🔍 Canva’s “Price Drop” Trick (That Raises Revenue)

🎯 Canva’s Pricing Move Is a Masterclass in Framing

Author

Henry Berry
July 08, 2025

I just spent 20+ hours analysing Canva's latest pricing strategy shift, and noticed one little detail that was super smart.

While every other SaaS company has been raising prices over the last 2 years (first due to macro headwinds, then because of skyrocketing AI inference costs), Canva just did the opposite.

Before showing you what they changed...

Q: How could Canva increase revenue/lifetime value from businesses whilst not burning goodwill by raising prices?

Here's their current setup:

  • Teams Plan: $120/year per person

  • Minimum seats: 2 people

Take a minute to think. How would you solve this?

Got it? Scroll down...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While every other SaaS company has been raising prices over the last 2 years, Canva needed to find a way to increase revenue from business teams without the typical price hike backlash.

They're currently letting high-value team accounts in the door for just $240/year total.

Q: So how did Canva actually solve this puzzle?

Think about it before scrolling...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's what Canva actually did:

New Structure:

  • Teams plan: $100/year per person (-20% per user)

  • Minimum seats: 3 people (up from 2)

  • Minimum LTV: $300 (+25% total!)

     

    This works because customers anchor on per-unit pricing, not total cost.

When Canva says "We're reducing Teams pricing from $120 to $100 per person," customers see a 20% discount. The minimum seat increase from 2 to 3 feels like a minor detail, not a price increase.

Compare this to saying "We're raising Teams pricing from $240 to $300 per account." Same economics, completely different perception.

Overall Outcome

Canva is reducing the per-unit price but optimising for several other objectives:

  • 🧲 Retention Mechanics: Teams with 3+ members have exponentially higher switching costs and workflow integration.

  • 📈 Expansion Revenue: Once you have 3 seats, adding the 4th, 5th, and 6th becomes much easier.

  • ⚔️ Competitive Positioning: While competitors raise prices, Canva gets to genuinely claim they're offering better value per user.