A Look at the Canva Price Increase - Finding a Canva Alternative

This month, Canva had a less than exciting surprise in store for users - a price hike of up to 300% for Canva Teams subscriptions. It was no surprise then that everyone started looking for a Canva alternative. Here’s everything you need to know about the recent Canva price increase:

1. Earlier this year, Canva quietly raised costs for new Canva Teams subscribers to $100 per person, or $10 a month per person. They also raised the minimum number of users from two to three for the Canva Teams plan. 
2. On September 3rd, 2024, the company emailed customers who’d previously paid a lower price, announcing they’re raising the Canva Teams subscription cost. For US-based users, the price will rise from $119.99 to $500 (for the minimum three person team). This will start from December 2024, but a 40% discount will be applied for 12 months, lowering the financial burden to $300 annually.
3. After the initial 12 months, the discount will be removed and the cost will rise to $500 annually for a team of up to five people. Your total price will depend on how many users are in your “team.” Each extra user will cost an additional $10 per month. So a six-person team will cost $600 annually.
4. This unfortunate decision has been met with backlash from Canva Team-users, many of whom are on the lookout for design software alternatives.

As these changes only apply to Teams subscribers, Canva Pro and Enterprise users are unaffected for the time being. And while there will be the initial 40% discount for the first 12 months, Canva’s price increase is still causing concern among users who are cancelling their Canva subscriptions for a Canva alternative.

Why Did Canva Increase Prices?

As one Canva user shared on X, the "Canva price increase is one of the biggest increases I have ever seen YoY." What's the reasoning for the Canva price increase? They announced it's due to an expanded product suite, including generative AI tools. For startups looking for a more affordable Startup tool that supports their growth, exploring alternatives like Kittl is a strategic move. They're raising the subscription costs for Canva Teams across the globe, but the specific price change varies from country to country.

If you’re a Canva user who got that surprise email about subscription cost hikes of up to 300%, we can imagine the shock. We felt it too. 

Behind Kittl is a team of creatives and designers who love our design tools. This is why we’ve been committed to offering affordable, professional design tools to creators of all sorts - from professional graphic designers, to marketing teams, to your local POD shop owner.

Canva is historically meant to be the cheaper and simpler alternative to graphic design giants such as Adobe, which comes with a high price tag and steep learning curve. Canva is the popular choice for simple drag and drop designs. Canva statistics share that their top 3 design use cases are:

1. Presentations: One-billion presentations and slide-shows have been made in Canva. 
2. Infographics: 160 million infographics have been made in Canva. 
3. Business cards: 200 million business cards have been made in Canva.

These are simple capabilities that should be accessible for creatives everywhere. And you shouldn’t have to raise your budget for unrelated AI features you don’t even want. And users agree.

Here’s what some have voiced about the recent Canva price increase:

How to Avoid the Canva Price Increase

So, from one graphic designer to another, what do we suggest? Save your money avoid the Canva price increase. Find the alternative that meets your needs. This is where we’re going to be blunt - Everything you need to design on Canva, you can do on Kittl with extra benefits. Here are the facts:

Canva Teams

Canva’s Teams plan will start at around $500/year for three to five users. For larger teams, the price increases based on the number of users, making it more expensive as teams grow. Price increases for additional users can quickly escalate, especially for mid-sized to large teams.

Kittl

Kittl makes it possible for teams large and small to create professional-quality designs. Kittl was built by graphic designers who know the design process inside and out. They applied their expertise to Kittl to create the most streamlined user experience for both beginner and expert designers. The design capabilities of Kittl go beyond Canva - bridging the gap between Canva’s simplicity and Adobe’s advanced design features. Learn more about Kittl here!

That being said, you should understand what all users gain from using Kittl - here’s a few of our key offerings that you can gain with a free or paid subscription:

• Thousands of high-quality templates
• Free templates for presentations, infographics, and business cards
• Multiple resizeable artboards on an infinite canvas
• Intuitive interface known for its ease of use for beginners and pros in reviews
• Custom branding tools
• More flexible design tools than Canva such as advanced text effects
• Affordable team pricing
• Access to 10M+ free fonts, professional photos, and assets
• Easy-to-use export options for social media, print, and web
• Access to advanced AI design tools including Image Generator

Announcing Kittl Teams!

If you’re looking for a new design alternative to avoid the Canva price increase, we have exciting news… we’ve been working on Kittl Teams! Our newest design product created for teams of every size to create professional-quality designs while collaborating effortlessly.

