How to Get Canva Pro for Free (Legally): Your Complete Guide

Canva has taken the graphic design world by storm in recent years. What started as a user-friendly tool for creating social media graphics and presentations has grown into an all-in-one visual communication platform used by over 55 million people across 190 countries.

While Canva‘s free version offers an impressive array of features, templates, and assets, the Canva Pro upgrade unlocks even more design superpowers. But with Canva Pro starting at $12.99 per month or $119.99 per year for a single user, not everyone can justify the expense.

So it‘s no surprise that "How to get Canva Pro for free" is such a popular search query. Unfortunately, most of the "hacks" and "tricks" floating around online are either outdated, misleading, or outright illegal. Using a Canva Pro crack, for example, is considered software piracy and copyright infringement.

But don‘t worry, there are still a couple ways you can legitimately get your hands on those coveted Canva Pro features for the low, low cost of $0. In this post, we‘ll cover two methods for how to get Canva Pro for free that are 100% legal and above-board.

Why Canva Pro is Worth Coveting

Before we dive into the "how," let‘s talk about the "why." Why do so many people lust after Canva Pro? It all comes down to the extra features and resources it offers compared to a free Canva account:

More templates, photos, videos, graphics, and fonts: While Canva‘s free media library is quite generous, Canva Pro kicks things up a notch with access to over 100 million premium photos, videos, audio tracks and graphics, plus over 600,000 premium and exclusive templates.

Time-saving tools: Canva Pro has several nifty features designed to streamline your workflow, like a background remover, one-click photo effects, a one-click resize tool to create multiple versions of a design, and the ability to export designs with transparent backgrounds.

Brand Kit: Pro users can set up a Brand Kit with their logo, brand colors, and up to 100 brand fonts for easy, consistent branding across designs. You can even upload your own custom fonts!

More organization and storage: Canva Pro comes with 100GB of cloud storage compared to 5GB on a free account, plus unlimited folders to organize your designs and assets. You can also set templates as "team templates" for your whole group.

According to a 2021 survey, 64% of Canva Pro users say the upgrade helps them create designs faster, while 52% say the additional templates help spark more ideas and inspiration. If those perks sound appealing, read on to learn how to unlock them for free!

Method 1: Get 30 Days of Canva Pro Free with a Trial

The first way to get Canva Pro for free is to sign up for Canva‘s 30-day free trial. This is a risk-free way to test drive all of Canva Pro‘s premium features for a full month before deciding to pay for a subscription. Here‘s how:

1. Go to canva.com/pricing and click the "Start your free Pro trial" button
2. Sign up for a new Canva account, or log in if you already have one (note that free trial is only for new Canva Pro users)
3. Enter your credit card details to start the trial (you won‘t be charged until the 30 days are up)
4. Start exploring and using all the Canva Pro features you now have access to!

A few important things to note about the Canva Pro free trial:

• You need a valid credit card to sign up, but won‘t be charged if you cancel before the 30 days end
• Your trial begins as soon as you enter payment details, not when you start using Canva Pro
• Set a reminder to cancel the trial before it expires (or be prepared to pay for a Canva Pro subscription)
• Canva only allows one free trial per person, though some users have reported being able to do multiple trials with different email addresses

For best results, I recommend having a plan for what you want to try and accomplish during your trial period. Maybe you want to create a set of branded social media templates to use in the future, or convert some old design files using Canva Pro‘s advanced features. Maximize those 30 days!

Method 2: Join Canva for Education as a Student or Teacher

If you‘re a student or educator, you can get Canva Pro for free through the Canva for Education program. This program offers free, full access to Canva Pro for all students and teachers at registered K-12 schools or universities. Here‘s how it works:

For teachers:

1. Go to canva.com/education/signup and click the "Teacher" button
2. Sign up with your school or university email address (must end in .edu or .k12)
3. Verify your email when prompted
4. Upload proof of teacher status, such as a school ID card, letter of employment, or teaching certificate
5. Wait 1-3 days for the Canva team to review and approve your application
6. Start using Canva Pro, and invite your students to join your class space!

For students:

1. Ask your teacher to sign up for Canva for Education and send you an invite to their class space
2. Join your teacher‘s class space with the invite link and your school email address
3. Enjoy Canva Pro access for all your class design projects!

Note that Canva for Education accounts come with a few special terms:

• Teachers must re-verify eligibility and renew their education subscription every year
• Students‘ access to Canva Pro only applies within their teachers‘ class spaces, not their personal Canva accounts
• Student access ends when the class space expires or the teacher removes them
• Designs created with Canva for Education are subject to different licensing terms and cannot be used for commercial purposes

Still, Canva for Education is a fantastic resource for eligible students and educators to use professional-grade design tools at no cost. Over 15 million teachers and students worldwide are using it to create presentations, worksheets, infographics, reports, and more.

Just be aware that Canva for Education doesn‘t include all the same features as a regular Canva Pro subscription. For example, education users don‘t have access to Canva‘s content planner tool.

Is it Worth Paying for Canva Pro?

While getting Canva Pro for free is awesome, it may not be a permanent solution for everyone. Teachers can renew their Canva for Education access every year, but students will lose theirs after graduation. And the 30-day free trial is, well, only 30 days.

So it‘s fair to wonder, is Canva Pro actually worth paying for? As someone who happily pays for Canva Pro, I can confidently say yes, if you use Canva regularly, the Pro features can be well worth the price. Just think about it this way:

• Unlimited access to millions of premium photos, videos, graphics, and templates (with commercial use rights!)
• Tools that make your workflow faster and designs more polished
• Ability to quickly resize designs for different platforms and uses
• 100GB of cloud storage to keep your designs organized and accessible anywhere
• A Brand Kit to keep your visuals cohesive and professional

All of that starts at just $12.99 per month (or $9.99 per month if you pay annually). Considering how much time and effort Canva Pro can save you, that‘s a pretty great deal for professional-grade design software. It‘s a no-brainer if you‘re using Canva for business, marketing, or a side hustle.

Of course, if you‘re just using Canva for the occasional personal project, you may not need all those bells and whistles. In that case, stick with the generous free plan or make periodic use of 30-day trials.

Go Make the Most of Canva!

I hope this guide has shown you that yes, it IS possible to get Canva Pro for free – legally and ethically! Between the 30-day free trial and the Canva for Education program, you have some great options for test-driving this powerful design platform at no cost.

Whether or not you decide to stick with a paid Canva Pro plan for the long term, I highly recommend taking advantage of these offers while you can. Use the trial to tackle a big design project, or sign up your whole class for Canva for Education. The more you explore and use the features, the more you‘ll be able to make an informed choice.

Now I‘m curious to hear about YOUR Canva journey. Have you used Canva Pro before, either through a trial or Canva for Education? What was your experience like? Did you feel the extra features were worth it, or are you content to stick with free Canva? Let me know in the comments!