Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Microsoft Designer VS Canva

Compare Microsoft Designer VS Canva and see what are their differences

Microsoft Designer logo Microsoft Designer

Create stunning designs in a flash

Canva logo Canva

Canva is a graphic-design platform with a drag-and-drop interface to create print or visual content while providing templates, images, and fonts. Canva makes graphic design more straightforward and accessible regardless of skill level.
Not present
  • Canva Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-10

Canva is a web-based design platform allowing users to quickly and easily create stunning visuals. With various templates and tools, businesses can create professional designs for social media posts, presentations, flyers, and more. Canva also allows users to save templates and collaborate with other designers, making it great for teams working together on projects. Not only is Canva easy to use, but it is also affordable, making it an excellent option for businesses on a budget. Use Canva Teams to connect with your team members and work on a project from different locations, making tracking progress and managing deadlines easy. You can also upload and store files, assign tasks, and communicate with each other in one centralized place. With Canva Teams, you can quickly and easily create stunning visually pleasing visuals that effectively communicate the project's message.

Canva

Website
canva.com
$ Details
freemium $12.99 / Monthly (Pro)
Release Date
2013 August
Startup details
Country
Australia
City
Sydney
Founder(s)
Mel Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, Cameron Adams
Employees
2,000 - 4,999

Microsoft Designer features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    The platform is designed with user-friendly interfaces, making it accessible for both experienced designers and beginners.
  • Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem
    Seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft products like Office 365, enhancing productivity for users familiar with the Microsoft environment.
  • AI-Powered Features
    Leverages AI to suggest design elements and templates, which can save users significant time and improve the quality of their work.
  • Templates and Assets
    Provides a vast library of customizable templates and graphic assets, helping users to quickly create professional-grade designs.
  • Collaboration Tools
    Offers collaborative features which allow multiple users to work on the same project simultaneously, improving teamwork and efficiency.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft Designer

  • Cost
    Microsoft Designer may come with a subscription fee that could be a barrier for freelance designers or small businesses operating on tight budgets.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly design, there can still be a learning curve for those not familiar with design software or Microsoft applications.
  • Limited Offline Access
    Since it's a web-based application, users need an internet connection to access its features, which can be limiting in environments with poor connectivity.
  • Template Customization Limits
    While there are plenty of templates available, the degree of customization can sometimes be limited, which may frustrate more advanced designers.
  • Performance
    Depending on your computer's hardware and internet connection, the application may experience performance issues during intensive tasks.

Canva features and specs

  • Document Creation
    Writing AI
  • Custom Prints
    Over 30 products to pick from
  • Presentations
    magic shortcuts, animations, recording
  • Websites
    Performance Tracking
  • Video Editor
    One-click video background remover, animations
  • Social Media Content Creation
    Resizing options, content planner
  • Whiteboards
    Flowcharts, planning, and brainstorming
  • HEIC to JPG Converter
    Convert HEIC to JPG to easily share images on any platform or device using Canva's HEIC to JPG converter
  • PDF to JPG Converter
    Convert PDF to JPG to easily share images on any platform or device using Canva's PDF to JPG Converter

Analysis of Microsoft Designer

Overall verdict

  • Microsoft Designer is a strong choice for those looking for a user-friendly, AI-enhanced design tool, especially if they are already using Microsoft's suite of products. While it may not have all the advanced features of some dedicated graphic design software, it provides a solid option for most everyday design needs.

Why this product is good

  • Microsoft Designer is a graphic design tool that leverages AI to provide easy-to-use templates and design suggestions. Its integration with Microsoft's ecosystem, including productivity tools like PowerPoint and Word, offers added convenience for users already invested in Microsoft's services. The AI features help speed up the design process, making it accessible for beginners as well as time-saving for experienced designers.

Recommended for

  • Small business owners creating marketing materials.
  • Educators preparing engaging presentations and course materials.
  • Individuals needing quick, professional-looking graphics without a steep learning curve.
  • Microsoft 365 users who want seamless integration with their existing tools.

Microsoft Designer videos

Microsoft Designer V.s Dall-E FIRST LOOK!

More videos:

  • Review - Microsoft Designer is HERE! Your First Look at the AI Powered Design Platform
  • Review - Microsoft Designer is here...

Canva videos

Canva Review

More videos:

  • Review - Canva Pro | 7 Reasons To Upgrade To Canva Pro

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft Designer and Canva)
AI
8 8%
92% 92
Design Tools
2 2%
98% 98
Graphic Design Software
0 0%
100% 100
AI Image Generator
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Microsoft Designer and Canva

Microsoft Designer Reviews

Top 11 AI Image Generators to Try in 2024
In summary, Microsoft Designer is a powerful and user-friendly tool for anyone looking to create professional-grade graphics. With its AI-driven design assistance and extensive template library, this standalone product is perfect for marketers, designers, and content creators seeking to streamline their design process and achieve stunning results.

