According to a study by social bakers, 93% of Facebook’s most engaging posts are images.
And that’s also true for blog posts. A blog post with good images gets more engagement than a post with no images.
But creating images is a very tedious process. Either you hire freelancers to get good images or create by yourself by using Photoshop. Both of these are not easy if you are on a budget or you don’t know how to use Photoshop.
That’s where tools like Canva come handy. It comes up with a lot of pre-designed templates that makes graphic design insanely easier. You don’t need to have any designing skills to use this. But like every tool, Canva has its limitations.
If you are looking for some Canva alternatives, you are in the right place. Here I’ll be sharing a list of 10 Best Tools & Apps Like Canva.
Let’s get started.
1. Stencil
Stencil has been in the market for some time, but they have gained popularity recently because of making image creation simpler and easier.
Stencil takes pride in how fast you can create an image and share it on your social media platform. It integrates with Buffer to make your social media life much easier.
You can create 10 images for free, but unlike Canva, there are no images to pay for. You get access to everything. You can create 50 images for $9/month, or unlimited images for $18/month, which is not considered that much considering how fast you can get images done.
2. RelayThat
RelayThat is another alternative to Canva. This one is more focused on content marketing and branding, which is ideal for most small businesses and bloggers as it’s a great time saver.
You can resize images at once for multiple platforms. You can create projects so that when you edit an image, the edit is carried to other images in the same project without editing all images. It is like creating branding assets that you can embed in images.
But all of this comes at a cost.
You can create 5 projects for $25 and unlimited ones for $97/month, which if you ask me is a lot. If you have started to generate revenue and you post a lot on social media, then you may consider it. If not, there are better alternatives here.
3. DesignBold
DesignBold is another tool that focuses on speed when it comes to creating images.
You can create images on-demand like Canva, and pay only $0.8/image compared to Canva’s 1$/image. There’s also no limit on storage compared to Canva’s 1GB for free users.
It has a great tool that you can use on-demand for free users. This is handy if you don’t create a lot of images. I don’t see a huge difference between their premium interface and Stencil’s. Although, I think Stencil’s is better IMO.
4. PicMonkey
PicMonkey has been in the market for many years, and it is best known as an editing tool, not a tool for creating new images — although you can create new images on it.
It has many templates and third-party integration to apps like Dropbox.
It is great for doing basic imaging stuff, but if you are serious about images and taking your post to the next level, Stencil or other tools may be better.
5. Snappa
Another tool that takes pride in how their interface can create images in a snap, hence the name “Snappa.”
Compared to Canva, they have a much better interface.
In the free version, you can only save 5 images/month, but their paid plan is very affordable. You only pay 10$/month, billed annually for unlimited images.
But there are 2 big problems with this site. You can’t autosave, which may be problematic for many people who experience loss of connectivity or computer failure.
Another problem is you can’t undo the actions you took, so if you made a mistake, many times you can’t get around it and you will need to restart from the beginning.
6. PiktoChart
PiktoChart markets itself as the best tool for creating infographics, and this may be true. You can also create posters and so on.
But when it comes to social media images and other images to place in a post, PiktoChart doesn’t come anywhere near Canva or Stencil.
The templates are also limited for free and for paid versions. And if you want to create an infographic from scratch, it becomes more difficult.
So if you are in a hurry and you want to create an infographic and you find a template that suits your taste, then this tool is for you.
But when it comes to other types of images as social media posts and so on, this tool is not so good.
7. FotoJet
FotoJet is another tool in the market that has gained popularity. Unlike the other tools listed in this post, it has an app for Windows and Mac, so you don’t need to open their site to create your images.
Its formatting options are neat and the search function is very good.
The pricing is very affordable when compared to most of the tools here. You can upload images and create your custom size images, unlike other tools.
Oh, and it also has a Chrome extension which can be handy whenever you find something cool and want to create an image on the go.
8. BeFuncky
BeFuncky is most known for its mobile apps, but you can use it online also on their website.
Unlike Canva, the elements available are categorized according to their use (like travel, Christmas, and so on). This may come handy to save you time.
You can create images and save them without registration. The free version has ads and fewer image effects, but I think it is really good.
On the other hand, the pro version is just $5/month. You can save 42% by paying annually, and by doing so, the monthly subscription goes down to around $2.91. The pro version will give you access to more graphics and effects and no ads, which is cheap compared to other tools here.
9. Fotor
Fotor is more designed for the geeky person who wants a lot of options to create his image. This is one of the key differentiation between Fotor and Canva.
But this sometimes may become a disadvantage. Due to the sheer amount of features and options available, it’ll take you a lot of time to experiment and find the thing that suits you, just like in Photoshop. Many actually think of it as an online Photoshop tool.
It also has Android and iOS apps.
It has a pricing of $9/month or $40/year, which is a steal for people who prefer to have all the options in front of them to create their images and not pay for Photoshop.
10. Desygner
Unlike other tools, Desygner helps you import pdf, ppt, psd and the usual image formats.
You can extract your files in psd, which may be beneficial for many who want to replicate their images without using their site or edit the images using Photoshop for something that is missing.
It also has an Android app and an iOS app to help create your images on the go on your mobile.
You can also choose your work to be available to the public, so they can see it when they click explore.
There are many free stock images to use. According to the site, there are more than a million stock images to use from that are available to premium users and 35K images available to free users.
They have a very generous free plan, and their premium plan costs less than $7/month.
11. Kapa99
All of the designing tools in this list are great when you have time to design by yourself. But what if you have to create a lot of images and you don’t have much time to do that?
That’s where Kapa99 comes in handy. It offers unlimited graphic design service. It designs logos, blog images, book covers, flyers & posters, t-shirts, business cards, infographics, social media images, or anything that you want. And you can get all of these for $399 per month with unlimited requests and revisions.
If you are not sure if it’s a right service for you, you can try it for 15 days for free. John Lee Dumas, founder of Entrepreneur on Fire, uses and recommends Kapa99.
Currently, I am using their service and I am fully satisfied with it. It helps me to save a lot of time. Now I can focus on other important things to grow my business.
Conclusion
Images are important for your content marketing and social media marketing efforts.
But it can be exhausting to create images again and again, which leads to a higher cost in terms of time and money. But with the tools available today, you can create images with ease for a small fee.
Canva was a great tool when it was first created, but its clunky interface and the need to pay 1$/image may add up over time. There are many tools that are better, and there is one that will suit your need.
Which one will you go with? Do you use other tools? Let us know via comment.
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