Wix is one of the best free website builders available, alongside WordPress. And the former has launched their own digital design platform driven by the tech which is everywhere now… AI. While the company has set itself apart in the industry of website development, does Wixel AI have what it takes to make a name for itself in the highly competitive design platform industry, which is primarily dominated by Canva, Adobe’s Figma, and Fotor?
Being a user of Canva for years, I took on the role of using the newly launched Wixel AI site to create some visual graphics, and this is what I found out when I compared it to my long and trusty visual creative companion, Canva! From the features that Wix’s latest launch contains to the things it can most certainly work on, here’s a guide to it all.
What is Wixel?
Wixel is a design platform launched by the people behind Wix. While the latter is used for website development, the former aims to utilize AI as much as possible in creating visual content, including social media content creation and presentations. It offers free tools to generate and edit content, generate AI images, customize images with background removals, and extend images.
Avishai Abrahami, the Co-Founder and CEO of Wix thoughts on the newly introduced platform:
“AI is the foundation of Wixel. Design is in our DNA, and simplifying complex experiences is what we do best… This version is just the beginning, and I am excited to explore the limitless creative possibilities that Wixel will unlock as we continue to innovate and refine our platform.”
What Is Canva?
Canva, the most popular online design tool that’s known for its thousands of templates, fonts, elements, and media library. Because it supports the integration of so many different apps inside it, people can easily make social media posts, presentations, infographics, logos, videos, and more.
Canva is just as useful for collaborations as it is for single users, making it a top choice for multi-use platforms. With AI tools such as Canva AI text to prompt, Magic Eraser, Magic Write, and Magic Resize, Canva has also started to integrate the aforementioned tech into its platform.
The Difference Between The Two Design Platforms:
1. AI Image Generation
The main feature Wixel Wix is selling to its users is its text-to-image AI generator, which allows you to update the output with modifications as well. Both Canva and Wixel offer different styles, such as Cartoon, 3D, watercolor, and more designs to base the image on.
In comparison, Canva currently has 25 styles in its Magic Image (with the option of reference media only to pro users), while Wixel has 26 images but even more features, such as camera angles, shot types, etc.
2. Editing Tools
Wixel comes with a suite of free intelligent tools (again, 10 credits for a day) which can be used for a variety of things, including as an Object/People Eraser from images, as it fills the space with similar surroundings. b) Image Extender, through which we can use AI to fill in a space with the chosen image, and c) a Background Remover and Replacement.
Canva also has filters and a nice variety of effects, but AI image manipulation is not in the cards right now. It also has a quick Background Remover but not a replacer, which can only be used by Pro subscribers.
3. Project Canvas Board
The first thing I noticed as a traditional Canva desktop user was how different the Wixel by Wix layer panel is from the former. It has a full-featured layer panel arranged horizontally, while Layer ordering is in a vertical position in Canva. Though it may take some time to adjust to it, I actually prefer Wix’s; it’s easier to look at the designs and organize.
4. The Prize
Both the platforms follow the “Freemium” type of subscription service, i.e., the users would be able to use a limited number of elements of the platforms. Be a part of a paid subscription if you want to access all the features, though.
For Wixel Wix, the rates are $79 per year. For for Canva, whose pricing plans have remained the same for the past couple of years, it’s $120 a year for a normal subscription with different pricing options for businesses, students, and enterprises.
5. Export Formats
Wixel supports export formats of JPG, PNG, PDF, SVG, and WEBP which you can choose according to your desired outputs for different platforms. Canva offers many export options too but not WEBP and SVG is only available for Pro users.
6. AI Credit System
The credit-based system between the two design platforms is something very different. While Canva gives 50 free credits for a lifetime to users, Wixel continually adds credits daily to the user’s account. Because of the daily 10 AI credits to be used in image generation on Wixel AI, it is encouraging more user engagement on the platform.
Both platforms offer to purchase more with a Pro subscription; Canva provides 500 images and 50 video creations. Eixel, on the other hand, provides dash credits for AI generation.
7. Integration With Other Ecosystems
Canva offers way more addition of third-party apps since Wixel’s designs don’t offer deep native integration as of right now.
Lastly, while I’ve not made a full-fledged point on it, it’s important to remember that Canva is also a Sheets and Docs provider aside from a graphic creation platform, making it a tool for literally everything you use for a business. Since Wixel doesn’t claim to be a multitool, only a graphic creation software, there shouldn’t be a comparison between the two based on this particular aspect.
Wixel Features To Be Worked On:
Quality of AI Images
As the World is getting obsessed with AI, the services are including and building more and more platforms to seek engagement. AI images, in particular, are a thing that we cannot escape in 2025, and that’s definitely the thing that the Wixel Website has focused on.
There are thousands of AI images to choose from, apart from the option of generating the images ourselves, and I guess for people who don’t find the desired images on popular royalty-free image platforms such as Unsplash and Pixabay, this can be seen as a useful alternative.
Personally, I think the images can be enhanced; for example, this sunflower image I see in the premium version is… just not right. Apart from the usual AI hands, even the disk florets look weird…
Doesn’t Work On Mobile
I can get that Wixel may not have the funds to invest in a dedicated app to be launched into the market. But the user can’t even work on their designs through a web-based platform on Wixel AI on their phones. That’s just a big inconvenience that you need to have a desktop to create something.
Template Collection
Not going to get in-depth for this point, the Template collection needs to be more vast and stunning for the Wixel app in comparison to Canva.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard to beat anyone who’s been in the industry for a long time; the same applies to Wixel. Canva has created a stellar, user-friendly platform, and Wixel has also made an easy-to-use navigation design, but is it enough to beat Canva? Currently, as Wixel AI is… I don’t think so.
Is it a game-changer in the ever-evolving world of design tools? Yes, it’s user-friendly, has free background removals, and has an AI image generator (not the best), but as the CEO himself states, this version is just a start, and I agree with it. While we can create social media graphics and presentations, it needs something more to revolutionize it; indeed, it feels like a new contender.
If we can get a Wixel app that’s just easy to navigate, it would be amazing to actually stand on par with their aim, creating a purposeful design tool for people without professional design abilities. Because that is the USP of Canva.
All the views written in this Wixel vs. Canva platform are all my own, based on each platform’s latest versions as of June 2025