Design, UI, UX, Insights
Figma vs Canva Review: Which is the Right Tool for You?
Let’s dig into the differences between Canva and Figma in this detailed comparison review
In the ongoing debate of Figma vs Canva, professional designers and business owners strive to determine the superior tool for their design needs. These two platforms come with an array of features and advantages, making the decision-making process a challenge. Canva and Figma, though distinct, have gained popularity in the design landscape. Canva is targeted at non-designers, offering quick and straightforward graphic creation with an extensive template library and drag-and-drop functionality. On the other hand, Figma caters to professional designers, providing advanced collaboration and prototyping features through its vector graphics editing capabilities.
With this being said, it’s important to note the following before starting with the review:
👉 Figma and Canva aren’t competitors:
Canva and Figma are not direct competitors, despite both platforms offering design tools within the same industry. They serve different purposes. Canva functions as a graphic design platform, empowering users to create a wide array of visual content like social media graphics, presentations, and posters.
In contrast, Figma serves as a collaborative platform specifically designed for crafting user interfaces and mockups, primarily used by design teams to develop web and mobile applications. Despite their individual strengths, Canva and Figma occupy distinct niches in terms of usage and functionality, and users typically choose one over the other based on the specific requirements of their projects.
Now, with that out of the way, let’s dig into the differences between Canva and Figma in this detailed comparison review to figure out which one is right for your design needs.
Figma vs Canva: Overview
Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool suitable for various projects, from social media posts to presentations. Its templates and intuitive interface make high-quality design creation accessible, especially for businesses and individuals seeking efficient design solutions. Meanwhile, Figma operates as a vector graphics editor and prototyping tool, allowing for scalable and editable designs.
Notably, Figma’s multi-user simultaneous editing feature streamlines collaboration. With its rich library of built-in components, intricate designs can be crafted seamlessly.
Figma: UI/UX Prototyping Tool
Let’s start with Figma. In this section, we’ll look at its features, templates, editing tools, collaborative capacities, exporting options, pros and cons, and pricing models.
Features
Figma‘s toolkit is a designer’s playground with a rich toolshed of features for projects big and small. From precise vector editing that retains quality to an array of ready-made templates, Figma empowers designers with versatility.
Editing is taken a step further with tools like the pen tool, CSS support, and the freedom to upload your creations on an endless canvas.
- UX-oriented design capabilities: Figma offers features that cater to user experience design, making it suitable for creating prototypes and mockups.
- Drawing tools like pen and curve tools: Figma provides tools for drawing freeform shapes and curves, allowing for more creative design possibilities.
- A diverse range of shapes including CSS support: Users can work with a variety of shapes and elements, and even apply CSS styling to achieve specific design effects.
- Advanced grid system for precise alignment: Figma’s advanced grid system enables designers to align objects within frames accurately, ensuring consistency across different platforms.
- Layer exporting options for various formats: Figma allows for easy exporting of design layers in multiple formats such as PNG, SVG, and JPG.
- Endless canvas for collaboration and project development: The endless canvas feature provides ample space for collaboration and the development of projects without constraints.
- Figma Smart Animate: seeks matching layers, recognizes the difference, and animates layers between frames in a prototype. With this feature, you can create loading sequences, parallax scrolling, touch gestures, expanding content, sliders, toggles, switches, and other advanced UX animations.
- FIGJAM. The collaborative whiteboard for brainstorming, planning, and everything else solves the need to use other tools for brainstorming.
Templates
While not template-heavy, Figma’s focus on prototypes and mockups ensures its template collection aligns with its core strengths.
It’s a tool that thrives on customization and flexibility, catering to those aiming to build their own design journey.
Editing Tools
Figma’s editing toolkit is a playground for creativity. With shapes, pens, pencils, text, animations, colors, icons, and charts at your fingertips, the platform provides ample resources to bring your vision to life.
Text editing is seamless, shapes are easily molded, and graphics are just a drag-and-drop away.
Collaboration
Figma takes collaboration to new heights with real-time teamwork.