Canva Reviews

  1. Yansiliang
    ยท Working at Xspiral ยท
    Good

    good

  2. Abizer Izzy
    Best Blog Image Generator

    I consistently use Canva to create featured images for my blog. The free version itself is amazing.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: DesignCap
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Free elements|Free templates|Easy logo creation
  3. Arshia Jabbar
    ยท Marketing intern at PITB Incubation Wing ยท
    A app where you make your profile by your own

    User friendly app for beginners, also their features are easy to use, and they have fun features too. Also they have multiple templates whatever you make you have many options. Also they support beginners in start.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: PicMonkey
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Variety of graphics|Advanced features
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Download music from deezer premium

12 Best Free PosterMyWall Alternatives and Competitors
Canva is a user-friendly tool that helps people create stunning, creative content without any hassle. Itโ€™s great for making social site images, posters, videos, websites, and much more. Whether youโ€™re a beginner or a pro, Canva can boost your design skills.
Source: mockey.ai
Top 10 Best Animoto Alternatives For Stunning Video Creation
The graphic deยญsign king offers more than images now. Canva provideยญs video editing capabilities also. Add moveยญment to social campaigns. A library of premade videยญo styles awaits within its interface. Making eยญye-catching videos is approachable for all skill leยญvels through Canva.
Source: sharetool.net
Top 6 Alternatives to Animoto to Create Videos Online
Are there any Canva alternatives to make an amazing graphic design? Luckily, this post will provide you with the 5 best Canva alternatives. Read this post now!
The 13 Best Free PDF Editors (February 2024)
Unlike most free tools, Canva lets you fully edit text, and you don't need to sign up to do it. Click any text area to change what the text says and to adjust the font type, size, and color. You can also add hyperlinks to text and other objects, and special fonts are available to easily type out your signature.
10 Best AI Background Removers for Flawless Edits in 2023
Canva offers two primary pricing tiers. For the individual, Canva Pro is priced at $14.99 per month or $119.99 for a whole year. Should you need a platform for collaborative work, Canva caters to teams as well. It offers a team package at $29.99 per month - this price covers up to five team members. For an annual option, teams can avail it at $300 per year, good for the...
Source: picofme.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Canva should be more popular than Microsoft Designer. It has been mentiond 226 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Microsoft Designer mentions (27)

  • Creating a browser extension for Chrome / Edge
    1. Manifest Version: There are different versions of the manifest file, with Manifest V3 being the latest and most widely adopted version. Manifest V3 introduces several changes aimed at improving security, privacy, and performance with lot of controversies around it. Read more about the controversies at Ghostery. 2. Name and Version: These fields define the name and version of the extension. Choose a unique... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • AI Marina
    But the Image Designer is unlimited with more tools. Designer "Add Media" - "Generate AI Image". Source: almost 2 years ago
  • I saved my Bing Image Creator creations in a collection, but the old ones have started disappearing. Any way to get them back?
    No idea if it's possible to recover them and yes, it's preferable to save them locally (and back them up on the cloud too). As it's been mentioned by someone else in a similar discussion, the Designer automatically saves its generated pictures on OneDrive, but it doesn't automatically save the prompt used to generate them unfortunately, also the Designer has a stronger pre-generation filter compared to the Image... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Revolutionizing Graphic Design with Artificial Intelligence
    In today's digital era, where every pixel counts, Microsoft Designer emerges: an AI-powered graphic design application that promises to transform your idea into visually appealing content. This software stands as an indispensable tool, offering a platform accessible to you regardless of your design experience. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • I run a earrings shop. is there any way I can use AI models for pictures?
    Microsoft Designer can help you with creating designs for things like marketing materials, brochures, etc. It can create images, slogans and it recommend design layouts. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Canva mentions (226)

  • Here's how to build a Canva like UI using Reactjs
    Chances are, youโ€™ve used Canva โ€” maybe to whip up a poster, design an Instagram story, or create something that just looks good without breaking being a professional designer. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • The Best 100 Free UI/UX Resources for Every Designer & Developer
    Canva Canva.com Drag-and-drop design platform with free templates for social media, presentations, and more. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • CSS is Emotional: z-index and the Hierarchy of Needs
    Imagine shuffling papers on a desk. Even though the desk is flat, papers stack in layersโ€”some on top, others below. That's exactly what z-index does on websites. If you're familiar with tools like Canva, PowerPoint, Photoshop, or Figma, you know this feature as "Send to Back" or more accurately, "Arrange" or "Position". - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • My tech stack for startups in 2025
    I'm continuing to use Adobe's Creative Cloud. Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro are tools that I already know my way around so I'm keeping those close. I know that many people love how quick and easy it is to get something done with tools like Canva or Figma. I think whatever you are comfortable with and enables you to move fast you should keep using. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • How I promoted my open source repo to 6k stars in 6 months
    Now, Iโ€™m not a designer, so for the promo images I just used Canva templates to create the promotional images in a style that seemed to fit. I think they came out good enough. What I was mostly going for was consistency. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Microsoft Designer and Canva, you can also consider the following products

Midjourney - Midjourney lets you create images (paintings, digital art, logos and much more) simply by writing a prompt.

Adobe Photoshop - Adobe Photoshop is a webtop application for editing images and photos online.

DALL-E - Creating images from text, from Open AI

Piktochart - Piktochart for Business Storytelling

PixieMint - Instantly create stunning visuals in seconds. Generate images, remove backgrounds, edit photos and more with ease. No Photoshop Skills Required

PicMonkey - PicMonkey is a feature-rich online photo editor that works right in your browser; no downloads...