Canva Pro vs Free: Is It Worth $13/Month? Complete Comparison

Canva’s free plan is genuinely excellent. So when does upgrading to Pro for $13/month make financial sense? Here’s a feature-by-feature breakdown.

Free vs Pro: What You Actually Get

Feature	Free	Pro ($13/mo)
Templates	250,000+	420,000+
Stock photos	1 million free	100 million premium
Brand Kit	1 brand kit	Unlimited brand kits
Brand fonts	❌	✅ Upload custom fonts
Background remover	❌	✅ Unlimited
Magic Resize	❌	✅ Resize to any format instantly
Animation styles	3 basic	100+ premium
Storage	5GB	1TB
Schedule social posts	❌	✅ (7 platforms)
Transparent background export	❌	✅ (PNG with transparency)
Video background remover	❌	✅
Magic Write (AI)	Limited	Unlimited
Canva AI features	Limited	Unlimited generations
Team features	Basic	Advanced sharing + controls

The 3 Features That Justify Pro

1. Magic Resize (Time Saver #1)

Create one design → automatically resize for every format with one click:

• Instagram post (1:1) → Instagram Story (9:16) → Twitter header (3:1) → LinkedIn banner (4:1) → Facebook cover (16:9)

For social media managers, this alone saves 2-4 hours per week. At any reasonable hourly rate, Pro pays for itself.

2. Background Remover

Remove backgrounds from images with one click. Without this:

• Need Photoshop ($55/mo) or separate background removal tools ($10-20/mo)
• Or spend 15-30 minutes manually removing backgrounds

For product photography and social media, this is essential.

3. Brand Kit

Store your fonts, colors, and logos. Every design automatically pulls your brand elements. Critical for agencies managing multiple brands or businesses wanting consistent visual identity.

Who Should Get Canva Pro

Pay for Pro if you:

• Create content for multiple social platforms regularly
• Need background removal for product photos
• Manage client brands (multiple brand kits)
• Post more than 3x/week and need the scheduling tool
• Need transparent PNG exports for logos/overlays
• Value 100M premium stock photos (vs 1M free)

Free is fine if you:

• Design occasionally (less than weekly)
• Only create for one platform
• Don’t need background removal
• Don’t manage client accounts

Cost Comparison with Alternatives

• Canva Pro: $13/month — all-in-one design
• Adobe Photoshop: $35/month — advanced editing, steeper learning curve
• Adobe Express: $10/month — good but fewer features than Canva Pro
• Figma: $15/month — better for UI/web design, more complex

Verdict: Canva Pro is the best value for non-designers who need professional-looking content. Adobe tools are more powerful but require much more expertise.

Try Canva Pro Free for 30 Days →