Is Canva Pro Worth It? [12 Reasons Why You Should Upgrade]

What is Canva?

Canva is one of the more popular graphic design packages, available online and also via android and IOS apps, for an offline capability.

It is a leading tool that allows you to create high quality professional looking designs but without the steep learning curve of some of the advanced offerings from Adobe.

Literally anyone can jump into Canva and start creating presentations, posters, social media graphics and much more.

Why Use Canva?

I asked a number of fellow side hustlers and digital marketers why they use Canva and what they like about it and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Canva is the go to site for any kind of design.

Some are using it to create YouTube channel art, blog post graphics, facebook posts, and stand out designs for Pinterest. Others are using it to create elements they can add to their sales funnels or customer websites.

I definitely need to get better at it but I’m always amazed at how much you can do on it. I’ve seen people create some amazing things with it. I also like the mobile app. I can design stuff real quick in the fly with my phone – Jason

I have the paid version and I love it! It’s we’ll worth the money – Jayme

I have the pro version – so easy to use, excellent stock images and stores it so you can log on anywhere and get to working on stuff!! – Brad

I use it every single day as I design funnels. It is one of the most powerful and user friendly tools out there – Chris

People love the versatility and feature range with Canva, and whilst the free version is adequate for many, this post is to answer the question, is Canva Pro worth it?

So if you have limited time to learn how to create eye popping graphics, or you don’t have the budget to hire a designer of your own, then keep reading.

12 Reasons to upgrade to Canva Pro

Without further ado lets jump into all of the reasons you may want to dust off the credit card and upgrade Canva.

If video is your thing then check out the YouTube video below I created to help your decision.

Reason #1 – Transparent Backgrounds

Have you ever had to design a logo and didn’t want the hassle of paying someone to do it?

Canva is a great tool for creating your own logo, with tonnes of pre-made elements you can incorporate, its pretty easy to get started. At some point you are going to want to use your logo on your website, flyers, social media posts.

You save the file and import it onto your site, but wait, whats that damn ugly white box behind the logo?? This, my friend, is a limitation when you use jpg files – it has to build the background in a colour and will default to white.

The way around this is using transparent backgrounds and png files. Canva Pro allows you “one tick of a box” and you can save your files as a png file with a transparent background. Voila! That logo looks just right on any colour background.

Reason #2 – Background Remover

Similar to the above, this little feature is an absolute superstar. Instead of having to use complicated applications and software to “cut images out”, you can do it with one click of the button.

Canva Pro is extremely capable – much better than I was expecting at this. You upload a photo, press the button to remove background and after a few moments it should give you an image you can then paste in top of different backgrounds.

This is EXACTLY how I create YouTube Thumbnails using Canva.

Occasionally if you have a very busy background it may struggle but I have been really impressed how well it manages to remove the background.

Reason #3 – Templates

Lacking creative inspiration? Not sure what fonts to use or design elements work well together? Or maybe you are just pushed for time?

Canva has tonnes of free templates – around 50,000, but if that doesn’t cover what you need, or you want to use access to the the pro range then you can also get an additional 20,000 templates by upgrading to Canva Pro.

These templates make the whole process of designing so much easier when maybe this isn’t one of your strengths or you hate the technical challenge of using new applications (Don’t worry about that with Canva it is super simple).

Reason #4 – Teams

Do you have projects where there is more than one person working on designs? Maybe you are looking to hire multiple freelancers to work together?

Canva Pro is great for setting up teams where you can all work collaboratively and share the same resources.

Please note: You do have to pay a subscription for each user, which is understandable.

Reason #5 Brand Kit

If you are an organisation then it’s likely your designs have certain branding requirements you need to adhere too. But even if you are a solopreneur like me, this is a useful part of Canva.

By creating a color palette, font references and a central place to store your logos, you can quickly refer to this and keep your branding consistent and accurate.

You can share these brand kits with other members of your team too should you be making the most of that feature.

Reason #6 – Animated Videos & GIFs

Canva Pro users have the ability to export their creations with some clever extra touches.

