Crello vs Canva: Choosing the Best Design Tool [2024]

As social media continues to play a key role in daily life, there’s no denying the power of visual imagery. More businesses and individual creators are understanding the importance of clear branding and professional quality design, and need a graphic design platform that can keep up.

Crello vs Canva is a choice many online marketers are having to make, as these are two of the biggest names in web-based image editing. Both platforms offer users an opportunity to craft unique designs with limited technical know how, thanks to intuitive software and vast image libraries. 

Most online marketers lean toward starting their own businesses. These design tools are a huge help for small businesses. Below, we’ll break down the pros and cons of each online graphic design platform, and how the details compare. Crello and Canva are design tools for non-designers, and in this guide, we’ll see which platform is better for you.

Crello Vs Canva: At A Glance

Want to get designing? Here’s a brief overview of both Crello (now VistaCreate) and Canva:

• Crello is best for designers who want access to an extensive online photo library, for free. The basic design features are easy to use and versatile, but for collaborative working, Crello falls short.
• Canva is best for small to large businesses that need an intuitive design platform with integrations and team options. A growing template library makes using Canva easy, although if you do have issues, expect a slow response from customer support.

Similarities Between Canva And Crello

Let’s start by looking at the services and features you can expect from both Crello and Canva. If you want to get creative, Canva and Crello are both good for:

• Ease of use. Canva and Crello have both been created with the everyman in mind, and navigation on these sites is intuitive. The drag and drop style used by both interfaces makes building and editing a design a breeze.
• Free accounts. The actual details of what you get with a Canva or Crello free account vary, but the overall performance is similar. The free accounts are robust and versatile, with plenty of options for a novice designer.
• Beginner-oriented software. Crello and Canva are both decent offerings if you want to create attractive designs with a user-friendly, low-priced online service. Neither offers professional quality design software, but for most non-designers, they get the job done.
• Overall design options. We could spend a long time picking apart every single editing feature offered by Crello and Canva, but it wouldn’t be worth it. There’s extensive crossover, and for every editing feature one platform lacks, there’s another it gains.

Crello: Pros, Cons And Everything Else

Crello (VistaCreate) is a graphic design platform with an extensive stock image library and a user interface that even novices can master. Attractive templates and easy to use filing makes Crello a platform which should appeal to those who want to create extensively.

Medium-to-large businesses might find Crello’s offering limited, particularly on the free plan. But if your main focus is on creating designs quickly, and experimenting with imagery, then Crello has plenty for you to discover.

Crello Pros

Massive Stock Photo And Video Library

Even a free account with Crello gets you access to over 1 million photos, videos, and vectors. This is one of the largest free photo libraries around, and the stock image range should appeal to individual creators and businesses building marketing designs. A free plan also offers you access to fonts, music, animation, backgrounds, and objects.

Unlimited Files On The Free Plan

Once you’ve started designing with Crello, unlimited file creation ensures easy storage and navigation. While this might not be the most flash feature an online design kit can offer, it is unbelievably helpful for everyday use.

Extensive Animated Template Options

If you like to utilize videos and animations on your social media channels, Crello has some excellent templates that are intuitive to use. Videos and animations can be particularly eye-catching for online sales platforms, so this is certainly something to consider if you’re trying to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Responsive Customer Support

Crello has roughly 2 million users, so don’t expect an immediate response to a request. However, turnaround is reasonably quick, and certainly quicker than Canva, even for free users.

Crello Cons

Lacks Team Collaboration Features

If you want to work collaboratively with Crello, then you really need your team to all be in the same room, or you have to upgrade to pro. Still, even on the pro plan, Crello team features lag behind Canva.

Limited Download Limit On Free Plan

Although the Crello free plan provides you with access to 75K+ design templates and a massive library of stock photos and videos, you can only download 5 files a month. This is incredibly limiting, particularly as Canva offers unlimited downloads on the free plan. With these limitations, the Crello free plan resembles a trial period, rather than a usable tool.

Who Is Crello Best For?

• Users who want to access a massive stock image library for free.
• Social media marketers who want to create animated graphics.
• Small businesses who want a fast response to queries, and an intuitive design platform.

Canva: Pros, Cons, And Everything Else

Canva is one of the biggest names in online graphic design. The free-to-use plan is packed with a large stock image library and a huge amount of templates, and if you don’t mind paying for a pro account, you have even more options to choose from.

The popularity of Canva almost speaks for itself: over 75 million people use the platform. For small creators, Canva free tier is intuitive and expansive. Medium-to-large businesses can upgrade to pro, and appreciate access to integrations and a buildable team space.

Canva Pros

Template Library

Canva has an absolutely massive template library. Even if you sat on Canva all day designing, you’d still only scratch the surface. On the free plan, users have access to upwards of 250,000 templates, with 420,000+ templates on the paid plan. Easy to use and personalize, these templates can make clear and attractive designs in just minutes.

Team Collaborations

For collaborative designing, Canva is by far the better platform. Canva even has its very own price tier for teams. Teams can assign roles, comment on collaborations, and add up to 3000 team members.

Limited team collaborations are also available in the Canva free plan, which is significantly more than you get with many online graphic design platforms (including Crello).

Unlimited Downloads In The Free Tier

You can keep on creating with the Canva free tier, as it offers unlimited downloads. The storage space falls behind Crello (5 GB vs 10 GB) but those downloads more than make up for that.

Extensive Integrations

One area where Canva undoubtedly comes out on top is integrations. Canva offers integrations with big name social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. They’re consistently expanding their integrations, allowing you to connect your workflow with ease. Crello doesn’t currently offer any third party integrations.

Canva Cons

Slow Response From Customer Service

Canva has around 75 million active users, and this does slow down customer support response. They don’t offer a hotline (neither does Crello), and for free accounts, you might be waiting over a week for a reply.

Limited Filing Options In The Free Plan

Canva free users are only able to create two folders for organization. These folders can be deleted and recreated (so, you can clear away old projects), but this is still limiting. If you plan on using Canva extensively, navigating your files could be a headache.

Who Is Canva Best For?

• Businesses looking to work collaboratively.
• Social media marketers who are looking for advanced integrations.
• Users who want a free tier with plenty of designing options.

Crello Vs Canva: In Conclusion

Canva is perhaps the biggest name in free online graphic design software, and it has that reputation for a reason. But Crello (VistaCreate) is hardly lagging behind. Both options are good, even if neither is perfect, and the simplicity of the design software on both platforms can get individual users and marketers creating.

If you want a free tier that grants access to a massive online image library, consider Crello. But for almost everything else, Canva comes out on top. The integrations and collaborative features should appeal to growing businesses, while the unlimited downloads on the free tier will appeal to everyone.

With that said, one of the major advantages to both tools is the impressive free tier. If you’re struggling to choose, we recommend experimenting with both options. However, Canva stands out for its intuitive interface and wide range of features, surpassing Crello for ease of use and versatility in creating designs.

Frequently Asked Questions