Canva, the popular design software company, has announced significant price increases for its Canva Teams subscriptions starting next year, with some users facing a 300% hike. This increase comes as the company integrates more generative AI tools into its platform, which it claims greatly enhance the value of the service.

In the United States, the subscription cost for Canva Teams, which supports multiple users, is set to rise from $120 per year for up to five users to $500 annually. However, a 40% discount will be available for the first year, bringing the price down to $300. In Australia, the price will jump from a flat $39.99 AUS per month for five users to $40.50 AUS per user, meaning a team of five will go from paying $480 AUS per year to $2,430 AUS.

Many existing Canva Teams users were locked into lower prices, but in April, Canva updated its pricing for new subscribers, setting a minimum requirement of three users at $10 per month each. As of September, all existing users are being moved to this new pricing model. Canva’s communications lead, Louisa Green, explained that the increase reflects the expanded range of products and features, including the Visual Suite and Magic Studio.

The company has rolled out several AI-driven features, such as the Magic Media text-to-image generator and the Magic Expand background tool, which have broadened Canva’s appeal beyond design and marketing professionals to a more general workspace tool. Despite the added value, the drastic price increase has sparked backlash among users, with some threatening to cancel their subscriptions in favor of Adobe products.

This price hike follows Canva’s acquisition of the company behind Affinity’s creative software suite for several hundred million British pounds and comes ahead of a potential public listing in the US in 2026. Despite the controversy, Canva maintains that the new pricing is justified given the expanded capabilities of its platform.