{"slug": "canva", "name": "Canva", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 2, "commenters": 7, "warners": 1, "score": 1.896, "rising": -0.65, "first": "2025-11-14", "latest": "2026-09-07", "why": "which is what Figma boards and Canva is good for, also mainly for cross-collaboration", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "which is what Figma boards and Canva is good for, also mainly for cross-collaboration", "icon": false, "domain": "canva.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://canva.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Canva"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 764913170, "item_id": 47807073, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47807073", "by": "ossa-ma", "date": "2026-04-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is what Figma boards and Canva is good for, also mainly for cross-collaboration", "excerpt": "The more I think about it the more this isn't good for design [EDIT], for a few reasons: - The best design is original, groundbreaking and often counterintuitive. An AI model is incapable of that, it's uninspired, it will absolutely converge to the norm and homogeneity (you see it everywhere now, just scroll on ShowHN and take a look at the UIs) and produce the safest design that appeals to its understanding of the i", "context": "", "use_case": "design inspiration and collaboration", "switched_from": "", "story": "Claude Design"}, {"id": 734834992, "item_id": 45927187, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45927187", "by": "jojogh", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Canva.com has been an absolute lifesaver.", "excerpt": "As a busy founder, my time is my most valuable asset. My days are a constant juggle between architecting our SaaS platform, leading our go-to-market strategy, and my family life. I have to work 60+ hour a week, often until 11 PM, only to wake up at 6:30 AM to get my kids to school before my workday starts at 8:00 AM. I'm also deeply involved in our marketing, which means writing technical articles and sharing them on", "context": "busy SaaS founder", "use_case": "social media cover images", "switched_from": "", "story": "Is Canva too manual and slow in the age of generative AI?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 759454434, "item_id": 47465902, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47465902", "by": "DarrenDev", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Canva - I used it for simple designs but ChatGPT is better", "excerpt": "Canva - I used it for simple designs but ChatGPT is better Grammarly - ChatGPT and Claude are way better, and much more customizable. If I were a human editor I'd be very worried. On the flip side, using ChatGPT for diagrams made me pay for Mermaid. It might only be a one year subscription.", "context": "", "use_case": "simple designs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Have you cancelled any software subscriptions because AI replaced them?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "coreycascio", "context": "solo dev and YouTuber", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46934331", "date": "2026-02-08"}, {"by": "brobles", "context": "Airbnb host", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538862", "date": "2026-01-08"}, {"by": "jojogh", "context": "busy SaaS founder", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45927187", "date": "2025-11-14"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["thumbnails", "making cards", "design inspiration and collaboration", "simple designs", "welcome guide design", "social media cover images"], "compared": [{"slug": "chatgpt", "name": "ChatGPT", "co": 8, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "reveal-js", "name": "reveal.js", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "figma", "name": "Figma", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49594251", "title": "Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49429688", "title": "'Don't ask me to print your ChatGPT birthday card': Hitting back at AI 'slop'", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806725", "title": "Claude Design", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47436526", "title": "Ask HN: Have you cancelled any software subscriptions because AI replaced them?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46934330", "title": "All in One YouTube Toolkit for faceless channels", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46913053", "title": "All in one toolkit for YouTube video/script generation", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 793518945, "item_id": 49594934, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49594934", "by": "mikaTheThird", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "many apps I use nowadays are on the web, Figma, Canva, google docs, outlook", "excerpt": "Not sure about goverment requirements, but many apps I use nowadays are on the web, Figma, Canva, google docs, outlook and so on. There is not much need for a dedicated OS for most users.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers"}, {"id": 790881265, "item_id": 49430079, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49430079", "by": "al_borland", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Prior to AI being good enough to do this on its own, I used Canva", "excerpt": "For non-commercial use, I\u2019m betting the alternative to AI isn\u2019t hiring a graphic designer, it\u2019s simply nothing. I was giving someone some concert tickets for their birthday. Concert tickets these days are pretty ugly, or are completely virtual. I wanted to have something in the card, so I had ChatGPT make up some concert tickets based on the promo image, and had them printed on card stock. I\u2019d never hire someone for ", "context": "", "use_case": "making cards", "switched_from": "", "story": "'Don't ask me to print your ChatGPT birthday card': Hitting back at AI 'slop'"}, {"id": 764913170, "item_id": 47807073, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47807073", "by": "ossa-ma", "date": "2026-04-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is