You have probably been using the free version of Canva for a while are wondering if Canva Pro is worth your money?
I found myself in those exact shoes a couple of months ago.
I got so much out of the free version of Canva. But seeing all of the premium Canva Pro features made me think about just how much I could scale my work and business.
As a youtuber and blogger myself, I spend a lot of my time thinking about how I can be more efficient with my online tasks.
After having used Canva Pro for a few months now, I can say that it was the best decision for my online business.
So in this article, I am going to show you why you should upgrade and how you can become more efficient with Canva Pro.
Plus, I will go through 9 Canva Pro features that boosted my productivity.
What Is Canva Pro?
Canva Pro is the premium version of Canva that gives you access to hundreds of thousands of templates, millions of photos and videos, and so much more!
It is by far one of the most robust online digital content creation tools on the market.
Here is just a small list of the things that you can create on Canva:
- Instagram posts
- Youtube intros
- Facebook posts
- Blog banners
- Ad banners
- Digital planners
- Calendars
- Checklists
- Labels
- Logos
- Youtube thumbnails
- Pinterest Pins
- Postcards
- Graphs
- Business Cards
This is just a small portion of all of the things that you can do with Canva.
One of the later updates that Canva made this year is adding a video editor. So now, you can even make videos with premium animations with Canva Pro.
With the latest upgrades to Canva Pro, you get access to great animations that you can now have better control over. As well as a huge library of stock video images and music that you can use.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We will get into the rest of the Canva Pro features in another section.
Canva Free Vs Pro
So what does the Pro version of Canva give you that the free version doesn’t?
Well, not only access to more templates and designs, but you also get more storage and more possibilities to organize your workspace.
To help you have a better understanding, here is a comparison table showing what you get with each version:
Features | Canva Free | Canva Pro |
---|---|---|
Brand Kit | 1 | 100+ |
Storage | 5 GB | 100 GB |
Photos | 210,000+ | 87 million + |
Templates | 250,000+ | 610,000+ |
Videos | 14,000+ | 2.7 million + |
Graphics and Elements | 58,000+ | 7,6 million + |
Fonts | 1500+ | 3000+ |
Music | 80 | 27,000+ |
Folders | 2 | Unlimited |
Animation Effects | 6 | 14 |
Content Planner | NONE | 8 platforms |
As you can see, you can get a lot of things with the free version.
However, it is also obvious that Canva Pro packs a real punch.
So if you see the list of free options and think that you can work with it, then start with the free plan. I am sure you will notice very quickly that you will scale your tasks and want to upgrade at some point.
Is Canva Pro Worth It?
Canva pro is worth it if you are someone who needs to make a huge variety of digital designs or products.
Basically, if you are someone who has anything online that requires some creativity, you should be using Canva Pro.
Almost anyone can use it and Canva Pro is worth the upgrade if you are a:
- Youtuber
- Blogger
- Etsy Seller
- Pinterest Pinner
- Fiver Designer
- Digital Marketer
- Teacher
- Affiliate Marketer
- Student
- Small Business Owner
- Influencer
- Ad Agency
- Digital Content Creator
And that is just a short list of all the people that can use this tool!
If you find that you are making batches of digital content and you find that you will need more of the premium features, then Canva Pro is worth it.
However, if you still are not sure if it is worth your money, then you should try Canva Pro for free for 30 days and see how you like it before making the purchase.
Canva Pro Features: 9 Features The Boosted My Productivity
Now on to some of the amazing features that have completely boosted my productivity and changed my business.
The more you use Canva Pro, the more you realize the things that you can create on this platform are limitless!
I have created everything from full youtube videos, to affiliate marketing ads, to checklists with Canva.
At this point, I don’t think there is anything that I can’t do with Canva.
So let’s get into the 9 Canva Pro features that have completely changed my workflow.
1-Complete Photo And Video Library
One of the best things that you can get access to with Canva Pro is the full library full of millions of videos and images.
Usually, you have to sign up for things like Shuttershock, Adobe Stock, or iStock to get images alone.
The fact that you get both images and videos in the same place and are able to easily edit and design them as you please makes your workflow so much easier.
No need to even exit your design space to get access either.
You can do everything directly in the Canva interface. You can even upload your own images and videos right on the interface and use them in your design.
If you are using the free version of Canva, you will have to pay $1 for every premium element that you want to use.
With Canva Pro, these all come at no extra cost to you whatsoever and you can even download them in high quality if you want to use them anywhere else.
2-Canva Pro Templates
Canva’s templates have been world-renowned for years now, and for good reason!
With over 600,000 templates in the library, there is literally nothing that you can’t create. These designs are updated every now and then to make them more appealing to viewers.
New templates are also added often meaning you are almost always guaranteed to find something new on Canva.
