Best for: Marketers, small businesses and anyone making social, print or presentation graphics fast
Price: Freemium · from $144/year
Free: 1,000+ design types, millions of templates and basic AI tools
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android, Desktop app
Made by: Canva · since 2013
App store ratings: iOS 4.9★ (3.6M) · Android 4.8★ (27.3M)

What it is

Canva is a browser and mobile design editor for social posts, presentations, documents and marketing graphics. Canva AI generates images and designs, Magic Layers turns flat designs into editable layers, and Magic Write drafts text. Paid plans raise the AI allowance and add brand tools.

What the AI does

Canva AI image generation and design assistant
Magic Layers (flat design to editable layers)
Magic Write text generation
Background removal and image enhancement

Pros and cons

Very easy to learn
Huge template and asset library
Excellent apps on every platform
Brand Kits keep teams on-brand

Not built for real UI and product design
Premium AI tools draw from a capped monthly allowance
Templates can make designs look generic

How it scores

Design quality7.5

Ease of use9.5

Features8

Value for money8.5

Platforms10

The easiest and most widely available option with deep AI tooling; output is polished but template-driven, and it is not a UI design tool.

Feature checklist · 5 of 9

Generates app or web screens from a text prompt (no)
Turns screenshots or sketches into editable designs (no)
AI image generation inside the editor (yes)
Exports designs to code (e.g. HTML, React) (no)
Exports to or works inside Figma (no)
Brand kit with saved colours, fonts and logos (yes)
Real-time collaboration (yes)
Mobile app for creating and editing (yes)
Free plan includes AI features (yes)

How we score apps →

Alternatives

See all Canva alternatives, ranked →

Google Stitch 8.2/10Founders, developers and designers who want fast, free UI concepts to take into Figma or code
Adobe Express 8.0/10Social media and marketing graphics, especially for people already using Adobe apps
Figma 7.9/10Product designers and teams who need professional UI design, prototyping and design systems
Visily 7.3/10Product managers and teams sketching ideas and running design workshops