Whether you are a content creator or an entrepreneur, you are probably sick of wasting time on the same old things: resizing images, creating slideshows, and trying to figure out how to get that one font to look right.
Fortunately, there are several web-based platforms that make it easy to create beautiful and professional content with just a few clicks. Prezi and Canva are two of the most popular tools of this kind.
Both apps are very easy to use and they allow you to create all kinds of presentations, graphics, brochures, websites, and other content for your business in minutes.
But which one is right for you?
In this blog post, we’ll walk through the main differences and similarities between Prezi and Canva so that you can decide which one is better suited to your needs.
Prezi vs Canva: Introduction
Prezi
Prezi was launched in 2009, and since then it’s been gaining popularity among professionals and students alike.
In a nutshell, it’s an online presentation suite that aims to make stunning presentations as easy as possible for anyone, even if you have little to no design knowledge needed. More than 100 million people around the world use it to create over 400 million presentations every year.
The best thing about it is that while traditional presentations are confined to a linear slide deck, Prezi allows you to present your information in an interactive, non-linear way.
The app consists of three main parts:
- Prezi Present: With this product, you can create all kinds of online presentations and share them with others.
- Prezi Video: This product lets you record yourself talking through your presentation while recording your own voiceover.
- Prezi Design: This is an incredibly useful tool for making infographics, charts, diagrams, and maps using drag-and-drop technology.
The platform also allows users to share their presentations through videoconference and social media platforms, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Check Out: Best Slidesgo Alternatives
Canva
Canva was launched in 2012, and today it has over 100 million active users per month. It’s the online graphic design tool that online entrepreneurs, business owners, and content marketers need to create visually-engaging content easily.
You can create all kinds of things from social media posts to ebooks or invoices, to infographics, logos, and websites. It offers thousands of templates so you can get started right away without any prior knowledge of graphic design principles or software programs.
The platform also gives you access to millions of photos, fonts, and other elements that can be used in your designs. This way, you don’t have to worry about spending hours trying to find what you need.
Prezi vs Canva: Sign Up
Prezi
Prezi’s sign-up process is simple and intuitive. However, it involves a few extra steps that other presentation software doesn’t have.
To create an account:
- Navigate to Prezi.com
- Click the blue button labeled “Get started” in the top right corner of your screen.
- You will then be prompted to enter your first and last name, email address, and password. You can also register using an existing account from Facebook, Apple, Google, Slack, or Microsoft.
- Next, you’ll need to choose whether you want to go with one of Prezi’s premium memberships or stick with the free Basic plan.
- After that, you can either invite your team or skip directly to the personalization page. There, you’ll need to answer things like what’s your current role and which Prezi product you want to use (Present, Video, or Design).
- Once you’re finished, you’ll be able to access your dashboard immediately!
Canva
Signing up for Canva is faster and easier than signing up for most other online tools, including Prezi. The process takes less than a minute, and you’ll be able to start using the platform immediately.
To create an account:
- Navigate to Canva.com
- Click on the purple “Sign up” button in the top right corner.
- Choose how you want to sign up. You can use your own email, work email address, phone number, or any of the following accounts: Google, Facebook, Apple, Clever, or Microsoft.
- Next, you’ll be taken to your dashboard. From there, you can immediately start making designs on Canva!
Prezi vs Canva: Dashboard
Prezi
Prezi’s dashboard is pretty simple, but it does all the things you need it to do. The left column contains your current projects, the Prezi Video, Present, and Design tabs, and a library with recommended templates for different types of content.
You can switch between the different views depending on your needs, and even divide your projects into custom folders and add them to the panel, so it’s easy to organize everything.
The main dashboard area in the center of your screen is full of categorized templates that you can click whenever you want to start creating great-looking charts, infographics, dashboards, reports, and posters.
Canva
Canva’s main dashboard is a lot like Prezi’s. Both have similar sections and elements, including the home page and a navigation bar to help you move around the site.
The difference is that Canva’s left navigation panel has a few more options. It allows you to change your account settings, view your profile page, see your projects on different devices, plan your content, and access branding and mockup tools.
In addition, you can access these pages from the drop-down menu under your username in the upper right corner of any page within the platform.
At the top of the dashboard, there is a search bar where you can look for specific templates. You can also click on the icons to access them easily.
The best thing about it is that you can view all your past projects listed right below the recommended templates. That way you’ll know exactly what you’ve done and where to find it again when you’re ready to start a new project.
To start designing, you just need to click “Create New Design” in the top right corner of the page. This will open up another window where you can choose from one of over 250,000 templates with different sizes or start from scratch with a blank document.
Prezi vs Canva: User Interface & Ease of Use
Prezi
Prezi is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to the user interface. It’s easy to start using Prezi, but the platform isn’t intuitive, so it takes a little getting used to before you’re comfortable with it.