I listed over 15 different things that you can create with the templates.
Here are a few more:
- Instagram stories
- Facebook covers
- Book covers
- Magazines
- Mind Maps
- Virtual backgrounds for Zoom
- Comic strips
- Proposals
- Concept Maps
- Invoices
The Canva templates are very easy to use, easy to customize, and easy to export.
Not to mention, you can download them in several different file types.
You can also choose a completely blank template, pick your size, and do whatever you want with it.
3-Organization & Storage
One of the best features that Canva Pro has to offer is cloud storage and organization that you get with the upgrades.
Folders are life!
My productivity has been off of the roof ever since I have been able to neatly organize my designs in respective folders.
If you are on Pinterest, Instagram, or any other social media platform where content is king, having the ability to separate these files is going to be very important.
You will be able to batch your content, meaning you can create dozens or hundreds of designs in one sitting.
Then delegate them into different folders depending on where and when you want to post them.
I do this with my Pinterest account and it has given me amazing results.
Plus, with 100 GB of storage, you are going to be able to make thousands of designs without having to delete everything.
4-Canva Pro Brand Kits And Fonts
Once you become a digital creator, you will quickly learn the importance of branding and making sure that you have a cohesive brand across all of your platforms.
This is why Canva Pro’s brand kits are going to be an amazing feature if you want to make sure that all of your content stays on brand.
With brand kits, you get to save your brand colors, styles, and fonts so that they will be able to be used across all of your designs.
You can save brand colors, logos, and even the design templates that you want to use.
If you already have a brand kit outside of Canva, you can easily upload them onto the platform and use them.
With the free version, you get one brand kit but with Canva Pro, you can make over a hundred of them. Making it a great investment if you plan on scaling your business in the future.
5-Sharing And Teams
Building any online platform can be a lot of work. So it’s no surprise that sometimes, you will need to have a little bit of help.
Sharing your designs and being able to collaborate with others has never been easier than it is now with Canva Pro.
You can have a team of 5 people in the regular Canva Pro package. And for every person that you want to add to the team outside of the 5, it will only cost you $7.00!
You can also take your designs and share them as templates via a link. This is a great way to be able to sell the designs and presets that you make on Canva.
Or give them away to your audience as freebies to build your email list.
6-Images: Resizing And Effects
If you are looking for a good image editor that will get the job done, then Canva Pro is going to be great for you!
You can adjust and edit your images directly on the Canva workspace with ease. Things like lighting, tone, saturation, contrast, and so much more can be fixed.
However, one of the most popular features of the Canva Pro image editor is the Background Remover.
This tool alone is worth the upgrade to be honest.
You can remove the background of any image that you upload or even any of the images already in the stock photos.
This opens up your designs to millions of different possibilities.
Another great function is the fact that you can resize your designs as well.
Meaning you can use the same design from Pinterest, for example, and resize it for your Instagram page.
This will also save you tons of time so that you won’t need to start over from scratch to post onto your different social media platforms.
7-Canva Pro Elements
You may be a little confused by the idea of Canva Elements but they are actually very straightforward and are the icing on the cake to any design.
The elements are different stickers, gifts, animations, shapes, and so much more!
These are the things that make your designs unique and pop out to your audience. The great thing is that you can find almost any element by simply doing a search in the search bar.
You even have the possibility to adjust the colors of a lot of these elements to be able to fit your brand.
Speaking of brands, you will find that some of the most popular brand logos are already on the platform.
Meaning you won’t need to go and find the logos and download them to use them. You can just get them directly from the interface.
With over 7 million different elements, the possibilities are endless.
8-Canva Pro Content Planner
As someone who has a youtube channel, a Pinterest account, an Instagram, and a Facebook page, I need all the help I can get when it comes to planning.
With Canva Pro Content Planner (Content Calendar), you can make your designs and schedule all of your posts directly from the Canva dashboard.
You can schedule up to 24 posts in one day with the Canva Planner.
And the fact that you can also resize your designs makes it very easy to upload your designs to several social media platforms with ease.
How to Share Designs on the Canva Content Planner
Sharing on the content planner is super simple. First, open a design that you want to share
Then, in the right-hand corner, click on Share.
Then press Share to Social Media and choose which social platform you want to share on. If you don’t have a platform connected, you will be prompted to do so.
Then choose a date and time, press Schedule, and you are done!
9-Animations Features
Making videos with animated elements and text has never been easier!
Canva animations allow you to make animated text, slide-ins, gifs, videos, and anything else you want.
I use them for my youtube intros, outros, and well other overlay effects that I use in my videos.
You can see an example of what I mean below:
It is one of the greatest features that you can find when if you are looking to animate your designs, and add some extra flavor to your videos.