Working on projects becomes a fluid process, with the ability to comment, mention team members, and see edits unfold in different colors, promoting productive collaboration.
Exporting Options
Figma allows you to export your designs in various image formats, including JPEG, SVG, PDF, and PNG.
While it doesn’t provide an extensive array of export formats, it covers the essentials.
Pros & Cons
Figma’s strengths lie in its ability to tackle complex designs like website mockups and user flows. However, its complexity might pose a learning curve, especially for non-designers. Balancing its power with accessibility is key.
✅ Figma’s Pros:
- Suitable for intricate graphic designs.
- Excellent for UX designs, prototypes, and mockups.
- Impressive collaboration options.
- Offers a substantial number of plugins.
⛔ Figma’s Cons:
- Has a steep learning curve.
- Lacks photo editing tools.
- Doesn’t boast an extensive template gallery.
Pricing:
Figma’s pricing model caters to a wide audience. From a free version that covers basics to paid plans starting at $12/month per editor, the pricing structure reflects its diverse user base.
Enhanced features, sharing permissions, unlimited version history, and more are part of the package.
Working with layers in Figma is a breeze, akin to Adobe Photoshop but without the complexity. The process is both effortless and enjoyable.
You have the freedom to label your layers, organize them into groups, and adjust their placement effortlessly. Figma’s layer management system is a designer’s dream, offering simplicity and efficiency in perfect harmony.
Canva: An Online Tool for Graphic Design
Moving forward, let’s look at Canva‘s features, templates, editing tools, collaborative potentials, exporting options, pros and cons, and pricing models.
Features
Canva’s toolkit is a haven for designers seeking ease and functionality. It hosts a treasure trove of stock images, fonts, shapes, icons, and more, all customizable to meet diverse creative needs. With a user-friendly interface, Canva simplifies design creation, granting both novices and experienced designers the power to craft stunning visuals.
- Emphasis on marketing visuals: Canva’s primary focus is on creating visuals for marketing purposes, including various tools to enhance these visuals.
- Automatic resizing tool for varied requirements: Canva simplifies the resizing process by automatically adjusting visuals to fit different size requirements, saving time and effort.
- Brand Kit tool for consistent brand identity: The Brand Kit feature helps users maintain consistent brand identity across their designs, ensuring a cohesive visual appearance.
- Content planner for scheduling posts: Canva offers a content planner tool that enables users to schedule posts and marketing materials, streamlining content management.
- Animations and Video designs for dynamic visuals: Canva provides tools for creating animations and video designs, allowing users to create more dynamic and engaging visuals.
- Additional features for diverse design needs: Canva offers a range of other features to support various design requirements, making it a versatile tool for different projects.
Templates
Canva boasts a rich library of over 400,000 templates, catering to various design aspirations. These ready-made templates span layouts, animations, and more, allowing users to kick-start their projects with style and ease.
Editing Tools
From text editors to shapes, drawings, animations, and colors, Canva equips designers with a versatile arsenal. The platform’s photo editing tools, color palettes, and background removal enhance the customization experience, making designs truly personalized.
Collaboration
Canva fosters collaboration with real-time interactions. The addition of Whiteboards, featuring endless canvases and collaborative elements like sticky notes and comments, ignites brainstorming and project ideation. Users can engage, chat, and transform ideas into reality collectively.
Exporting Options
Canva’s exporting options align with design formats, offering MP4 for animations, PNG for images, and a range of other formats such as JPEG, PDF, SVG, and GIF. It ensures your creations seamlessly transition from the platform to various mediums.
Pros & Cons
Canva’s standout attributes lie in its photo editing capabilities and unified suite that encompasses multiple applications. The platform’s visual orientation and comprehensive toolkit provide a robust design experience. Nonetheless, certain advanced features may require a subscription, but Canva strikes a balance between free and premium offerings.
✅ Canva Pros:
- User-friendly app, particularly suitable for non-designers.
- Offers a vast collection of templates and stock images.
