4 ms·

Ask HN: What open-source alternative is there for Canva?

I'm a power Canva user but I have a passion for open-source and just like buying local, I try to use open-source whenever I can. Is there anything out there that stands up to Canva as an alternative? Thanks in advance!

brtkdotse 3y ago
The biggest selling point with Canva is it's myriad of templates. I doubt you're going to find that in a open-source alternative.
- nathan_tarbert 3y ago
  I agree @brtkdotse, that's why I was curious.
WallyFunk 3y ago
Not sure about open source, but there are alternatives out there: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=open+source+alternatives+to+canva https://duckduckgo.com/?q=open+source+alternatives+to+canva
- nathan_tarbert 3y ago
  Yes, I have searched and most of the alternatives I come across are wonky in some way. It never hurts to look again.
stevenicr 3y ago
I am always looking non-subscription options for similar.. playing with affinty designer, similar.. eyeing luminero neo? Appreciating self hosting AI gen.. Microsoft Designer is really making me happy - but I worry they will subscription paywall it eventually - I would pay a one time fee. Someone has to have list non-subscription alternatives to all the things.. like photoshop alternatives you can own..
- nathan_tarbert 3y ago
  Have you looked at photopea.com for a Photoshop alternative? It's browser-based and they have a decent free version. Wish it was open-sourced
  - stevenicr 3y ago
    yes, and I've used it a good bit the past 6 months. I've almost paid for the premium version several times - but it's subscription to rent online without ads, not pay and own. I prefer pay and own offline, (no faith in anything cloud being accessible forever). The learning curve has been steeper with affinity designer and photo - but I feel more secure knowing it will work day after day, no subscription, no internet required. Much to like about photopea - couldn't stand that video ads would keep running even if I had left that tab/window and been in other tabs for hours - and they have an adblocker-blocker that says you can't use without ads (or paying for premium, which I totally would if it could work offline) I do think it's good to know how to use, and there are good tutorials for pea and affinity (And corel) on youtube.. so it's a nice tool to know and use in a pinch, best if you save and close the window - which is not my normal method of operation.
    - nathan_tarbert 3y ago
      I totally understand. There are limitations with the browser-based tool like it being laggy depending on the size of the file and the ads are annoying but it gets the job done in most cases without making a big spend buying photoshop.
xet7 3y ago
For drawing arrows, I use drawing toolbar of LibreOffice Writer. For vector graphics, and converting bitmap to vectors, I use Inkscape. For flowcharts, I use Dia. For bitmap graphics, I use Gimp, use it for crop and prettifying old photos. I use OpenClipart SVG images, when I need some image that is already made.
- nathan_tarbert 3y ago
  Interesting, nice list. I'm checking these out.
kidfiji 3y ago
Not necessarily like Canva, but more similar to Figma is Penpot, if it may interest you: https://penpot.app/ https://penpot.app/
- flowzai 3y ago
  Yes, this is so much cool
  - nathan_tarbert 3y ago
    Agreed @flowzai, this looks like a good option.
- nathan_tarbert 3y ago
  Sorry for the delayed response @kidfiji Nice suggestion! Thanks
- _fqqr 3y ago
  Penpot reminds me of this (pretty good in my opinion) article by fasterthanlime: https://fasterthanli.me/articles/just-paying-figma-15-dollars https://fasterthanli.me/articles/just-paying-figma-15-dollar...
evolve2k 3y ago
Id say Inkscape and Penpot are the closest but none of these (by design) include a big template gallery which is maybe part of your consideration. On the template gallery you could use an open source chat-gpt like tool to create svgs for you and then load them into the above. Eg “Make an SVG of a smiley face”
mrangle 3y ago
So, you want something that is equivalent to paid Canva. Not just free Canva. I suppose that would depend on how you use Canva. I use it for rapid iterating. I haven't found anything that matches Canva for that. If you just need an editor then there are a variety of alternatives, like Inkscape. I only found it necessary to pay for Canva once I needed to upload fonts.
- nathan_tarbert 3y ago
  Yes @mrangle I'm looking for the equivalent of Canva and I don't mind paying for it. I'm already paying for Canva pro but would prefer an open-source alternative. I use Canva for website images, GIF creation, blog cover art etc.

brtkdotse 3y ago

The biggest selling point with Canva is it's myriad of templates. I doubt you're going to find that in a open-source alternative.

nathan_tarbert 3y ago
I agree @brtkdotse, that's why I was curious.

