Design platform Canva has sharply increased prices for some of its customers. She partly explained this measure by the introduction of generative artificial intelligence.
Image source: canva.com
Some Canva Teams subscribers on older plans noticed that the subscription price for five users has increased from $120 to $500 per year, taking into account a 40% discount for the first 12 months. In Australia, a subscription for five users previously cost AU$40 (about $27), but has now risen to AU$13.50 ($9) each. Per person, Canva Teams costs $100 per year or $10 per month, with a minimum of three people required to sign up. These prices were introduced for all new platform clients at the beginning of the year, but now they are also valid for old users who previously paid less. Canva Pro or Enterprise plans are not affected by the changes.
A Canva representative confirmed the change in pricing policy to TechCrunch and indicated that the company offers a wide range of services based on generative AI, including Magic Studio, which was the reason for the adjustments. Now Canva is preparing to go public, and users of the platform reacted with dissatisfaction with the price increase – in particular, they did not like that the company announced this by email, and not publicly, as it had done before.
The new prices are a departure from Canva’s original positioning as an affordable alternative to Adobe’s design software. They may also reflect the startup’s strong growth: in March, the company acquired British graphic design software developer Serif for $380 million, and in August it bought image generator developer Leonardo.