Canva vs Microsoft: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Canva reported $3.5B of revenue in FY2025 and — of net income. Microsoft reported $331.8B of revenue in FY2026 and $133.7B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Canva
As a privately held 'decacorn' (valued at US$42 billion in its August 2025 employee share sale, before 2026 investor markdowns), Canva has been profitable for years, which is unusual for a venture-backed company of its size; it was reported in August 2026 as profitable for nine straight years. Revenue reached US$3.5 billion in 2025 and ARR about US$4 billion by year end, mostly from recurring subscriptions acquired through its free tier rather than paid marketing. In the June 2026 quarter revenue rose 25.2% to US$921.9 million and cash stood at US$1.47 billion, but rising AI serving costs led Canva to cut its 2026 growth forecast to about 20%. Canva does not publish net income or audited accounts, and it has not set an IPO date.
Microsoft
Microsoft's FY2026 revenue rose 17.8% to $331.8 billion, operating income rose 21% to $155.2 billion, and GAAP net income rose 31% to $133.7 billion. Fourth-quarter revenue was $90.0 billion (up 18%) with net income of $35.8 billion, helped by a $3.2 billion gain on its Anthropic investment. Microsoft Cloud revenue reached $59.3 billion in Q4, up 27%. The main pressure point is capital intensity: AI data center spending has pushed free cash flow growth well below earnings growth.
Revenue and profit by year
Canva
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $3.5B | — | 0.0% | +40.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $2.5B | — | 0.0% | +25.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $2B | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Microsoft
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $331.8B | $133.7B | 40.3% | +17.8% | Source |
| FY2025 | $281.7B | $101.8B | 36.1% | +14.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | $245.1B | $88.1B | 36.0% | +15.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $211.9B | $72.4B | 34.1% | +6.9% | Source |
| FY2022 | $198.3B | $72.7B | 36.7% | +18.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $168.1B | $61.3B | 36.5% | +17.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | $143B | $44.3B | 31.0% | +13.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $125.8B | $39.2B | 31.2% | +14.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $110.4B | $16.6B | 15.0% | +14.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $96.6B | $25.5B | 26.4% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Canva
- Canva Pro Individual Subscriptions
Not disclosed
Monthly and annual recurring subscription fees from millions of individual creators, freelancers, and small business owners. Canva does not publish a revenue split; it reported more than 31 million paid users in 2025.
- Canva for Teams & Canva Enterprise Licenses
Not disclosed
Seat-based enterprise contracts providing corporate brand management, administrative security, and cross-functional team collaboration. Canva says 95% of the Fortune 500 use Canva.
- Affinity Professional Creative Software
Not disclosed
Canva relaunched Affinity in 2025 as a single studio-grade app for vector, photo and layout work and made it free for everyone, so Affinity no longer sells perpetual licenses; its revenue contribution is not disclosed.
- Canva Print On-Demand Physical Merchandise
Not disclosed
Transaction margins on customized printed merchandise, business cards, flyers, and apparel delivered worldwide.
Microsoft
- Productivity And Business ProcessesMajor
Office, Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Dynamics, and related cloud services.
- Intelligent CloudMajor
Azure, server products, enterprise services, and cloud infrastructure.
- More Personal ComputingMajor
Windows, devices, gaming, search, and advertising.
- AI Services And CopilotsGrowth
AI features and model-powered services embedded across Azure, Microsoft 365, GitHub, security, and developer tools.
Business model and strategy
Canva
How it makes money
Canva makes money through a freemium subscription model. The core editor and a large template library are free, which pulls in more than 260 million monthly users (2025). Revenue comes from the roughly 31 million of them who pay for Canva Pro, Canva Business, Canva for Teams or Canva Enterprise to unlock premium content, brand kits, Canva AI features and team controls.
Growth strategy
Having conquered the individual consumer and small business market, Canva's large growth strategy is aggressively aimed directly at Adobe and Microsoft in the enterprise sector. They are heavily rolling out 'Canva for Enterprise', a large suite of collaboration tools designed for entire marketing departments at Fortune 500 companies.
Competitive advantage
Canva's edge is ease of use at scale. A beginner can open a template and publish a social post or slide deck in minutes, without the training that Adobe's professional tools assume. A creator marketplace keeps adding templates, and a free tier used by more than 260 million people a month (2025) gives Canva low-cost distribution that newer design apps struggle to match.
Microsoft
How it makes money
Microsoft reports three segments. Intelligent Cloud covers Azure, SQL Server, Windows Server, GitHub, Nuance, and enterprise services; server products and cloud services alone brought in $129.4 billion in FY2026, and Azure passed $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time.
Growth strategy
Microsoft's growth plan centers on AI capacity and AI subscriptions. It is spending heavily on data centers and chips to meet Azure demand that management says remains capacity constrained, and it is selling Microsoft 365 Copilot as a paid add-on, which passed 30 million paid seats by the end of FY2026.
Competitive advantage
Microsoft's main advantage is distribution inside enterprises. Identity (Entra), email and documents (Microsoft 365), collaboration (Teams), developer tools (GitHub, Visual Studio), and cloud infrastructure (Azure) are often bought together, which raises switching costs and lets Microsoft attach new products such as Copilot to existing contracts.
Questions about Canva vs Microsoft
Which company has higher revenue — Canva Pty Ltd or Microsoft Corporation?
Canva Pty Ltd reported $3.5B (FY2025), while Microsoft Corporation reported $331.8B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Microsoft Corporation is the larger business, with Canva Pty Ltd reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Canva Pty Ltd vs Microsoft Corporation?
Microsoft Corporation has a market capitalisation of $3.83T. A public market cap figure for Canva Pty Ltd was not available (it may be privately held).
Which is more financially efficient — Canva Pty Ltd or Microsoft Corporation?
Canva Pty Ltd generates $660k / employee in revenue per employee, while Microsoft Corporation generates $1.49M / employee. Microsoft Corporation shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Canva Pty Ltd and Microsoft Corporation make money?
Canva Pty Ltd and Microsoft Corporation generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Canva Pty Ltd: Canva makes money through a freemium subscription model. Microsoft Corporation: Microsoft reports three segments.
Is Canva Pty Ltd bigger than Microsoft Corporation?
By last reported revenue, Microsoft Corporation ($331.8B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Canva Pty Ltd ($3.5B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Canva vs Microsoft overview