Canva’s terms of use and service agreements are the contracts under which Canva provides its platform. Individuals and teams on Free, Pro and Business accept the Terms of Use, which “become a legally binding agreement” with the Canva Contracting Entity when the Service is used.[1] Enterprise customers contract through Order Forms under the Canva Master Services Agreement (MSA), and customers who buy through a reseller are covered by the Indirect Master Services Agreement.[2][3] Several documents supplement both: the Content License Agreement for library content, the AI Product Terms for AI features, the Canva Education Additional Terms for schools, and the Affinity Terms for the Affinity desktop and iPad software.[1][6]
Editions
| Agreement | Who it covers | How it is accepted | Catalog source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terms of Use | All self-serve users and their Admin Entities | Click-through on first use | Canva Terms of Use |
| Master Services Agreement | Direct enterprise customers | Order Form; Canva does not accept markups | Canva Master Services Agreement |
| Indirect Master Services Agreement | Customers buying from an authorised reseller | First access after the reseller purchase | Canva Indirect Master Services Agreement |
| Canva Education Additional Terms | Eligible Educational Institutions | Supplements the Terms of Use | Canva Education Additional Terms |
| AI Product Terms | Users of AI features | Referenced from the Terms of Use | AI Product Terms |
| Affinity Terms | Users of the Affinity software | Download or use of Affinity | Affinity Terms |
Terms of Use
Licence and restrictions
The Terms of Use grant a “non-exclusive, limited, non-transferable, freely revocable license to access and use the Service for business or personal use”, and Canva reserves all rights not expressly granted.[1] Each person must have a unique account and may not let any other party use their credentials.[1] Section 2(e) prohibits:
- renting, selling, sublicensing or offering the Service in a service bureau;
- reverse engineering;
- benchmarking;
- building a competing product;
- using a VPN to circumvent geographic pricing;
- scraping the Service or its content, including for AI purposes;
- bypassing measures that restrict use or copying of content.[1]
Catalog proof: Terms of Use licence is revocable and for business or personal use; One unique account per person; No VPN to circumvent geographic pricing.
Administered Accounts and Teams
A user who signs up with an email address associated with an employer or other organisation (an Admin Entity) represents that they can bind it. In the words of the Terms, “your use of the Service will bind your employer or the organization to these Terms”.[1] At the Admin Entity’s request, Canva may share the account details with it and give it control of the account. Before doing so, Canva makes reasonable efforts to let the user move content to a personal account.[1] This is the contractual route by which an organisation can bring scattered work-email accounts into one managed account. Catalog proof: Sign-up with a work email binds the employer; Admin Entity may take control of Administered Accounts.
Within a Team, the creator is the Team Owner. The Team Owner and Administrators can add or remove people or seats and manage access to content. Only the Team Owner can appoint a new Team Owner. Owners and Administrators may also delete or reassign the content and designs of team members.[1]
Billing, renewal and changes
Section 9 sets out the self-serve commercial terms:
- Subscriptions auto-renew each billing cycle.
- Teams are billed under Pay as You Grow.
- Fees include taxes unless otherwise specified.
- A cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing cycle without a refund.
- Price increases apply from the next renewal or 30 days after notice, whichever is later.[1]
The details are covered in Canva plans, seats and billing. Canva may change features, introduce storage limits or discontinue the Service. If it discontinues a service during a paid subscription and cannot offer a substantially similar one, it gives a pro-rata refund.[1]
Contracting entity, law and resellers
The contracting entity follows the billing address: Canva US, Inc, Canva UK Operations Ltd or Canva Pty Ltd.[1] The Terms are governed by California law, with disputes going to binding AAA arbitration and with class actions waived.[1] Purchases through an authorised reseller fall under the Indirect Master Services Agreement unless the customer has a separate agreement with Canva. Resellers “are not authorized to make any representations or commitments on Canva’s behalf”.[1] Liability is capped at the greater of USD 100 or the fees paid in the previous twelve months.[1] Catalog proof: Contracting entity depends on billing address; Reseller purchases fall under the Indirect MSA.
Master Services Agreement
The MSA is entered into between the Canva entity named in an Order Form and the customer. It incorporates the Data Processing Addendum, Acceptable Use Policy, Content License Agreement, Feature-Specific Terms and the Order Forms.[2] Canva states that it “is unable to accept markups or edits to this Agreement”. Where the MSA and an Order Form or SOW conflict, the Order Form or SOW controls, and terms in a purchase order are void.[2] Catalog proof: MSA Order Form prevails over the MSA.
Use rights
Canva provides the Service to the customer and its Users for the Subscription Term. It may change features, but it “will not materially decrease the overall functionality of the Service” during the term.[2] Customers may let Affiliates and their Users access the Service while remaining responsible for them. An Affiliate may also sign its own Order Form under the MSA.[2] Each User needs unique login credentials.[2] The use restrictions follow the Terms of Use and add AI-specific rules. Customers may not use the Service or Output to train AI models, misrepresent AI Output as solely human-made, or use AI Features for professional advice or automated decisions without human review.[2] Canva in turn will not train its AI models on Customer Material unless an administrator opts in.[2] Catalog proof: MSA customer affiliates may use the Service; MSA unique login credentials per User; MSA no AI training on Customer Material without opt-in.
