, and generate never-before-seen-before text effects and templates.
But what I love most about Adobe Express is its branded stories feature. You add your main brand assets, like logos, fonts and colors, and the tool creates a simple template collection just for your brand.
AI Tools and Capabilities
AI Background Remover
AI Video Caption Generator
AI Logo Generator
AI Video Clip Generator
AI Text Effect Generator
AI Template Generator
Pros
Cheaper than Canva
Works seamlessly with other Adobe apps like Photoshop and Illustrator
Easy to execute character animations
Allows for real-time collaboration
Built-in content scheduler
The premium version of the tool is free if you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription
Adobe Express is best for people who want to create social media content easily and fast. Anyone with a Creative Cloud subscription can use Adobe Express. There’s also a standalone subscription for individual users.
This is not a tool for non-designers who need everything on hand at all times. It’s more for someone who can manage with the bare necessities but also has a bit of a designer background.
Integration
Adobe has been known to mainly integrate with its own suite of Adobe tools, like Adobe Creative Cloud, Firefly, Acrobat, and Adobe Stock and a handful of external apps like Canvas LMS, Microsoft and HubSpot.
Pricing
Adobe Express has a free plan. The paid plans include:
Individuals and Teams
Premium: $9.99/month.
Enterprises
Teams: $7.99/user/month. ($4.99 in the first month)
Enterprise: Request information
Tool #11: Animoto
Feature
Animoto
Canva
Design Assets
100M+ premium licensed photos and videos from Getty Images
141M+ premium photos, videos, graphics, and audio assets
Template Range
Video-first templates designed for storytelling
~5× more templates across all content formats
Data Visualization
No built-in charts or graphs
30+ built-in graph and chart types
AI Features
AI video maker and script generator
Magic Design, text-to-image, Magic Resize, and other AI design tools
Animation & Interactivity
Timeline-based transitions and motion presets
Richer animations, transitions, and basic interactive features
Video Editing
Strong video-focused workflow with timeline editing, music sync, and storytelling tools
Video editing included, but less advanced
Brand Management
Shared team workspace with saved brands and templates
Canva isn’t really built as a dedicated video editor, but it still offers a huge library of templates, drag-and-drop functionality, an extensive asset library, music library and more. It’s perfectly fine for quick, lightweight projects.
That said, if video creation is your main focus, Animoto has an edge.
Canva treats video as just another design format, so you’re still working inside a general-purpose editor. But Animoto is designed specifically for video, and you can see that as soon as you open the dashboard.
First off, you have different options for video creation:
Create with AI
Generate a video from URL
Use customizable templates
Transform images into slideshows
Start from scratch
Naturally, I went with the easiest (and most recommended) option: templates. From there, you’re taken into a clean, intuitive interface where your video is broken down into “scenes.” Each scene works like a block or slide. You can drop in your clips or images, edit the text, and rearrange everything using simple drag-and-drop controls.
From there, the workflow is very straightforward. You add media, reorder scenes, pick a music track from Animoto’s built-in library, and the platform automatically handles transitions and pacing. It’s very much a “fill in the pieces and polish” experience, which makes it easy to go from raw assets to a finished video in just a few minutes.
Animoto also has a free plan that’s good enough for testing the tool and getting familiar with the workflow, although it includes branding. Once you upgrade, you unlock HD exports, more visual styles, premium music, and brand kits. All in all, it’s a solid option for creating professional-looking marketing videos.
AI Tools and Capabilities
Animoto has an AI video maker and AI script generator
Pros
User-friendly with a drag-and-drop interface
Strong brand customization tools
Quality stock library with licensed music and images
Block-based editing
Video hosting with custom landing pages
Cons
Free version includes watermark on videos
Limited customization and editing features on the free plan
Animoto is ideal for anyone who wants to leverage video marketing without spending hours learning complex editing tools, including:
Solopreneurs managing their own marketing
Content creators who need fast video output
Small business owners creating promos and ads
Freelancers building client presentations
Teams that want simple, branded video content
Integration
Animoto supports integration with tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Box
Pricing
Free
Basic:$9/month
Pro: $19/month
Pro Plus: $39/month
Tool#12: Pixazo
Feature
Pixazo
Canva
Design Assets
Limited built-in stock; relies heavily on AI-generated visuals
141M+ premium photos, videos, graphics, and audio assets
Template Range
AI-generated layouts created on demand
Thousands of pre-built templates across all design formats
Data Visualization
No built-in charts or graphs
30+ built-in graph and chart types
AI Capabilities
AI design generator, background remover, logo maker, image & video generator, image-to-video, video-to-animation, AI image editor, AI 3D model generator
Magic Design, text-to-image, background remover, Magic Resize, AI writing and layout assistance
Animation & Interactivity
AI-powered motion and video effects
Animations, transitions, and basic interactive elements
Image Editing Depth
AI-powered creative editing and visual enhancement tools
Basic to moderate image editing capabilities
Video Creation
Fully AI-automated video generation workflows
Full video creation and manual editing tools
Brand Management
AI-suggested logos, styles, and visual directions
Full Brand Kits for logos, fonts, and color palettes
Collaboration
No collaboration or team workflows
Real-time collaboration, comments, and shared editing
Pixazo is a solid Canva alternative for social media design. It's pretty easy to use and has some decent AI features built in for creating social media graphics and business visuals in different sizes and formats.
