Canva Pro Review (2021) – Is It Worth Upgrading?

Last Updated: January 19, 2021

I dove deep into the Canva Pro plan to uncover the good, the bad (and the ugly) to let you know if it’s worth the extra investment or not.

If you’ve been using the free plan of Canva, you know it’s the best online tool for creating designs, right?

But you’ve probably wondered whether paying for Canva Pro is worth it, or if it’s better to stick with the free plan and save money.

So make sure to read this Canva Pro review until the end. That way you can make the best decision for yourself.

Here’s what I am going to cover in this article:

Canva At A Glance

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick interactive presentation about Canva Pro and the free plan to give you an overview so you can make a quick decision whether the pro plan is worth it for you or not.

Does Canva Sound Right For You?

If Canva was ticking all your designing needs and sound right for you in our quick presentation, why not try it for yourself? Don’t forget it’s totally free for 30 days!

Try Canva Pro Free For 30 Days

Now before going to dig deeper let’s start with the basic question, what the heck actually is Canva Pro?

If you already know what Canva Pro is, you can skip this section and move to the next one which is Canva Free vs Canva Pro.

What is Canva Pro?

Canva Pro is a premium plan of Canva that comes with far more helpful features and premium content including photos, graphics, premium templates, unlimited storage, better collaboration functionality, and much much more.

It has over 30 million monthly users across 190 countries who have made more than 3 billion designs to date.

Canva is used and trusted by thousands of organizations, and some of the popular ones are:

Unlike other tools, it is available for both web and print media designs.

But the main question is:

Is the paid version of Canva worth it? Before answering this important question, it’s important for you to know what are the key differences between Canva free vs paid.

So, without further ado, let’s get right into it.

Canva Pro vs Free

The free plan of Canva is a good option for most people who want to create stunning designs but don’t mind the limitation that comes with it. Whereas, the pro plan is best for those who need access to premium stuff and time-saving features with better collaboration functionality.

I am going to explain each feature and what both plans have to offer in detail but before that, take a look at this side-by-side comparison between Canva Free vs Pro plan.

Let’s get into the details.

Canva Free Plan Includes:

250,000+ Templates – Access to over 250,000 templates but not all of them can be used for designs. You can only use free templates, not the premium ones.

200K Photos – Get access to 200K photos for free and the premium ones starting at $1 each.

57K Graphic Elements – You’ll have access to 57K graphic elements.

13K Videos – You’ll have access to 13K videos that you can use in your designs.

1700 Fonts – The free plan allows you to choose from 1700 free fonts for your designs but you can’t upload your own fonts.

75 Audio Tracks & 6 Animation Effects – You’ll have access to 75 audio tracks and 6 animation effects that you can use for your designs.

Invite Your Team – Invite team members for free through email and give them access as a member or administrator.

5GB Storage – You’ll have 5GB of storage for uploading your photos and assets.

Two Folders – Create and use two folders for free to organize your designs and images within your Canva account.

Brand Kit (Very Limited) – You will have access to only one color palette in your brand kit with three different colors. However, you can’t upload your own logos or fonts.

So, these are the features and content you get with the free plan.

Now, let’s talk about what’s included in Canva Pro.

Canva Pro Plan Includes:

Canva Pro plan includes everything free plan has, plus:

Brand Kit Pro – It allows you to organize and customize elements of a brand’s visual identity by uploading your own logos, fonts, and setting up as much color palette as you want so you or your team members can produce designs that fit your brand.

Brand Kit Overview:

Background Removal – Remove background from an image with just one click.

Background Removal Overview:

Magic Resize – Instantly resize your designs into custom dimensions or create a copy of it in any size you want.

Magic Resize Overview:

Here’s how I resized the thumnail of my Crello vs Canva guide within few seconds for Facebook Posts:

Transparent Images – Download your designs in transparent backgrounds with one click.

Transparent Images Overview:

Content Planner – Canva schedule or content planner allows you to schedule your content for your social media account. All you’ve to do is, create stunning designs in advance, schedule them, and Canva will automatically post them according to the plan you’ve set.

Content Planner Overview:

420,000+ Templates – Get access to 420,000+ premium designed ready-made templates that you can use to produce stunning designs instantly.

