Nova Studio is a free design and photo editor that opens in your browser. It has about 700 templates for YouTube thumbnails, Instagram posts, Stories, posters and festival cards. No sign-up, no watermark, and your pictures stay on your device.
Pick Nova Studio if you want a quick thumbnail, post or poster without an account, or you want your pictures to stay on your device.
Pick Canva if you need a very large library of templates and stock content, or you design together with a team.
What we say about Canva comes from its own pages (see Sources), read on 12 October 2026.
| Topic | Nova Studio | Canva |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-up | No sign-up. Open it and start. | You sign up for a free account to start designing.2 |
| Price | Free to use. A few tools carry a PRO tag and are free for now. | A free plan and a paid Pro plan.1 |
| Watermarks | Nothing is stamped on your picture. | Pro content used in a free design carries a watermark until you buy a licence for it or subscribe to Pro.1 |
| Templates | About 700: YouTube thumbnails, Instagram posts, Stories, posters, festival cards and business packs. | More than a million templates.1 |
| Best for (our view) | Quick thumbnails, posts and posters, and photo edits, without an account. | A huge library, and design work shared with a team. |
Nova Studio cannot open Canva designs as editable files. In Canva, download the design as a picture (PNG or JPG) if you want to add to it.
Open Nova Studio and choose a ready size, such as YouTube thumbnail, Instagram post, Story or A4 poster, or search the templates.
Tap the text and type your own. Add your photos as layers and move, scale and turn them with your fingers.
Choose JPG, PNG, WebP or PSD, then save the picture or share it to WhatsApp and Instagram.
120 YouTube thumbnails, 110 Instagram posts, 100 Stories and Reel covers, 60 portrait posts, 80 A4 posters, 119 festival cards and 100 business packs. Search, tap one and change the words.
Choose from 8 fonts, bend a headline into an arch, or add one of 22 shapes. Shadow, outline and glow can be added to any layer and stay editable.
Drop your photos in as layers, up to 40, and move, scale and turn them with your fingers.
Tap once to take the background out of a photo of a person, then put them on your own colour or picture. The tool carries a PRO tag and is free for now.
Start from a YouTube thumbnail, Instagram post, Story or A4 poster size, or type your own.
Save your colours, fonts and logo once and add them to any design in one tap. It carries a PRO tag and is free for now.
Save as JPG, PNG, WebP or PSD at 25%, 50%, 100% or 200%, then share to WhatsApp, Instagram or any app.
Your designs are saved on your device as you work. Keep as many as you like in My designs, and come back to them later.
What we say about Nova Studio comes from the app itself. What we say about Canva comes from its own pages, listed here and read on 12 October 2026. Plans, prices and features change, so check Canva's own website before you decide. Where Canva is the better choice, we say so. The “Best for” row and the notes on the better choice are our own view.
Sources
Canva is a trademark of its owner. Nova Clip and its apps are not made by, affiliated with or endorsed by the owner of Canva. The name is used only to say what we compare with.