Confused between Adobe Express and Canva? What’s the best option for your graphic design needs?
Both these tools are industry leaders in letting non-designers create visuals without extensive design experience or formal education.
In this post, I’ll compare Adobe Express and Canva. We’ll dig into details on their key features, pros and cons, along with pricing plans. The idea is to give you information to make the right choice.
Adobe Express and Canva overview
Adobe Express and Canva are web-based DIY graphic design applications. They let you create graphic assets quickly and easily without having to learn complex design software that professionals use, such as Adobe Photoshop.
Nowadays, they have also started offering generative AI features. Canva gives you Magic Studio for capabilities such as instant resizing and text generation. Adobe Express provides generative fill and text-to-image tools.
Both tools allow you to design various materials, including advertising banners, brand logos, social media images, YouTube thumbnails, book covers, and more.
They also have a massive number of pre-designed templates and stock resources, along with a drag-and-drop editor to help you quickly achieve your desired result.
Now, you’ll find almost every feature of Adobe Express in Canva too. But Canva has some additional capabilities that are not available in Adobe Express.
For example, Canva lets you design printed material and charts. You also get a whiteboard for brainstorming and collaboration.
Areas where both Adobe Express and Canva are equally great
Here are the characteristics that make Canva and Adobe Express similar to each other.
Stock elements
When it comes to accessing free assets to use in your designs, both Canva and Adobe Express will work for you. They provide you with a large collection of royalty-free pictures.
Adobe Express has over 800,000 pictures and graphics in its free plan and 195 million on the premium plan.
With Canva, you get more than a million stock images in the free plan. If you’re using Canva Pro, this number rises to 4 million.
While this number may seem pale in comparison to the 195 million in Adobe Express, there’s a catch with Adobe Express.
Many of the stock assets you get in Adobe Express have limitations on the way you can use them. For example, you can’t create designs for products such as T-shirts.
Exports
Once you’re done creating a design, both platforms let you export your work in the following file formats:
- PNG
- MP4
- JPG
With Canva, you get even more export options such as GIF, SVG, and PPTX. While Adobe Express doesn’t support these, it has a unique feature that’s not in Canva. It can give you “unflattened” PDFs.
These are files that keep their layers separate, which can be modified later in another software. Canva’s PDF files, on the other hand, are flattened.
Ease of use
Both Adobe Express and Canva are extremely easy to use and quick to learn. Using their user-friendly dashboard, you can quickly access assets, editing tools, and templates. And they come with intuitive drag-and-drop editors.
In terms of usability, both tools have mobile apps available for iOS and Android devices.
Powerful photo editing
Canva and Adobe Express have drag-and-drop editors for both video and photo editing. You can make several adjustments like changing brightness, contrast, color saturation, and opacity. And you can apply many effects and filters.
Adobe Express and Canva also let you dig into layers, leading to more thorough editing.
Besides that, both tools have unique features that make them stand out. With Canva, for example, you can copy styles from one image to use in another image. And with Adobe Express, you get the background removal tool for free.
Reasons to choose Canva over Adobe Express
As we discussed, Canva has some distinct advantages over Adobe Express. Let’s take a look at them in more detail.
Bigger collection of templates and storage
Adobe Express and Canva let you design a wide range of different assets with the help of templates. You can create reports, social media posts, presentations, flyers, videos, and more. And the templates are well designed.
Having said that, you get a wider range of stuff to create with Canva. From logos and business cards to whiteboards and infographics, you can make almost anything in Canva.
Branding and collaboration
When designing with several people in a team, you need a tool with features that help you keep your designs on-brand. Both Adobe Express and Canva have features that foster collaboration.
Adobe Express provides a “Brands” tool. Using this tool, you can upload logos, define font schemes and color palettes, and share your work with team members.
Canva caters to teams with its “Brand Hub” feature. It has all the features of Adobe Express for teams and more. For instance, it lets you apply content restrictions and design approval workflows.
With both, you can create folders to organize your work. But Canva’s folders can have several projects. Adobe Express doesn’t support this feature.
More integrations and apps
Adobe Express does integrate with MS Teams, Google Drive, and some other programs. But Canva provides a wider range of integrations to extend its capabilities.
For example, you can link your Canva account to form builders such as Typeform, and email automation tools such as Mailchimp. Other supported apps include Slack, YouTube, OneDrive, and Facebook.
Reason to choose Adobe Express over Canva: pricing
While we have seen that Canva has a lot more to offer than Adobe Express, this is also reflected in its pricing.
That’s why Adobe Express is a good choice for those looking for a basic tool in their budget, even if it doesn’t have some advanced features.
Monthly subscription: Adobe Express Premium is $9.99 per month, whereas Canva Pro is $12.99 per month. Adobe Express is cheaper by $3 per month.
Annual Subscription: Adobe Express Premium is $99.99 per year, while Canva Pro is $119.99 per year. Adobe Express is cheaper by $20 per year.
In summary, Adobe Express Premium is cheaper than Canva Pro for both monthly and annual subscriptions.
Final thoughts
Both Canva and Adobe Express have carved out their own niches in the world of design tools, catering to different needs and preferences.
Canva shines with its user-friendly interface, extensive template library, and versatility, making it a favorite among beginners and small businesses looking for quick, polished results.
On the other hand, Adobe Express, backed by Adobe’s robust ecosystem, offers a bit more in terms of creative control and integration with other Adobe products. And it’s a bit more affordable than Canva.
Ultimately, the choice between Canva and Adobe Express boils down to your specific needs and comfort level. If you want a ton of features and pricing is not an issue, Canva is the way to go.
However, if you’re already embedded in the Adobe ecosystem and want to cut costs, Adobe Express might be the better fit.
Did I miss anything? Did you try these tools? Do you have any questions or comments? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
