Canva is a browser-based design tool built for non-designers with thousands of templates. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for professional photo editing and digital art. Canva is easier; Photoshop is more powerful.
Canva vs Photoshop — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Web-based design platform with templates for social media, presentations, and marketing materials.
Industry-standard professional image editing software with advanced pixel-level control and compositing tools.
Learning Curve. Professional Features. Monthly Cost. Photo Retouching. Template Library
Canva for quick social media graphics and non-designers. Photoshop for professional photo editing and advanced design work.
Canva: Free / $12.99 | Photoshop: $22.99
Canva: 170M+ registered | Photoshop: ~30M paid subscribers
Canva: Limited | Photoshop: Comprehensive
Canva: No native integration | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Yes (generous free tier) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: $3.3-4.0 billion | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: $42 billion (private) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Private (IPO candidate 2026) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Estimated 10-15% | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: ~25-30% (estimated) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: SMB, Enterprise Content Creation | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic team features | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 10,000+ templates | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 100 million images | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Unlimited access to templates | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: $13 (or free plan available) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 7+ (adds Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn Stories) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic only in Canva Teams | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: No—comments only | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 1-month calendar (Canva Teams only) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Yes (limited templates, no Brand Kit) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Yes—Magic Write generates captions & copy | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 8+ platforms via integrations | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 5 team members (Canva Teams) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: No (external tools required) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited (no social caption AI) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Full video editing suite included | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Unlimited designs (templates only) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Instant (0-2 seconds) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 71% (Canva AI variations) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Beginner/None (drag-and-drop) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 2-5 minutes for beginners | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Real-time co-editing, branded team kits, bulk uploads | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 4.7/5 (2.8M reviews) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Text-to-image, magic edit, object removal | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Pre-built transitions, basic effects, limited control | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic (colors, fonts, logos) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited collaboration on Teams plan | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 100+ (photos, icons, illustrations) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 1,000,000+ (photos, videos, music) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Yes - full multi-user editing, comments, version history | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 5+ (Magic Design, Eraser, BG Remover, Text-to-Image, Magic Expand) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Yes - Windows and Mac | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: $180 (Canva Pro) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: None; static presentations only | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited; view-only or restricted editing | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Web, iOS, Android (full features everywhere) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Canva Free with 5,000+ templates and assets | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 3-5 concurrent (depends on plan) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: $14.99 (annual billing) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 20+ (PNG, PDF, MP4, SVG, PPT, DOCX, GIF, WebP) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 150+ million monthly active users | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Unlimited designs | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 500,000+ templates | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 100+ million integrated | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited (web-based only) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 3 (Background removal, Magic Edit, Generative templates) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 0.25-0.5 hours (15-30 minutes) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Yes (real-time co-editing) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: No (browser-based + mobile apps) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic (limited layer control) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited (approx. 50-100 per design) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 15+ formats (PNG, JPG, PDF, SVG, GIF, MP4, PPTX) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Unlimited (free tier with limitations) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 250,000+ ready-made templates | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Web-based (requires internet connection) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 5GB free (100GB Pro) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 100+ million (integrated in free tier) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic: filters, adjustments, magic edit | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Used by 60% of non-designers | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Advanced with effects, music library, transitions | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited (basic file import) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Free tier included | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Unlimited designs, basic templates, Magic Write/Edit, 5GB storage | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited to 1 active editor per document | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic transitions and animations only | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic brand kits and color palettes | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Magic Write (text), Magic Edit (image), text-to-image, background remover | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic (shapes, limited curves) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 3 (animations, transitions, basic links) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 1,000,000+ photos + 100k tracks | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 6 (Magic Design, Background Remover, Magic Expand, etc.) