10 Canva Alternatives Compared: Find Your Perfect Design Tool (Free & Paid)

Adobe Express is the best all-in-one editor for content creators, letting you automatically turn long-form video podcasts, educational videos, or reviews into shareable social clips with captions, all in one place.

During our evaluation, we felt that Adobe Express truly shines as a 'bridge' tool. When we evaluated it against other Canva alternatives, it was clear that the platform is built to bring professional-grade power into a simple interface. Its AI-driven video-to-social clip feature is particularly helpful. You can add any video to it, and it accurately identifies key moments and automatically generates several captioned, ready-to-post clips. Another great feature for social content was Animate from Audio; you can simply upload a voiceover and watch it map your speech to a character, which is perfect for creating engaging shorts in minutes.

Finally, we explored the animation controls and found a true standout feature not offered by Canva: the ability to add physics-based movement to designs. This can help you make your projects look far more dynamic, with text and objects bouncing and interacting in a way that Canva's standard 'slide-in' animations just can't match. While we did find the main dashboard a bit slower, the polish on unique features like this made it feel like a powerful tool for creators.

Desygner is the best all-in-one platform for small teams and marketers, offering powerful AI features and a generous Pro+ plan that includes five free team member accounts, making real-time collaboration incredibly affordable.

Desygner's core value proposition is clear: it’s built as an all-in-one marketing hub. The platform is packed with a massive library, including thousands of professionally made templates and unlimited access to millions of royalty-free images, fonts, and icons, with new graphics added monthly.

Its all-in-one approach is highly practical, integrating premium features like a PDF Editor and a one-click Background Remover. The standout feature is the Automated Collections tool. This lets you take one master design and automatically generate an entire collection of resized assets for different channels with a single click. It also offers an option to print graphic designs right from the convenience of your smartphone.

Beyond its static and PDF capabilities, the platform also excels at helping users create impactful animated designs, making it one of the best Canva alternatives. This is a significant differentiator, as Desygner's animation tools are included for free, allowing you to turn standard marketing assets into engaging, professional-grade videos and social media posts—a capability that requires a paid Pro subscription in Canva.

Picsart stands out with its massive 60+ million options in its sticker maker library, allowing you to add a fun overlay, a business promotion, or a unique aesthetic to any design.

Picsart’s primary strength lies in its AI-driven, end-to-end workflow. It’s not just a photo editor; it’s a complete content creation engine designed for speed. The user journey is clearly defined: you accelerate the design process by starting with a customizable graphic design template from a professional editor.

From that starting point, the platform’s powerful AI toolset takes over. We found that this enhancement suite is where Picsart most clearly differentiates itself from other apps like Canva. Users can fundamentally alter images with AI Replace, which capably handles everything from simple selfie edits to changing hair color or swapping faces. This is complemented by generative tools like AI Expand, a game-changing feature that seamlessly extends a photo's boundaries with new, context-aware content. You can also apply stylized AI filters to achieve a specific aesthetic with a single tap.

The AI capabilities extend beyond just images. The AI Writer proved effective at generating captions for marketing or memorable social media quotes. For video, the app remains cohesive, offering a built-in editor where you can apply trendy filters and retouch effects for social-ready clips. This integrated flow is funneled directly into social-centric tools like a Story Maker and photo collage options, with Picsart Spaces acting as a community hub for gathering inspiration.

Also Read: Best Apps for Graphic Designers

VistaCreate excels at speed and branding. Its massive 200,000+ template library gives you a huge head start, while the powerful Brand Kit lets you instantly apply your own logos, fonts, and colors.

Our evaluation of VistaCreate (formerly Crello) shows it’s more than just a design app; it's a complete creative production hub. It's true, standout identity comes from its native integration with VistaPrint. This is the app's core differentiator: it's built to seamlessly bridge the gap between a digital design and a physical, doorstep-delivered print order.

This unique "design-to-print" workflow is why it's one of the best Canva alternatives for businesses and solopreneurs. While other apps focus purely on digital, VistaCreate handles the entire campaign. This professional focus is supported by a robust set of utilities, including Unlimited Storage for high-volume work, a full Version History, and HD Download options. We also found its one-click Background Remover, Resize tool, and precise image cropping to be essential time-savers. Its AI-based object removal feature is also standout to remove unnecessary objects from your images and designs.

