Canva vs Figma – Which Design Tool is Actually Fun to Use?

Have you made a decision to invest in a design tool and it's come down to Canva vs Figma? In today's world, having the proper software to create anything related to graphic design is vital. Every company in the world needs graphics and/or imagery. With the help of graphic designing software, the company can create an identity, and a brand, and build success online and off.

Canva and Figma are both notable design tools, albeit with very different objectives overall. This article will help you decide which of these powerful design tools best meets your needs. We've compared across a number of key areas. Let's find out which design software fits your requirements.

Canva vs Figma – Design and User Interface

Canva Design & User Interface

Canva has been in the graphic design software business longer than Figma. Canva has been the champ when it comes to design tools that are easy to use. The reason is simple, Canva is very easy to understand. The software is built to support users with limited to no design skills.

Canva has an easier learning curve because it is specifically designed for people who are not tech-savvy. It's intended for the creation of graphics that serve a web purpose, i.e. website, social media, etc. Canva, as a whole, has a user interface that is easy to understand and implement. Users can get up to speed quickly with Canva and start using the software to their advantage almost immediately.

Figma Design & User Interface

Figma is a more sophisticated graphic design and prototyping tool. This means that it is more complicated for entry-level users. Unlike Canva, Figma is used for more complex design work, such as collaborative UX projects across teams. So naturally, the person using Figma is likely to have knowledge in the field of graphic design and will know what they are doing.

If you need a logo or social media graphics for your company, it will almost always be advisable to use Canva as it's easy and gets the job done. You will find many templates to get you started and to make the work of creating your design much easier.

If you have been in the design field for some time or have been using Canva for a few years, and now you want to enhance your skills, you should take a closer look at Figma.

Winner: Canva

Canva is the winner for this Canva vs Figma comparison category. Canva provides an easier user interface and simple drag-and-drop tools for beginners to get the job done without hassle. Canva can save graphic designers time when compared to Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator tools.

Canva vs Figma – Features

Features of Canva

The best thing about Canva is the number of design elements that you can make. You can create presentations, resumes, logos, posters, vector graphics, thumbnails, social media posts, wallpapers, brochures, and other designs. There are many different elements one can make with this one tool that everyone will be able to find something to create.

The auto-layout feature helps you create designs like a pro UI designer. Using Canva tools, you can also create a detail-oriented design. You can add custom fonts to Canva and use stock assets available in Canva to create incredible designs, even from a blank slate.

Canva offers basic photo editing and image production tools. They are not as good or as deep as some image editing tools like PicMonkey but work well for processing an image for the web.

Canva also offers advanced features like real-time collaboration so more people can work on the design files.

There is much more to Canva, and we can easily say that if you explore enough, you will surely be able to find something unique and amazing for your content that you will indeed not have expected you'd be able to create.

Features of Figma

In Figma, one important feature is real-time collaboration. When working for an organization, or mainly for a web marketing design team, it is easy to say that many of the best outcomes are brought to life only through teamwork. And Figma designed teamwork into their platform quite well.

Figma meets its highest potential when it's used for teamwork with pixel-perfect control. Compared to Canva, this software's design as it relates to collaboration is commendable. It is a wireframing platform to create high-fidelity prototypes you can't achieve quickly with other tools.

Another important Figma feature is that it works on any platform making your life easier. This design software is for Figma users, whether they use Windows, Mac OS, or even Linux systems.

For UX design and creating prototypes for a website, Figma gets high marks. This is where Canva doesn't compete nor should it. Canva is not a prototyping tool.

Winner: TIE

This comparison is easily a tie between Canva and Figma. They are fundamentally different tools within the design discipline. Canva has broader applications and features because it does more. Figma is a deeper tool within the UX/UI discipline and does exactly what it needs to do to be useful in that field.

Canva vs Figma – Ease of Use

Canva Ease of Use

Canva is easy to use. Everything feels like a breeze, from the login page to browse through different categories to selecting the templates, and indeed anyone can use it with basic knowledge.