You can create little animations to ensure your social media posts stand out amongst the crowd and stop the reader in their tracks.

Eye catching little designs that act as the perfect hook.

Why not take it a step further and combine several of the videos, animations and sequences and create a YouTube intro using Canva?

Reason #7 – Fonts

Oh yeah who doesn’t love fonts ?!

Big fonts, little fonts, skinny font’s, font’s that twist around at the ends. Love them!

The only thing I don’t like is those painstaking, OCD driven decision on which font to use!!!

So for some this a great selling point of Canva, and for others it maybe adds to the cruel world of indecision we suffer from 🙂

Seriously though, they now have over 1000 premium fonts for Canva Pro users and if that isn’t enough you can upload your own too. You really are spoilt for choice.

Reason #8 – Images and Icons

Is Canva Pro worth it?

You’re still asking this after what we have discussed so far!? Ok, you will like this one. This pretty much paid for Canva itself for me.

I use stock photography a lot, I have an annual subscription so that I can freely download photos and use them in backgrounds for my blog posts and social media.

I have now cancelled it.

Why?

Canva Pro has 60+ million premium stock images, photos, videos and graphics.

This is where Canva Pro really comes into its own. A huge array of high quality images that you can use in your designs – on so many different subjects too.

Reason #9 – Version History

Whilst this is in beta mode at the moment, it is a great addition which allows you to revert back to previous versions of your design.

When you are moving elements around, changing your designs, its easy enough to press “Undo” but what about what you go back to that project a week or two later. You are stuck with what you currently have.

Not anymore – Canva have introduced this feature so you can revert back at any time.

Reason #10 Backgrounds

So one way I create my background is by placing photo at the back and moving it around until it looks right to the eye, but there is actually another quick way.

A way that also allows you to change the colour nice and easy – using backgrounds.

It also simplifies the concept of layers and what is visible – if that’s something your struggle with then just use backgrounds and Canva will know exactly where it needs to go.

Reason #11 Resize

One of my biggest pet hates with the free version of Canva is when I spend ages designing something, and then want to reuse the same design but in different dimensions.

For example, reusing that facebook profile picture for another social media banner. But alas, I cannot.

Resizing your designs is a Pro feature, which is done with a few clicks of the button.

For me, this is worth the entry fee alone and answers the question that brought you here – is Canva Pro worth it?

Reason #12 Storage

Are you a neat and tidy little squirrell? Or if you look around your room now is it full of empty cups and mismatched socks thrown into the corners of the room?

A few people I have spoken too will use the storage in Canva to keep their photos, logos, branding and images nice and organized.

It could be that they create folders for each projects, or maybe each social platform. It’s up to you, but there is an added advantage of this too:

(Maybe this should have been reason 13!)

Using the various folders and storage options in Canva you can then also access using a different device and the files you need are stored in the same place.

So let’s say you use a PC at work but a MAC at home – no problem, your designs are all ready and waiting regardless of device.

Canva Pro Pricing

First, like all good products, Canva has a 30 day trial. So before you buy give it a try.

See if the features above are as useful for you as they are for me. If you could come back to this blog post and leave me a comment as to which feature you think is best I would really appreciate that!

At the time of writing (June 2020) Canva costs around £100 / $130 which spread out over a year is a good price given the extra functionality and ease at which I can cover my graphics requirements.

It would cost me much more hiring a designer for my basic needs.

In Summary – Is Canva Pro Worth It?

So there you go, we both agree Canva is one of the best tools out there, but is it worth the money?

For me – YES – I use Canva on a daily basis to create graphics for my social media content.

It is one of my top 3 tools for digital marketing, if not the best, and the paid version makes it faster, easier, and much more versatile.

I love the remove background feature and also the ridiculous amount of stock photo and video I can now reuse – they are probably my favourite features.

If you want to try the Pro version yourself then make the most of the trial. Test them yourself and just cancel if you don’t think its worth paying.

Thanks for reading – I am currently creating a number of Canva tutorials so if there is anything you wish to learn please reach out to me and let me know.