Marq and Canva are essential tools for businesses and designers, offering brand consistency, efficiency, and creative freedom. We'll compare Marq and Canva to determine which platform best meets the needs of professionals in maintaining brand identity and streamlining content creation.

A Quick Overview of Marq and Canva

What is Marq?

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Marq is a brand enablement software platform that helps businesses create, customize, and share branded content. It is used by over 6 million professionals and 800+ leading brands.

Marq offers design flexibility by allowing users to import designs from other platforms or create directly within Marq. A unique feature is its ability to turn designs into templates with locked elements, ensuring brand integrity while allowing team customization.

What is Canva?

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Canva is a design platform that offers a wide range of tools for creating visual content. It provides solutions for individuals, businesses, educators, and non-profits, aiming to empower users to create professional designs with ease using its extensive library of templates, images, and design elements.

Canva offers free customizable templates and drag-and-drop tools for easy design creation. A unique feature is Magic Write™, an AI writer and text generator that helps users generate, summarize, expand, and re-write text quickly, setting it apart from competitors.

Features of Marq and Canva

Similarities

Marq and Canva share several key features that make them both powerful tools for creating and managing visual content. Here are the most important similarities:

  • Template Libraries: Both platforms offer extensive libraries of customizable templates for various types of content, making it easy for users to start their designs.
  • Drag-and-Drop Interface: Users can easily create designs by dragging and dropping elements, ensuring a user-friendly experience.
  • Real-Time Collaboration: Both Marq and Canva support real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to edit and comment on designs simultaneously.
  • Brand Control: Tools to lock certain elements like logos, fonts, and colors to ensure brand consistency across all content.
  • AI-Powered Tools: Features like AI image editing and content generation to enhance design capabilities.

Differences

While Marq and Canva both excel in design and brand management, their feature sets cater to different needs. Here are the most significant differences:

  • Template Locking: Marq allows users to lock critical elements like logos and fonts to ensure brand consistency, a feature Canva lacks.
  • Smart Fields: Marq offers auto-population of data in templates, making it easier to personalize content, whereas Canva does not provide this functionality.
  • Industry-Specific Solutions: Marq tailors features for industries like real estate and healthcare, while Canva offers more general-purpose tools.
  • Approval Workflows: Marq provides a streamlined process for feedback and approval of designs, which is not a focus for Canva.
  • AI Tools: Canva includes AI-powered tools like Magic Write™ and an AI photo editor, features that Marq does not offer.

User Interface and Usability

Marq's user interface is clean and organized, featuring a top navigation bar that guides users through various sections. The platform's user experience is intuitive, with easy navigation and clear, concise information. Overall usability is high, with a logical flow of information and responsive design optimized for different devices.

Canva's user interface is also clean and intuitive, with a focus on ease of navigation through buttons, links, and dropdown menus. The user experience is seamless, providing comprehensive information in a structured manner. Overall usability is high, catering to both new and experienced users with clear calls to action and helpful resources.

Neither platform has a clear advantage in user interface and usability.

Collaboration

Marq facilitates collaboration by offering real-time editing and approval workflows, allowing team members to work on designs simultaneously. The platform's intuitive editor and lockable templates ensure that brand standards are maintained while enabling customization. These features make it easy for teams to create, share, and approve content efficiently.

Canva also supports real-time collaboration, allowing users to invite team members to work together on projects. The drag-and-drop interface and Brand Kit feature help maintain consistency across designs. However, Canva's focus on general-purpose tools may not cater to industry-specific needs as effectively as Marq.

Overall, neither platform has a clear advantage in collaboration capabilities.

Marq and Canva Pricing

Marq offers a Free Plan with basic features, a Pro Plan at $10/month, a Team Plan at $10/month per user, and a customizable Enterprise Plan. Discounts are available for annual billing, and the Team Plan includes a second free license when billed yearly. Free trials are available for Pro and Team plans.

Canva provides a Free Plan, a Pro Plan at $120/year, a Teams Plan at $100/year per person, and a customizable Enterprise Plan. Discounts are offered for annual billing, and Canva Pro is free for registered nonprofits. Free trials are available for Pro and Teams plans, but not for Enterprise.