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Layer-based, simplified | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited (5-10% functionality) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 2 GB (cloud-based) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: $180/year (Canva Pro) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited (Teams plan ~10-15 efficient concurrent) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Fixed by document type (typically 1080x1080 to 1920x1080) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Full editing on iOS and Android apps | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited (basic embed, no robust API) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: $15/month (Canva Pro) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic brand kit only | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Limited API access | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Basic (Pro only) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 1/10 (very easy) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 5.0/10 (template reuse) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 9/10 (real-time editing) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Not applicable - no video recording | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Yes - simultaneous editing with team members | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: No - not available | Photoshop: N/A
Annual Subscription Cost (if paid yearly)
Canva: 4 (Magic Design, Photo Editor, Background Remover, Brand Kit AI) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 50+ (presentations, social, print, web, video) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 5-8 basic chart types | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 8+ (text-to-image, background remover, magic write, design suggestions) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Desktop, tablet, mobile (3 main sizes) | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 5,000+ full-featured | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: Unlimited on paid plan | Photoshop: N/A
Canva: 100M+ photos, icons, videos | Photoshop: Not included
Canva: No | Photoshop: Yes (full support)
Canva: 5-10 minutes | Photoshop: 30-60 minutes
Canva: 45% (among non-professionals) | Photoshop: 90% (among professionals)
Canva: 40+ formats | Photoshop: 50+ formats
How to choose between Canva and Photoshop
Canva vs Photoshop — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Canva vs Photoshop. Contains 185 attribute comparisons, 4 FAQ pairs.
Canva vs Photoshop — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Canva vs Photoshop.
For most non-designers, Canva can replace Photoshop for everyday design tasks: creating social media graphics, presentations, flyers, simple marketing collateral, and basic image editing (background removal, filters, text overlays). However, Canva cannot replace Photoshop for professional photography editing, pixel-level retouching, RAW file processing, CMYK print output, professional compositing, frequency separation skin retouching, or any task requiring precise color management. The practical answer: if you are not a professional designer or photographer, Canva is faster and easier. If image quality, color accuracy, or professional retouching matters, Photoshop is required.
Canva has a genuinely useful free plan: 250,000+ templates, 5GB cloud storage, unlimited designs, and access to AI features including Background Remover and basic image generation. The free plan is sufficient for many personal and small business use cases. Canva Pro ($12.99/month) unlocks 100+ million stock photos and videos, unlimited storage, all Canva AI tools (Magic Write, Magic Expand, advanced text-to-image), Brand Kit for brand management, and the ability to resize designs across formats. Most marketing professionals find Pro worth the cost; the free plan works for casual use.
For professional photographers, graphic designers, and anyone who needs professional image editing quality, Photoshop is absolutely worth it in 2026 — particularly since Adobe added Generative Fill (AI-powered object addition/removal using Adobe Firefly). The standalone Photoshop plan is $54.99/month, which is significant. The Creative Cloud All Apps plan at $59.99/month is better value if you also use Illustrator, Premiere Pro, InDesign, or Lightroom. For casual photo editing, Lightroom ($9.99/month) or Canva Pro ($12.99/month) are more cost-effective. Photoshop's power justifies its cost only if your work genuinely requires what it uniquely offers.
What is Adobe Firefly and does Canva have AI?
Adobe Firefly is Adobe's family of generative AI models, trained exclusively on licensed and public domain images (making it commercially safe for professional use). Firefly powers Photoshop's Generative Fill (seamless object/background generation from text), Adobe Illustrator's Generative Shape Fill, and Adobe Express's AI features. Canva's AI suite is called Canva AI and includes: Magic Write (copywriting), text-to-image generation (via third-party models including Stable Diffusion and Leonardo.ai integrations), Background Remover, Magic Expand (extend images), and Canva's Dream Lab (advanced image generation). Both AI suites are impressive for different audiences: Firefly for professional-quality output control, Canva AI for rapid template-based content creation.
How to Choose Between Canva and Photoshop
Learning Curve: Canva has Minimal, while Photoshop has Steep.
Professional Features: Canva has Basic, while Photoshop has Advanced.
Monthly Cost: Canva has Free/$13/mo, while Photoshop has $22.99/mo.
Photo Retouching: Canva has Basic, while Photoshop has Professional.
Template Library: Canva has Massive, while Photoshop has None built-in.