Canva counts more monthly web visits than popular artificial intelligence tools like Deepseek, Grok, and Claude, even as new AI agents and image-generating models challenge the graphic design platform.
New analysis from prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) shows Australian-born Canva is only behind ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in terms of unique monthly users for generative AI web tools.
On that list, it also ranks ahead of popular tools like Perplexity, Notion, Grammarly, and Lovable, all of which build generative AI tools or platforms reliant on the technology.
Canva also ranks fourth for unique monthly visitors to generative AI apps, behind ChatGPT, video editing tool Capcut, and Gemini.
It was Canva’s first appearance on those lists.
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A16Z partner Olivia Moore said the firm has adjusted its eligibility criteria to “include any consumer product where generative AI has become a core part of the experience”.
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“The result is what we believe is a more accurate picture of how people actually use AI, though the bulk of the top products continue to be AI-native,” she continued.
Moore said Canva earned its high billing due to its Magic Studio platform, which offers AI tools capable of generating creative assets, marketing materials, and websites.
Co-founder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht celebrated the ranking on LinkedIn, saying Canva is “just getting started” and is planning “foundational improvements” in the month ahead.
That spark of optimism comes at a pivotal moment for Canva.
After years of speculation regarding the unicorn business’ potential IPO, the rise of AI agents and ‘vibe coding’ tools is threatening software-as-a-service business valuations.
Broadly, investors are spooked that custom-built AI tools could threaten SaaS businesses like Canva, which charge enterprise clients through per-seat subscriptions.
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A16Z also suggests many users are now ‘bundling’ their AI use — in other words, asking generalist AI tools to generate an image instead of paying for a separate image generation solution.
“As the native image models within ChatGPT (GPT Image 1.5) and Gemini (nano banana) improved, the bar for standalone image products rose sharply,” said Moore.
As those pressures mount, Canva itself is reworking one of its prized generative AI assets.
Obrecht recently flagged a restructure of Leonardo.ai, the image generation startup it acquired in 2024 in a deal valued as high as $370 million.
But a Canva spokesperson told SmartCompany‘s sibling publication Startup Daily that it was not exploring redundancies as part of the Leonardo.ai restructure.
Canva’s appearance on the new Andreesen Horowitz list is not the first time an Australian AI business has landed on its global AI startup rankings.
In October, the venture capital firm produced a list detailing where startup spending on AI tools actually goes.
It found Sydney-based Lorikeet, which builds AI-enabled customer support tools, ranked in eighth place for startup spend — well ahead of Canva in 17th place.