- Excellent choice for creating marketing campaigns and materials.
⛔ Canva Cons:
- Limited ability to create complex designs.
- Restricted availability of free templates.
- Unable to create wireframes and mockups.
Pricing
Canva caters to a diverse audience with three pricing tiers: Free Plan (limited access), Pro Plan ($12.99/month), and Teams Plan (starting at $15.99/month for up to 5 people). The Pro plan grants access to premium features, while the Teams plan enriches the experience for collaborative endeavors.
Numerous small businesses and companies have faith in Canva, as it significantly conserves time, money, and stress.
Canva offers two design approaches: you can explore predefined styles or commence with a blank template. Whichever path you choose, you’re not left empty-handed. The left panel provides access to diverse backgrounds, design components, GIFs, images – both free and paid options, uploads, grid structures, and a plethora of other resources.
Figma vs Canva: Comparison
Both Figma and Canva are exceptional graphic design tools that offer a wide array of features for creating engaging visuals quickly and easily. However, the choice between the two depends on the specific project requirements. If intricate vector editing and advanced UX design are needed, Figma is the preferred choice. On the contrary, Canva excels in producing stunning visuals for various purposes, such as marketing, advertising, and educational content.
📖 Learning Curve and User Interface
Figma presents a slightly steeper learning curve, especially for individuals who are not designers or new to graphic design tools. Its interface may require more time to comprehend, as users need to familiarize themselves with various elements and functions. More complex design projects might necessitate tutorials or prior research to fully utilize Figma’s capabilities.
In contrast, Canva boasts an intuitive user interface that’s particularly well-suited for beginners and non-designers. Its design revolves around quick-access panels, making it effortless to navigate and access tools. Canva’s user-friendly interface is especially beneficial for those new to graphic design or looking for simplicity in their design tasks. Canva even provides a dedicated Learn Tab for users to further enhance their understanding of the platform.
Both platforms, however, offer comprehensive features to cater to diverse design needs, whether for straightforward tasks like social media graphics or intricate UX designs involving collaboration. While Canva takes the lead in terms of a user-friendly interface, Figma remains a powerful choice for those willing to invest time in mastering its features.
🎨 Design Tools and Features
When comparing Figma and Canva in terms of design tools and functionality, there are notable differences in their focuses and capabilities. Figma is particularly geared towards vector graphics and prototyping, offering a comprehensive set of drawing tools, such as shapes and lines, along with advanced editing features. This makes it a potent choice for managing complex projects, with the option to enhance its capabilities through third-party plugins.
In contrast, Canva prioritizes user-friendly visual design. It boasts an expansive template library for various web graphics, catering to needs like logos, banners, social media posts, business cards, and flyers. With its intuitive drag-and-drop editor, even those without design expertise can quickly produce quality visuals. Canva excels in crafting content for social media platforms and creating video designs for marketing and creative purposes.
While both tools offer similar features, tasks that can be accomplished in both are generally more straightforward in Figma. Canva provides essential tools like text editors, shapes, drawing tools, animations, and icons, along with real-time collaboration. Figma, however, stands out with its additional functionalities, such as layer inspection, CSS examination, and advanced grid and layer management systems. Moreover, Figma’s capacity for emulation of various devices enhances the prototyping experience.
Ultimately, Figma’s emphasis on intricate design projects and prototyping, coupled with its wide range of tools, sets it apart in the realm of design tools and functionality. Canva, on the other hand, offers simplicity and efficiency for creating visually appealing content for diverse purposes.
🖼️ Templates
Canva is primarily geared towards marketing graphic design, offering an extensive library of over 400,000 templates. These templates cover a wide range of design needs, including stock images, vector graphics, fonts, layouts, and animations. This abundance of templates empowers users to create visually appealing designs for various purposes. However, it’s important to note that the free version of Canva has a limit on the number of templates available, which is around 250,000.
