TL;DR: Canva and Figma both cost about $15–$16 a month, but they solve different jobs. Pick Canva if you need finished marketing content — social posts, decks, flyers — fast, with no design training. Pick Figma if you design apps or websites with a team and need components, prototyping, and a clean handoff to developers. Most people only need one of them.
This is a research-based comparison using both companies’ published pricing and feature pages. We have covered each tool on its own in our Canva review and our Figma review.
Canva vs Figma at a glance
| Feature | Canva | Figma | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Marketing content, social media, presentations | UI/UX, apps, websites, design systems | Depends on the job |
| Free plan | Yes — large template library, 5GB storage | Yes — 3 design files, 3 FigJam files | Canva |
| Headline paid price | Pro $15/month, or $120/year | Professional Full seat $16/month billed annually ($20 monthly) | Tie |
| Other seats | Team plans priced per person | Dev seat $12/month, Collab seat $3/month, View free | Figma for mixed teams |
| Templates / stock | Massive template and stock library built in | Community templates; no built-in stock library | Canva |
| AI features | Magic Design, Magic Write, Background Remover, Magic Resize, Dream Lab image generation | Figma Make (prompt to design/app), AI credits — 3,000/month on a Professional Full seat, 500/month on Starter | Canva for content, Figma for product work |
| Prototyping | Basic only | Advanced interactions, flows and variables | Figma |
| Developer handoff | No | Yes — Dev Mode with inspection and code specs | Figma |
| Exports | PNG, JPG, PDF, MP4, GIF, SVG (Pro), PowerPoint | PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF, plus code specs via Dev Mode | Canva for publishing, Figma for building |
What is Canva best at?
Canva is built so a non-designer can ship a finished asset the same hour. You start from a template, swap in your text and photos, and export something ready to post or print. Its AI tools sit inside that flow: Magic Design generates layout options from a prompt or photo, Background Remover cuts out a subject in one click, Magic Resize turns one design into every social format, and Magic Write drafts the words on the page.
The free plan is genuinely usable, not a timed trial, and Canva for Education and Canva for Nonprofits give eligible users premium features free. Pro at $15 a month (or $120 a year) adds 1TB of storage, the Brand Kit, background removal, and the full premium template and stock library. If your comparison point is Adobe’s tools, see how Canva stacks up in Canva vs Adobe Express.
What is Figma best at?
Figma is a professional product-design tool. Designers build screens with reusable components, variants, and auto-layout, prototype how an app actually flows, and keep a whole product consistent through shared team libraries. Dev Mode is the feature Canva simply has no answer to: developers open the same file and pull exact measurements, colours, and code specs instead of guessing from a picture.
Figma’s pricing is per seat and by role, which is where bills grow. A Professional Full seat — the one that can edit designs — is $16 a month billed annually. Developers who only need Dev Mode sit on a $12 Dev seat, stakeholders on a $3 Collab seat, and viewers are free. The free Starter plan limits you to 3 design files, which is enough to learn it or run one small project.
How do the AI features compare?
Both tools meter AI, and both aim it at what they already do well. Canva’s AI finishes content: it writes captions, removes backgrounds, generates images with Dream Lab, and rebuilds a design in your brand fonts and colours. Figma’s AI works inside a component system: Figma Make turns a prompt into an editable design or working app prototype, and AI helps with tasks like renaming layers and searching assets. A Professional Full seat includes 3,000 AI credits a month; Starter accounts get up to 500 a month.
Practical takeaway: if the AI output needs to be posted today, Canva’s is more useful. If it needs to become a real product a developer will build, Figma’s is.
Which should you pick?
Pick Canva if: you run social accounts, a small business, a classroom, or a marketing team; you need volume and speed; nobody on the team is a trained designer; or your deliverable is a post, deck, or printable.
Pick Figma if: you design apps or websites; you work with developers; you need a component library or design system that stays consistent across a product; or prototyping how screens connect matters more than templates.
Bottom line: This is rarely an either/or for companies — marketing teams live in Canva while product teams live in Figma, and neither tool does the other’s job well. For a solo creator paying for one subscription, Canva Pro is the safer buy unless your work is specifically UI or UX design.
Frequently asked questions
Is Canva or Figma cheaper?
Roughly the same at the headline level: Canva Pro is $15 a month and a Figma Professional Full seat is $16 a month billed annually. Figma gets more expensive as you add editors, because every editor needs a paid seat; Canva is usually cheaper for a whole marketing team.
Can Figma replace Canva for social media posts?
Technically yes, practically no. Figma has no built-in stock library, no Magic Resize-style one-click reformatting for every platform, and no video export workflow aimed at posting. You would be fighting the tool.
Can Canva replace Figma for app design?
No. Canva has no components system, no advanced prototyping, and no developer handoff. An app designed in Canva still has to be rebuilt from scratch by whoever designs it properly.
Which free plan is better?
Canva’s, for most people — it is a permanent tier with a huge template library. Figma’s free Starter plan is the better choice only if you specifically want to learn product design, and its 3-file limit arrives fast.