Verdict
Adobe Express does the same template job as Canva and adds Adobe Stock photos and Firefly image generation trained on licensed images. Premium costs £9.98 a month with no annual lock-in, and the free plan covers most cards and posts. Users say its template range trails Canva's, and Adobe settled a US case over hidden cancellation fees in March 2026.
Best for
Social posts and flyers for people already paying for Adobe
Skip if
Anyone wanting the widest template choice
Key facts
- Category
- Images, art & design
- Made by
- Adobe Inc.
- Based in
- United States
- Launched
- 2015
- Works on
- iPhone, Android, Web
- In the UK
- Yes
- Price from
- £9.98 a month
- Free plan
- Free plan, no payment card, with 100,000+ templates (268,000+ in the comparison table) and limited generative AI credits
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Express Premium | $9.99 | month |
| Adobe Firefly Pro | $19.99 | month |
| Adobe Express Teams (per licence, annual plan billed monthly) | $7.99 | month |
| Students Premium | $9.99 | month |
What it does
- offers 100,000+ static and video templates
- removes image backgrounds in one click
- schedules and publishes posts to social channels
- turns documents into presentations
- keeps brand colours, fonts and logos in a brand kit
Ratings
What people say
individual reviewers comparing it with Canva like its price, stock photos and social scheduler but find the templates weaker and the learning curve steeper. The Trustpilot score of 1.1 covers all of adobe.com and mostly reflects billing and cancellation anger, a big gap from the 4.79 App Store rating.
“Express leaves a lot to desire on templates, graphics that are color editable (svg), and learning curve.”
Individual user review, 8 April 2026 · source
“They win in pro level, high quality stock images, layer management is familiar, and love the social scheduler!”
Individual user review, 8 April 2026 · source
“I NEVER use templates, but the selection in canva seems like it's better as far as templates go.”
Individual user review, 7 April 2026 · source
“Express is $9.99 a month, and Canva is $18 or $25 a month, depending on what features you need. So Express is definitely more affordable.”
Individual user review, 8 April 2026 · source
“I love have students be creative using Adobe Express.”
Post on X, 7 October 2026 · source
Press reviews
- TechRadar 2025-05-13
4.5/5; 'a powerful template-based service' whose AI features 'can be fun', with social post scheduling the best part.
- Creative Bloq 2024-11-05
4/5; user-friendly with useful quick actions, though 'the AI tools can disappoint'.
- PCMag 2025-08-01
4.0 Excellent, named best for template-driven social posts in PCMag's best graphic design software list.
Privacy
- Trains on your data
- No for generative AI: Adobe's terms say it will not use local or cloud content to train generative AI models, except work submitted to Adobe Stock. Adobe says its Firefly models are trained on licensed Adobe Stock and public-domain images, so Stock contributors' work is used. Cloud content may be used for content analytics unless the user opts out.
- Opt-out
- Content analytics opt-out on the Adobe account privacy page (personal accounts); generative AI training on user content is off for everyone
- Retention
- Deleted when no longer needed for a business reason; contract and transaction records kept ten years after the last interaction
- Incidents
- June 2024: artist backlash over terms allowing content access; Adobe rewrote them on 18 June 2024 to rule out generative AI training (CG Channel). March 2026: Adobe agreed a $150M US settlement ($75M penalty plus $75M free services) over hidden early termination fees, without admitting wrongdoing; UK CMA opened an investigation into the same fees in March 2026, still open (CG Channel).
- Age limit
- 13+ to register an Adobe ID, under legal age needs parental consent; schools can deploy to under-13s under education terms
Official videos
FAQ
Is Adobe Express free?
Yes. The free plan needs no payment card and includes over 100,000 templates with limited AI credits. Premium is £9.98 a month in the UK.
Does Adobe use my designs to train its AI?
Adobe's terms say it will not train generative AI on users' local or cloud content, except work submitted to Adobe Stock. Users can also opt out of content analytics in their account privacy settings.
Adobe Express or Canva?
individual reviewers who use both say Canva has more and better templates, while Express wins on stock photo quality, familiar Adobe layers and a cheaper monthly price. PCMag rates Canva 4.5 and Express 4.0.
Can I cancel Adobe Express easily?
Premium is billed monthly with no annual commitment on the UK pricing page. Adobe's annual plans with early termination fees led to a $150M US settlement in March 2026 and a UK CMA investigation.
Is Adobe Express suitable for children?
An Adobe ID requires users to be 13 or older, with parental consent below the legal age. Schools can provide it to younger pupils under Adobe's education terms.
Scores are based on published evidence, not lab tests. How we score.
Similar tools
Canva
Template-led design app for cards, posters and social posts, now with AI image tools and a chatbot built in.
Adobe Firefly
Adobe's image and video generator, trained on licensed stock, with Google and OpenAI models bolted on.
Magnific (formerly Freepik)
A Spanish stock-image library turned AI studio, with dozens of image and video models under one subscription.
Ideogram
Image generator built for pictures with readable words in them, like posters and invitations.