With the latest Canva update, you now have even greater control over how your animations work.
Making it a truly personalized experience.
Canva Pro Pricing
When it comes to pricing, Canva makes it very straightforward and simple.
Not only does it give you the free accounts which you pay nothing for. But it also gives you a monthly subscription and a yearly subscription.
So you are probably asking how much is Canva Pro going to cost you?
The Canva pro monthly subscription is going to cost you $12.95. If you decide to pay for a whole year, it will be only $9.95.
Which in the end will cost you around $119.40 for the whole year versus paying $155.40.
They also have an Enterprise Plan made for businesses with more team members that costs $30.00.
How Much is Canva Pro? (Comparison Table)
Plans | Prince (Monthly) | Price (Yearly) |
---|---|---|
Canva Free | $12.95 | – |
Canva Pro | – | $119.40 |
Canva Enterprise | $30 | – |
Canva Education
One of the greatest things about Canva is that it has a Canva Education platform.
This space makes it easy and simple for teachers and students to share activities, lessons, and projects.
Because of the easy share functions, you can then share your work via Google Classrooms, Microsoft Teams, and many other platforms.
Canva Pro Teachers
Canva Pro for teachers is completely free for teachers from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Meaning you have access to all of the premium features without having to pay for it.
All you have to do is sign-up and show your credentials.
You can also sign up if you are a district or school administrator.
Canva Pro Students
As a student, you can also get access to Canvas designs and features for free.
This is available to all students from Kindergarten through 12th grade.
You will be able to collaborate with your classmates and share your designs as well.
You can also complete your assignments on the platform and share them with your teachers for assessment.
It also works very well with your other classroom tools.
Canva Pro For Non-Profits
If you are a non-profit organization, Canva has also given you the possibility of getting access to its premium features completely for free.
Canva is trusted by organizations like:
- Fistula Foundation
- Amnesty International
- Rise Against Hunger
- Opera America
And many more!
You can create great digital content and designs to be able to market your organization and get more people interested in what you have to do.
How To Get Canva Pro For Free
You may be wondering if there is a way to get Canve Pro for free?
Well, you are in luck because Canva Pro has a 30-day free trial that you can get access to.
Simply click the image above or click the button below and you can get all of the premium features completely free for 30 days.
Canva Pro Lifetime?
When it comes to having a paying a one-time flat fee, unfortunately, Canva Pro does not provide a lifetime plan.
It does not have a 6-month or 3-month plan either.
So you will have to choose either a monthly plan or a yearly subscription.
Canva Pro App: Designing on the Go!
One great thing about Canva is that you can use it on the go!
Whether you have a tablet or a smartphone, you will be able to use the Canva app and create, edit and share designs on the go.
If you have a Canva Pro subscription, you will still have access to all of the premium features, templates, and images, directly from your phone or tablet.
This app has saved me many times when I uploaded my youtube video and forgot to make a thumbnail. Or when I was stuck in the doctor’s office and needed to be productive.
And with Canva’s new video editing features, you can even edit your videos and add your stock images and animations right from your phone.
Canva: Pros And Cons?
Canva is truly one of my favorite platforms and one that has definitely been worth the upgrade.
With that being said, there are both pros and cons when it comes to the service.
Looking at the positive side, I literally do not believe that there is anything that I can not do with Canva.
As a graphic designer myself, I have worked with Illustrator and Photoshop. If you are looking for a very simplified version of these two tools in one, then Canva is going to be a great tool for you.
With that being said, it is nowhere near the Adobe tools when it comes to certain features like being able to freehand draw or make more precise edits.
If there is one thing that Canva needs to work on to be able to compete with tools like Photoshop, it is the effects that you can add to text and images.
I always find a way to work around these issues by adding layers however making this easier would be a huge step in the right direction.
How To Cancel Canva Subscription
If for some very odd reason you want to cancel your Canva subscription, it is very easy to do.
Click on your account initials in the top right-hand corner in Canva.
Then click on your account settings.
Once you are on your account page, you can then click on Billings and Team.
Scroll down and you will find your subscription. Click on the three dots next to Change Plan and there you will be able to cancel your subscription.
Final Thoughts
I don’t know how else I can put this into words but Canva has been a real lifesaver for me and my business.
Running several different youtube channels, blogs, and social media platforms can be a real task.
So being able to have all of your visual content in one place and being able to organize them makes life so much easier.
Not to mention you can even share and schedule all of your designs to your digital platforms without having to even leave the dashboard.
You can get access to premium videos and photos without having to pay extra or download them from different platforms.
Everything is already incorporated into the workflow for easy access and quick use.
Personally, after having used this platform for almost a year, I believe that there is nothing that I cannot do in Canva.
Making the upgrade to Canva Pro is an investment that you definitely will be glad you made.