Hustler Words – Design powerhouse Canva concluded 2025 with an extraordinary financial performance, reporting an impressive $4 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR). This remarkable achievement, coupled with a 20% surge in monthly active users, underscores the company’s successful pivot towards integrating advanced artificial intelligence tools, which have significantly bolstered its growth trajectory.
According to figures released by the creative platform, its user base swelled to over 265 million monthly active users, with more than 31 million opting for paid subscriptions by the close of 2025. Cliff Obrecht, Canva’s co-founder and COO, shared these insights during an exclusive interview with Hustler Words on the sidelines of Web Summit Qatar. He further highlighted the robust expansion of Canva’s business-to-business (B2B) segment, catering to organizations with 25 or more seats, which witnessed a staggering 100% growth, contributing $500 million to the overall ARR.
While North America remains the primary revenue driver, Canva is strategically expanding its global footprint. To accelerate the conversion of free users to paying subscribers in emerging markets, the company has rolled out attractively priced subscription tiers in countries such as Pakistan, Uruguay, Morocco, and Jamaica, indicating a tailored approach to international market penetration.
Related Post
Obrecht emphasized that Canva’s substantial investments in AI are yielding significant dividends. The introduction of an AI-powered tool last year, enabling users to effortlessly create mini-applications and websites, has already amassed over 10 million monthly active users. This success is prompting a fundamental shift in Canva’s operational philosophy. "We’re inverting that now," Obrecht stated, explaining the evolution from a design platform augmented by AI tools to an "AI platform with a bunch of design tools," envisioning Canva as a "design agency in your pocket" or a "cursor for design."
This strategic reorientation comes amidst an increasingly competitive landscape, with formidable rivals like Adobe, Freepik, and Apple intensifying their efforts in the creative suite market. Apple, for instance, has bundled its professional applications like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro into a "Creator Studio" subscription, aiming to offer a comprehensive solution. Canva’s AI-centric approach is designed to carve out a distinct niche and maintain its competitive edge.
A significant contributor to Canva’s recent growth has been its proactive integration with large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Claude. By October 2025, users had engaged in over 26 million conversations with the Canva application directly within ChatGPT. Furthermore, Canva proudly reported being among the top 10 referred domains originating from ChatGPT, signaling the immense potential of LLMs as a powerful top-of-funnel acquisition channel.
Obrecht revealed that the company is dedicating substantial resources to optimize Canva’s visibility within LLM search results and enhance its traditional search engine optimization (SEO). Drawing parallels to its early success driven by Google search intent, he views LLMs as the next frontier for user acquisition. He noted that while conventional search remains a crucial factor, traffic channeled through LLM referrals is already registering in double-digit percentages, underscoring the strategic importance of this emerging avenue.
Canva, last valued at an impressive $42 billion in a share sell, is also gearing up for a significant future milestone. Obrecht indicated to Bloomberg last November that the company anticipates going public within the "next couple of years," setting the stage for one of the most anticipated IPOs in the technology sector.
Leave a Comment