Templates Overview

75+ Million Photos, Videos & Elements – Getting access to more than 75 million premium photos, videos, audios, graphics at no extra cost is a huge plus because once you upgrade to Canva Pro then you don’t need a premium stock photo or video subscription.

Premium Content Library Overview:

Create & Invite Team Members – Create a team and invite unlimited members to your team through their email and give them access as a member, template designer, or administrator to begin collaborating in Canva. It includes better collaborating functionality than inviting members in the free plan.

Create & Invite Team Members Overview:

Animator – Create animated graphics with different animation styles, which you can download as a GIF or movie format (MP4).

Animator Overview:

Share Your Designs As Template – Design custom templates that matches your brand and share with them so they can use as a template.

Share Designs As Template Overview:

Design Together – Create designs with your whole team in real-time from anywhere in the world. You can add specific team members for your designs and they can design in real-time and you or your team members can add comments on designs to give each others feedback about that design.

Designing Together Overview:

Unlimited Folders – Create unlimited folders or subfolders to organize your designs and add specific team members to your folders if you want.

Unlimited Folders Overview:

Upload Own Fonts – If you are using a specific font for your designs that is not available in Canva’s 3000+ fonts, you can upload your own font.

Uploading Fonts Overview:

3000+ Fonts – If you upgrade to Canva Pro, you’ll have access to over 3000 premium fonts.

Set Download Quality – Set download quality for your design when downloading, you can download your designs either in very high, medium, or low resolution.

100GB Storage – The pro user gets 100GB of storage for uploading your photos and assets.

Priority Support – If you upgrade to the pro plan, they claims to offer you priority support.

So these are the main features you get with Canva Pro plan.

Every feature of the Canva Pro plan is helpful but the first five features and getting access to 420,000+ premium templates and a library of 75+ million premium photos, videos, audios, and graphics are probably the big draws of the pro plan.

Being able to create content that matches to your brand, removing background from images in one click, instantly resizing designs into any content format or custom sizes, transparent images in seconds, and scheduling your designs in Canva are the huge benefits of Canva Pro.

Watch out this video to have a quick recap of the main Canva Pro plan features!

Canva Print

Besides all that, Canva offers you a service known as Canva Print which allows you to print your designs and order them if you want.

To learn more, here’s a quick introduction to Canva Print:

📝 Note: This service is available to limited countries, to learn more about their availability and other details, head over to Canva Print.

Is Canva Pro Worth It?

Canva Pro is worth it if you don’t want to hire a graphics designer and looking for an affordable easy to use tool to create stunning designs in minutes by yourself without graphic designing skills.

However, the free version is useful as well, but it comes with limited features and if you don’t mind the limitation that comes with it, then the pro plan is not worth it for you.

What I figure out is that many people are happy with the Canva Pro plan, so you can also give it a try for free at least.

.@canva is by far the easiest to use design software I’ve ever come across. I don’t know why it took me so long to upgrade! #blog #design #simple
— Ben Cummings (@blogwithben) October 12, 2019

Canva Pro costs only a few bucks a month, and it got such a good value for money feedback from users.

Personally, I recommend you to try out Canva Pro 30 days free trial and then make your decision whether it’s worth it for you or not.

Is Canva Easy to Use?

The first thing you should always look when choosing graphic designing tools is how easy it is to use, right?

Graphic designing tools or software often struggle to combine power with ease of use, but Canva has excelled in this crucial area.

Canva is very easy to use, in fact, it becomes so popular because of its ease of use. Anyone can use it, a non-designer as well as professionals. It is as easy as that – you don’t need graphic designing skills, hire a professional designer for your projects, and a high budget.

Choosing from 420,000+ predesigned templates, millions of photos, videos, audios, elements, graphics, thousands of premium fonts, hundreds of integrations, and tons of time-saving features make Canva a quick and affordable tool for creating professional-looking designs.

Besides all that, the drag and drop editor of Canva makes it even easier for anyone to create stunning designs in minutes with a live preview.

Try it yourself for free and discover how easy Canva is to use by having a go on Canva’s 30-day free trial – it won’t cost you a single cent!

Canva Pros and Cons

No matter which platform you choose, there will be some pros as well as cons and it’s your job to know what they are, so you have no regrets later on.