Designs and IP
Customers keep ownership of their Designs, subject to the Content License Agreement for any Licensed Content. Canva grants “a perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, worldwide license” to use, reproduce, modify and distribute Designs created on the Service.[2] Canva defends customers against third-party claims that the Service infringes a patent, copyright or trade secret.[2] The Enterprise FAQ adds Canva Shield AI output indemnification and an indemnity for content shown under Indemnity Content Control, both for customers with 100 or more paid users.[7] Catalog: Canva Enterprise IP indemnity and Canva Shield; proof Canva Shield requires 100 or more paid users.
Fees, renewal and law
Fees and payment terms are set in the Order Form, and “all fees are in United States Dollars” unless stated otherwise. Canva may suspend access after an invoice is more than 30 days overdue, on 10 days’ notice.[2] Subscriptions renew automatically for successive 12-month terms unless either party gives notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before the end of the term. Canva gives notice of renewal and any price increase at least 45 days before the term ends.[2] Each party’s liability is capped at the subscription fees paid or payable in the previous twelve months.[2] Governing law depends on where the customer is located: England and Wales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa; California for the Americas; New South Wales for Asia Pacific.[2] Catalog: MSA 12-month auto-renewal; proof MSA subscriptions renew for 12 months, MSA renewal price increase notice of 45 days, MSA fees in US dollars unless stated.
Indirect Master Services Agreement
The Indirect MSA applies to customers who buy through an authorised Canva reseller. It largely repeats the MSA. The reseller’s order form governs pricing, payment terms, quantities and the subscription term, and warranty, refund and service credit claims go to the reseller.[3] Users may be added or removed at any time. At the end of each Quarter the number of Users is counted. If it exceeds the User Commitment, the reseller invoices the excess pro rata for the rest of the term at the same per-User rate, and the commitment increases automatically.[3] Catalog: Reseller User Commitment true-up; proof Reseller customers trued up quarterly against the User Commitment.
Education Additional Terms
The Canva Education Additional Terms modify the Terms of Use for eligible institutions:
- The indemnity applies only as far as the law permits.
- Canva’s liability is capped at USD 100.
- The law of the institution’s own state, province or territory governs.
- Canva Education and its Licensed Content may be used only for non-commercial, educational purposes, and only by the institution’s students, staff and faculty.
- Students must be invited by a Teacher.[4]
Catalog proof: Canva Education limited to non-commercial educational use; Canva Education users limited to students, staff and faculty.
AI Product Terms
The AI Product Terms prohibit using AI Products to pass AI content off as human-made, strip provenance metadata, give licensed professional advice, or produce malware.[5] Users own their Output, except Output that modifies or incorporates Licensed Content. Canva may impose AI Usage Limits, which it describes as “operational controls and not fixed entitlements”.[5] Catalog proof: AI Usage Limits are not fixed entitlements; AI Output with Licensed Content stays under the Content License.
Affinity Terms
Affinity is Canva’s photo editing, graphic design and page layout software for Mac, Windows and iPad. The Terms of Use make it part of the Service when it is downloaded with a Canva account.[1][6] The Affinity Terms supplement the Terms of Use, or the MSA for customers who have one, and prevail if the two conflict.[6]
- Entitlement. “Your right to use Affinity is linked to your Canva account.” Access to the software and to certain paid features depends on the subscription type, and “may require online verification through an entitlement check”.[6] Catalog proof: Affinity licence linked to the Canva account.
- Devices. A private individual may install and run Affinity on each Device they personally own or control. Under an Agreement that allows multiple Users, the software may be used by one individual on each Device they use that the customer owns or controls, or by several individuals on one shared Device.[6] Catalog: Affinity Device.
- Versions. Affinity may be supplied as a Trial Version, a Customer Specific Version (OEM or bundle) or under a Volume Licence, each subject to additional terms.[6]
- Records and audit. Under a multi-user Agreement, the customer must keep “an accurate and up to date record of all Users and copies” and provide it to Canva on request. Canva or its authorised agent may audit on site with reasonable notice, and this obligation survives termination.[6] Catalog proof: Affinity multi-user records and on-site audit.
- Termination. When the Agreement or the right to access Affinity ends, the Affinity licence “terminates automatically” and all copies must be deleted.[6] Catalog proof: Affinity licence ends with the Canva entitlement.
Audits and compliance
Neither the Terms of Use nor the MSA contains a licence audit clause. Canva instead relies on its control of the hosted service. Under the Acceptable Use Policy and the MSA, it may monitor use and remove violating Users, content or Designs.[2] Under the Content License Agreement, it tracks designs, downloads and Exports to check compliance.[8] The Affinity Terms are the one document with a records-and-inspection clause. Organisations that deploy Affinity to several Users should therefore keep a register of who uses it and where it is installed.[6]
Virtualization & partitioning
Not addressed by the agreements, apart from the Affinity device rules above.
Cloud / BYOL
Not applicable. Canva hosts the Service.
Programs
MSA 12-month auto-renewal, Reseller User Commitment true-up, Canva Education and Canva Enterprise IP indemnity and Canva Shield.
Out of scope
- The Data Processing Addendum, Acceptable Use Policy, Privacy Policy and Feature-Specific Terms, which were not reviewed in detail.
- The Cavalry Terms, Fontsmith Collection EULA and Canva AI Beta Program Terms.
- Negotiated Order Forms and reseller agreements.