Canva has taken the design world by storm in recent years and for a good reason. It's an intuitive platform that makes design accessible to everyone, even those of us who may not consider ourselves to be all that creative.

While there's plenty to do with a free Canva account, to unlock Canva's full potential, you're encouraged to upgrade to Canva Pro. But is it actually worth it? Let's take a look.

What Do You Get With a Free Canva Account?

Unlike other design platforms that claim to have a free account option but are so restrictive, Canva actually provides a decent free offering and doesn't force you to upgrade.

With a free Canva account, you'll still have access to more than 250,000 templates, 200,000 photos, and 57,000 graphic elements. This is more than enough to get started with and will enable you to create a variety of different professional designs.

On top of access to thousands of free elements, you'll also get 5GB of storage space for your own assets and have the ability to create a couple of folders to organize your designs.

What's Included With Canva Pro?

If you think that a free Canva account sounds good, then wait until you hear about what's on offer with Canva Pro. Besides access to all of the above, you'll also be able to make use of Canva's Pro elements, giving you the choice of more than 450,000 templates, 75 million images, audio and videos, and 3000 different fonts.

If that isn't enough, with a Canva Pro account, you can also use additional image editing options, including Canva's background remover tool. Plus, you can create up to 100 brand kits, meaning that whatever you design will always be on-brand.

Your storage space will also be upgraded to 1TB, giving you plenty of room to upload your own media, and you can create as many folders as you need to organize all of your new designs.

Canva Free vs. Canva Pro: A Side-by-Side Comparison

We've created this table to make it easy for you to see how Canva Pro differs from a free Canva account.

Which Canva Plan Should You Choose?

Deciding which Canva plan is right for you will depend on how much you use the platform and what you use it for. If you're a company looking to create business documents with Canva or an individual looking to create a couple of cool posters, then Canva Free is probably more than capable of bringing your ideas to life.

If, however, you work in marketing or plan to use Canva as the primary design software for your business, then it's almost certainly worth upgrading to access the extra features.

Are you still unsure about paying for the service?

The great thing about Canva is that you can keep using it for free and upgrade to Canva Pro later when you decide to. And you can even purchase premium elements individually if you just want to use one or two in your designs. You can add Pro elements to your designs for just $1.

New Canva Features Worth Checking Out

If you're on the fence about upgrading, then perhaps Canva's newest features may be the thing to persuade you.

With the recent burst of AI, Canva has not shied away from keeping up with the latest technology trends by coming out with Magic Studio. And using Canva to create images from text and transform your designs in seconds can help you work more efficiently and come up with ideas that you may not have thought of yourself.

The only downside is that several of the new AI features are only available with Canva Pro. However, to try them out, you can always sign up for a 30-day free trial of Canva Pro.

Another great Canva feature to help you brainstorm with a team or organize your ideas is the Canva Whiteboard—which is free for all creators to use.

Unlike opening a blank canvas with specific dimensions, as your ideas grow and more notes are added, the whiteboard grows. You have truly unlimited space at your disposal, while still being able to use all the Canva editor features you know and love. You can find the Whiteboard feature in Canva's Visual Suites.

Key Takeaways

• Canva's free account provides access to a large variety of templates, photos, and graphic elements, as well as 5GB of storage and the ability to create folders.
• Canva Pro offers even more, including a vast selection of templates, images, fonts, and additional editing options. It also provides 1TB of storage, brand kits, and advanced features like AI tools and background remover tool.
• Choosing between Canva Free and Canva Pro depends on your usage and needs. If you're a casual user or small-scale designer, the free account might be sufficient, but if design is a significant part of your work or business, upgrading to Canva Pro is likely worth it for the added features and benefits.

Is Canva Pro Worth It?

All things considered, Canva Pro is an extremely affordable option for those looking to take their creative designs to the next level. While we love a freebie, you can't argue with all the added features available with a Canva Pro account, not to mention that if Canva keeps innovating at the rate it already is, you can expect plenty more cool features to come.

At the end of the day, whether Canva Pro is worth the money or not will come down to what you use the platform for and how often you intend to use it.