Full disclosure—I haven't actually tested this one myself since there's no free version to play around with. But based on what I've seen from other users, the AI Art Generator seems to work well for creating eye-catching social media content that gets more engagement.
The AI can turn text prompts into all kinds of visuals: logos, banners, flyers, cover photos, you name it. You basically describe what you want, and it generates something that matches your idea. Pretty straightforward.
Beyond the AI tools, Pixazo has the usual design essentials: a clean interface, stock photos, icons, elements, and ready-made templates. Nothing groundbreaking, but all the basics are there.
AI Tools and Capabilities
AI Design Generator: Builds ads, banners, social posts, and more from a single text prompt.
AI Background Remover: Cleans up product or social images for professional use.
AI Logo Maker: Suggests logo styles, fonts, and icons for a unique brand identity.
AI Image Generator: Produces high-quality, on-brand visuals from prompts.
AI Video Generator: Turns scripts into short marketing videos.
AI Video-to-Animation: Adds animation effects to static videos for more engagement.
Image-to-Video AI: Converts still images into dynamic video sequences.
AI Image Editor: Lets you enhance or edit designs with AI-powered adjustments.
AI 3D Model Generator: Creates 3D objects from text prompts for use in product demos or AR.
In my opinion, Pixazo is for anyone looking to create engaging social media content, whether a beginner or an experienced user. It eliminates creative roadblocks and empowers you to design truly eye-catching social media content that stands out.
Integration
Pixazo integrates with over 450+ apps. These include MailChimp, LinkedIn, Asana, Shopify, WhatsApp Business, and more.
Pricing
Pixazo offers only one paid plan, which costs $84/year (or $ 8/month). They also provide a 7-day free trial to test the design tool’s capabilities.
Canva Alternatives FAQs
Canva is a popular design tool that lets you create engaging social media and blog graphics, presentations, infographics and other visual content using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. It comes with powerful AI capabilities, pre-made templates and a packed library of visual assets like images, fonts, shapes, icons and more.
When choosing a presentation software, consider the following questions—whether you plan to test it yourself or rely on online reviews:
Ease of Use: How easily can you or your team members navigate and use this software?
Template Library: Are there templates available for the types of documents you’ll need regularly?
Assets Library: How many graphics and design elements can you access (free or paid)?
Animation & Interactivity: Can you add interactive elements without coding or needing a designer?
AI Features: Does it offer AI tools to help speed up your design process?
Team Collaboration: Can your team work seamlessly on one or multiple projects?
Customer Support: Will you have access to support, or will you need to rely on forums and help pages?
Pricing: Is the monthly or yearly subscription within your budget?
The best Canva alternatives should nail the basics. It should have an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, plenty of professionally designed, customizable templates and a solid stock photo and video library. They should also have features like team collaboration, brand kit tools and advanced animation tools to bring designs to life. Some top Canva alternatives include Visme, Movavi Video Editor, Adobe Express, Design Wizard, Easil, Snappa, VistaCreate, Stencil, PicMonkey, Pixlr Designer, Fotor and Pixazo.
Yes, there are several graphic design websites like Canva, including Visme, Adobe Express, Design Wizard, Stencil, Snappa, Vista Create, and PicMonkey.
Overall, Visme is a great Canva alternative due to its advanced features, better customization options, greater flexibility, improved collaboration capabilities, and superior customer support.
Visme’s commitment to innovation and improving the user experience means users continue to access new tools and features that help them do their best work. Beyond graphic design capabilities, Visme offers SCORM, xAPI and HTML5 export for visual e-learning content and learning management systems (LMS).
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. WithVisme Forms, marketers and salespeople can create immersive and interactive forms that delight users and increase conversion rates by up to 207%.
Visme and Canva are both graphic design platforms that provide a wide range of templates, design tools, and assets for creating visual content.
Use Cases: Visme offers more comprehensive features than Canva, expanding beyond visual design. The software offers an all-in-one business and productivity suite for enterprises, sales and marketing teams, HR teams and training and development teams.
Target Audience: Generally, Canva is geared towards non-designers who want to create visual content quickly and easily. Visme is designed for both non-designers, professionals and businesses who want more advanced tools, design features and customization options to help streamline productivity.
Template Selection: Visme offers a wide range of professional templates covering a wide range of industries, roles and use cases. Visme also allows users to create their own custom templates.