There are many pros and cons online about Canva – usually with user-generated reviews which is fine but I will share my personal experience with Canva.

So, here are the main pros and cons that I think you can expect to encounter if using Canva.

Let’s start by looking at some of the advantages of Canva.

Pros of Using Canva

Canva Pros

#1 – Quick & easy to use

As I already discussed, it is one of the easiest tools out there for designing any type of content.

Other tools such as Adobe Photoshop definitely have more editing features than Canva but it can be overwhelming and frustrating to use for the beginner designer.

In my opinion, Canva is a must-have tool especially for beginners or people with little design experience. However, even photoshop experts use Canva for quick and easy designs.

#2 – Tons of integrations and third-party apps

Canva is integrated with hundreds of popular platforms and third-party apps such as social media platforms, cloud storage services, music hosting sites, CRM like HubSpot, editing extensions, and much more.

Integration with other platforms saves your time to do things right from Canva such as sharing your photos or saving your designs in Dropbox with one click.

#3 – Huge number of pre-designed templates and graphics

Canva offers you more than 420,000 pre-designed templates for any content type which is a huge plus.

All you’ve to do is, simply select any template whether a social media design, logos, presentation, or any other content types, and then just customize that design however you like with your creativity or you can create designs from scratch.

The templates are professional and flexible. You can easily change the photos, color, fonts, add elements, icons, and much more!

#4 – Clean and user-friendly interface

The interface is straightforward, it’s got a clean, modern interface, and the layout is pretty simple and user-friendly.

#5 – Collaboration

One of the benefits of using Canva especially for businesses is that they can work together on designs. Inviting team members is an excellent way to collaborate with peers on any project

Sending an invitation is pretty simple, you just need the person’s email and give them access as an administrator, team member, or template designer.

#6 – Access to millions of photos and graphics

As I already said, Canva provides millions of free and premium high-quality photos to create beautiful designs.

The pro user gets access to more than 75+ million premium photos and graphics that you can download and use anywhere.

It’s great because you don’t have to pay per photo or for the expensive stock subscriptions to publish fresh content.

📝Note: The majority of the images will be free for the pro users, but still, there’ll be some photos for which you have to pay $1.

Cons of Using Canva

Now, let’s talk about the negatives of Canva.

Canva Cons

#1 – Mobile app isn’t user-friendly

Canva’s mobile app is not user-friendly and a little bit hard to use on mobile devices, and it has more design restrictions than the browser.

The reviews of the app are excellent but the main issue is that it is not entirely user-friendly and sometimes the templates get ruined.

The app is a lot better now than before but still, it has some issues which need to be fixed.

I recommend creating all your designs on your PC’s browser or the desktop version.

#2 – Customer support is’nt very good

One of the downsides of Canva is that their customer service is not the greatest.

Sometimes Canva support team takes a while to get back to you but your issue/question will be resolved eventually.

Anybody else having problems downloading animated gifs from @canva?
— Nicky Nelson (@TropicNicky) November 3, 2019

What I figured is, they mostly respond to their customers on Twitter so you can contact them there as well if you are facing any issues.

#3 – The best features require a subscription

The free plan is a very good option for many users but to gain access to its time-saving features and premium content, you will have to upgrade to the pro plan.

#4 – Poor search results

The search result of Canva is not user-friendly especially for free users to find images, elements, or graphics.

Maybe you will be searching for free elements or graphics, but since there is not any filter option to choose only the free ones so you’ll see both the free and premium elements or images and that may confuse you.

#5 – No offline feature

One of the main downsides of Canva is that you can use this tool only when you have an internet connection.

If you are looking for an offline graphic designing tool then Canva won’t be an option for you.

Instead, it’s better to learn and use Photoshop in these situations.

However, Canva has a desktop version for both Windows and Mac that you can download but still, you can’t use it without the internet.

Canva Pro Pricing

Canva offers three pricing plans:

Canva Pro monthly plan costs $12.95 per team member per month.
Canva Pro annual plan costs $9.95 per team member per month, it is billed as one payment of $119.40.

The pro plan is good for individual or small business owner while the Enterprise plan is for larger teams who need advanced features and collaboration control.

If you select the yearly plan of Canva, you’ll get a 23% discount compared to the monthly plan.

