Canva vs Figma (2025): Which Design Tool Should You Choose?

Choosing between Canva and Figma is a common dilemma for design teams, but here’s the reality: they’re designed for fundamentally different purposes. Canva is a general-purpose design tool built for marketers and non-designers. Figma is a professional interface design tool built for product teams.

After extensively testing both platforms, here’s our honest comparison to help you choose the right tool — or understand why you might need both.

Quick Comparison#

Canva Overview#

Canva democratizes design by making professional-quality graphics accessible to anyone. Its drag-and-drop interface, massive template library, and AI-powered tools let marketers, small business owners, and content creators produce polished visuals without design training.

Strengths#

• Instant productivity — Create your first design in minutes with zero training
• Template abundance — 250,000+ templates covering social media, presentations, video, print
• AI superpowers — Background remover, Magic Design, text-to-image generation
• All-in-one platform — Graphics, video, presentations, print all in one tool
• Print integration — Design and order physical prints seamlessly

Weaknesses#

• Limited precision — Not built for pixel-perfect UI design or complex vector work
• Template dependency — Easy to produce generic-looking designs without customization
• No prototyping — Can’t create interactive mockups or user flows
• Basic design system tools — Brand Kit is helpful but not comparable to Figma’s components

Figma Overview#

Figma is the industry standard for UI/UX design and product design. Built from the ground up for interface design, it offers vector editing precision, advanced prototyping, and the most sophisticated collaboration features in the design world.

Strengths#

• Professional-grade UI/UX tools — Built specifically for digital product design
• Advanced prototyping — Create fully interactive mockups with transitions and animations
• Design systems excellence — Components, variants, and auto-layout for scalable design
• Best-in-class collaboration — Real-time multiplayer editing, commenting, version history
• Developer handoff — CSS/code export, inspect mode, design tokens

Weaknesses#

• Steep learning curve — Takes days or weeks to become proficient
• No templates for marketing — Focused on UI/product design, not social graphics
• No video editing — Strictly for static and interactive design
• No print services — Export files, but no integrated print ordering
• Overwhelming for simple tasks — Overkill if you just need an Instagram post

Pricing Comparison#

Canva Pricing#

Figma Pricing#

Pricing winner: Tie — Canva offers better value for marketing use cases; Figma’s free plan is generous for UI design.

Feature Deep Dive#

Ease of Use#

Canva is designed for non-designers. The interface is intuitive, templates guide you, and you can create professional-looking designs within minutes. There’s almost no learning curve.

Figma is designed for professional designers. The interface is powerful but complex, with layers, constraints, components, and prototyping tools. Expect a learning curve of days to weeks before you’re truly productive.

Winner: Canva for accessibility. Figma for professionals willing to invest learning time.

Collaboration#

Both tools excel at collaboration, but in different ways.

Canva offers:

• Real-time multiplayer editing
• Comments and feedback
• Simple team folders and permissions
• Content approval workflows (Teams plan)

Figma offers:

• Industry-leading real-time collaboration (see cursors, selections, edits live)
• Threaded comments with @mentions
• Robust version history and branching
• Advanced permissions and team libraries
• FigJam whiteboarding for ideation

Winner: Figma — Its collaboration features are unmatched in the design world.

Templates#

Canva has 250,000+ templates covering every marketing need: social media posts, presentations, videos, print materials, documents, and more. Every template is fully customizable.

Figma has a community template library focused on UI kits, design systems, wireframe kits, and icon sets. It’s smaller and more specialized.

Winner: Canva by a landslide for marketing templates. Figma for UI/UX design resources.

Prototyping#

Canva doesn’t offer prototyping. You can create static designs and mockups, but no interactive flows or clickable prototypes.

Figma excels at prototyping with:

• Interactive hotspots and links
• Advanced transitions and animations
• Overflow scrolling and fixed elements
• Conditional logic and variables
• Device preview mode
• Shareable prototype links for user testing

Winner: Figma — Canva doesn’t compete in this category.

Export Options#

Canva exports to:

• PNG, JPG (standard and transparent background)
• PDF (standard and print-ready)
• MP4 and GIF (for video/animated content)
• SVG (Pro plan)
• PowerPoint, PDF presentation formats

Figma exports to:

• PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF
• Multiple resolutions (1x, 2x, 3x for responsive design)
• CSS, iOS, Android code snippets
• Design tokens and assets for developers

Winner: Figma for precision and developer handoff. Canva for video formats and print-ready files.

Pricing Value#

Canva Pro at $14.99/month includes unlimited premium content, AI tools, background remover, Brand Kit, and 1TB storage. Exceptional value for marketers.

Figma Professional at $15/editor/month includes unlimited projects, version history, team libraries, and advanced prototyping. Essential for product designers.

Winner: Tie — Both offer excellent value for their target audiences.

Use Case Comparison#

Marketing & Social Media Graphics#

Canva wins decisively. Templates, AI tools, video editing, and scheduled posting make it purpose-built for marketing content.

Figma can create social graphics, but it’s like using a Formula 1 car for grocery shopping — technically possible, but not the right tool.

UI/UX Design & Prototyping#

Figma wins decisively. Components, auto-layout, constraints, and interactive prototyping make it the industry standard for digital product design.

Canva can create basic app mockups, but lacks the precision and prototyping tools needed for serious UI work.

Brand Consistency#

Canva’s Brand Kit lets you save brand colors, fonts, and logos. Multiple brand kits help agencies manage client brands.

Figma’s design systems with components, variants, and team libraries offer far more sophisticated brand and design system management.

Winner: Figma for complex design systems. Canva for simple brand consistency.

Team Collaboration#

Both excel, but differently.

Canva is better for:

• Non-designer collaboration (anyone can jump in)
• Marketing team workflows
• Quick feedback and approvals

Figma is better for:

• Designer-to-designer collaboration
• Product team workflows (designers, PMs, engineers)
• Detailed design critiques and feedback

Winner: Depends on team composition — Figma for design teams, Canva for cross-functional marketing teams.

Which Should You Choose?#

Choose Canva If:#

• You’re a marketer, content creator, or small business owner
• You need social media graphics, presentations, or marketing materials
• Your team includes non-designers who need to create visuals
• You want to design and order print materials
• You need video editing capabilities
• You value speed and ease of use over precision
• Your budget is $15-30/month for a team tool

Choose Figma If:#

• You’re designing digital products, apps, or websites
• You need interactive prototypes for user testing
• You’re building or maintaining a design system
• Your team includes professional designers and developers
• Collaboration between designers is critical
• You need pixel-perfect precision and advanced vector tools
• Developer handoff and design tokens matter

Use Both If:#

Many design-forward companies use both tools:

• Figma for product design, app interfaces, and design systems
• Canva for marketing materials, social content, and presentations

This combo costs about $30/month per user but covers all design needs without gaps.

Canva Pros & Cons#

Figma Pros & Cons#

Our Bottom Line#

Don’t think of Canva vs Figma as a competition — they solve different problems brilliantly.

If you’re creating marketing content, social graphics, presentations, or print materials, choose Canva. Its templates, AI tools, and ease of use are unbeatable for these use cases.

If you’re designing digital products, apps, websites, or need interactive prototypes, choose Figma. Its professional UI tools and collaboration features are industry-leading.

For many teams, the answer is both. Use Figma for your product and use Canva for your marketing. They complement each other perfectly.

FAQ#