I've used Canva for years but it turns out Adobe Express is cheaper, just as good – and free to try

Adobe has many applications that are relied on by millions of creative professionals, such as Photoshop and Premiere Pro. However, within the suite of apps is a lesser-known app — Adobe Express. 

Creatives of all ages, experiences, and needs can use Adobe Express to create visual projects of all complexities, from a simple party invite to a multi-channel marketing campaign for a small business. Even though applications like Canva can accomplish the same goal, Adobe Express’s standout feature is that it seamlessly integrates into the rest of Adobe’s offerings. 

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To help users better understand how to get started with Adobe Express, what the application can offer users, and the intentional design of the platform, ZDNET spoke to Ian Wang, Adobe Express VP and head of product, in an exclusive interview.  

What is Adobe Express?

Adobe Express is a platform for creating visual content, including flyers, social media posts (photo and video), documents, webpages, presentations, logos, and more. Users can start from scratch or use one of thousands of templates. 

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The interface is surprisingly similar to Canva, and getting started is just as simple. This simplicity was an intentional design choice, as Wang shared that the interface is meant to suit people of all different experiences and skills. 

“Adobe Express was designed to be fast and easy to use for everyone — whether you’re a professional illustrator, a solopreneur with no design experience at all, or a salesperson who urgently needs to level up their deck for a big pitch,” said Wang. 

The interface may look a bit different depending on the use case. For example, Wang said Express for Education is designed to be classroom-safe. On the other hand, customers from large companies have a custom homepage with all of the company’s brand assets to help create a project. 

Unique features

As part of the Adobe ecosystem, Express integrates seamlessly with other Adobe tools, including the latest features from Firefly, Adobe’s generative AI suite of tools, offering high-quality, commercially safe capabilities that users trust. 

“We use our Firefly generative AI to help customers resize an image or video or remove an unwanted image instantly,” said Wang. “With Express, you can leverage AI to easily generate video captions or translate text into just about any language — without needing copyrighting or linguistic expertise.”

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A unique Firefly application Wang shared was the free feature that creates custom coloring pages for kids with simple text prompts, showing the versatility of tasks the tool can help different types of users accomplish.  

Adobe Express will soon also support non-Adobe generative AI models from competitors such as Google, Runway, and Black Forest Labs, so users can access different models depending on requirements and preferences. 

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Beyond AI, integrations with Adobe products allow easy access to other Adobe assets, such as fonts, music, and sound libraries used in alternative apps. Lastly, integrations between Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, and other apps make it easy to hand off projects and templates for quick edits or easy sharing.

“Thanks to seamless integrations with Adobe apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects, creators can use Express to do everything from make quick edits to create beyond their area of expertise,” said Wang. 

Hands-on

Until I recently attended Adobe Summit and got to sit down with Wang, I wasn’t super familiar with what the application had to offer. After learning more about the platform, I decided to try it myself. For context, I am a regular Premiere Pro and Lightroom user for video and photo editing. However, for visual content creation, such as flyers, menus, or social media posts, I typically use Canva. 

When I first saw the Express interface, I was impressed with how intuitive it was compared to some of the more advanced tools Adobe offers, such as Premiere Pro or Photoshop, which require a learning curve. With Adobe Express, everything is neatly labeled, with plenty of templates readily available, even if you don’t know exactly where to start. It was no more difficult to use than Canva despite having the extra Adobe bells and whistles. 

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Once you select a template you like, it is easy to customize all the different elements. A simple click of an object gives you an array of options to help edit or replace. 

A left-hand bar has options labeled that you can use to add elements to your project. I like how the generative AI offerings are all grouped in a tab label that lets you generate a photo, text effect, and, what I found the most helpful, a template.  

With the generate a template feature, you can select the project you want to create (a poster, Instagram square post, card, and more), type in a brief description, and even upload an image as a reference. This final option is helpful because tweaking the template to meet your vision can be challenging. 

How to get started

There is a growing momentum around Adobe Express, with millions of monthly users and 50% quarter-over-quarter growth in the number of paying businesses onboarded. The tool is available in different tiers, including a free option. The free tier is meant for individuals with basic content creation needs and can work with limited generative AI credits, which power the generative AI features and assets. 

The Premium tier gives users access to premium templates and assets, and more generative AI features, and costs $9.99 per month, comparable to Canva Pro’s $12.99 monthly cost. Adobe offers a free 30-day trial if you are unsure of the technology or have a big project coming up. There’s also a Teams membership tier of $4.99 per person with a two-seat minimum.