Canva vs Lucidchart
Canva and Lucidchart are both design tools tools. Canva is aimed at small businesses and creators, while Lucidchart is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Lucidchart costs less, from $9/mo versus $18/mo for Canva. Both have a free plan.
Templates for anyone to design
Diagramming app for flowcharts, org charts and cloud architecture
| Pricing | Freemium · $18 | Freemium · $9 |
| Starting price | $18/mo | $9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, Creators | Small businesses, Enterprise, Developers |
| Platforms | web, ios, android, macos, windows | web, ios, android |
| Country | AU · 2013 | US · 2010 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Canva if
Small businesses, marketers, educators and creators who need volume and speed over pixel precision.
- Anyone can produce decent-looking assets fast
- Massive template and stock library
- Team branding and approvals
Look elsewhere if: UI/UX design (Figma) or print production requiring color management (Affinity, Adobe).
Choose Lucidchart if
Engineering, IT, product and operations teams that need accurate, data-linked diagrams embedded in their documentation tools.
- Excellent for structured technical and process diagrams
- Strong Atlassian, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integrations
- Data-linked diagrams stay current without manual edits
Look elsewhere if: Teams wanting freeform brainstorming boards or UI design (Miro, Figma, Whimsical).
Canva vs Lucidchart pricing
Canva
- Free$0Templates, basic editing, 5 GB storage
- Pro$18/moOne person; $180/yr billed annually; premium assets, AI tools
- Business$25/user/mo$250/yr per person; team brand kits and controls
- EnterpriseCustomSSO, advanced governance
Lucidchart
- Free$03 editable documents, limited objects per document
- Individual$9/moBilled annually; unlimited documents, premium templates
- Team$10/user/moBilled annually; 3-user minimum, collaboration and admin
- EnterpriseCustomSSO, advanced security, data governance, Lucid Suite
Canva · Key features
- Hundreds of thousands of templates across formats
- Magic Studio AI: text-to-image, Magic Edit, Magic Write, background remover
- Brand Kit with fonts, colors, logos and locked templates
- Video editor, presentations with presenter view, Docs and Sheets
- Content planner for scheduling social posts
- Print service and website publishing
Cons
- Designs can look generic without effort
- Limited precision compared with professional tools
- Export and typography controls are basic
Lucidchart · Key features
- Shape libraries for flowcharts, BPMN, UML, ERD and network diagrams
- AWS, Azure and Google Cloud architecture shapes
- Org charts generated automatically from CSV employee data
- Data linking from Google Sheets or Excel with conditional formatting
- Lucid AI that drafts diagrams from a text prompt
- Visio import and export plus SQL import for ERDs
Cons
- Free plan is capped at three editable documents
- Team plan requires at least three paid users
- Freeform whiteboarding is weaker than Miro
Canva vs Lucidchart: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Canva or Lucidchart?
Lucidchart starts at $9/mo and Canva at $18/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Canva and Lucidchart have a free plan?
Yes, both Canva and Lucidchart have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.