Figma Ease of Use

Figma is different. You can use Figma as a newbie, but it will take work. You will need assistance or tutorials to really move the application forward. It will likely take some time to learn Figma.

Winner: Canva

The clear winner here is Canva but with the caveat that it should be easier to use as it's designed for ease of use across multiple types of users. Figma is user-friendly for what it is intended for and for those who might use the software.

Canva vs Figma – Templates

Canva Templates

Canva has many template options that cover a wide swath of use cases. Canva can be used for free. The free plan has enough templates to satisfy the majority of users. But then again, if you want something more interesting, unique, and even more professional, you should opt in for a Canva subscription. Like any paid subscription, you gain access to more materials and capabilities. Templates can be found in abundance in Canva when you have a paid account.

Figma Templates

Now, talking about Figma, we can say that Figma is a much more sophisticated version of Canva. Figma is for people who want to design something from scratch. It's for those who want to build an empire from the roots. Indeed with Figma and the much more complicated software, you will be able to make much more exciting and unique graphic designs.

Winner: Canva

Canva is again the winner. Canva has more templates. Yes, there are templates in Figma, but they are not designed to do what the templates in Canva do across the wide number of categories needing to be supported.

Canva vs Figma – Integrations

Canva Integrations

Canva has multiple notable integrations with third-party systems like Google Drive, most social media platforms, and apps to help with added functionality within photo editing, publishing, discovering content, and more.

Figma Integrations

The integrations that are present in Figma are nothing short of amazing. They have such advanced tech and accessibility plugins that surely any UX designer will fall in love with.

Figma provides the capability to test prototypes with real users with the Maze integration. You can also embed your Figma files into Notion and Confluence for feedback loops.

Figma has a curated section of powerful plugins that can provide additional functionality once integrated into Figma's core product. Some of the most notable are Jira, Asana, Unsplash, and Pexels for images, iconography providers, charts, Builder.io, etc.

Figma has so many integrations that one can get lost endlessly scrolling through the list. Effectively using the plugins, widgets, and files within Figma opens the software up to an entire universe of possibilities.

Winner: TIE

This is too close to call as both design tools come with literally hundreds of integrations to expand the capabilities of the core software and choosing one over the other simply would not be fair.

Canva vs Figma – Editing Tools

Editing in Canva

Editing is the heart and soul of Canva. There are many different features available for editing. The best part about Canva is that it has a built-in video editor. Users who want to produce a polished video will be able to do so using Canva.

Canva is user-friendly, so the person video editing will be able to trim the video, and add background music, voiceover, and narrations. As expected, with the video editing in Canva, you will be able to start from a video template. Some video templates are free, while others need a premium subscription.

Another stellar Canva editing feature is that you can add animations to your graphic design. Be it a poster, a logo, a stock photo, a video, or a single file; you can add animations to it using digital interfaces. Downloading copies for later editing is also accomplishable with Canva. Auto layouts also make it easy for designers to work on graphic elements like stock photos and generate a graphic for any social network in minutes.

For example, if you are making a video and want your company's logo to appear in it, you can easily add animations that will make the video appealing and exciting. Animations are part and parcel of any presentation. Without animation, the presentation might feel lackluster. Hence, when a newbie is using Canva, it is imperative to understand that animations are easy-to-use to implement.

When preparing presentations in Canva, it is essential to note that you can add transitions from one page to the next. Especially when creating PowerPoint presentations, it is best to add animations to improve appeal.

Editing in Figma

Figma is software that is on an entirely different level. You can do so much with Figma that it becomes difficult to highlight a single element. One worth highlighting is the photo editing features Figma provides to bring your entire design to life.

Once you have chosen a photo, you can edit it in many ways. And since Figma allows you to be detail-oriented, you can make even the most minute of changes to improve the final product. Sometimes, a slight change in a photo that feels manageable may significantly affect the final version. That is why Figma gives you the option to dig deep and make the changes.

