Canva
Written By Nicole Folgate
Are you dabbling away on Canva’s free version wondering whether it’s time to upgrade? As a user of the version for a year, that question started nagging at me as I found myself hitting a wall with some of the free features.
So I put it to the test and upgraded to Canva Pro. After a full month of creating designs for Pinterest, TikTok, my website, and email list I’m here with a full Canva pro review for content creators.
All the features you get with Canva Pro
This page does a great job of explaining the nitty gritty differences, but here are the main differences in non-marketing speak:
Better Stock Photos: Access to the premium stock library of 100+ million photos, graphics, videos, and audio
More Templates: 610,000+ more design templates (in my experience the premium design templates are WAY better designed)
Canva Brand Kit: (allows you to add colors, fonts, and logos for your brand)
Brand Templates: Ability to create reusable templates (GREAT for creating blog post pins quickly)
Magic Resize: Ability to resize your artboard after creating it
Background Remover: delete image backgrounds in one click (this tool is basically magic)
Unlimited Folders: there’s a limit of 2 (yes, only 2!) folders on the free plan
More Storage (you go from 5GB to 1TB)
More Fonts: Ability to upload your own brand fonts
Content Planner: Schedule your social media on Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter
More people! You can have a team of up to 30 on this version.
Better images exports: you can export transparent background images (PNGs) and higher quality JPGs
How you’ll get value out of the Canva Pro features
Canva Pro enables you to have a more efficient workflow
The search bar in Canva is good, but if you’re creating a lot of files, your organization can quickly get a bit out of control and consequently waste your time searching for files.
Additionally, the ability to export images at a higher quality and the option of exporting transparent backgrounds is just something where when you need it, you need it! In my experience, these are just essential features for designing website graphics.
Stronger brand consistency = a trustworthy and connected audience
The Brant Kit section speeds up your ability to create branded graphics all in one spot. Additionally, there’s a section called Brand Controls which allows you to control what colors and fonts your team can use and even require approval before a design is published.
These features in Canva Pro help you feed the content machine
I believe Canva Pro is a great tool for anyone with basic design needs but it’s especially great for content creators.
The Background Remover tool is worth it’s weight in gold for creating shoppable collages for Pinterest, LiketoKnowIt, and Instagram.
The Magic Resize tool allows you to resize an artbord after you create it, but more importantly, you can use it as a tool to quickly create social media graphics for different platforms. That makes in one click you can resize a vertical Pinterest graphic into a square Instagram post.
The Premium Image library is great for social media graphics because we all know nobody is going to click on a pin with a cheesy stock photo. I recommend using the “favorite” feature to save images from creators you like so you can easily find more in that style in the future.
Beyond images, I have to say the premium icons and graphics are also much better. There are some good free options if you look but the premium ones tend to be a bit higher quality.
How much does Canva Pro cost per month?
Canva Pro is priced at $12.99 per month if you pay month to month.
A Canva Pro yearly subscription is $119.99, which is a savings of $36 per year over the monthly plan. The annual plan brings the monthly cost down to $10.
To put things into perspective, an Adobe Illustrator plan will set you back $20.99 and doesn’t include a fraction of the features Canva Pro has.
If you’re using Canva as a content creator and not designing custom logos or illustrations, Canva is a way better value than Adobe Illustrator.
My recommendation for deciding on Canva Free vs. Canva Pro
I recommend trying out the free version of Canva to get a feel for it. Then, you can do a 30-day free trial of Canva Pro for the best comparison and determine whether it enhances your workflow.
This is the best way to help you decide if Canva Pro is worth it because we all tend to work differently and have different needs when it comes to design!
To sign up for your Canva Pro trial, you can head over here or click the button below! And if you need Canva design inspiration, check out my Canva archives.
If you liked this post, save it for later!
I hope this review of if Canva pro is worth it helps you decide if it’s right for you. If you liked this Canva Pro review, save if for later by pinning the image below. Happy designing!
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Nicole Folgate