The monthly and yearly plan offers the same features but the pricing is different.

👍 Recommendation: I recommend you select the monthly plan first or 30 days free trial at no cost and once you are satisfied with the pro plan then you should go for the annual plan to save some money.

How to Upgrade to Canva Pro?

So, if you made your decision to jump to pro plan let’s know how to upgrade to it.

Head to Canva.com in your browser and click on “Pricing“.
Now choose any plan by clicking on “Try for free” and sign up with Facebook, Google, or email if you already haven’t.
After that, you’ll see a screen like this, click on “Try it free for 30 days“.
Now, select a monthly or yearly plan and proceed through the payment with your credit card, and you’ll become a Pro member.

Don’t worry! You won’t be charged until your free trial ends, and also you can cancel your trial at any time.

That’s it!

Enjoy using it for a month and then decide whether you want to stay with the pro plan if you find it useful.

Here’s a quick video as well.

Final Thoughts

Canva makes it very easy to create stunning designs for your project – and you can do it within a few minutes without graphic designing skills.

Its pre-designed templates give you a huge advantage because you can customize them easily using a drag-and-drop tool.

I only recommend it for small businesses/individuals who don’t have the resources to hire a designer and want to do designing on there own quickly and easily without any experience.

To sum it up, I just want to say that trying Canva Pro by yourself is the best way to know if it’s the best choice for you or not and why not try when it is free of cost for 30 days.

Try Canva Pro For Free

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Which feature of Canva Pro from today’s post you are excited to use first?

Are you going to animate your image or use a transparent background feature?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

FAQs

Can I cancel my Canva Pro subscription?

Yes, you can cancel your Canva Pro subscription at any time you want. However, you can also pause or unpause your subscription as well.

Is Canva better than Photoshop?

In short, both programs are useful in their own ways. Canva is better than Photoshop for non-designers or someone who wants to create awesome designs quickly. However, Photoshop is a professional level program, that can be used for almost any kind of design you want to create.

Can you use Canva for commercial purposes?

Yes, almost all the media on Canva can be used free for commercial and noncommercial use.

Can I Cancel my Canva Pro free trial?

If at any point you think that Canva Pro isn’t for you then you can easily cancel your free trial at any time and you won’t be charged for anything when your trial expires. But please make sure that you cancel your free trial before the trial expires.

Related Articles – Canva vs The Competition

About Arslan Javed

Hey I'm Arslan, the guy behind Ecomsay. I am passionate about anything that touches entrepreneurship and on this website I share my experience with people about different online services and platforms.

Thank you for the helpful article!!

Arslan Javed says:
January 8, 2021 at 9:59 am
🙂
Reply

Hi. First of all, your article is fantastic. It’s very useful.
Actually I have some questions about Canva Pro.
I was searching about these for almost 4 hours in a row.
But I couldn’t get the exact answers so I’m very confused now.
Could you help me?

My questions are,
1) Let’s say I make an e-book using elements and photos that only Canva Pro provides. Then can I sell this e-book commercially?
2) If possible, then can I still sell it on my website after canceling Canva Pro subscription? Should I stop selling it and deleting it from my website as soon as I cancel Canva Pro?

Thank you for helping me. I appreciate your kindness.
Have a good day!

Arslan Javed says:
December 19, 2020 at 8:31 pm
Hi Peter,
Here are the answers to your questions:
Q: Let’s say I make an e-book using elements and photos that only Canva Pro provides. Then can I sell this e-book commercially?
A: In short, yes, you can sell your eBook commercially.
Q: Can I still sell it on my website after cancelling Canva Pro subscription?
A: Yes, you can definitely sell even after cancelling your Canva Pro subscription and you don’t have to delete your eBook from your website after cancelling your Canva Pro subscription.
If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask 🙂
Reply

Thank you, this article will help me decide if I should pay for Canva Pro, and also highlighted some features I was not aware of. I also like the balanced view in your writing. Other reviews I read elsewhere were quite skewed in one direction or the other.

Arslan Javed says:
November 11, 2020 at 8:38 am
You’re welcome, Taryanna. Thank you for your kind words 🙂
Reply

Thank you for this review.
1.If I have an account on Mobile app, can I use it on my laptop?
2.If I buy Canva Pro on my mobile, can I use the same login on my laptop?

