Comparing Canva and Figma

Canva and Figma are both popular tools used in the design world today. Each software has its own characteristics. Suitable for different audiences and purposes. If you are wondering which software to choose between Canva and Figma, please refer to the content below that SaDesign brings to make the most suitable decision for you.

1. Overview of Canva and Figma

1.1. What can Canva do?

Canva is a graphic image and video design software that possesses a huge resource store and great features that optimally support users in designing to create perfect publications.

Canva with its available template library helps you freely express your creativity in outstanding designs, helping users freely create their own design publications. 

With Canva you can create design publications of any size. With Canva even if you are not a designer you can easily create impressive publications. 

Canva has a huge resource library with over 500 fonts, 60,000 templates and a treasure trove of unique images and effects so you can: 

Image design support

Create professional videos

Share designs on social media. 

1.2. What can you do with Figma?

Figma is an application with powerful design tools for users to freely create user interfaces (UI/UX). Besides, with Figma you can also design and create models, create posts on social networking sites as well as many other design projects.

With this software you can create wireframes, mockups, prototypes,... or create media publications such as flyers, brochures, posters,... With Figma you can drag and drop images into documents and work in groups very easily.

2. Comparing Canva and Figma

2.1. Similarities

Canva and Figma are both popular online graphic design tools. Both Canva and Figma have user-friendly interfaces to create professional designs without requiring too much knowledge of graphic design.

Besides, both Canva and Figma are online applications. This allows users to create designs easily, anytime, anywhere.

2.2. Different

2.2.1. Basic differences
Canva is a tool suitable for users with little or no experience in design. Canva offers many features with free templates and images to apply to the design.

These resources can be used to create content from banners, advertisements, posters, etc. 

Figma, on the other hand, is often aimed at interface design with the ability to create wireframes and prototypes for websites. In addition to vector-based design capabilities, this application is also considered an ideal solution for designers when developing professional applications.

2.2.2. How it works
Canva and Figma are both desktop applications for Mac and PC. You need an internet connection to use them. Figma is considered a better desktop tool than Canva when working offline because Figma users tend to use its vector tools to create original design projects from scratch, so they can work well even without an internet connection.

Meanwhile, Canva users often make adjustments to existing templates and visual content that can only be accessed online.

2.2.3. Interface and Usage
The interfaces of Canva and Figma have significant differences, in which Canva's design interface is quite intuitive and can be used easily even by non-designers.

With Canva, simply click on the type of project you want to create and you'll be presented with a host of relevant templates to get you started on your design.

When you start working with the available templates, you'll see that Canva's left-hand menu offers a variety of options for you to combine with the available elements for your publication.

It can be seen that Canva has a fairly intuitive interface, easy to use without requiring too much in-depth knowledge of design. With just basic computer skills, you can create a professional design in just a few minutes.

As for Figma, the interface of this application is also quite simple, suitable for professional designers. Unlike Canva, Figma does not provide a library of ready-made templates. Instead, they provide powerful tools to create custom designs from scratch.

Figma's workspace is quite simple with a toolbar at the bottom, a layer panel on the left, and a settings panel on the right. Figma's interface is more "technical" than Canva's, so it will take time to learn and train to use and work with this tool.

For those who can use Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, they will be able to easily work with Figma without spending too much time getting used to it.

2.2.4. Design tools and capabilities
Canva and Figma are tools that have diverse and special features. Talking about Figma, this tool has unique features that are highly technical. With this application, you can:

Option to work with “variable” fonts

Ability to create reusable design components 

Prototyping tool to create interactive versions of draft web designs.

Some options that are available in Canva but not found in Figma include:

Word processing tool for document design

Video Editor

Tools for creating interactive graphs and charts

Ability to design and produce many types of printed products such as: Business cards, flyers, notebooks,... 

2.2.5. Sample Library
Both Canva and Figma are platforms that offer a wide range of ready-made design templates that you can customize. Accordingly, Canva offers millions of free templates, meeting the diverse design needs of users.

