Canva excels at design templates and ease-of-use for non-designers with 500,000+ ready-made designs, while PicsArt focuses on photo editing and AI tools with advanced layer-based editing capabilities. Canva is better for creating marketing materials and social content; PicsArt is better for photo manipulation and artistic effects.
Canva vs PicsArt — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Choose Canva if you need quick, professional-looking designs from templates without editing expertise—ideal for social media, marketing materials, and presentations. Choose PicsArt if you're serious about photo editing, want advanced AI-powered effects, and prefer traditional layer-based editing workflows.
Web-based design platform with templates for social media, presentations, and marketing materials.
Mobile-first photo editor with AI-powered effects, layer editing, and 100,000+ design templates.
Structured comparison data for Canva vs PicsArt with 198 attributes.
Annual Subscription Cost (if paid yearly)
Canva vs PicsArt — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Canva vs PicsArt.
PicsArt has significantly more advanced AI features. Its free plan includes object removal, face swap, and style transfer tools. Canva's AI is more limited on the free tier, with basic background removal and text-to-image generation available only to Pro users. For serious photo editing with AI, PicsArt wins decisively.
Can I use these without a watermark for free?
Canva doesn't add a watermark to free plan exports, so you get clean results immediately. PicsArt watermarks all free exports unless you subscribe to Premium ($9.99/month). This is a major advantage for Canva if you want watermark-free designs without paying.
Which is better for social media content?
Canva is ideal for social media templates—it has 500,000+ ready-made designs optimized for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. PicsArt excels if you're editing photos and adding effects before posting. Many creators use both: Canva for graphics/text overlays, PicsArt for photo enhancement.
Is layer editing available on the free versions?
No for Canva—layers are a Pro-only feature. PicsArt offers full layer support on its free plan, making it better for users who want advanced editing without paying. This is significant if you need to blend images, work with multiple elements, or do professional retouching.
Canva has an extremely shallow learning curve—it's designed for non-designers with simple drag-and-drop templates. PicsArt requires more familiarity with photo editing concepts (layers, masks, brushes). If you've never edited anything before, Canva is far more beginner-friendly. If you have editing experience, PicsArt's tools feel more natural.