Arslan Javed says:
October 30, 2020 at 3:55 am
Hey Seemaa, You’re welcome. Yes, you can use the same login on any device you want.
Reply

How about enterprise solution? I am looking to compare this to Easil. Do you have comparison?

Arslan Javed says:
November 3, 2020 at 11:47 am
Hey Myra, The enterprise solution is great for large companies but for individual the pro plan is the right choice. Also, I don’t have a comparison of these two right now but maybe in future. 🙂
Reply

Hello Arslan, thank you for a good overview. What do you make of Canva tools for web design (as a part of their template offerings?

It seems Canva Pro has recently changed its policy regarding team members. When I first purchased Canva pro I was able to add one team member for free. Now I must upgrade to and extra charge of $12.95 a month. With limited customer assistance, I feel yet again another company increasing their costs and decreasing their product and customer care.

Arslan Javed says:
October 2, 2020 at 7:23 am
Hi Deborah, No they didn’t change their policy recently regarding team members.
They clearly mentioned and I also addressed it in this guide that Canva Pro cost $12.95 per team member per month.
However, let me know when you first purchased the Canva Pro plan?
Reply

Hi there. Are you able to schedule social media posts directly through Canva Pro?

Arslan Javed says:
August 25, 2020 at 8:30 am
Hey Tina, Yes you can schedule social media posts directly through Canva Pro 🙂
Reply

Very helpful article. Thank you. I tried Canva Pro but found the photo’s less exciting than the free Canva selection. Do you know if the photo’s are the same for the Free Canva ($10/photo) vs the Canva Pro? Maybe I didn’t search for the Canva Pro photos correctly?

Very helpful information, Thank you sir.

Arslan Javed says:
August 21, 2020 at 7:41 pm
You’re welcome, Rael. Glad you found this article helpful. 🙂
Reply

Hello,
I have a small team of 3 who are interested in purchasing the Pro version. Do all 3 of us need to purchase that subscription or do we just need one person to purchase and create a team?

Thanks!

Arslan Javed says:
August 19, 2020 at 6:57 pm
Hey David,
You can create a team and share your designs with a Canva free account as well but if you and your team want to unlock the premium features like Brand Kit or other premium features then yes all of you need to purchase the Canva Pro subscription.
However, all of you can use one Pro account as well, but to create a team then each one must have a personal account because you can invite your team members with their personal email that they used to create a Canva account.
Reply

Hi, I have a pro account and I use it for a small business. Are the pictures I am downloading from Canva can be used on my commercial website with the pro account?

Arslan Javed says:
August 18, 2020 at 3:33 am
Hey Reneta, Yes you can those pictures on your website. I am also using Canva for so many years and till date, I think no one faced any issues of copyright (including me). However, for more details you can visit their Free Media License Agreement.
Reply

Hi Arslan, canva has come out with their desktop version, kindly update.

Arslan Javed says:
June 25, 2020 at 4:19 pm
Hey Kurian, Canva recently comes out with the desktop version and this article is updated, thanks for letting me know.
However, We can’t use the desktop version without an internet so it doesn’t matter that much whether we use Canva on their website or on the desktop software.
Reply

do i need to stay subscribed (canva pro) ? to use the material. i liked only few and downloaded. then i moved on and i dont require any more content from canva… can i use that in my you tube videos forever which i downloaded when i was in trial period

Arslan Javed says:
June 19, 2020 at 10:48 am
Hi JK, Yes you can use that media files that you’ve downloaded during your free trial of Canva Pro.
Reply

Thank you for this , I find it really helpful.

Arslan Javed says:
June 16, 2020 at 7:24 am
Welcome, James 🙂
Reply

There’s a typo in your Hype Reel… Professional, not profesional

Arslan Javed says:
May 15, 2020 at 10:45 pm
Hey Nancy, You’re correct and thanks for correction. However that video isn’t owned by me, it is owned by Canva 🙂
Reply

With Canva pro, is there free licencing for commercial use?

Arslan Javed says:
May 11, 2020 at 5:41 pm
Hi Sue, They’ve mentioned on their website that all the media on Canva can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use. Also till date, I think no one faced any issues of copyright (including me). However for more details you can visit their Free Media License Agreement.
Reply