Canva is hired to turn a marketing or business need into a finished graphic, usually from a template. We could not read Canva's own pages, so this page says nothing about its plans or features. What it does cover: the open-source option we verified, the questions that decide whether a replacement fits, and a procedure for leaving without losing the designs.
It starts with one person making a social graphic and ends with the whole company using it for decks, flyers and brand assets. Everyone knows where the templates are.
Leaving is not hard in principle, since the output is images and PDFs. The cost is in the shared templates and the habit of opening the same tool every time.
Only alternatives we have checked. An open-source project is listed with the license its repository reports, on the date shown; one whose license could not be read as a single standard id is not offered as open source. Read the license guide before running any of them.
| Alternative | Kind | License | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penpot | Open source | MPL-2.0 | Penpot repositoryChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
Each feature below is what the product's own page or README says, linked to where we read it on the date shown. Pros and cons are limited to what those pages state and to what the path itself changes. We do not rank products on quality.
| Plan | Price as published | Includes | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penpot Professional | $0 | Priced per user per month | Penpot pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| Penpot Unlimited | $7 per editor per month | Per editor, capped at $175 per month regardless of team size; 14-day free trial | Penpot pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| Penpot Enterprise | $25 per member per month | 14-day free trial; Admin Console, advanced permissions and SSO per the README | Penpot pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| Penpot Private Server | $50k per year | Private server option | Penpot pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
Canva's pricing page could not be read on the checked date, so no Canva prices are listed. The rows below are Penpot's published plans, as printed on the checked date in USD.
A template-based design tool and a product design tool are different jobs. Penpot, the open-source option on this page, describes itself as a design platform for product teams. Whether it covers your work depends on what your team makes: if people lean on a library of ready-made templates and stock media, check that the replacement offers an equivalent before counting the saving.
For many teams the honest saving is not a replacement at all: it is dropping paid seats for people who rarely design.
Samples are made up and are not Canva's prices. Type in the figures from your own invoice or order form.
Paid seats against seats in use: what the idle ones cost a year, and what you save by right-sizing at renewal.
What paying a year up front really costs: the premium for monthly, the break-even month and the interest rate the discount works out to.
Arithmetic only, not tax, accounting or legal advice. Check the figures against your own order form.
In outline:
List the designs that are reused (logos, decks, social templates), who edits them and which formats they are delivered in.
Pick the destination. Rebuild the two or three templates people use most and have them make a real piece with it.
Download finished designs and brand assets, and check that fonts and images you still use are licensed for use outside the plan.
Move the team on a chosen date and keep the old account available for reference.
Keep an export, then end the plan inside the contract's notice window.
Run the vendor report for QuickBooks Online or Xero, then open the free audit.
General information, not legal advice. See cancelling without penalties. Last reviewed Oct 25, 2026. Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify them.
Send us the export and see which lines are worth a second look. A connected version is planned. Canva is one of the lines worth a look.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
“In use” is your call: last sign-in in the past 30 or 90 days from the vendor's admin report. A seat for someone on leave is not idle.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
Paying 905.00 more on day one saves the other eleven monthly bills. The discount is worth that much a year on the cash you hand over early. If your cash earns or costs you less than this, annual wins, as long as you will use the tool all year.
| Months used | Monthly plan | Annual plan | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 95.00 | 1,000.00 | Monthly |
| 3 | 285.00 | 1,000.00 | Monthly |
| 6 | 570.00 | 1,000.00 | Monthly |
| 9 | 855.00 | 1,000.00 | Monthly |
| 12 | 1,140.00 | 1,000.00 | Annual |
Assumes the monthly plan bills at the start of each month and the annual plan does not refund. Check your order form for both.