On the other hand, Figma’s template offering is more modest. This aligns with Figma’s core focus on creating prototypes and mockups, rather than providing an extensive library of pre-designed templates. Figma’s emphasis on its core purpose is evident in its template selection.
To sum up, Canva stands out for its wide variety of templates tailored to marketing and design needs, while Figma’s template collection is more limited due to its primary role in facilitating the creation of prototypes and mockups. The choice between the two would depend on the specific design requirements and priorities of the user.
🔗 Collaboration and Sharing Options
Both platforms excel in enabling multiple users to collaborate on projects in real time, ensuring smooth teamwork without lag or connectivity issues. Both tools offer commenting systems that facilitate direct communication among team members within project documents, streamlining the creative process.
However, Figma takes collaboration a step further with its comprehensive integration throughout the design workflow. The emphasis on collaboration is evident from Figma’s website message: “Nothing great is done alone.” Figma’s collaboration features encompass every design phase, offering capabilities like team libraries creation and template usage for future projects. Additionally, Figma introduces FigJam, an infinite whiteboard enabling brainstorming, sticky notes, and comments for enhanced collaboration.
Canva, on the other hand, allows team members to be invited through links or emails for collaboration. Users can tag team members, add comments, and engage in discussions. As for sharing designs, Canva displays export formats based on the design type, such as animated designs in MP4 format and image designs in PNG, JPEG, PDF (standard & Print), SVG, and GIF formats.
Figma’s collaborative approach and tools like FigJam make it a frontrunner in fostering teamwork and idea-sharing, while Canva offers practical collaboration features tailored to its graphic design focus.
🔌 Plugins and Integrations
Figma is renowned for its extensive plugin library, which is prominently showcased on a dedicated community page. These plugins cover various aspects like mockups, prototypes, chart creation, and wireframing. Users, whether having a Figma account or not, can utilize these plugins to enhance their workflow. Figma’s integration options, however, are comparatively limited.
In contrast, Canva provides a more modest selection of plugins, primarily focused on social media platforms, photo editing tools, and email marketing. Canva offers over 90 plugins and integrations in total, though it lacks the extensive plugin library of Figma.
Figma’s plugins have a separate dedicated page, allowing users to tap into a diverse range of functionalities, aiding team collaboration and resource importing from other platforms. On the other hand, Canva’s plugin offerings are fewer in number and generally associated with specific functionalities like Canva for WordPress.
Figma emphasizes its plugins as a means to connect with users and community members. For instance, Figma Chat plugin facilitates real-time interaction among collaborators within the same file, showcasing Figma’s commitment to professional standards.
When to Use Figma or Canva?
Considering your role, experience, and project needs is crucial when choosing between Canva and Figma.
For seasoned designers in search of advanced features, Figma offers powerful vector-based tools, ideal for intricate designs. Its collaboration capabilities enable real-time teamwork on complex projects.
If you’re new to graphic design or lack experience with tools like Photoshop, Canva’s user-friendly interface is a great starting point. Its drag-and-drop system simplifies creating stunning visuals, even for beginners.
When collaborating remotely on larger projects, both Canva and Figma have their advantages. For tasks like infographics, Canva’s vast template library shines. On the other hand, Figma’s advanced layout options, such as grids and columns, make it a strong choice for web design.
Ultimately, your decision depends on your project’s specifics and your comfort level with design tools. Exploring alternatives beyond Canva and Figma can expand your digital design toolkit even further.
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Let’s Wrap It Up!
To sum up, both Figma and Canva give you powerful tools for graphic design, catering to a wide range of creative needs. They equip creators with diverse features for producing captivating visuals quickly and effortlessly. Yet, the choice between them hinges on your project’s specific demands.
👉 For vector editing and advanced UX design, Figma emerges as the top choice. On the other hand, Canva excels in crafting stunning visuals across various purposes like marketing, advertising, and education.
👉 If your goal is to create infographics, videos, presentations, and more, Canva is your go-to. For UI/UX projects and real-time team collaboration, especially for prototype engineers, Figma offers ease of use and seamless teamwork.
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