The app has a lot of content on the screen, which can make it confusing to navigate at first, and it’s not always obvious how the layout works or where you might find things like templates or help files.
Once you’re used to it, though, you’ll find that this design actually makes sense and helps you get where you need to go quickly.
Interesting Post: Bad Graphic Design Examples
Canva
Unlike Prezi, Canva has an easy-to-use interface that makes using its tools a breeze.
The UI is clean and simple, with an emphasis on bold colors and typography, and the design is clear and uncluttered, with a focus on helping users focus on their content creation process.
In addition, Canva also has one of the easiest learning curves in this roundup. This is due in part to their helpful tutorials and videos that walk through different features of the program but it’s also due to the fact that Canva’s design makes sense from the get-go.
Prezi vs Canva: Web-based Editor
Prezi
Once you start creating your presentation, you’ll notice that Prezi’s editor has three main areas: the canvas, a top bar, and the timeline.
The canvas is where you’ll build your slides and add text, images, and other objects like shapes. You can move around objects by clicking on them and dragging them to another part of the canvas.
The top bar gives you access to all kinds of tools that will help you create stunning presentations without ever having to leave the editor. You can click on “Style” to change the background and text styles, or click on “Insert” to add text boxes, shapes, icons, or animations among other customization options.
Finally, on the left side, you’ll find the timeline panel. It shows where each slide is in relation to everything else.
After you set up all the graphics and text, you can click “Create Video” in the top right corner of the screen to record a video of yourself presenting your content. Alternatively, you can hit “Share” and overlay the design to give a live presentation.
The latter feature also allows you to preview content and share it with others via a view link. Additionally, you can invite team members for real-time collaboration by using the “Collaborate” option.
Canva
The Canva Design Editor is very simple to use, even for those who are not familiar with design software.
There’s a bar across the top of the screen that provides quick access to common functions like adding text, changing the background color, or cropping photos.
To find everything else on Canva, you just have to click on the black panel on the left side of the screen. This will open up a menu where you can access every feature available on Canva from uploading photos from your computer or recording yourself, to adding shapes, templates, or stock photos and videos.
The white canvas is the space where you will be designing. Like on Prezi, you can drag and drop any component and edit it as you wish.
If you decide to start with a template, it will show up in its entirety on the canvas, with all of its pre-built elements ready to go. Plus, there’s a note panel at the bottom of the page where you can write down all your ideas while creating your presentation.
Once you’re done designing, you can download your creation as a high-resolution file. You can also share it on social media or embed it as a live record, view link, or website.
Prezi vs Canva: Integrations
Prezi
You can integrate Prezi with a whole lot of different platforms, including Slack, Zoom, Cisco Webex, Bynder, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Facebook, and YouTube.
Canva
Like Prezi, Canva integrates with a variety of apps. Some of the most popular include:
- Google Drive
- Google Photos
- YouTube
- Embed
- Background Remover
- QR Code
- Shadows
- Duotone
- Smartmockups
Prezi vs Canva: Mobile Application
Prezi
Prezi has an app called Prezi Preview that’s compatible with both Android and iOS devices.
You can’t edit or create presentations with it, but you can use it to practice presenting your ideas in front of a screen, and make sure that everything looks good before you head out into the world to present.
Canva
Whether you’re on the go or just want to work on your art project in bed, Canva Mobile lets you create stunning designs with just a few taps.
It’s available for both Android and iOS users, and unlike Prezi, it lets you access and edit all of your projects on the go.
Prezi vs Canva: Customer Support
Prezi
If you have an issue with your Prezi account, there are three main ways you can contact their support team.
The first one is to contact Prezi through live chat. This is great if you need to get help fast because the agents are always online and ready to answer any questions.
If live chat isn’t working out for you, then another option is to call Prezi support. Finally, if neither of these options work for you then you can email them through their Contact page. They usually respond within 24 hours.
You can also post your question in their community forum. It’s a great way to get answers from other users who might have the same problem.
Canva
Unlike Prezi, the only way you can contact Canva is through their Inquiries form.
Depending on the number of messages they get and the subscription plan you’ve chosen, their response times can vary. If you are using a Canva Pro or Teams plan, you’ll get an answer within 24 hours, but if you are using a free account, expect to wait a week before hearing back from them.
Prezi vs Canva: Pricing
Prezi
Prezi’s pricing is pretty straightforward, but it might be a bit confusing at first. They offer 11 different tiers of service, ranging from $3 to $59/per user and month ($36 to $708/per year).
These prices may change, so check Prezi’s website to get their latest pricing plan.
You can also use it for free, though this membership comes with limitations.
