Canva is a graphic design platform that is one of the best social media marketing tools for real estate. After evaluating its features, versatility, and pricing structure, we named it one of the best designing apps and tools. Ultimately, our Canva review revealed that the program empowers users of all skill levels and in all industries, especially real estate, to effortlessly create stunning visuals for marketing, communication, branding, and social media.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Extensive template library with photos, animations, and videos
- Branding and collaboration tools
Cons
- Content calendar limited to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn
- Limited number of free templates and design elements
- Brand kits only available on the Pro plan
Recommended For
- Real estate agents or teams wanting to create professional marketing materials with limited design experience or skills
- Real estate teams or brokerages that need to easily collaborate on design projects and documents
- Real estate marketing contractors needing to create custom branded materials for themselves and clients
Not Recommended For
- Professional real estate photographers looking for the most advanced photo editing tools, like virtual staging
- Materials or transactions with high security or privacy requirements, since Canva is highly collaborative
- Real estate videographers seeking a tool with the most complex video editing capabilities
- Free: $0
- Pro: $14.99 per user, per month
- Teams: $11.99 per user, per month
- Enterprise: Custom
Canva Reviews: What Users Think of Canva
Reviews of Canva are unique because they are written by professionals in a wide range of industries, like graphic designers, small business owners, corporate chief executive officers (CEOs), real estate professionals, marketing teams, restaurants, and even ecommerce professionals. The vast majority of Canva.com reviews are extremely positive, saying that it is easy to use and incredibly versatile. Users especially love the templates and image editing tools, saying that it has “changed the way we communicate with customers.”
- G2: 4.7 out of 5 based on 4,524 reviews
- Software Advice: 4.7 out of 5 based on 11,695 reviews
- Trust Radius: 9.1 out of 10 based on 1,423 reviews
On the other hand, a small number of Canva app reviews mention a few shortcomings of the program. One reviewer noted that Canva templates for printing are not always formatted correctly, which can be especially challenging for real estate professionals who use direct mail. A few reviewers also noted that the Canva app on mobile devices is not as user-friendly as the desktop program. For challenges with printing Canva designs, consider an alternative to Canva, like VistaPrint.
Would Our Expert Use Canva?
I’ve found Canva incredibly powerful and versatile, clearly standing out as one of the best designing apps for all marketing and business areas. What I like about Canva is its unlimited number of design elements, including templates, graphics, photos, animations, and fonts. With a professional account, it’s easy to save designs in folders, create custom templates, and create a branding kit to transform any template for your brand automatically.
However, its focus on being user-friendly means that it lacks particularly advanced photo and video editing features that you may find on Canva competitors like Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro. Despite these limitations, we strongly recommend Canva as an incredibly valuable tool for organization, marketing, print materials, social media, and branding.
Canva Alternatives
If you want to explore other graphic design software options with video editing and printing features, consider the following Canva alternatives:
Software | ||||
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Best For | Affordable photo and video platform with more advanced editing capabilities | Photo and graphic editing for digital marketing, print materials, and social media | User-friendly video editing and social media-friendly templates | Custom print designs for marketing |
Key Features |
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Pricing | Free | $7.99 per month | Free | Varies |
Learn More | or Read Review |
Canva Pricing & Plans
The Canva pricing structure is flexible, designed to fit the diverse needs of its user base. There is a free-forever plan with important but limited features like design elements and templates. Canva’s paid plans are about $120 per user, per year, and provide unlimited usage of its photos, graphics, animations, elements, and fonts. Upper-level plans are designed for teams of two to 100 members and offer many valuable team collaboration tools. In addition, Canva is free for all verified teachers and students in grades K to 12.
Plans | Free | Pro | Teams | Enterprise |
---|---|---|---|---|
Who the Plan Is Best For | New freelancers or business owners who need simple graphic design tools | Business owners who need a wide range of photo and branding tools | Teams of two or more people who need graphic design support with collaboration functionality | Companies or teams with over 100 members who need graphic design and marketing support |
Annual Pricing ($/User/Month) | $0 | $14.99 | $11.99 | Custom |
Drag & Drop Editor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Professionally Designed Templates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Stock Photos & Graphics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Cloud Storage | 5 GB | 1 TB | 1 TB | Custom |
Brand Kits | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Resize & Translate Designs | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Advanced Photo Editing Tools | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
24/7 Customer Support | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Collaboration Tools | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Team Reports & Insights | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Copy | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
General Canva Features
Canva is considered the best app for graphic design because of its comprehensive array of user-friendly features and capabilities. While some other sites similar to Canva offer advanced design, photography, videography, and document collaboration tools, they can be pricey and difficult to learn. Canva has become such a widely recognized design tool because of its intuitive interface and extensive library of templates for marketing and business needs (e.g., social media marketing posts, checklists, infographics, flyers, and documents).