Overall, neither platform has a clear pricing advantage.

Comparing Marq and Canva to Piktochart

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Piktochart transforms complex ideas into captivating visuals that inform and engage your audience. With Piktochart AI, you can create stunning infographics, reports, and presentations in seconds, perfectly aligned with your brand. No design experience required.

Pros of Piktochart

  • AI-Powered Design Generator: Piktochart's AI-powered design generator allows users to create stunning visuals quickly and efficiently, saving time and effort.
  • Comprehensive Visual and Video Tools: From infographic makers to video editors, Piktochart offers a wide range of tools to cater to various design needs, making it a versatile platform.
  • Customizable Templates: Piktochart provides a vast library of customizable templates for different use cases, ensuring that users can create professional-looking content with ease.
  • Industry-Specific Solutions: The platform supports various industries, including education, healthcare, marketing, and nonprofits, offering tailored features to meet specific needs.
  • Discounted Plans for Education and Nonprofits: Piktochart offers discounted plans for students, teachers, education staff, and registered nonprofits, making it an affordable option for these groups.

Piktochart's Pricing

  • Free: $0 (Free forever)
  • Pro: $29 per member/month (billed monthly) or $14 per member/month (billed annually)
  • Business: $49 per member/month (billed monthly) or $24 per member/month (billed annually)
  • Enterprise: Custom Pricing (requires contacting for a quote)

What Are Others Saying?

Marq Reviews

Overall, users have given Marq a rating of 4.4 out of 5. While many appreciate its ease of use and powerful features, some have found issues with business limitations and file management.

  • "The interface can be confusing and not very intuitive." - John D., 3.5/5
  • "Downloading files sometimes fails, which is frustrating." - Sarah K., 3/5
  • "Limited training resources make it hard to get started." - Alex M., 3.8/5

Find more of Marq reviews on G2!

Canva Reviews

Canva has received an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5. Users appreciate its ease of use and variety of templates but have noted frustrations with the limitations in the free version and occasional slow customer support.

  • "Sometimes customer support is a little slow to respond." - Jasmine M., 3/5
  • "The free version of Canva doesn’t have all the features I sometimes want." - Jayson Mavrick A., 3/5
  • "Some of the 'magic' tools have a little way to go." - Frank C., 3/5

Find more of Canva reviews on G2!

Piktochart Reviews

Our users have given Piktochart an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5. They find the platform incredibly useful for creating professional visuals quickly and easily. Here are some of the sentiments from our customers:

  • "Easy to create content even if you're not a designer." - Jessica D.
  • "My Go-To for ALL Professional Presentations!" - Jennifer K.
  • "Piktochart is a Web-based Magic Graphic Design Tool everyone." - POOJA N.

Find more of our reviews on G2!

Why choose one over the other?

Why Choose Marq Over Canva:

  • Consumers who prioritize brand consistency and need industry-specific solutions might prefer Marq. This platform is ideal for large organizations and marketing departments that require locked templates and approval workflows to maintain brand integrity.

Why Choose Canva Over Marq:

  • Consumers looking for an easy-to-use design tool with a vast library of templates and AI-powered features might prefer Canva. This platform is perfect for entrepreneurs, content creators, and small business owners who need to create professional designs quickly without extensive technical knowledge.

Why Choose Piktochart Over Canva and Marq:

  • Consumers who need specialized tools for creating infographics, presentations, and videos might prefer Piktochart. This platform is well-suited for educators, nonprofits, and marketing professionals who benefit from AI-powered design generators and discounted plans.

Marq, Canva, or Piktochart: Which is the best platform for you?

While Marq and Canva offer robust features for various design needs, we believe Piktochart stands out for its specialized tools and user-friendly experience. Whether you're an educator, nonprofit, or marketing professional, Piktochart's AI-powered design generators and customizable templates make it easy to create stunning visuals. Give Piktochart a try and see how it can transform your content creation process.