While its print capability is the hook, it doesn't neglect digital. It’s powered by a massive 170M+ asset library and a full dynamic content suite. You can create top-quality video content with specific animated text effects, transitions, objects, and add sound from either a licensed library or by uploading your own music. This allows you to design, animate, post, and schedule the social media campaign, and then order the matching flyers, all from a single platform.

Visme replaces multiple apps, allowing you to create everything from animated social posts and infographics to interactive boardroom-ready presentations with clickable popups and animations, all within one platform.

Visme is another Canva alternative, offering more advanced features for professional and interactive content, especially its strong data visualization tools. Where other apps stop at static images, Visme allows you to build complex, clickable proposals, reports, and whitepapers. This makes it ideal for data-driven marketers, corporate trainers, and sales teams who need to prove a point, not just post a graphic.

This professional focus is evident in its toolset. The platform is built to handle a wide range of formats, from ready-to-print flyers to dynamic documents. The timeline video editor is robust enough to trim clips and add audio tracks, while the drawing tool is genuinely useful for marking up drafts or adding a human touch. Furthermore, its AI tools, like photo upscaling and background removal, are practical utilities that streamline the creation process, letting you handle everything from mockups to logos in one place.

Visme completes this professional ecosystem by focusing on the full workflow, from creation to distribution. It’s built for business operations, not just solo creators. This is demonstrated by its integrated team commenting features, which centralize feedback, and a built-in social media calendar for scheduling and publishing content.

It goes beyond simple photo fixing and lets you instantly convert your selfies into vibrant 3D Cartoons or Anime characters. You can also apply creative art effects inspired by masters like Van Gogh, Monet, and Picasso, turning any photo into a unique piece of art with a single tap.

Fotor's strength lies in its comprehensive AI toolkit, which powers everything from essential photo fixes to creative generative art, defining it as a mobile-centric AI photo platform. Tools like AI Expand to extend a photo's canvas, AI Replace to virtually try on new outfits, or AI Background specifically to create stunning backgrounds for product photos are genuinely practical. This is complemented by a surprisingly strong set of restoration tools, including AI-powered colorization and sharpening for old family photos.

This AI suite is built on top of a robust traditional photo editor that goes well beyond basic adjustments. It's not just filters; it gives you granular control to adjust brightness, HSL, and curves, auto-focus subjects, blur backgrounds, or add grain. For added creativity, you can layer images or effects using Overlays or add cinematic effects with double exposure. Practical tools like the ability to adjust image size while maintaining aspect ratio are also included. This depth is a key differentiator from many of the best apps like Canva, which often have very basic photo controls.

Fotor bridges the gap between editing and creation at the end of its workflow. You can capture and combine moments into vibrant collages with the Collage Maker, merge multiple images into one seamlessly with the stitching tool, or add personality with text and stickers. Fotor also allows you to use these combined elements within basic design templates to create professional social media posts, flyers, and posters.

Pixlr’s standout feature is its vast creative library. With over 2 million free effects, overlays, and filters, constantly growing, you have endless options to experiment and find the perfect look for your photos, all within one app.

Pixlr’s clear focus is on being a feature-rich mobile photo editor, leveraging its massive effects library and a growing arsenal of accessible AI tools. The workflow encourages experimentation, starting with basic Auto Fix and quickly escalating to impactful Stylize effects (like sketch or watercolor), Color Splash, and mood-altering overlays. Its retouching tools (blemish removal, teeth whitening) are also very helpful to add more dramatic visual effects within your designs and photos.

Where Pixlr pushes beyond traditional editing is with its AI suite. Tools like AI Generative Fill, which allow you to add or replace content within images directly on mobile, offer significant creative power. This depth in photo-specific AI differentiates it from many alternatives for Canva that focus primarily on layout templates. It also offers seasonally updated templates and robust photo collage options for basic social media creation.