Canva’s primary features include the following:
- Drag-and-drop interface
- Template library
- Collaboration tools
- Publishing and sharing tools
Advanced Canva Features
Canva features help with every area of marketing a business and generating leads, from creating professional marketing materials and working with team members to publishing and sharing content in all formats. Read the details about each feature by clicking on the tabs below:
- Unlimited number of elements on paid plans
- Elements include shapes, graphics, animations, photos, videos, and fonts
- Magic recommendations to pinpoint elements that fit your brand and individual designs
- AI image generator
The reviews of Canva show that its design elements are one of the most powerful and popular features. The program offers a rich array of design elements with everything you need to generate new marketing ideas. Design elements include infinite shapes, fonts, graphics, dynamic animations, unique stock photos, backgrounds, videos, tables, gradient designs, custom image frames, and even audio sounds. Elements are limited for free plan users, but all paid plans include access to all the elements you need to bring your creative visions to life.
- Social media marketing templates
- Business templates for presentations, documents, calendars, invoices, and proposals
- Print templates for cards and invitations, packages, flyers, and documents
- Vertical and horizontal video templates
The incredible variety of design templates on Canva is one of the main reasons it is considered one of the top designer apps on the market. Even blank templates provide you with the right dimensions for every type of design, from Instagram Reels to business cards to Facebook cover images. In addition, all templates are completely customizable, providing business owners with a wealth of options to create professional-looking visuals quickly and efficiently.
- Up to 100 separate brand kits on the Pro plan
- Choose logo, colors, and fonts
- Automatically customize any template with a brand element
Canva’s brand kit feature allows business owners to define and store their important brand assets, like their logo, brand colors, and fonts. The brand kit is accessible and visible on every type of design, so users can maintain a strong brand identity across all of their digital and physical marketing materials.
- Animations
- Background remover in photos and videos
- Filters
- Effects
- GIF creator
- Magic Switch (resize any design)
Many business owners ask, “Is Canva good for editing professional photography or videography?” The answer is yes; the platform includes various editing tools for photos and videos, like cropping, color adjustments, background removers, object removers, auto-focus, and a variety of filters.
In fact, Canva is adding more artificial intelligence (AI) tools with even more advanced capabilities, like smart cropping, Magic Design to generate a custom design, and Magic Switch to resize any design. These editing tools empower small businesses to elevate their visuals without costly software programs.
- Coordinates content with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Content planner and calendar
- Analytics to track impressions, clicks, likes, and comments
Along with its wide variety of social media templates, Canva provides a content calendar and planner to even more effectively promote your content. The content calendar provides a visual overview of scheduled posts, making it easy to see your business content over time. In addition, Canva integrates directly with a few of the top social media platforms so that businesses can publish directly from the Canva content planner.
- Comments and easy-sharing buttons
- Team administrators and member usage reports
- Customized permissions and control
- Third-party integrations with project management tools
Canva is an invaluable tool for every type of business, and its collaboration tools help streamline processes and communication in teams of all sizes. With features like commenting and real-time editing, team members can provide feedback, suggest changes, and collaborate on projects effortlessly. Moreover, Canva’s team administration features allow business owners to manage permissions and access levels for different team members, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure.
Ease of Use
My Canva review determined that the program excels in its ease of use, offering a variety of design tools and templates in an intuitive interface that caters to users of all skill levels. The drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to customize any design, and templates for all types of designs and styles make it possible for even novice business owners and content creators to create professional designs.
For even further support, Canva provides a range of tutorials and resources on its “Learn” page. It includes tutorials and guides on branding, marketing, and design.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, Canva is a reputable and well-renowned graphic design platform used by millions of individuals and businesses worldwide. It provides various features and functionalities for creating different types of visual content, including social media graphics, videos, professional presentations, business cards, and documents.
Deciding whether the Canva Pro plan is a good investment for you or your business depends on your specific needs and budget. If you rarely need to edit photos or create visuals, the free version includes plenty of features. However, Canva Pro is remarkably affordable and offers multiple advantages, like access to the full library of design elements, collaboration tools, and the ability to resize designs easily. For most business owners, Canva Pro is an investment that generates a high return.
Canva is a web-based platform operating in a browser or mobile app. It is not traditional software in the sense of being installed onto a computer. Users can easily access Canva on their computer or on any Android or iOS device without the need for software installation.
Bottom Line
Canva is a powerhouse in the realm of business, offering an incredible number of tools, templates, and features within an easy-to-use platform. Whether you’re an individual or small team looking to enhance your brand’s identity, a marketing agency seeking to streamline your design processes, or a large corporation, the Canva pricing structure provides the flexibility you need. By leveraging a tool like Canva, business owners in all industries can elevate their brand’s presence and marketing power.