With so many creators and designers looking for alternatives to Canva right now, we’ve decided to open the opportunity for you to sign up for 3 months free as a beta tester! By joining our beta, you’ll unlock exclusive early access to the tools that will transform the way you work together. 

Kittl Teams will come with exciting new features and tools for real-time collaboration, centralized team organization, and efficient team administration. If you’re already a dedicated Kittl user, we’re sure you’re as excited as we are.

So if you’re looking for a design alternative to Canva, sign up and join us for the launch of Kittl Teams! You’ll gain: 

• 3 Months Free – Unlock Kittl Teams at no cost for your entire team. Try it out while you’re moving on from Canva - we promise you won’t look back.
• Direct Influence – Your feedback will help shape Kittl Teams to meet your exact needs. Help us shape Kittl Teams into exactly what your team needs to be successful. We want to empower you with everything your heart desires.
• Exclusive Features – Be the first to try the newest tools and features as we develop them.

Here’s How Kittl Teams Will Meet Your Needs

While the Canva price increase has left many users frustrated, Kittl offers the ideal graphic design alternative for users of all backgrounds.

Canva’s price increase will directly affect the professionals listed below…which type of user are you? We see your needs and want to highlight why exactly you should switch to Kittl.

In-House Marketing Teams

Needs: Marketing teams often require collaboration tools, access to premium branding assets, and unlimited storage for large campaigns. Consistent branding, team-wide access to design assets, and high-quality output for social media, web, and print are essential.

Why switch to Kittl?: With the price raises, Canva Teams users will have to pay a minimum of $500/year for just three users by December 2024. As the team size grows, so will the cost. And as we mentioned, a marketing team of six, will have to pay $600 a year. Kittl currently offers comparable tools that are priced to match what you get, making it a cost-effective solution for marketing teams that still need advanced tools like brand kits, collaboration, and asset storage. With Kittl Teams, you’ll get absolutely everything you need. So we highly recommend you sign up for Kittl Teams to try it out for free.

Small Business Owners or Entrepreneurs

Needs: Small business owners need to create fast, on-brand content, including social media posts, ads, and email templates. Their top priorities are affordability and ease of use, with a focus on producing high-quality designs that align with their brand.

Why switch to Kittl?: Canva’s Pro plan is currently $120/year for one user, which may seem manageable at first. However, small business owners needing extra features, such as commercial licensing or team collaboration, face higher costs as their businesses grow. If you end up with a small team of three, your costs suddenly jump to $500 due to Canva price increases. Kittl is designed to work with you. So as your business makes leaps and bounds, you can be confident your subscription costs won’t. We offer transparent pricing that aligns with your needs and team size. 

By signing up for Kittl Teams, you get 3 months free and the chance to grow with us! What does this mean? You’ll have direct influence over Kittl Teams’ updates! You can submit your needs to us as and we’ll use it to help shape the future of Kittl Teams for creators everywhere.

Corporate Teams or Large Organizations

Needs: Large organizations and corporate teams require collaboration across departments, extensive branding tools, and scalable templates. They also depend on robust design features that can handle everything from presentations to social media graphics to web banners.

Why switch to Kittl?: Canva’s Teams plan for large organizations can escalate quickly, costing $500/year for a team of three to five and even more as teams grow. Kittl Teams offers a more sustainable approach, real-time collaboration tools, centralised team organization, and extensive design-centric branding features at a more affordable cost, making it an ideal alternative to Canva. 

Freelance Graphic Designers

Needs: Freelance graphic designers require tools that allow for creative freedom, high-quality exports, and easy client collaboration. They often depend on customizable templates, branding options, and export flexibility to meet varied client needs. Affordability is key since freelancers usually work on tight budgets.

Why switch to Kittl?: A Canva Pro subscription for freelancers currently costs $120/year, but additional features bump the price up when scaling. With Kittl, you gain comparable features plus more advanced design features (including AI companion tools), built by graphic designers for graphic designers. And these features are already included at a comparable rate, making it an ideal choice for freelancers looking to save money. And we won’t surprise you with price increases.

Print-on-Demand Creators

Needs: Print-on-demand (POD) creators need design tools that allow for quick, high-quality output. They look for easy-to-use templates, product mockups, and export settings that can translate seamlessly onto physical products, whether it's apparel, home goods, or accessories.

Why switch to Kittl?: Canva provides some of these features, but lacks advanced design capabilities for flexible customizations and precision. This makes creators need additional tools…which increases costs. Kittl, on the other hand, has been the go-to choice for POD creators for years. We offer specific tools like high-res PNG exports, vector scaling, and access to commercial licenses without extra fees. Kittl truly is the best alternative to Canva for POD. Kittl is so well loved for POD projects, you’ll find a lot of step-by-step tutorials, like this one, that highlight how easy (and fun) it is to use.

