Best design tools for bloggers who aren’t designers

You don’t need a design background to make your website and content look professional. You need the right tools and a willingness to learn a small number of principles that apply across almost everything you’ll create – social graphics, blog post images, Pinterest pins, lead magnets, and the occasional logo.

This guide covers the best design tools for bloggers and website owners – what each one is for, what it costs in both the US and UK, and which combination covers everything most people need without overspending or overcomplicating things.

What design tools do you actually need?

Before the comparison, it’s worth being clear about what most bloggers and content creators actually use design tools for. It’s a narrower list than it might seem.

Blog post graphics – featured images, in-post diagrams, quote graphics, and infographics.

Social media images – Instagram posts, Facebook graphics, Twitter/X cards, LinkedIn posts.

Pinterest pins – for sites where Pinterest drives meaningful traffic, this is often the single highest-volume design task.

Lead magnets – ebooks, checklists, worksheets, and other downloadable resources used to grow an email list.

Logos and branding – usually a one-off task rather than ongoing, but important to get right.

Stock photography – sourcing images for blog posts and graphics that don’t require original photography.

Most people don’t need a different specialist tool for each of these. One or two well-chosen tools cover almost everything.

1. Canva – the tool almost everyone should start with

Free plan: Yes – genuinely capable
Paid plan: Canva Pro, USA ~$14/month or ~$134/year, UK ~£10.99/month or ~£104.99/year
Best for: Everything – social graphics, blog images, Pinterest pins, presentations, basic video

Canva is the design tool that has done more to democratise graphic design for non-designers than any other product in the last decade. If you’re choosing one design tool to start with, it should be this one.

What Canva does well:

The drag-and-drop editor requires no design training. Templates exist for almost every format you’ll need – Pinterest pins, Instagram posts, blog headers, presentations, and more – pre-sized correctly for each platform.

The free plan is genuinely usable. Thousands of free templates, a substantial library of free stock photos and graphics, and the core editing tools are all available without paying anything.

What Canva Pro adds:

Background remover – one of the most-used Pro features. Removes the background from any image in one click. Genuinely useful for product photos, headshots, and graphic elements.

Brand Kit – save your brand colours, fonts, and logo so they’re available with one click across every design you create. For maintaining visual consistency across dozens of blog graphics, this saves significant time.

Magic Resize – take any design and instantly resize it for a different platform. Create a Pinterest pin, then resize it to an Instagram post and a blog header in seconds rather than rebuilding from scratch.

Premium templates, photos, and elements – a much larger library than the free plan, including premium stock photography that would otherwise cost money individually.

Content Planner – schedule and publish designs directly to social media platforms from within Canva.

Magic Studio (AI tools) – Canva’s AI features have expanded significantly. Magic Write (AI text generation), Magic Eraser (remove unwanted elements from photos), Magic Expand (extend an image beyond its original borders), and Magic Media (AI image generation) are all included on Pro.

Is Canva Pro worth it?

For anyone creating design content regularly – multiple blog posts per week with featured images, an active Pinterest strategy, or regular social media posting – yes. The background remover and Brand Kit alone save enough time to justify the cost for most active bloggers.

For someone publishing occasionally and not actively building a visual brand, the free plan covers most needs adequately.

Read our full Canva review →

2. Adobe Express – best for Adobe ecosystem users

Free plan: Yes
Paid plan: Adobe Express Premium, USA ~$13/month, UK ~£9.99/month
Best for: Quick designs with access to Adobe’s stock library and fonts

Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark) is Adobe’s answer to Canva – a simplified, template-driven design tool aimed at the same non-designer audience.

What makes it different from Canva:

Adobe Express integrates with Adobe’s broader ecosystem. If you already use Photoshop, Illustrator, or Lightroom, Adobe Express shares fonts, brand assets, and stock photography access across these tools. For someone already invested in Adobe products, this integration is genuinely useful.

Adobe’s stock photography and font libraries are extensive and high quality, and Premium unlocks access to this library within Express.

Where it falls short of Canva:

The template library, while good, is smaller than Canva’s. The community and tutorial ecosystem around Canva is significantly larger, which matters when you’re looking for inspiration or troubleshooting. Canva’s free plan is also more generous in practice.

Who should use Adobe Express instead of Canva:

Primarily, people already using Adobe Creative Cloud products who want their design assets to carry across tools. For everyone else, Canva’s larger template library and more active community make it the stronger default choice.

3. Creative Fabrica – best for unique fonts and graphic assets

Free plan: Limited
Paid plan: Creative Fabrica subscription, USA ~$13/month, UK ~£9.99/month
Best for: Distinctive fonts, SVGs, and graphic elements not found in Canva’s standard library

Creative Fabrica is a marketplace for fonts, graphics, SVGs, and design assets created by independent designers. It’s not a design tool in the same sense as Canva – it’s a resource library that you use alongside whatever editor you’re already working in.

