I wasn’t looking for a fight today. I just logged into Canva.
And Canva, bless its purple little heart, decided to pick one anyway.
Screen 1: Come on in, it’s free!
Right there on my team page, plain as day:
There’s room for 4 more people Invite them with no additional charges, or pay to grow your team beyond 5 people.
No additional charges. No. Additional. Charges.
Not “free-ish.” Not “free* (terms apply, soul sold separately).” No additional charges.
Cool. Great. That’s actually useful. I have people I work with. Four free seats sounds like a genuinely nice feature.
Here’s the page:
Let me zoom in, just so we’re all reading the same words:
See it? Good. Remember it. We’re going to need it in about ten seconds.
Screen 2: Psych!
So I do the obvious, trusting, totally reasonable thing. I click the + next to “Invite people.”
And up pops this beauty:
Read that first line again, slowly:
Once people join your team, you’ll be switched to Canva Business
Switched. To Canva Business. As in, a different, paid plan. As in, my plan would change, resulting in additional charges.
Wait. What?
One screen ago it was “no additional charges.” Now it’s “congratulations, you’re being switched to Business.”
Canva. Buddy. Pal. Which is it?
Because those two things cannot both be true at the same time, in the same universe, on the same account, on the same Saturday afternoon.
Pick a lane
This is the part that drives me nuts. It’s not even a complicated feature. It’s not a weird edge case. It’s not a footnote buried in paragraph 47 of the terms of service.
It’s the very next click.
Screen 1: FREE! Screen 2: ACTUALLY, THAT’LL COST YOU.
If inviting people is free up to 5, then say that — and don’t tell me I’m being switched to a paid Business plan to do it.
If inviting people switches me to Business and Business costs money, then say that — on Screen 1, in big letters, before I get excited about your generous “free” seats.
You don’t get to have it both ways. You don’t get to lure me in with “no additional charges” and then, once I’ve clicked, casually mention the plan change like it’s a minor detail. Like, “Oh, by the way, we’re also changing what you’re paying for. No biggie. You already clicked.”
That’s not a feature. That’s a funnel.
This isn’t just Canva
And look, I know Canva isn’t the only company doing this. This is the whole subscription economy now:
- Put the friendly, free-sounding promise front and center.
- Put the actual cost one click away, in smaller text, behind a modal, after you’ve already committed mentally to the thing.
- Hope nobody screenshots both screens side-by-side.
- Profit.
It’s the same playbook everywhere — “free trial” that needs a card, “cancel anytime” that takes a 20-minute phone call, “no extra cost” that somehow costs extra wether that cost is money or time.
We’re all just supposed to be too tired, too busy, or too resigned to notice. Click through, accept the upgrade, pay the bill, move on.
Nope. Not today.
So, is it bait and switch?
I’m not a lawyer. I’m a guy with screenshots and a blog.
But let’s play a little game. If a company shows you one price — “no additional charges” — to get you to click, and then shows you a different price — a plan change to a paid Business tier — once you do click…
What would you call that?
Some people would call that bait and switch. Some would call it misleading. Some would call it a dark pattern. Some would call it “just how SaaS works now,” which honestly might be the most damning description of all.
I call it insulting. Because it assumes I’m not going to read Screen 2. Or that I’ll read it, shrug, and pay anyway. Or that I won’t notice the contradiction because the purple is so pretty.
Canva, do you think I am stupid?
Do you think I can’t read? Do you think “no additional charges” and “you’ll be switched to Canva Business” mean the same thing? Because they don’t. They have never meant the same thing. They will never mean the same thing.
The fix is embarrassingly simple
You want my trust back? It’s a one-line fix.
On Screen 1, tell the truth:
“Inviting people will switch you to Canva Business at $X per month.”
Done. That’s it. No rant needed. No blog post needed. No screenshots needed.
But until then, I’m keeping the screenshots. And I’m keeping this post up.
Because if a company will contradict itself in two consecutive clicks, on its own website, in its own product, what else is it hoping I won’t notice?
Screenshots are sanitized — names, emails, and team name redacted. The words are Canva’s, verbatim. The contradiction is theirs too.