4 Best Canva Alternatives in 2025
Last updated: February 2026 • 14 min read
Canva is a popular tool for non-designers and marketing teams. While it offers a free tier (Free with basic features), its paid plans start at $12.99/mo. Whether you're looking for a cheaper option, better features, or an open-source solution, we've compiled the 4 best Canva alternatives to help you find the right fit.
📋 Quick Summary
- Total alternatives: 4
- Free alternatives: 3 (Figma, Penpot, Photopea)
- Open-source options: Penpot
- Best overall: Figma
- Best free: Figma
Why Look for Canva Alternatives?
People commonly look for Canva alternatives for several reasons:
- Cost: While Canva has a free tier, its paid plans starting at $12.99/mo can add up quickly for growing teams.
- Feature gaps: Limited for professional design and can feel generic are common complaints.
- Simplicity: Some users find Canva overly complex for their needs and prefer simpler solutions.
- Data ownership: Organizations wanting data sovereignty prefer open-source, self-hosted alternatives.
- Better fit: Different tools excel at different use cases — you may find a tool that's specifically built for your workflow.
📊 Quick Comparison Table
| Tool | Free Tier | Starting Price | Rating | Open Source | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | ✓ Free with basic features | $12.99/mo | ⭐ 4.6 | No | Non-designers and marketing teams |
| Figma | ✓ 3 projects, unlimited editors | $15/editor/mo | ⭐ 4.7 | No | UI/UX design teams |
| Adobe Creative Cloud | ✗ No | $22.99/mo (single app) | ⭐ 4.3 | No | Professional designers and creatives |
| Penpot | ✓ Free (cloud and self-hosted) | Free | ⭐ 4.1 | ✓ Yes | Teams wanting open-source design tools |
| Photopea | ✓ Free with ads | $5/mo (ad-free) | ⭐ 4.4 | No | Users wanting free Photoshop-like editing |
Detailed Reviews of Each Alternative
Figma
Collaborative interface design tool for teams.
Figma is the leading collaborative design tool for interface design, prototyping, and design systems. Running entirely in the browser, Figma enables real-time collaboration that revolutionized how design teams work. Now owned by Adobe (pending regulatory review), Figma is the standard for UI/UX design.
Pros
- ✓ Real-time collaboration
- ✓ Browser-based
- ✓ Powerful features
- ✓ Great plugin ecosystem
Cons
- ✗ Expensive for teams
- ✗ Needs internet
- ✗ Can be slow with large files
- ✗ Limited offline
Adobe Creative Cloud
The industry-standard suite of creative applications.
Adobe Creative Cloud is the industry-standard suite of creative applications including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and more. While unmatched in professional capabilities, Adobe's subscription model and high pricing have driven many users to seek alternatives.
Pros
- ✓ Industry standard
- ✓ Most powerful tools
- ✓ Comprehensive suite
- ✓ Extensive tutorials
Cons
- ✗ Very expensive
- ✗ Subscription-only
- ✗ Resource heavy
- ✗ Difficult cancellation
Penpot
Open-source design and prototyping platform.
Penpot is the first open-source design and prototyping platform. Built for cross-functional teams, it runs in the browser and supports SVG as its native format. Penpot offers a Figma-like experience without vendor lock-in, making it ideal for teams valuing open standards and data ownership.
Pros
- ✓ Completely free
- ✓ Open source
- ✓ Self-hostable
- ✓ SVG native format
Cons
- ✗ Less polished than Figma
- ✗ Smaller plugin ecosystem
- ✗ Performance issues
- ✗ Fewer tutorials
Photopea
Free online photo editor that works like Photoshop.
Photopea is a free, browser-based image editor that's remarkably similar to Adobe Photoshop. It supports PSD, XCF, Sketch, XD, and CDR formats, making it a powerful alternative for photo editing and graphic design without any installation or subscription.
Pros
- ✓ Free to use
- ✓ Browser-based
- ✓ Photoshop-compatible
- ✓ No installation
Cons
- ✗ Ads on free
- ✗ No offline
- ✗ Less powerful than Photoshop
- ✗ Limited AI features
🏆 Our Recommendations
❓ FAQ
What is the best free alternative to Canva?
The best free alternative to Canva is Figma, which offers 3 projects, unlimited editors.
Is there an open-source alternative to Canva?
Yes! Penpot is open-source alternative to Canva that you can self-host for free.
What is the cheapest alternative to Canva?
The cheapest alternatives are the free options: Figma, Penpot, Photopea. For paid alternatives, prices start from as low as $5/mo.
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