Influencers, Podcasters, and Course Creators

If you're a social media influencer, podcaster, or online course creator with a community greater than 10,000, you can join our partnership community! We currently offer four programs designed to help you expand your audience and increase your revenue. Take a look above to find the one that is most relevant to you. Learn more about how to become a Kittl Partner and join our partnerships community!

Why Kittl is the Perfect Canva Alternative

No Learning Curve

Being priced out and needing to go through the hassle of finding a new solution is frustrating. So the last thing you want when switching platforms is feeling like you’re starting from scratch. Kittl was built by designers with ease of use in mind. It’s been praised as just as easy to use as Canva - no hours of tutorials or complicated tools to figure out, similar to what new users experience with Adobe. A Kittl user recently gave us this heartwarming feedback:

An ex-Adobe user shared their love for Kittl's ease of use with us, echoing what thousands of Kittl users say across the board:

Kittl enables you to dive right in and start creating without missing a beat! It's all about keeping things simple and intuitive, so you can focus on bringing your ideas to life, not getting bogged down in software.

And if you do happen to feel challenged, we release new YouTube videos and blogs every week, chock full of step-by-step guides, tutorials, and tips.

On Reddit, one user said to ex-canva users searching for design alternatives, “Kittl. Thank me later!” They also suggested “...watch some videos on YouTube. Drew explains how everything works and it will take away some of the learning curve.” 

Drew truly is there to help you learn beginner and advanced graphic design skills through your transition journey. You can check out his videos and join the design community on YouTube here!

Transparent, Affordable Pricing

Let’s get real - no one likes surprise price hikes, especially when it feels like you’re paying more for the same tools. Or paying more for something you don’t want. At Kittl, what you see is what you get. Our pricing is transparent and most importantly, stable. You can plan your budget with confidence knowing that we’re not about to spring a 300% price jump on you.

Advanced Design Features 

Everything you love designing on Canva, you can create on Kittl - and then some! From sleek templates to easy-to-use design tools, we’ve got it all covered. But here’s the best part: Kittl also offers exclusive features that take your designs to the next level, like advanced text effects. These allow greater control over fonts, transformations, and other effects, meaning you can create even more unique designs.

One user on YouTube shared their love for how Kittl helps them advance their graphic design skills:

A User-Centric Approach

Designers want tools that work with them, not against them. Kittl is all about supporting our users and putting their needs first. Trust us when we say, we’re not a faceless corporate machine. We actually listen to what our community wants and work to build features that make a difference in your creative process. You’ll always feel like you’re designing with a team that truly cares. Because we truly do!

Your Journey to Finding Canva Alternatives: Now What? 

If you’re still not convinced that Kittl is the right choice for you, we highly encourage you to try it out for free and see for yourself. Since there’s no steep learning curve, you’ll be creating professional designs in no time, making Kittl the best Canva alternative. And the best free alternative to Canva.

By signing up, you’re not just getting access to a free graphic design tool. You’re joining a community of over 4 million creators who design with Kittl. So sign up today for free and start levelling up your designs, marketing assets, and branding!

Become a Beta Tester with Kittl Teams

If you are convinced, sign up to become a beta tester for Canva Teams today! As we said above, we actively listen to what our users want.

By becoming a beta tester, not only do you benefit from 3 full months completely free, but you gain direct influence of Kittl Teams’ capabilities. Is there a design or collaboration feature you dreamed of Canva having? With Kittl, you can submit your feedback to us and we’ll take it on board while we make dedicated improvements.

Avoid the Canva price increases - sign up for Kittl Teams today and work with us as we shape the perfect collaborative design solution for small and large businesses.

Common FAQs About the Canva Price Increase

• Are Canva prices going up?

Yes, Canva prices have gone up. The cost of a Canva Teams subscription will increase by up to 300% in December 2024. This is a significant leap but one that only affects Canva Teams for the time being. Whether or not price increases will affect Canva Free, Canva Pro, or Canva Enterprise is unknown.

• Is Canva no longer free?

Canva still offers a free plan as of the date of this article’s publication. However, the capabilities and design assets it offers are significantly less than their paid subscriptions.

• Is there a cheaper alternative to Canva?

If you’re looking for an alternative to Canva, then Kittl is the design tool for you. With our more advanced design capabilities, you get more for your money.

Sources:

TechCrunch

Creative Bloq

Style Factory