There is an old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And rightly so, as what hundreds of beautifully crafted words can’t achieve, a fascinating image can. So, never miss a chance to use attractive photos to get instant traction on social networking platforms, as they play a key role in making or breaking a campaign, product, or even the punch-line that’s yet to come to the fore. Speaking of beautifully-designed photos, Canva has long been a go-to platform for many thanks largely to being an all-in-one package for creating images tailormade for sharing on social networking sites. But just like anything else, this popular photo editor is not without cons. So, whether you find Canva’s interface a bit too clunky, can no longer deal with the rather limited freemium model, or don’t think it deserves $12.95/month high price-tag, these are the 12 best Canva alternatives lined up for you.
Not everyone uses a product for the same purpose. In this extensive roundup, we’ve put together a variety of Canva substitutes, keeping in mind different use cases like logo making, banner creation, graphic designing, collage making, and more. And yes, we’ve also lined up the free Canva alternatives so that you can design your social-media images without having to spend a single penny. With these notable things in mind, let’s get scrolling!
Taking the top spot on this list is Adobe Spark, a fully-featured Canva alternative from Adobe that offers users a selection of pretty cool features. What makes this image creation/manipulation platform is the more emphasis on automation by getting rid of complex processes. As a result, Adobe Spark is a great Canva substitute for both beginners and pros who wish to double down on productivity by removing the time-consuming steps.
Easil is another feature-rich and relatively easy to use Canva alternative which does one thing really well – introduce users to the platform and get them acquainted with the basics right from the get-go. The drag-and-drop design tool is super simple to use and helps you create some stunning visuals with little to no effort. It features a vast variety of templates for beginners to get started without putting in much effort and also offers some advanced features like layers, design merge, and text effects, for people who’re looking to take their designs up a notch.
3. Snappa
If you are looking for a Canva replacement for creating stunning social media posts or marketing visuals, then you shouldn’t fail to check out Snappa. Unlike Canva, Snappa boasts of a snappy and easy to use user interface that will help you design great looking social media creatives in no time. It offers users a bunch of different features, including a graphic editor, a vast library of visual assets, high-quality templates, and a lot more.
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Just in you have been into the social media marketing game for long, you may already be familiar with the mobile version of BeFunky (both iOS and Android) as it’s quite popular. But did you know that BeFunky’s web version is equally popular? Thanks largely to a range of smart editing tools, it can safely stake the claim of being a pretty easy-to-use Canva substitute. It has three modes: Photo Editor, Collage Maker, and Designer. You can play with the first two for any purpose, but for creating fascinating social media images, you will need the third one.
Plans: Free (with ads, limited to 125 photo effects); Pro $6.99/month (high-resolution photos, additional graphics, and effects)
Desygner is one of those apps with a lot of smart tools that help it rise above the competition and even leave behind Canva on multiple fronts. If you’ve used Canva before, there won’t be any unpleasant surprises: you pick the elements in the sidebar on the left and edit the photo in the main area on the right. That’s where you’ll notice the ruler – a helpful little addition that makes it easier to compose your image.
For those who hate to waste time reinventing the wheel, Stencil appears to be a fine Canva alternative. With a sole focus on enhancing productivity, the photo editor makes designing social media images a breeze by cutting down all the roundabout methods, Unlike Canva. As you may have already guessed, the interface is clean and simple with a familiar left-to-right workflow. You can try Stencil without registration, but you’ll need an account to save changes. There are also browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
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Fotojet looks and feels like a mix of Canva and BeFunky, but seems to work much more smoothly than both (at least in my web browsers). Design elements are neatly organized into categories, and if the ones provided by Fotojet are not good enough for you, the search option is right there to help you find more. The options for editing clipart are reasonably detailed, and you can change the color and transparency of the design elements in your image.
Plans: Free (with limited functionality and ads); Plus $6.99/month (advanced features, premium templates, premium resources, ad free, priority support)
Though nowhere near as powerful as Canva, Pablo can prove to be up to the task on multiple fronts. It has a super-simple online photo editor developed by the Buffer team. Naturally, this means you can use Buffer to schedule images created with Pablo. It’s also possible to share them to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Pablo has a Chrome extension, but you can use it in any browser.
While Pablo is for users who prefer simplicity, RelayThat (formerly Relay) is a full-fledged solution for branded content marketing. So, just in case, Canva doesn’t seem to be a right prospect for your content marketing strategy, RelayThat could be worth giving a look. As such, it’s more focused on managing your visual materials than on editing them. With RelayThat, you collect and divide images into projects. Every project can contain multiple photos, fonts, colors, text snippets, and even SEO keywords. Those are your branding assets. This is somewhat similar to the “Your brand” option in Canva.
Plans: Free (with ads); Pro $25/month (ad-free, no watermarks); Lifetime $297 (ad-free, no watermarks)
Polarr is an online photo editor so powerful that you could consider it a Photoshop alternative. Although its interface is unconventional, the features are standard for a photo editing software. So, if top-of-the-line photo editing tools have compelled you to look for a Canva alternative, Polarr could be the right way to go. Moreover, if you ever end up feeling confused, Polarr also has fantastic tutorials that can take you through the editing tools. Plus, there’s a guide that explains various photography-related terms in plain English. Polarr also has iOS and Android apps, as well as desktop apps and a Chrome extension (download here).
For those looking for a Canva alternative for creating nice-looking social media posts within minutes, DesignBold could be the right answer. Boasting a huge catalog (over 2000) of beautifully designed templates, the photo editor ensures you have the luxury to choose from a variety of options to create attractive social media graphics, posters, flyers, and banners. So, whether you wish to make your campaign gain massive traction or plan to send the social networking platforms on a blitzkrieg with an exclusive giveaway, chances are pretty high that those templates can fit into your needs. Despite having all the essential tools in the armory, it doesn’t require much time to get a good grip.
If I were to pick a fully-featured Canva alternative for a simplified photo editing and design, PickMonkey would be one of my top picks. Featuring several easy-to-use tools, the photo editor makes editing images a breeze. And that too without having to go through a long grind of a learning curve. That’s the reason why it may appeal to those who are looking for a life beyond the clunky interface of Canva. With hundreds of professionally-designed templates at hand, you can create impressive vector graphics or scroll-stopping images that can get plenty of traction on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