You can crop, enlarge and apply many effects to the image. If desired, you can change the brightness, contrast, hue, gamma, vibrance, tint, and more for photos. You can change the photo and make it something different and unique, or you can make minor changes that will significantly improve the image.

When editing in Figma, there are plenty of options. But at the same time, realize that Figma is for people who know what they are doing. Especially for video editing, it will take time, patience, and above all, passion to properly learn how to edit in Figma.

Winner: Canva

We can say that Figma as a whole is a great tool. Still, in conclusion, in this category, Canva is the winner as it has many options that will appeal to all types of users, not just those with a design background.

Canva vs Figma – Pricing

Canva Pricing

The free version of Canva is excellent, and you will surely be able to get what you are looking for. But if the free version is not enough or too limiting, you can opt for one of Canva's premium plans, Pro and Teams.

Canva has been designed so that more than one person can reap the benefits within a single paid-for account.

The Canva Pro version costs $119.99 annually. This supports a single user. With Canva for Teams, however, you can pay $149.90 annually and support up to five team members. All paid plans come with a 30-day free full-feature trial so you can better evaluate if Canva is right for you.

Figma Pricing

Figma has some really interesting plan options.

First and foremost, they have the free version of Figma, called Figma Starter. In the free version of Figma, you get unlimited personal Figma files, unlimited collaborators, plugins, widgets, and templates. You can also access the mobile app even if you have the free version of Figma.

Next is Figma Professional, which is $12 per editor for a month, billed annually, or $15 per month for month-to-month billing. This version of Figma provides you with team libraries, audio conversations, and everything in Starter.

Last is Figma Organization. This plan includes everything in Figma Professional, and adds organization-wide libraries, design system analytics, branching, merging, centralized file management, a unified admin and billing area, private plugins, and single sign-on. This is for $45 per editor per month billed annually.

Winner: Canva

Canva is the winner when it comes to price but there really should not be competition when it comes to price as each tool is designed differently and priced according to how it is to be used and not how expensive or inexpensive it is.

Canva vs Figma – Support

Canva Support

Canva has a dedicated team working hard to make sure they can support users' issues and general queries. For Canva Pro users, you can get responses in 24 hours. Free plan users can expect a response within seven days, but typically much sooner. Finally, support for the Teams edition typically comes within a few hours.

Canva has always strived to have excellent customer service, and they ensure all your issues are resolved.

Figma Support

Figma offers support during the weekdays from 8:30 am–5:30 pm PT. The best way to contact Figma is by email, and they make sure that they respond to your email as soon as possible. There is no specific time mentioned in terms of response time.

Winner: Canva

Canva has the edge over Figma. Canva has a separate waiting time for subscribed users, which can help those who paid for the service. Both have solid customer service ratings but Canva's availability is what matters most.

Canva vs Figma – Out of the Box

Canva and Figma, though they serve similar audiences and have a design purpose, are very different. Each of them serves a different user type. We have to understand that selecting a winner isn't really relevant in this instance.

When to Choose Canva

One should choose Canva when trying to design something for a web publication, social media, or website. Also, if a person is not tech-savvy, they should choose Canva because of its ease of use and the ‘template first' approach Canva provides.

When to Choose Figma

If you have experience in this field, or if you have an excellent grasp of design and you would like to learn the intricate details of prototyping or web UI/UX, then you should choose Figma.

Canva vs Figma Wrap-up

Canva and Figma are notably different, that is clear. Yet many people misconstrue one for the other and see them as competitors. They aren't when you examine them each and compare them against one another. Although they have a user pool that may be similar in some qualities and their appeal is widespread across those users, the two design software platforms should never be compared.

So which tool is actually fun to use? The answer is both. Both are fantastic applications that have a mass appeal within the areas they covet. Both can provide ample value within your specific graphic design needs if you align with what the software does. They both have an exceptional list of integrations. We recommend using either if the application suits you. You can't really go wrong.