Users can work with templates in Canva very easily, you just need to search for the template you want to work with, then select the template you want to use to be able to create impressive publications.

Talking about the quality of Canva's templates, they are quite well designed, each category has a different style and aesthetic.

Figma's template collection isn't as extensive as Canva's, with only a few thousand templates available. Additionally, many of Figma's templates require users to pay extra, so using templates in Figma can be quite expensive.

2.2.6. Stock
With Canva you can access available resources such as photos, graphics, icons, videos, sounds,... to use in your designs. Canva contains a total of more than 127 million free Stock for you to use.

But in Figma it's the exact opposite, there are no free stocks in the main designer. 

2.2.7. Drawing tools in Canva and Figma
Both Canva and Figma offer drawing capabilities, but your needs and level of expertise will differ. So whether you want to quickly sketch out a design or create more complex designs, both are great tools to use.

With Canva, drawing is simple with pens, markers, and highlighters to freely draw on your design. Although Canva does not have advanced features like specialized design software, simplicity is the strength when it comes to this software.

On the contrary, Figma will help you create professional technical drawings thanks to the toolkit for hand drawing and technical drawing. Figma's vector tools are highly appreciated for their better drawing ability than Canva. Therefore, this is really an ideal choice for technical drawing tasks, allowing you to draw straight lines, curves as well as complex shapes with extreme precision.

Figma's vector grid allows multiple paths to connect to a single point, making it easy to create complex designs without being limited by linear paths.

2.2.8. Photo editing
Canva and Figma give you a variety of options for editing and manipulating images. The photo editing features in Figma are quite basic, you can adjust settings such as exposure, saturation, color tone, contrast, cropping, etc. However, for more complex image editing, you need to use other software.

On the contrary, Canva's photo editing capabilities are broader. In addition to the basic photo editing features found in Figma, Canva also offers many image adjustment features such as:

Photo background eraser tool

Option to copy style from one image to another

Instagram style photo filters

Effects add shine, fix skin,...

Apply AI in editing to expand photo background, remove unwanted elements from photos.

It can be seen that Canva's photo editing capabilities are increasingly improved, effectively supporting the work of creating photo content.

2.2.9. Font
Canva gives you around 3,000 fonts, while Figma is more modest at around 1,500. Both platforms allow you to upload your own fonts. When it comes to working with typography, Canva and Figma have settings and techniques that cater to specific audiences.

In Canva, you can adjust text effects like drop shadows, borders, curved text, etc., or set basic text alignment. In contrast, with Figma, you can have granular control over multiple objects with typography adjustments. 

Figma stands out with its “typography” control feature, which allows you to use typography settings such as font, size, boldness, line height, letter spacing, etc. across the entire project, making it easy to maintain consistent typography throughout the entire design.

Figma also lets you work with variable fonts — fonts that consolidate multiple styles and variations (like weights, widths, and slant) into a single font file. This consolidation gives designers more flexibility.

2.2.10. Web design
2.2.10.1. Web design on Canva
Canva offers a user-friendly web design feature that lets you unleash your creativity without coding to create stunning websites. This feature allows you to design and publish websites quickly, accessible on both desktop and mobile devices.

With around 1,800 website templates you can customize for a variety of use cases. With Canva you can use professional URLs to personalize your website.

However, Canva's website builder is quite limited in some aspects such as: They do not allow you to create websites with multi-page navigation. Designing a website on Canva is considered the top choice for building a website quickly. For more professional web design, you should use another tool.

2.2.10.2. Web design on Figma
Figma gives you a dedicated environment to draft, design, and prototype complex web and mobile apps. Unlike Canva, Figma doesn't limit the number of pages you can create in your web design projects.

Note that you cannot create websites directly with Figma, as it is a tool for designing the layout and style of your website. You can use a plugin to convert Figma projects into websites.

In Figma, the basic building blocks for web design projects are “frames”. There are around 70 frame options available for you to use. In terms of Figma’s web design capabilities, you can design responsively to ensure a consistent, user-friendly experience.

