Canva vs Figma for Startup Creators

Founders ask this weekly, so we built a scoreboard that tracks speed, governance, and growth loops for both design stacks.

Team velocity

• Canva wins for solo marketers thanks to brand kits and quick exports.
• Figma dominates when product + engineering co-build flows via Auto Layout and Dev Mode.

Automation hooks

• Canva: schedule social drops directly, connect Typeform responses into templates.
• Figma: use Variables + Tokens Studio to sync themes into code repos.

Decision matrix

• Need landing pages + IG stories fast? Choose Canva.
• Need systems design, prototyping, and developer handoff? Choose Figma.
• Hybrid? Use Canva for marketing and embed Figma iframes for product.