Figma vs Canva
Figma is a collaborative browser-based platform for UI design, prototyping and developer handoff, while Canva is a template-driven design tool for social graphics, presentations, video, documents and print. They are compared because both run in the browser with real-time collaboration, comments and free plans, and both have added AI generation. Figma suits product designers and the developers they work with, while Canva suits marketers, small businesses and non-designers who need finished graphics quickly.
Which should you choose?
Choose Figma if
- Product design teams building and maintaining design systems
- Designer-developer collaboration and handoff
- Cross-functional teams that also want whiteboarding and slides in one workspace
Choose Canva if
- Marketers and small businesses producing social and print graphics quickly
- Non-designers who need presentations, flyers and short videos
- Teams that want shared brand kits and approved templates
Cheapest to start
Not confirmed
Free plan
Figma, Canva
Highest editor rating
Figma · 4.8
| Compare | Figma |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free trial | No |
| Starting price | From $20/mo |
| Editor rating | 4.8 |
| Ease of use | Moderate (3/5) |
| Category | Design |
| Pricing model | Starter is free; Professional is $20 per Full seat per month billed monthly ($16 annually), with cheaper Dev and Collab seats; Organization ($55) and Enterprise ($90) per Full seat per month are billed annually only. |
| Plans |
|
| Platforms | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, API |
| Integrations | Jira, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zapier |
| Best for |
|
| Pros |
|
| Cons |
|
| AI content generation | Yes |
| API access | Yes |
| Background removal | No |
| Brand kit | No |
| Comments & mentions | Yes |
| Design systems & components | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes |
| Interactive prototyping | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes |
| Photo editing | No |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes |
| Roles & permissions | Yes |
| Social media scheduling | No |
| SSO / SAML | Yes |
| Stock media library | No |
| Templates | Yes |
| Vector editing | Yes |
Common questions
- Does Figma or Canva have a free plan?
- Both do. Figma and Canva each offer a free tier, so you can try either without paying.
- How long is the Figma and Canva free trial?
- Canva offers a 30-day free trial. Figma does not offer one.
- Which is easier to use, Figma or Canva?
- In VERILO's editorial assessment Canva is the easier of the two, scoring 5 out of 5 against 3 for Figma. That is a judgement about how quickly a new team gets productive, not a measured benchmark.
Our verdict
Choose Figma if you design interfaces, maintain a design system, or need prototyping and developer handoff; Professional costs $20 per Full seat per month ($16 billed annually), the Starter plan is free but caps collaborative files, and its 3-out-of-5 ease-of-use score reflects a real learning curve for non-designers. Choose Canva if you need templates, brand kits, stock media, background removal and social scheduling with a 5-out-of-5 ease-of-use score; Canva Pro is $120 per year for one person, Canva Business — formerly Canva Teams — is $210 per year per person, and a free trial is available. Canva is not suited to professional UI/UX design and handoff, and Figma is not suited to quick templated social graphics, so the choice mostly follows the work you do. Figma integrates with Slack, Jira, Microsoft Teams and Zapier, while Canva connects to Google Workspace, Dropbox, Slack, Microsoft Teams, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.