Designing digital and print graphics is now easier than ever thanks to cloud-based apps and tools. These tools are so easy to use that even someone without any design knowledge can get started right away.
Canva is one of the most popular apps in this category, especially among social media marketers and small businesses. Canva is a great tool but it’s not perfect and there are some downsides to using it.
In this post, we look at some of the best alternatives to Canva to help you find a better and more suitable option for your design needs.
Whether you’re a freelance designer or just starting out as a social media manager, there are tools in this list for everyone.
Why Use Canva Alternatives?
Canva is a web-based app you can use to design various types of graphics, such as social media posts, flyers, brochures, and more. Canva also offers a very generous free plan with access to thousands of templates and unlimited downloads.
So if Canva is such a great app, why look for an alternative? Well, Canva’s massive popularity in itself has a negative effect. Canva is used by millions of people around the world. These people use the same Canva templates with the same fonts and layouts to craft their designs. You can easily spot these designs anywhere.
If you’re trying to create branded content with unique designs, using Canva will only hurt your efforts. You’ll likely find dozens of other brands that use the same stationery or social media designs.
When using a lesser-known Canva alternative, you’ll get access to more original templates and designs. And have an advantage over millions of others who use Canva.
Canva’s free plan is also limited in features. You can’t download PNGs with transparent images or resize your designs. And its premium plans are a bit more expensive compared to what it offers.
Top Canva Alternatives
There are plenty of tools and methods you can use instead of Canva to design better graphics and social media posts. If you’re a designer, we highly recommend getting an Envato Elements subscription and using design templates.
But, if you prefer using online tools, here are some that are worth checking out.
1. Placeit
Placeit is one of the best Canva alternatives available right now. It has all the features of Canva. And Placeit also has a feature that’s missing in Canva and most other online design apps— mockup templates!
If you’re a designer, you can use Placeit to easily find mockup templates to showcase your designs to clients in a professional way.
Placeit also has thousands of design templates for social media posts, T-shirts, flyers, posters, Twitch banners, YouTube thumbnails, logo templates, and so much more. It has a very easy-to-use web-based editor for editing the templates as well.
Best Features of Placeit
- Easily customize designs using the web-based editor
- Access to thousands of mockup and design templates
- Includes templates for designers, social media users, and gamers
- Customize templates using textures, icons, text, and colors
- Video templates for YouTube, Twitch, and social media promos
How Much Does It Cost?
Placeit has a limited free plan and just one premium plan with unlimited access to the platform. It costs $14.95 per month. But you can save big if you choose the annual plan, which costs only $89.69 per year.
Placeit also offers one-off downloads. If you just one design, you can download it by paying a one-time price. Or, if you’re working on a personal project, you can use its free templates.
2. Adobe Spark
Spark is Adobe’s answer to online graphic makers. Much like most Adobe products, almost all the best features of Spark are locked behind its premium plans. But the platform offers some well-crafted templates for you to use.
Adobe Spark is available on mobile platforms in 3 versions. Spark Post for designing graphics and social media content. Spark Page for creating web pages. And Spark Video for making short videos. The desktop version is mainly focused on creating graphics and videos.
Spark also features a smooth online editor with lots of customization options and templates to choose from.
Best Features of Adobe Spark
- Thousands of free and premium templates with gorgeous designs
- Customize templates with custom images, fonts, and icons
- Design flyers, logos, social media posts, slideshows, and much more
- A collection of stylish fonts to choose from
How Much Does It Cost?
Adobe Spark has a free plan with limited access and the graphics you download will have a watermark. Premium plans start at $9.99 per month, which gives you the ability to download graphics in PNG with transparent backgrounds and remove the watermark.
The $19.99 plan is ideal for teams for working together on projects and content designs.
3. Easil
Easil is the closest you could get for an identical Canva alternative. It looks and works very similar to Canva. And it offers pretty much the same features that Canva does.
The biggest difference between Easil and Canva is the pricing plans. Easel is slightly less expensive than Canva. And offers different styles of templates, especially for social media graphics.
Easel also includes a free plan that gives you access to over 2500 templates, free stock images, and unlimited downloads in non-transparent formats.
Best Features of Easil
- Access thousands of pre-made templates for crafting graphics
- A simple and beginner-friendly interface for editing template
- Create social media posts, flyers, invitations, letterheads, and more
- Ability to add text masks and effects
- Includes tool for removing background from images
How Much Does It Cost?
Easil offers a free plan with lots of templates and unlimited downloads. You can switch to the premium plans to access paid templates and download PNGs with transparent backgrounds.
Paid plans start at $7.50 per month. There’s also a $59 per member per month plan for big teams.
4. Pixelied
Pixelied is another great platform for crafting graphics for various print and digital projects. Compared to other platforms on our list, Pixelied offers a small number of templates. But it more than makes up for it with a selection of stunning designs.
The free plan of Pixelied includes access to over 200 pre-made templates and unlimited downloads. With the premium plan, you can access the background removal tool, resize the designs to your preference, and even upload your own custom fonts.
Best Features of Pixelied
- Choose from thousands of templates and customize them easily
- Create social media graphics, Twitch panels, YouTube thumbnails, and more
- Unique and high-quality designs with customizable layouts
- Access to over 5 million free stock images
- Get workspaces, team members, and brand presets with the premium plan
How Much Does It Cost?
Pixelied has a free plan and just one premium plan that costs $9.95 per month. This plan is ideal for brands and businesses, as well as for social media managers.
5. RelayThat
RelayThat is a different type of a Canva alternative that mainly targets brands and businesses. This app comes with a specific set of tools designed for making branded content.
RelayThat is all about creating consistent branded designs for your social media content, website promotions, and more. It lets you define your brand colors to make it easier to make your designs look and feel the same.
Best Features of RelayThat
- Use brand kit colors to design branded content with ease
- Or browse a library full of color palettes and font combinations
- Create workspaces and campaigns for your projects
- Easily resize your designs for various platforms with just one-click
- Access to over 3 million stock photos
How Much Does It Cost?
RelayThat is a premium platform and it doesn’t have a free plan. The premium plan costs $25 per month. It’s suitable for 2 team members. There’s also an Enterprise plan for bigger teams.
6. Pablo
Pablo is a very small graphics editor made by Buffer, the social media scheduling tool. This app is completely free to use and comes with fairly basic and limited features. In fact, you don’t even have to signup for an account to use it.
Pablo only offers 5 templates and minimal customization options. But, if you’re looking for a simple tool to design posts for your personal social media channels, Pablo is more than enough for you.
Best Features of Pablo
- Use the simple editor to craft posts for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest
- Choose from 5 templates or design your own unique posts
- Access to over 600k free stock photos
- Ability to add your own logo and change fonts
- Unlimited downloads
How Much Does It Cost?
Pablo is completely free to use for as long as you like. You can also use the tool to instantly share your posts to social channels or schedule them via Buffer.
A mobile version of this app is available on iOS and Android called Buffer Remix. It’s also free to use and includes lots more templates to choose from.
Which Canva Alternative Should You Use?
Placeit is the best Canva alternative for both experienced designers and beginners. It offers a wider range of templates in multiple categories and it’s much more affordable than most other platforms.
If you’re creating content for a brand or business, RelayThat is a more suitable choice for you as it makes the process much easier for creating consistent designs.
If these tools are outside your budget, you should consider using Photoshop templates. There is plenty of social media template kits you can download and edit with Photoshop or Illustrator to craft more unique designs for your channels.
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