You can’t upload files larger than 50 MB, and you get a maximum of 10 projects per month. You also won’t get access to their “Notes” feature when using Prezi Video, which are notes that pop up on the screen when you’re presenting so that people can follow along with what you’re saying.
Plus, everything you make will be watermarked.
Canva
If you want to use Canva’s paid services, there are three tiers: Canva Free, Pro, and Canva for Teams.
The Free plan allows you to create basic designs and images and collaborate with other team members on projects. The Pro plan costs $12/per month (or $119.99/per year) and adds more features like advanced image editing tools for professional-looking results, unlimited uploads, and full access to Canva’s library of templates.
With this option, you also get additional image types like vector graphics (SVG) which can be scaled without loss of quality even after they are published online or printed out onto physical items like posters or flyers.
Finally, the Canva for Teams membership costs $14.99/per month (or $149.90/per year). This one comes with everything in the Pro plan plus access to all of your team members’ projects on one account so that everyone can see what everyone else is working on, and collaborate easily.
This pricing can vary, so check Canva’s website for the most up-to-date pricing information.
Additionally, verified teachers, schools, and non-profits can use the platform’s complete set of features for free.
Prezi vs Canva: Help Center
Prezi
Prezi’s Help Center has guides on everything from how to get started with the app to tips for creating attractive and professional presentations.
It includes tutorials that cover the basics of using the software, including adding text and images, creating slideshows, and making your presentation interactive. You’ll also find real-world examples of how people have used Prezi to make presentations that engage their audience and make an impact.
Canva
Canva’s Help Center is pretty comprehensive. You can search for answers to your questions or browse articles by topic.
It’s divided into sections that are organized around the most common questions they receive from our users. Also, they provide some additional resources for you to check out, including blog posts and tutorials.
You can find valuable information on how to use the app in your design process, step-by-step guides for creating your best visuals, and FAQs to help you resolve your account and billing issues.
Prezi vs Canva: Pros & Cons
Prezi
Pros
- It has a free plan.
- It lets you create online presentations, videos, and graphics that are really innovative.
- It’s easy to use.
- It allows for real-time collaboration.
- It’s compatible with Android and iOS phones and tablets.
- It’s completely web-based, but you can also download their desktop app (available for Windows and Mac computers) if that works better for you.
- Customer support is available through many channels, and their team is responsive.
- It has a comprehensive Help Center with helpful documentation.
- It integrates with many social media and video conference apps.
Cons
- Its user interface is not intuitive and can seem a bit clunky at first glance.
- It can export files only in Prezi format.
- Its free plan is really limited.
- Its library of templates is small (less than 1,000)
Canva
Pros
- It offers a free plan for individual users.
- It’s completely free for nonprofits, teachers, and schools.
- It has a clean and intuitive user interface.
- It has a simple drag-and-drop feature that anyone can use.
- It’s accessible from both your computer and Android or iOS devices.
- It also offers a desktop app for Windows and Mac.
- It has a huge library of templates (250,000+) to choose from, so you can spend less time searching for the right image and more time creating your design.
- It supports multiple file formats so you can export your work as PNG, JPEG, SVG, and PDF files.
- It allows you to collaborate in real-time on your projects.
Cons
- Its free version is limited.
- Sometimes, when you export your designs, they look worse than they did while they were in Canva.
Similarities & Differences
| Prezi | Canva | |
| Free Version | ✔ | ✔ |
| Real-Time Collaboration | ✔ | ✔ |
| Intuitive UI | X | ✔ |
| Customer Support | ✔ | ✔ Only email |
| Help Center | ✔ | ✔ |
| Web-Based Editor | ✔ | ✔ |
| Desktop App | ✔ | ✔ |
| Templates | ✔ Only 1,000 | ✔ |
| Mobile Application | ✔ | ✔ |
| Third-party Integrations | ✔ | ✔ |
Conclusion
If you are looking for presentation software that has the ability to create professional-looking presentations in a variety of formats, Canva is the clear winner.
Its simplicity will appeal to beginners who aren’t used to making presentations but still want to build something eye-catching and unique in minutes. It also works well for more advanced users who want a quick and easy app that can help them get the job done right away.
Prezi is an interesting option because it doesn’t follow the traditional “slide” format that most other presentation software does. However, Canva is easier to use and it offers more flexibility in how you can customize your designs with animations and interactive elements.
You’ll also find a variety of backgrounds, fonts, and graphics that you can use to make your visuals really pop.
Finally, Canva’s editor is more intuitive than Prezi’s and it comes with a wider range of modern templates, so you can create any type of presentation you want with just a few clicks.
Scott L. Macarthur is a marketing consultant and an online author. He is mostly engaged in providing his expertise to startups and SMBs. He is also an author on TheNextWeb.