As a beginner in graphics design or marketing, you need to have the most appropriate application at your disposal. This will enable you to work on and meet your clients’ needs and the public’s demands.
Social media has become highly competitive nowadays, particularly when it comes to bold and graphical marketing. You should have the right app at your fingertips to compete.
In that case, you can search for graphic design online tools/software with various types of price tags.
Two of the most preferred designing Softwares among designers are Canva and Adobe InDesign. It might be challenging to figure out how these two work, their specialties, and how to use them.
We’re here to discuss a comparison of these two applications and then sum up which is the right fit for you.
Let’s begin.
What is Canva?
Canva is a web-based free tool where you can make your graphic designs for various promotional designs like Facebook covers, logo designs, graphics for websites, submissions, banners, headings, and printed designs like flyers, posters, etc.
You can have your designs made by creating an account and starting on. Upgrading to Canva Pro will help you get more features.
Canva can assist you in making great designs with its easy-to-use methods if you are a newcomer and have no idea about designing.
The most convenient thing about this program is its free templates. You get tons of free templates on their website that you can use to make designs easily.
You will get templates for cards, calendars, cover pages, Canva resume templates, plenty of complementary backgrounds and images, design grids, stickers, animated elements of images, and so on.
Additionally, the colors, text, and fonts are adjustable. So you can adjust them according to your needs. There is a Canva library where you can save your designs.
If you purchase Canva Pro, you’ll get enormous fonts and templates that are unique in design. You can upgrade your designs and fonts there too.
What is InDesign?
Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing program geared toward graphic designers. If you join the Adobe Creative Cloud by purchasing a plan, you’ll be able to access all the Adobe programs. These plans also can be purchased monthly or yearly.
Primarily you’ll be able to create independent designs for both the online and print markets. Such as posters, books, magazines, menu cards, and more.
Adobe InDesign is a multipurpose application with tons of features and other necessary design tools. But it comes with a much higher price tag than the other one.
Canva Vs InDesign: Comparison
Platforms
Canva is available for desktop and laptop browsers. Besides, you can easily install an application on your smartphone and create an account there. Your designs can be synced to your mobile phone easily. Both Android and iPhone users can install it on their phones.
On the other hand, Adobe InDesign is compatible with Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, and other web-based platforms.
Templates
Canva offers massive templates to its users with tons of designs for cards, calendars, posters, social media posts, and many others.
Anyone can edit these templates and customize them according to their needs. So, Canva offers free templates, users are more likely to go for it and enjoy them.
Whereas Adobe InDesign offers you both free & premium templates, but it mainly focuses on independent designs made from the ground up. You can add templates to your designs by downloading them separately through third-party sites and their official website.
Access to Stock Images
Thousands of free images and backgrounds are available on the Canva Photos page. You can use them in your designs directly without having any issues. Those photos do not have any copyright.
Or else you can purchase a single photo/element from the Canva if you use the free plan. Those photos can be purchased at a low price from their page compared to other sites.
Adobe InDesign offers you more images than Canva on their Adobe Stock Photos page. You’ll find millions of backgrounds, illustrations, and pictures there and purchase them to use in your designs.
However, these images are more expensive when compared with Canva. You get more pictures here, but you need to spend a little more money as well.
Interface
With Canva, you’ll find a straightforward interface that is very user-friendly. You can quickly get used to the simple steps to make an excellent design with Canva. If you are looking for the easiest way of graphic designing, then Canva is also there to help you.
There are tons of tutorials based on every step and design method on their website. The tutorials will help you learn how to create and modify new designs and operate the programs smoothly.
So, you don’t have to worry if you are starting to work on your first project in life with Canva. Simple as that.
On the other hand, Adobe InDesign is more versatile application software that is not as easy as Canva. If you are using this program for the first time, you will find several difficulties and can be a little bit confused with the interface.
There are plenty of options available to create a design. The number of design tools is also huge. So, you have to spend more time on how and where to use those tools.
However, you’ll be getting used to the functions after attending some learning sessions on operating InDesign. The more time you spend, the better you use this application.
Font Packages
Though Canva is a free program, you get a vast number of fonts that are installed in it already. You can use them in your designs and change their shape and colors according to your project.
Moreover, if you purchase Canva Pro, you will be able to access more than 1000 different fonts. That’s fantastic stuff done in Canva.
While Adobe InDesign doesn’t offer you as many fonts as Canva. If you want more fonts, you have to download them through third-party apps and install them into InDesign. Or, you can purchase any of the plans to get access to their massive and unique collection of fonts.
Professionalism
Canva focuses more on social media graphics and marketing. It’s a simple and user-friendly program that uses its pre-installed templates.
While InDesign is used for professional works. It is well known for developing designs based on the designers’ needs. You are free to make any artwork utilizing the application. So, in professionalism, InDesign is better than Canva.
Pricing
Canva knocks everyone out in the pricing sector because it’s free. Without spending a penny, you get tons of features and options in Canva, and it is good enough for a beginner.
If you want more, you can opt for the Canva Pro, which will cost you some money, which is also less than its competitor. Therefore, Canva has an advantage in pricing, making it more appealing to users. The Canva Pro has $12.99 monthly or $119.99 yearly plans.
Contrariwise, Adobe InDesign has a higher price tag. If you want to get full access to the program, you must purchase a plan. If you try a free trial of Adobe InDesign, all the features will be automatically turned off when the trial ends, and you must pay to get them back.
Adobe InDesign costs $20.99 monthly. If you purchase an annual plan, you might get a slight discount.
If you go for the Adobe Creative Cloud purchase plan, it’ll cost you $55.99 monthly or $599.88 annually. You will get full access to their 20 different apps.
Which Is Better?
So, who is the winner now? Canva beats InDesign almost everywhere with its easy-to-use and free features considering all the sectors mentioned above.
Canva is the most straightforward program that a designer can have. There are no complications, tons of options, templates, images, free fonts, and free tutorials for users’ help.
Whereas Adobe InDesign requires more complex usage procedures, and the user needs to purchase it; otherwise, they won’t be able to access any of this program’s features, which makes this application software less attractive.
However, if you are starting your career through designing and want to use graphics for marketing purposes, I suggest you go with Canva PRO rather than InDesign.
Sum Up
Though Canva has won this battle, InDesign is also a brilliant program for graphics designing. So, if you are already using Canva, you can give it a try in InDesign.
Although, huge companies are still using InDesign instead of Canva because it is a professional program that requires more training to operate. But if you’re looking to invest in a program that will allow you to do more creative designs, Adobe InDesign is the way to go.
