Five alternatives to Canva are compared here, including Adobe Express, Figma, Affinity and VistaCreate. Entry pricing across these tools ranges from £0 to £15 a month, with several offering a genuinely usable free tier rather than a time-limited trial, alongside Canva's own Pro plan for comparison on price and template access.
TL;DR · LAST REVIEWED 21 July 2026
- Adobe Express is the closest direct swap for Canva, with a free tier that exports without a watermark and bundles Adobe Stock and Adobe Fonts.
- Affinity's desktop suite, covering photo, vector and layout editing, is now free for individual use following its acquisition by Canva.
- Figma's free plan supports up to three editors and suits teams that need real multiplayer editing rather than template-based design alone.
- VistaCreate offers one of the most generous free tiers among Canva-style template editors, with a large stock asset library included.
- Canva Pro currently costs around £12 to £15 a month, having risen from its previous price point, which is the main driver behind readers comparing alternatives.
- None of these tools fully replicate Canva's template catalogue size, so the right choice depends on whether templates or genuine editing depth matter more.
Canva alternatives compared by entry price and core strength
| Canva Pro | ~£12 to £15/month | Largest template library, Magic Studio AI tools |
| Adobe Express | Free tier, paid from ~£8 to £10/month | No-watermark free exports, Adobe Stock and Fonts included |
| Figma | Free for 3 editors, paid from ~£10/month | Real multiplayer editing, strong for teams and vector work |
| Affinity | Free for individual use | Full desktop suite: photo, vector and layout editing |
| VistaCreate | Free tier, paid plans available | Generous free stock library, template-based design |
KEY FACTS
- Canva Pro: currently around £12 to £15 a month for an individual plan
- Adobe Express: free tier available with no watermark; paid plans from around £8 to £10 a month
- Figma: free for up to 3 editors; paid plans from around £10 a month per editor
- Affinity: desktop suite now free for individual use, following Canva's acquisition of the brand
- VistaCreate: free plan includes a large stock asset library and most core template features
What is the closest alternative to Canva
Adobe Express is generally the closest direct swap for Canva, with a free tier that exports without a watermark and bundles Adobe Stock imagery and Adobe Fonts, alongside paid plans from around £8 to £10 a month for expanded features.
Adobe Express occupies a similar space to Canva: a browser-based, template-led design tool aimed at people who want to produce social graphics, presentations and marketing assets without a steep learning curve. The free tier is a meaningful differentiator, since exports carry no watermark and the plan includes access to Adobe Stock photography and Adobe Fonts, both of which sit behind paywalls on some rival tools. Paid plans add expanded AI generation credits through Adobe's Firefly tools and deeper integration with the wider Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem, which matters for anyone who occasionally needs to move a file into Photoshop or Illustrator for more advanced editing. The trade-off against Canva is template volume: Canva's library runs to several hundred thousand templates against a smaller, though still substantial, catalogue on Adobe Express, so anyone leaning heavily on template variety for rapid social content may notice the difference more than someone building a smaller number of branded assets repeatedly. Mobile access is broadly comparable between the two, with Adobe Express offering a dedicated phone app for quick edits away from a desktop, similar to Canva's own mobile experience. Shared brand kits are also supported across a small team, though real-time collaborative editing on the same file is less immediate than Canva's own multiplayer canvas.
Is Figma a good Canva alternative for teams
Figma suits teams needing genuine real-time multiplayer editing rather than template-based design alone, with a free plan supporting up to three editors and paid plans from around £10 a month per editor for larger teams needing more projects.
Figma was built primarily for interface and product design rather than marketing graphics, but its real-time collaboration model, where multiple people can edit the same file simultaneously and see each other's changes live, has made it a popular Canva alternative for teams working on shared brand assets, pitch decks and social templates together. The free plan supports up to three editors and includes access to a large community template library covering social posts, presentations and basic marketing layouts. Paid plans, from around £10 a month per editor, unlock unlimited projects and more advanced team management controls. The learning curve is steeper than Canva's drag-and-drop interface, since Figma exposes more of the underlying vector and layer structure, so teams without any design background may need longer to become productive, though the payoff is finer control over layout and typography than a purely template-driven tool typically allows. Figma's free plan also includes access to plugins that extend its functionality, such as automated resizing for different social formats, which can partly offset the steeper initial learning curve. For a business that mainly needs quick, templated graphics rather than custom interface work, the extra flexibility Figma offers may exceed what is actually needed day to day.
What does Affinity offer that Canva does not
Affinity's desktop suite, covering photo editing, vector illustration and page layout, is now free for individual use following Canva's acquisition of the brand, offering considerably deeper editing tools than Canva's own browser-based editor.