what Figma boards and Canva is good for, also mainly for cross-collaboration", "excerpt": "The more I think about it the more this isn't good for design [EDIT], for a few reasons: - The best design is original, groundbreaking and often counterintuitive. An AI model is incapable of that, it's uninspired, it will absolutely converge to the norm and homogeneity (you see it everywhere now, just scroll on ShowHN and take a look at the UIs) and produce the safest design that appeals to its understanding of the i", "context": "", "use_case": "design inspiration and collaboration", "switched_from": "", "story": "Claude Design"}, {"id": 759454434, "item_id": 47465902, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47465902", "by": "DarrenDev", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Canva - I used it for simple designs but ChatGPT is better", "excerpt": "Canva - I used it for simple designs but ChatGPT is better Grammarly - ChatGPT and Claude are way better, and much more customizable. If I were a human editor I'd be very worried. On the flip side, using ChatGPT for diagrams made me pay for Mermaid. It might only be a one year subscription.", "context": "", "use_case": "simple designs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Have you cancelled any software subscriptions because AI replaced them?"}, {"id": 750949300, "item_id": 46934331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46934331", "by": "coreycascio", "date": "2026-02-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Canva for thumbnails.", "excerpt": "For 6 months, I was that person with 15 browser tabs open just to publish one YouTube video. vidIQ for competitor research. Runway for video generation. Descript for voiceover. Canva for thumbnails. Buffer for scheduling. ChatGPT for scripts. $127/month in subscriptions. 20+ hours/week in busywork. Got fed up and spent 3 months building one tool that automates the entire workflow. --- viralvelocity.app ## What It Doe", "context": "solo dev and YouTuber", "use_case": "thumbnails", "switched_from": "", "story": "All in One YouTube Toolkit for faceless channels"}, {"id": 750608868, "item_id": 46913054, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46913054", "by": "coreycascio", "date": "2026-02-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Canva for thumbnails.", "excerpt": "For 6 months, I was that person with 15 browser tabs open just to publish one YouTube video. vidIQ for competitor research. Runway for video generation. Descript for voiceover. Canva for thumbnails. Buffer for scheduling. ChatGPT for scripts. $127/month in subscriptions. 20+ hours/week in busywork. Got fed up and spent 3 months building one tool that automates the entire workflow. --- viralvelocity.app ## What It Doe", "context": "", "use_case": "thumbnails", "switched_from": "", "story": "All in one toolkit for YouTube video/script generation"}, {"id": 750358804, "item_id": 46897425, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46897425", "by": "coreycascio", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Canva for thumbnails.", "excerpt": "For 6 months, I was that person with 15 browser tabs open just to publish one YouTube video. vidIQ for competitor research. Runway for video generation. Descript for voiceover. Canva for thumbnails. Buffer for scheduling. ChatGPT for scripts. $127/month in subscriptions. 20+ hours/week in busywork. Got fed up and spent 3 months building one tool that automates the entire workflow. --- viralvelocity.app ## What It Doe", "context": "solo dev, YouTuber", "use_case": "thumbnails", "switched_from": "", "story": "YouTube AI video/script generator Viralvelocity.app"}, {"id": 750208180, "item_id": 46888011, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46888011", "by": "coreycascio", "date": "2026-02-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Canva for thumbnails.", "excerpt": "For 6 months, I was that person with 15 browser tabs open just to publish one YouTube video. vidIQ for competitor research. Runway for video generation. Descript for voiceover. Canva for thumbnails. Buffer for scheduling. ChatGPT for scripts. $127/month in subscriptions. 20+ hours/week in busywork. Got fed up and spent 3 months building one tool that automates the entire workflow. --- viralvelocity.app ## What It Doe", "context": "solo dev, YouTuber", "use_case": "thumbnails", "switched_from": "", "story": "ViralVelocity \u2013 AI-powered YouTube script & video generator"}, {"id": 744621792, "item_id": 46538862, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538862", "by": "brobles", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I had to create one version using Canva for each lang and was a nightmare to maintain it.", "excerpt": "I got tired of guests asking about Wifi password or how to usethe coffe machine. or best local restaurants. I had a welcome guide but it was only in English. I had to create one version using Canva for each lang and was a nightmare to maintain it. I created this tool so I can upload a pdf guide and pick the langs and just create a shared link with all the PDFS that I want to share. I use the QR for share and when I w", "context": "Airbnb host", "use_case": "welcome guide design", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: PDF Hubs for Airbnb hosts with international guests"}, {"id": 734834992, "item_id": 45927187, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45927187", "by": "jojogh", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Canva.com has been an absolute lifesaver.", "excerpt": "As a busy founder, my time is my most valuable asset. My days are a constant juggle between architecting our SaaS platform, leading our go-to-market strategy, and my family life. I have to work 60+ hour a week, often until 11 PM, only to wake up at 6:30 AM to get my kids to school before my workday starts at 8:00 AM. I'm also deeply involved in our marketing, which means writing technical articles and sharing them on", "context": "busy SaaS founder", "use_case": "social media cover images", "switched_from": "", "story": "Is Canva too manual and slow in the age of generative AI?"}]}