Canva vs Microsoft PowerPoint

Canva

• People without design training who build slides from templates
• Teams that make presentations, social posts and video in one tool
• Teachers and students: Canva for Education is free for eligible K-12 users

Microsoft PowerPoint

• People who need a full desktop presentation app on Windows or Mac
• Teams that already share files through OneDrive or SharePoint
• Presenters who want to rehearse with feedback on pace and filler words
• Occasional users who only need the free browser version

Canva

• Prices here are in-app purchase amounts from the US App Store listing, which shows several for Canva Pro; prices on Canva's own website may differ.
• Scheduler, Brand Hub, one-click Background Remover and Magic Resize are listed as Canva Pro features, not part of the free account.
• Cloud storage on the free account is 5 GB.
• The download page lists apps for Mac, Windows 10 and later, iOS, Android and Chromebook; no Linux desktop app is listed.

Microsoft PowerPoint

• The Windows and Mac apps need a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time Office purchase; Microsoft lists the free plan for web, iOS and Android.
• PowerPoint for the web lacks some desktop features: password-protected and digitally signed files open only in the desktop app, and macros do not run.
• Copilot needs a paid subscription, has usage limits, and on shared plans works for the subscription owner only.
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7.00 per user / month paid yearly, or $5.40 without Teams) includes only the web and mobile versions of PowerPoint.

Canva

Presentation templates

Presentations and slideshows start from professionally designed templates, each of which can be adapted to a brand and style.

Presenter notes

Presenter notes can be written with custom AI prompts and track speaking time for each slide.

Magic design tools

Magic Design builds designs from an uploaded image, Magic Edit swaps or adds objects in a picture, Magic Eraser removes them, and Translate converts a design into more than 100 languages.

AI image and video generation

A text-to-image generator creates pictures from a prompt, and Veo 3 generates video clips with sound from a text description.

Real-time collaboration

Team members can work on the same design at once, share it and collect feedback from wherever they are.

Developer platform

The Canva Developers SDK covers apps that run inside the editor, REST APIs for connecting other platforms, and an MCP server that lets AI assistants create, edit and export designs.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Copilot in PowerPoint

Rewrites, reorganizes and adds slides from a written request, leaving the changes for review. It needs a Microsoft 365 subscription, and usage limits apply.

Designer

Suggests finished layouts for the content placed on a slide. In the desktop apps only Microsoft 365 subscribers get the suggestions; in PowerPoint for the web they are open to everyone.

Speaker Coach

Listens to a rehearsal and reports on pacing, pitch, filler words and reading straight from the slide, then shows a summary with recommendations. It currently understands English only.

Cameo

Places a live camera feed on a slide, where it can be styled, resized and animated like a picture. It is for Microsoft 365 subscribers on Windows, macOS and the web.

Co-authoring

Several people can edit a presentation saved to OneDrive or SharePoint at once. Indicators show which slide each person is on, and changes that do not conflict are merged automatically.

Templates

Microsoft offers thousands of customizable templates as starting points for a slide show. The free plan includes a basic set of templates, fonts, icons and stickers.

Canva

• Canva Free$0

  Templates, a free library of images, video and audio, photo and video editing, real-time collaboration and 5 GB of cloud storage.

• Canva Pro$14.99 to $18.00

  per month on the US App Store; $119.99 to $143.99 per year

  Premium templates and stock media, one-click Background Remover, Magic Resize, Brand Hub and post scheduling. The store lists several amounts for this plan.

• Canva Business$25.00

  per month on the US App Store; seat basis not shown

  Canva's site lists Business alongside its Pro and Enterprise plans. The App Store listing gives a monthly price but not what the plan adds over Pro.

Microsoft PowerPoint

• Free$0

  PowerPoint for the web for 1 person, with sharing, real-time collaboration, basic templates and 5 GB of cloud storage. Works on web, iOS and Android.

• Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99

  per month, or $99.99 per year

  1 person on up to 5 devices at once, 1 TB of cloud storage, and the PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot.

• Microsoft 365 Apps for business$10.00

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Desktop versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook for up to 300 employees, with 1 TB of cloud storage per user.

• Microsoft 365 Family$12.99

  per month, or $129.99 per year

  Everything in Personal for 1 to 6 people, with 1 TB of storage per person. AI features are for the subscription owner only.

• Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99

  per month, or $199.99 per year

  Everything in Family, plus extensive Copilot usage and agentic AI features such as advanced research and analytics.

• Office Home 2024$179.99

  one-time purchase for 1 PC or Mac

  Classic 2024 desktop versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel and OneNote, with no upgrade path to the next major release.

Canva

• Annual discount

  Yearly Canva Pro costs less than paying monthly

  The US App Store lists Canva Pro at $119.99 to $143.99 per year against $14.99 to $18.00 per month, so a year paid up front is cheaper than 12 monthly payments at any of the listed amounts.

• Education

  Canva for Education free for K-12

  Canva's App Store listing describes Canva for Education, a school- and district-managed version, as free for eligible K-12 teachers and students.

Microsoft PowerPoint

• Annual discount

  Save up to 17% by paying yearly

  Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 a year against $9.99 a month, Family $129.99 against $12.99 and Premium $199.99 against $19.99.

• Education

  Students save 50% on Microsoft 365 Personal

  Verified college and university students get Microsoft 365 Personal at half price. Student status has to be re-verified each year to keep the discount.

• Education

  Office 365 A1 free for eligible schools

  Educators and students with an eligible education email address get Office 365 A1 at no cost, which includes the web versions of PowerPoint and the other core apps.

• Nonprofit

  Nonprofit staff pricing on Microsoft 365 E3

  Eligible nonprofits can buy Microsoft 365 E3, with desktop, web and mobile versions of PowerPoint, for $9.75 per user / month paid yearly.

• Lifetime license

  Office Home 2024 one-time purchase

  $179.99 buys the classic 2024 desktop versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel and OneNote for 1 PC or Mac, with no subscription.