Canva’s price hikes, which come as the company readies for an IPO, haven’t been well received, unsurprisingly. Users took particular issue with the fact that Canva communicated the changes through customer emails instead of publicly, as it has in the past.
The new pricing is a departure from Canva’s roots as an affordable alternative to design software like Adobe’s. It may also be a reflection of the startup growing too quickly, too fast; in March, Canva acquired U.K.-based graphic design software firm Serif for ~$380 million and just in August bought generative AI image company Leonardo.