Sydney-based Canva has hiked the subscription price for its design software by up to 300 per cent for some customers globally as it attempts to grow its revenues.

As part of the changes, in the US, for example, customers paying US$15 per month for five users on Canva Teams will now pay a flat rate of US$10 per person per month.

In Australia, Canva Teams costs $39.99 for up to five users. It will now cost a minimum of $40.50 for three.

For small businesses, there is an increase of A$165 to A$243 annually for three users.

It’s important to note that the A$243 is a discounted rate for the first year. After that, the price for a team of three will be A$405.

Social media platforms such as X lit up with Canva users livid at the price rise, with many asking their peers for recommendations of alternative software.

“Really disappointed in @canva price hike. Been a loyal customer for 3+ years. Log on today to see my subscription will be TREBLED. Price rises happen – but £10.99 to £36 a month is scandalous. The only response from Canva seems to be ‘we added new AI features that you don’t use’,” said Manchester-based John Gee.

“Wow @canva is becoming the Hootsuite of the design world with the massive price hike coming in 2025. These companies forget who supported them and how they got where they are. Fact is there’s always the next best thing to replace them,” added Alberta-based Wanda Baker on X.

Canva has been keen to point out that the price rise is linked to its AI offerings. “Our suite of products has grown significantly in the last couple of years with the launch of new offerings like the Visual Suite and Magic Studio,” said a Canva spokesman, according to The Australian Financial Review.

“Starting in September, the price of Canva Teams is changing for existing customers to reflect the current price of the plan and the value of our expanded product experience.”

As Canva battles with Adobe for market share, it unveiled new products at its Canva Create conference in Los Angeles in May, including AI-based tools.

It also acquired Sydney-based AI image generation start-up Leonardo for $US250 million (A$383.56 million) in July. The deal lets Canva integrate the smaller firm’s video and image generation models into its own products.

Last October, the company reported it was generating U$1.7 billion (A$2.52 billion) in annualised revenue; the spokesman said this had since climbed to U$2.3 billion (A$3.41 billion).

Observers have said that the price hike is linked more to the company’s efforts to boost revenue ahead of a potential multi-billion-dollar IPO, rather than just the new AI offerings.

There is speculation over the company listing in 2026, but for now it is focused on growing its user base. As of March this year, it was reported to have over 175 million users, 90 million of which joined in the previous 18 months.