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Both cover design & graphics. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Canva | Recraft | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $14.99 | From $10 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Not stated | Web |
| Covers | Design & Graphics, Short-Form & Clipping | AI Image Generation, Design & Graphics |
| Works with | YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Thumbnails, covers and posts without a designer
Canva covers thumbnails, channel art, carousels and short video with templates that look fine and are quick to change. Brand kits keep a team consistent. Anyone with real design skill will outgrow it, and that is fine.
Our note
Nearly everyone should be on the free plan until a brand kit is the thing they keep wanting. Pro earns its money for teams and for anybody publishing daily; for one person making a thumbnail a week it does not.
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Image and vector generation with style control
Recraft generates raster and vector art, and the reason to pick it over a general image model is that a style can be defined once and reused, so a set of icons or covers comes out looking related. Output on the free plan is public and owned by Recraft. Paid plans move generations to private and hand over commercial rights.
Our note
The free plan is a demo rather than a tier, because you do not own what comes out of it. Budget for Basic from the start if the images are going anywhere public.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.