Canva hits $4 billion ARR as AI tools drive user growth

Canva ended 2025 with a 20% increase in monthly active users (MAU), pushing its financial and user metrics to new heights. According to the company and its co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht, who spoke at Web Summit Qatar, Canva reached several key milestones by the end of 2025:

• Annual recurring revenue (ARR) reached $4 billion.
• Monthly active users grew to more than 265 million.
• Paid users grew to over 31 million.
• The business-to-business (B2B) segment grew by 100%, reaching $500 million in ARR.

This growth coincides with a fundamental shift in Canva’s product strategy. The company is thinking about putting artificial intelligence at the center of its business, transitioning from a design platform that hosts AI features to an AI-first platform equipped with design tools. This strategy is already showing traction; a tool introduced last year that allows users to build mini-apps and websites using AI has reached more than 10 million monthly active users. As Obrecht explained, “Where we started was… we got the Canva platform, and we’re giving the Canva platform a bunch of AI tools. We’re inverting that now. We’re becoming an AI platform with a bunch of design tools. So you can think of it more like a cursor for design.”

To sustain this expansion, Canva is actively integrating with large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude, treating them as top-of-funnel user acquisition channels. By October 2025, users had engaged in more than 26 million conversations with the Canva app on ChatGPT. Obrecht compared this shift to the company’s early reliance on search engines, noting that Canva drove much of its early growth through Google by understanding search intent and delivering editable content. He explained that the company now views ChatGPT and other LLMs as top-of-the-funnel acquisition platforms. This AI-centric acquisition strategy helps Canva navigate competition from rivals like Adobe, Freepik, and Apple, which recently bundled its creative applications into a $12.99 per month Creator Studio.

While North America remains the source of the majority of Canva’s business, the company is actively targeting international markets. To convert more users into paying subscribers, Canva has introduced lower-priced subscriptions in countries including Pakistan, Uruguay, Morocco, and Jamaica. These initiatives support the company’s long-term financial path. Canva, which was last valued at $42 billion, is now preparing for a public debut. Obrecht told Bloomberg last November that the company plans to go public in the next couple of years.

Why it matters

Canva’s transition from a design-first to an AI-first platform demonstrates how generative AI is being used not just as a feature, but as a primary engine for user acquisition and business growth in the software sector.