Despite its feature depth, usability remains high. Finishing tools like text overlays and borders are straightforward, and options like a Favorites button streamline repeated designing and photo editing tasks. Practical tasks like quick cropping and resizing are handled efficiently within the app. Sharing the final image across major social networks is also seamless, underscoring Pixlr's mobile-first, social-centric approach to photo editing.

PosterMyWall's core value proposition lies in its accessibility: you can download social media designs completely free. This makes it an exceptionally cost-effective platform, ideal for individuals and small businesses needing quality content without mandatory subscription fees.

PosterMyWall positions itself as an exceptionally user-friendly design tool focused on speed and template-driven creation, especially for social media and print marketing. Its core strength lies in its vast template library, boasting an impressive variety of templates specifically for social media, allowing you to quickly find professional starting points for captivating Instagram posts, Facebook covers, and more.

The customization process is designed for simplicity. Our evaluation found that the editor includes essential tools that non-designers can also use. You can enhance visuals using the platform's premium stock photo and video library (or upload your own), adjust the messaging with a large font library, and add visual interest with clip art. This ease of use and the free download option for social posts make it one of the strongest free alternatives to Canva for users focused purely on social media output.

It also includes an integrated content planner to further streamline social media management. This allows users to visually organize their posting strategy and schedule content ahead of time directly within the platform. The app also supports team workflows with straightforward tools for sharing designs and folders, making collaboration seamless. The inclusion of niche templates like menus, schedules, and table layouts further broadens its appeal for specific business needs. Additionally, the app also lets you write captivating captions for your social media posts through its AI writing tool.

Figma's mobile app keeps design collaboration moving when you're away from your desk. Easily review files, play prototypes, and add contextual comments right within designs, keeping feedback loops tight and projects on track.

Based on its mobile functionality, Figma positions its app primarily as an essential companion for on-the-go collaboration and review, rather than a full creation tool. Its strength lies in providing seamless access to existing Figma, FigJam, Prototype, and Slides files. You can easily search or browse recent files, navigate complex projects, and stay updated with notifications for new comments and replies.

The app is clearly designed to bridge the gap between desktop design work and mobile context. We found the real-time mirroring feature particularly valuable, allowing designers to instantly see how desktop edits translate to a mobile screen. Similarly, the ability to play interactive prototypes natively on the device provides crucial usability insights. While other Canva alternatives often focus on simplified mobile creation, Figma's app prioritizes high-fidelity review, feedback (adding/resolving comments), sharing, and permission management. For iPad users, the app offers enhanced FigJam capabilities, enabling sketching with Apple Pencil, annotating designs, and quick ideation, making it a powerful tool for visual brainstorming sessions.

Also Read: Popular AI Photo Editors

BeFunky's signature Artsy effects are its standout feature. You'll love being able to instantly transform your photos into paintings, cartoons, or sketches with realistic textures and brush strokes.

BeFunky carves out its niche by simplifying the creative process through smart AI and a focus on artistic photo transformations. A major plus is its accessibility: the app requires NO ADS or registration to get started, which is a refreshing change. Its AI toolkit handles common tasks efficiently, like the Image Enhancer for quick fixes or the Portrait Enhancer, which automatically softens blemishes and whitens teeth. We also found the Portrait Relight tool effective for dramatically altering lighting conditions in headshots.

While creative effects make headlines, BeFunky includes a full suite of photo editing tools. You can have granular control to crop, upscale, adjust levels, dodge, and burn in your photos. Innovative AI features like Expand, Straighten, and Detach Subject cleverly fill in surrounding areas, allowing significant adjustments without losing parts of the original image. You can further refine images by applying effects and filters, ranging from Vintage looks to Pop Art.

BeFunky's layout tools work similarly to other apps like Canva. You can leverage free templates as a starting point for social media posts or event invitations. The platform also boasts an intelligent Collage Wizard that automatically generates high-resolution layouts without awkward cropping. Adding text is straightforward with a built-in editor featuring hundreds of free fonts (plus the option to upload your own). Finally, BeFunky ensures a cohesive experience by allowing users to access stored projects across mobile and desktop apps.