deviseA star platform for the communityCanvahas recently made a major change to its pricing strategy, a change that has shocked some longtime users. In the U.S., the Canva Teams five-person plan, which was $119.99 per year, is now priced at $500, while in Australia, the fixed monthly fee for five users has risen from AU$39.99 (about $26) to AU$13.50 per user. Individual users have also seen an increase in cost, now paying $100 per person per year or opting for a $10 per person per month plan.
The Canva Teams price change is a big blow to existing customers, especially those who were previously enjoying low price discounts. Although Canva has implemented new pricing for new customers, old customers are now under pressure to increase prices as well.Pro and Enterprise level users have not been affected by this price change.
A spokesperson for Canva confirmed the new pricing strategy to TechCrunch, explaining that the tweak is necessary as the company continues to expand in generative AI tools such as Magic Studio. They also mentioned that the low price offer that some customers previously enjoyed has ended. In fact, Canva quietly changed Teams' pricing to $10 per user per month earlier this year.
A spokesperson for Canva said, "Our initial pricing was based on the early stages of the product and has remained the same for the past four years. Now, we are updating pricing for customers on these older plans to better reflect our rich product experience." The change runs counter to Canva's original positioning - as an affordable alternative to design software like Adobe.
As it prepares for its initial public offering (IPO), it's no surprise that Canva has raised its prices, but users are apparently not too happy about it. In particular, they were unhappy that Canva chose to notify price changes via customer emails rather than the previous public method. The change may also reflect the rapid growth challenges facing the startup.
Canva has recently expanded its product line through acquisitions, including the purchase of Serif, a UK-based graphic design software company, for approximately $380 million in March, and Leonardo, a generative AI imaging company, in August.These moves show that Canva is actively investing in AI technology to drive innovation and growth in its platform.