Affinity built its reputation as a one-time-purchase alternative to Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription model, covering photo editing, vector illustration and desktop publishing in three connected applications. Since Canva's acquisition of Affinity, the full desktop suite has become free for individual use, giving Canva users a genuine upgrade path for work that needs precise vector control, layered photo editing or multi-page print layout, none of which Canva's own browser-based editor handles at the same depth. The trade-off is workflow: Affinity is desktop software rather than a browser tool, so it lacks Canva's real-time collaboration and cloud-based template sharing, making it better suited to individual designers producing finished assets than to a team collaborating on the same file at the same time. Anyone doing occasional print work, packaging or detailed illustration alongside everyday Canva-style social graphics may find the pairing of both tools more useful than choosing one over the other. Affinity still receives regular updates and new feature releases despite the change to a free pricing model, and customers who bought earlier paid versions retain full access without needing to repurchase anything. Cross-platform availability covers Windows, macOS and iPad, though there is currently no dedicated Android version of the desktop suite.
How does VistaCreate compare on free-tier generosity
VistaCreate offers one of the most generous free tiers among Canva-style template editors, including a large stock asset library and most core template features without a paid subscription, making it a strong budget-focused alternative for occasional users.
For anyone whose main frustration with Canva is the free plan's limitations, VistaCreate is worth comparing directly, since its free tier bundles a substantial stock photo and template library alongside brand kit access, without gating the most useful features behind a paywall in the way some rivals do. The interface follows a similar template-first workflow to Canva, which keeps the learning curve minimal for anyone switching between the two. Where VistaCreate falls short of Canva is template catalogue size and the depth of newer AI-powered features, since Canva's Magic Studio tools have expanded considerably and VistaCreate has not matched that pace of development. For a small business, sole trader or occasional social media poster who wants to avoid a monthly design software bill entirely, VistaCreate's free tier is likely to cover the majority of everyday design needs without requiring an upgrade. VistaCreate also supports basic video editing and simple animation within the same interface, which extends its usefulness beyond static graphics for anyone producing short social clips. Customer support is generally handled through email and a help centre rather than live chat, which may matter for a business used to faster response times elsewhere.
How much does switching away from Canva Pro actually save
Canva Pro currently costs around £12 to £15 a month for an individual plan, so switching to a genuinely free alternative such as Affinity or VistaCreate removes that cost entirely, while a paid alternative such as Adobe Express or Figma can still undercut Canva depending on the plan chosen.
The most direct saving comes from moving to a tool with a fully free tier rather than a paid alternative, since Affinity's desktop suite and VistaCreate's template editor both cover a meaningful share of everyday design work without any subscription cost at all. For anyone who still wants a paid, browser-based tool with ongoing feature development, Adobe Express's entry paid tier at around £8 to £10 a month sits below Canva Pro's current £12 to £15 a month price point, while Figma's per-editor pricing structure can work out cheaper or more expensive than Canva depending on team size, since Canva's own Business tier is priced per seat as well. The right comparison depends on how much of Canva's specific template library and AI tooling a household or business actually uses day to day, rather than price alone, since a cheaper tool that does not cover a specific recurring need is not really a saving once the switching effort is accounted for. Any switch should also account for the time cost of rebuilding existing brand templates on a new platform, since exported design files from Canva do not transfer directly into a different tool's native format without some manual recreation work along the way.
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DISCLAIMER
This article is editorial information, not financial advice. Kael Tripton Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Figures were correct at the last review date shown above; verify current rates and rules with the primary sources listed below before acting.
Frequently asked questions
Can you use Adobe Express for free
Yes. Adobe Express offers a free tier that exports without a watermark and includes access to Adobe Stock imagery and Adobe Fonts, with paid plans from around £8 to £10 a month unlocking further AI generation credits and Creative Cloud integration.
Do you need design experience to use Figma
Not necessarily, though Figma's learning curve is steeper than Canva's, since it exposes more of the underlying vector and layer structure rather than relying purely on drag-and-drop templates, so it typically takes longer to become fully productive without any prior design background.
Is Affinity really free now
Yes, for individual use. Affinity's desktop suite, covering photo, vector and layout editing, became free for individuals following Canva's acquisition of the brand, though it remains desktop software rather than a browser-based, real-time collaborative tool.
Can you collaborate with a team on VistaCreate
VistaCreate supports basic sharing and brand kit features, but its collaboration tools are less developed than Figma's real-time multiplayer editing, so a team needing simultaneous shared editing may find Figma or Canva's own team plans a better fit.
Do these alternatives have as many templates as Canva
Generally no. Canva's template library runs to several hundred thousand designs, considerably larger than Adobe Express, Figma's community library, or VistaCreate's own catalogue, so anyone relying heavily on template variety may notice the difference most.
SOURCES
- Canva official pricing – accessed 21 July 2026
- Adobe Express official pricing – accessed 21 July 2026
- Figma official pricing – accessed 21 July 2026