What it’s genuinely good for:

If you’ve noticed that a lot of Canva-made graphics start to look similar – because everyone is using the same default template library – Creative Fabrica is one of the best ways to add distinctiveness. The font library in particular is enormous and includes styles you won’t find in Canva’s standard library.

For anyone building a brand that needs to feel different from every other blog using the same Canva templates, investing in a few distinctive fonts and graphic elements from Creative Fabrica is one of the more effective and affordable ways to achieve that.

The subscription model:

Creative Fabrica operates on a subscription where you get a set number of downloads per month, with the assets yours to keep and use indefinitely (within their licence terms) even if you cancel.

Who should use it:

Anyone whose Canva designs feel generic and wants to invest a small amount in genuinely distinctive visual assets. Particularly useful for sites with a strong brand identity – building a logo, designing a recognisable Pinterest pin style, or creating consistent blog graphics that don’t look like every other Canva-made site.

4. Envato Elements – best for templates, stock, and more

Free plan: No – paid subscription only, occasional free trial
Paid plan: USA ~$19/month, UK ~£14.50/month (annual billing)
Best for: Stock photos, video, fonts, WordPress themes, and design templates in one subscription

Envato Elements is a broader content subscription that includes stock photography, video footage, music, fonts, graphic templates, and – relevant to a website-focused audience – WordPress themes and plugins.

What makes Envato distinctive:

Unlike Canva or Creative Fabrica, which are primarily graphics-focused, Envato Elements bundles in stock video, audio, and WordPress assets alongside design resources. For someone who needs occasional stock video for social content, background music for a podcast intro, plus design templates, the breadth of one subscription covering all of these is genuinely convenient.

Honest assessment:

For most bloggers whose primary need is graphics for blog posts and social media, Canva alone covers more of the day-to-day need at a lower cost. Envato makes more sense for someone with broader content needs spanning video, audio, and web design assets simultaneously.

Free stock photo sites worth knowing

Beyond the design tools themselves, every blogger eventually needs photos for blog posts and graphics. These free resources are worth bookmarking.

Unsplash – the most widely used free stock photo site. High-quality, free for commercial use, no attribution required (though appreciated). The largest and most consistently high-quality free photo library available.

Pexels – similar to Unsplash in quality and licensing. A slightly different photo style and selection, worth checking alongside Unsplash for variety.

Pixabay – broader than just photos – includes illustrations, vectors, and video. Quality is more variable than Unsplash or Pexels but the breadth of free content is useful.

Canva’s built-in library – if you’re using Canva, the free stock photo library built into the editor is extensive enough that you may rarely need to leave the platform to source images.

All four of these integrate directly with Canva, so searching and inserting stock photos without leaving your design is straightforward regardless of which source you prefer.

The recommended setup for most bloggers

Based on what most independent bloggers and content creators actually need, here’s the combination that covers nearly everything without unnecessary cost:

Canva Pro (USA ~$14/month, UK ~£11/month) – your primary design tool for blog graphics, Pinterest pins, social media images, and lead magnets. Covers 90% of what you’ll create.

Creative Fabrica (USA ~$13/month, UK ~£10/month, optional) – add this once your brand is established and you want distinctive fonts and graphics that don’t look like everyone else’s Canva designs. Not essential from day one.

Unsplash and Pexels (free) – your default sources for stock photography, used within Canva or downloaded directly.

Total monthly cost for a fully equipped design toolkit: around $14–$27/month (USA) or £11–£21/month (UK), with the option to start with just Canva’s free plan and add Pro once you’re creating content regularly enough to justify it.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best design tools for bloggers?
Canva is the strongest all-round starting point for almost every blogger, covering blog graphics, Pinterest pins, and social media in one free-to-start tool. Adobe Express suits people already using Adobe products. Creative Fabrica adds distinctive fonts and graphics once your brand is established. Envato Elements suits anyone with broader content needs spanning video and audio too. See the full breakdown above for how each fits different needs.

Do I need to pay for design tools as a new blogger?
No – Canva’s free plan is genuinely capable and covers most needs for a new blog. Upgrade to Canva Pro once you’re creating graphics regularly enough that features like the background remover and Brand Kit start saving meaningful time.

Is Canva or Adobe Express better for beginners?
Canva, for most people. The template library is larger, the community and tutorial resources are more extensive, and the free plan is more generous. Adobe Express is worth considering primarily if you’re already using other Adobe products.

What’s the best free tool for blog post graphics?
Canva’s free plan, combined with Unsplash or Pexels for stock photography. This combination costs nothing and covers blog headers, social graphics, and basic Pinterest pins effectively.

How do I make my Canva designs look less generic?
The most effective single change is using fonts and graphic elements beyond Canva’s default library – Creative Fabrica is a good source for this. Establishing a consistent Brand Kit with specific colours and fonts you use across every design also helps your content feel distinctive rather than templated.

Do I need Photoshop for blog graphics?
No, for the vast majority of blogging and content creation needs. Photoshop is a professional photo editing tool with a steep learning curve, built for tasks far beyond what most bloggers need. Canva covers blog graphics, social media, and basic photo editing without the complexity.