Image editing: Visme has more advanced image editing tools that allow users to edit images directly within the platform. Using the AI TouchUp tool, you can easily edit and touch up images, unblur and upscale images that are too blurry or small, erase and replace objects in photos to create different scenes and remove unwanted backgrounds.
Easier Collaboration: Visme makes collaboration easier. It allows multiple people to work on the same project simultaneously, and changes are saved automatically. Additionally, Visme provides real-time commenting and feedback tools, streamlining the design process.
SCORM, xAPI and HTML Export: Visme allows you to download training materials and visual assets in LMS-ready formats like xAPI, SCORM and HTML
Visme Forms: Visme’s no-code form builder lets you create memorable forms that drive three times more conversions than traditional forms
Visme and Prezi are both digital design platforms, but Visme offers more comprehensive features and benefits.
Visme provides a wider range of customizable templates, design assets, and advanced features such as animation, customization and collaboration tools.
Users also get access to AI-powered tools like an AI image generator, an AI text-to-image writer,AI image edit and touchup tools and intuitive video editing tools.
The software’s user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop editor make it accessible to both beginners and professionals, allowing them to create high-quality visual content quickly and easily.
Additionally, Visme is suitable for various industries and use cases, making it a great choice for most users.
On the other hand, Prezi’s unique selling point is its signature zooming effect, which can be limiting for some users. While it does offer some customization options, its template selection is limited. Overall, Visme is the best option for those looking for a versatile design platform that offers a wide range of features and templates, ease of use, and affordability.
While Canva is easy to use and has a huge library of templates, it does have a few limitations:
Canva offers limited customization options when it comes to intricate designs, compared to tools like Adobe Photoshop, Visme or Illustrator. For instance, some users have complained on Reddit about being unable to create custom shapes or apply shadows to all elements.
Several Redditors have expressed concerns that Canva’s latest video editor has disrupted their workflow.
Yes, there are other tools that are better than Canva if you want to create professionally designed assets. For instance, Visme is better for creating animated or interactive professional visual assets, especially when you need content that explains, persuades, or supports real business decisions.
In recent months, many users have noticed that Canva’s pricing seems to be going up. According to a TechCrunch report, a company spokesperson said one of the main reasons for the price increase is the expansion of its suite of generative AI tools. As Canva adds more advanced features powered by AI, like Magic Write, AI design generators, and other automation tools, the company has adjusted its pricing to reflect the higher cost of developing and supporting those capabilities.
Most professional designers do not use Canva because it is built for speed and simplicity, not for deep creative control. Canva relies heavily on templates and preset layouts, which makes it harder to create unique, brand-specific designs. It also lacks the advanced typography, color management, file formats and production tools that designers need for print, web, and large-scale branding projects.
Canva works well for quick graphics and everyday content, but professional designers usually choose tools that give them more flexibility, precision, and control over the final result.
Yes, there are free open-source alternatives to Canva. They include GIMP, Inkspace, Penpot, Diagram.net, Krita and Scenify.
Prezi’s unique selling point is its signature zooming effect, which is very distinct but can feel restrictive for some users. The tool’s template library is also quite limited.
Canva, on the other hand, is a powerful design platform with an extensive library of templates and tools. However, it falls short when it comes to creating interactive, animated, data-driven and professional-grade designs. Many users have also recently raised concerns about its video editing limitations and the low quality of printed assets.
Visme is the best option because it bridges the gap left by both Prezi and Canva perfectly. Unlike Prezi, which relies heavily on its zooming presentation style, Visme supports a more versatile range of visual presentation formats.
And while Canva does a great job at simplicity and template volume, Visme takes it a notch higher with professional-grade templates and features. Its intuitive design and AI tools make it easier to produce polished visuals that meet higher business standards even if you’re not a designer.
Canva’s biggest competitor is Visme. Both platforms help people create graphics, presentations, and marketing content, but Visme is built more for professional, business-grade use. It offers a wide range of traditional design and AI tools for creating presentations, data visualization, interactivity, branding, and client-ready documents like reports and proposals. Other notable Canva competitors include Adobe Express, Figma, Piktochart and Venngage.
Looking for a Canva Alternative?
If you're looking for a good Canva alternative that offers more features and value, we recommend taking giving the tools that stand out to you for a test drive.
If you consider using Visme, not only will you be able to do everything that you could do with Canva, but you'll also have access to advanced features like data visualization tools, professional templates, animation and interactivity, a personalized Brand Kit, AI image generator, AI writer and AI TouchUp Tools and more.
*All logos, trademarks, and brand names used in this article are the property of their respective organizations. Their inclusion is for identification purposes only and does not imply any endorsement or association with our organization.
Meet Zain: freelance writer for B2B SaaS by day and YouTube content creator by night. He specializes in transforming complex, technical ideas into simple, engaging and actionable content. When he’s not working, he’s busy being a dad, playing soccer or planning his next family trip around the world. He’s currently based in Antalya where he lives right next to the beach. Connect with him on LinkedIn or check out his portfolio.
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