WallyFunk 3y ago

Not sure about open source, but there are alternatives out there: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=open+source+alternatives+to+canva https://duckduckgo.com/?q=open+source+alternatives+to+canva

nathan_tarbert 3y ago
Yes, I have searched and most of the alternatives I come across are wonky in some way. It never hurts to look again.

stevenicr 3y ago

I am always looking non-subscription options for similar.. playing with affinty designer, similar.. eyeing luminero neo? Appreciating self hosting AI gen.. Microsoft Designer is really making me happy - but I worry they will subscription paywall it eventually - I would pay a one time fee. Someone has to have list non-subscription alternatives to all the things.. like photoshop alternatives you can own..

nathan_tarbert 3y ago
Have you looked at photopea.com for a Photoshop alternative? It's browser-based and they have a decent free version. Wish it was open-sourced
- stevenicr 3y ago
  yes, and I've used it a good bit the past 6 months. I've almost paid for the premium version several times - but it's subscription to rent online without ads, not pay and own. I prefer pay and own offline, (no faith in anything cloud being accessible forever). The learning curve has been steeper with affinity designer and photo - but I feel more secure knowing it will work day after day, no subscription, no internet required. Much to like about photopea - couldn't stand that video ads would keep running even if I had left that tab/window and been in other tabs for hours - and they have an adblocker-blocker that says you can't use without ads (or paying for premium, which I totally would if it could work offline) I do think it's good to know how to use, and there are good tutorials for pea and affinity (And corel) on youtube.. so it's a nice tool to know and use in a pinch, best if you save and close the window - which is not my normal method of operation.
  - nathan_tarbert 3y ago
    I totally understand. There are limitations with the browser-based tool like it being laggy depending on the size of the file and the ads are annoying but it gets the job done in most cases without making a big spend buying photoshop.

xet7 3y ago

For drawing arrows, I use drawing toolbar of LibreOffice Writer. For vector graphics, and converting bitmap to vectors, I use Inkscape. For flowcharts, I use Dia. For bitmap graphics, I use Gimp, use it for crop and prettifying old photos. I use OpenClipart SVG images, when I need some image that is already made.

nathan_tarbert 3y ago
Interesting, nice list. I'm checking these out.

kidfiji 3y ago

Not necessarily like Canva, but more similar to Figma is Penpot, if it may interest you: https://penpot.app/ https://penpot.app/

flowzai 3y ago
Yes, this is so much cool
- nathan_tarbert 3y ago
  Agreed @flowzai, this looks like a good option.
nathan_tarbert 3y ago
Sorry for the delayed response @kidfiji Nice suggestion! Thanks
_fqqr 3y ago
Penpot reminds me of this (pretty good in my opinion) article by fasterthanlime: https://fasterthanli.me/articles/just-paying-figma-15-dollars https://fasterthanli.me/articles/just-paying-figma-15-dollar...

evolve2k 3y ago

Id say Inkscape and Penpot are the closest but none of these (by design) include a big template gallery which is maybe part of your consideration. On the template gallery you could use an open source chat-gpt like tool to create svgs for you and then load them into the above. Eg “Make an SVG of a smiley face”

mrangle 3y ago

So, you want something that is equivalent to paid Canva. Not just free Canva. I suppose that would depend on how you use Canva. I use it for rapid iterating. I haven't found anything that matches Canva for that. If you just need an editor then there are a variety of alternatives, like Inkscape. I only found it necessary to pay for Canva once I needed to upload fonts.

nathan_tarbert 3y ago
Yes @mrangle I'm looking for the equivalent of Canva and I don't mind paying for it. I'm already paying for Canva pro but would prefer an open-source alternative. I use Canva for website images, GIF creation, blog cover art etc.