One of the most important features of Figma is its prototyping capabilities. While Canva only allows you to create basic websites, Figma allows you to build interactive prototypes to simulate the user experience of a website. 

2.2.11. Whiteboard Tool
Canva and Figma both offer powerful Whiteboard tools for working on mind maps and other visual collaboration projects. The difference between the two platforms' Whiteboard tools is that Canva's Whiteboard is embedded within the regular Canva interface, while Figma's Whiteboard, called 'FigJam', is built separately from Figma's main design tool.

FigJam with essential tools like pen, notepad, connectors is more user-friendly for new users because you don't have to search through menus to add content to your Whiteboard.

However, Canva has the advantage in the number of Whiteboard templates available with up to 1,093 templates while Figma only offers 300 templates. In terms of zooming in Whiteboard, FigJam is a bit better, you can zoom in on the presentation up to about 800%, while Canva limits you to 500% zoom.

2.2.12. Presentation tools
Canva has an advantage over Figma because it has a presentation and slideshow creation tool, while Figma does not. However, Figma has recently launched an experimental dedicated slideshow creator called 'Figma Slides'. 

Both Canva and Figma allow you to design slides, use templates, add speaker notes, and present polished presentations. However, Canva has the advantage of offering up to 20,000 templates, while Figma is limited to around 300.

2.2.13. Application and integration
You can extend the built-in functionality of both Canva and Figma by adding additional features and tools to each platform through third-party apps and integrations.

Figma is considered to have an advantage over Canva in terms of the total number of available integrations. The Figma plugin directory has up to 1,600 different plugins, while Canva only stops at 364 available applications. 

Figma plugins provide tools for advanced vector manipulation, animation, and interactive prototyping, making it better suited for professional designers and collaborative teams. 

2.2.14. Mobile applications
Both Figma and Canva offer you mobile apps. The Canva mobile app experience is pretty close to the desktop version. 

With Canva users can create new designs from scratch, access a huge library of templates, images and fonts, and take advantage of the platform's key features.

In contrast, Figma's mobile app is more limited in this regard, in that you cannot create or make any edits to any designs with the app. You can only view projects that have been created on the desktop version, or update project changes and feedback on mobile devices.

However, Figma’s mobile app has an additional feature called “prototype mirroring.” This feature allows you to select the Figma frame of the project you’re working on in the desktop version and ‘mirror’ it onto your phone. This allows you to see exactly how your design will appear on the actual device.

2.2.15. Cost
Canva currently offers 4 packages with specific prices as follows:

Canva Free: $0 per month

Canva Pro: $15 per month (for one user)

Canva Teams: $10 per month per user (minimum of three users required to access this plan)

Canva Enterprise: price is negotiable.

If you pay for a Canva annual plan, you will receive a discount of up to 16%.

Meanwhile, Figma service price offers 4 price packages as follows:

Free: $0

Professional Team: $15 per user per month

Organization: $45 per user per month

Business: $75 per user per month

You can save 20% if you pay annually for Figma.

2.2.16. Customer support and resources
Both Canva and Figma platforms only support customers via email and do not offer live chat support, as well as limited phone support for business users.

Canva's email response time is considered faster than Figma. Canva gives you access to AI Chatbot, which helps provide faster solutions when you are in trouble.

In contrast, in Figma, the contextual help button is simply a list of links and shortcuts to various help resources.

3. Between Canva and Figma, which one should I choose?

With the detailed comparison above of Canva and Figma, we can see that both are high-quality design platforms, each platform will serve different audiences:

Canva stands out as a user-friendly and accessible design platform, making it ideal for non-designers who want to create beautiful publications. 

Figma is suitable for professional designers thanks to its vector grid. Besides, Figma also stands out by providing great real-time teamwork features.

Choosing between Canva and Figma depends on your project needs. Accordingly, Canva is more suitable for beginners with a more reasonable price. Figma is the perfect choice for professional UI/UX designs as well as complex web and app design projects.

Hopefully, the detailed comparisons above about Canva and Figma tools have given you the clearest and most detailed view of these two great tools. From there, you can make the choice that best suits your needs.