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What is the best AI for designers?
It depends on what you design. For app and web screens, Figma’s AI and Google’s Stitch turn a description into a layout you can edit. For social posts and marketing graphics, Canva builds AI into its templates. For decks, one-pagers and on-brand visuals, Claude Design builds a first version from a prompt, even on Claude’s free plan. For pictures, an image model does the work. Here is what each tool does and what it costs.
Checked October 18, 2026 against each company’s own pricing and product pages
| Job | Tool | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| App and web screens | Figma Make | Turns a prompt into a working prototype or web app, next to your Figma designs | Free plan: 150 AI credits a day, up to 500 a month; Professional full seat from $16 a month with 3,000 credits |
| App and web screens | Google Stitch | Turns a description, sketch or screenshot into app and web screens and front-end code; pastes into Figma | A Google Labs experiment; no price found |
| Decks, one-pagers, mockups | Claude Design | Builds a first version from a prompt using your design system; exports to PDF, PowerPoint or HTML | On every Claude plan, including Free; Pro is $20 a month |
| Social posts, ads and marketing graphics | Canva | Templates plus AI tools that resize designs, translate text and remove backgrounds | Free: up to 20 AI uses; Pro $144 a year; Business $250 a year a person |
| Photo edits and brand imagery | Adobe Firefly | Generative Fill, text to image and video, and models from Adobe, Google and others; Pro adds Photoshop on web and mobile | Standard $9.99 a month; Pro $19.99 |
| Image edits inside Figma | Figma AI | Removes backgrounds, expands images and isolates objects; renames layers and adds interactions | Part of Figma’s AI features; every plan includes AI credits |
| Pictures and concept art | Image models | Make or edit images from a prompt | Free in Gemini, ChatGPT and Bing; Midjourney from $10 a month; see best AI image generators |
Figma: AI where you already design
If your work lives in Figma, its own AI is the shortest path. Figma sells AI as credits on every plan. The free Starter plan gets 150 AI credits a day, up to 500 a month. A Professional full seat costs from $16 a month with 3,000 credits; Organization ($55) and Enterprise ($90) full seats, billed yearly, get 3,500 and 4,250. Dev and Collab seats get 500, and you can buy more credits for the whole team.
Figma’s AI features include Figma Make, which builds a working prototype or web app from a prompt, AI image editing such as background removal, and productivity tools that rename layers or add interactions for you.
Canva: marketing graphics with AI built in
Canva’s free plan already includes its drag-and-drop editor, more than 1.6 million templates and up to 20 Standard or Premium AI uses. Pro, at $144 a year for one person, adds AI tools that resize, translate and remove backgrounds, 10 times the free plan’s AI, premium templates and five Brand Kits. Business, at $250 a year per person, adds team tools, 100 Brand Kits and 20 times the free AI. Canva says K-12 schools and non-profits can use most premium features for free.
Adobe Firefly: AI with Adobe’s apps
Adobe Firefly makes and edits images, video and audio, and runs models from Adobe, Google and others. Firefly Standard ($9.99 a month) gives 2,000 generative credits and unlimited standard image features such as Generative Fill. Firefly Pro ($19.99) doubles the credits and adds Adobe Express Premium and full Photoshop on web and mobile, plus, for the first year, unlimited generations on select models such as Nano Banana 2 and FLUX.2 Pro. Pro Plus is $49.99 and Premium $199.99. Standard, Pro and Pro Plus have a free trial.
Claude Design: on-brand visuals from a prompt
Claude Design builds a first version of a visual from a description, then lets you refine it: comment on any element, edit text directly or drag, resize and align. It can import your design system from GitHub, design files or code, so the result follows your brand. You can export to PDF, PowerPoint or HTML, or send work on to Canva, Adobe Express and other tools.
It’s included on every Claude plan, from Free to Max, and on Team and Enterprise seats. Usage counts against your plan’s limits, so heavy use is easier on Pro ($20 a month) or above.
Google Stitch: screens and code from an idea
Stitch is an experiment from Google Labs that generates screens for mobile and web apps. When Google introduced it, it took a written description or an image (a whiteboard sketch, a screenshot or a wireframe), made several variants and exported front-end code or pasted the design into Figma. We found no price listed for it.
What designers say
Claude Design’s launch in April 2026 drew more than 750 comments on Hacker News.
- Speed. Many liked how fast it makes several variations of a design, even for experienced designers.
- Sameness. Designers worried that AI pulls every product toward the same safe look, and that original work still needs a person.
- Code. Some found the exported code hard to maintain, useful for a prototype more than a product.
- Keep copies. One user lost access to projects after cancelling a subscription. Export anything you want to keep.
Which to pick
- You design apps or websites in Figma: start with Figma’s AI credits, which come with every plan.
- You make social posts, ads and marketing graphics: Canva, starting with its free plan.
- You edit photos and want Adobe’s tools: Adobe Firefly Pro, $19.99 a month with Photoshop on web and mobile.
- You need decks, one-pagers or mockups fast, on brand: try Claude Design on a free Claude account first.
- You want screens and code from a sketch: try Google Stitch.
- You need pictures: start with the free image tools in Gemini, ChatGPT or Bing.
Questions
Is there a ChatGPT for design?
Several. Claude Design and Figma Make turn a description into a design you can edit, and Google Stitch does the same for app screens. Canva adds AI to its templates, and ChatGPT and Gemini make images and mockups from a prompt.
Is Claude Design free?
It’s included on Claude’s free plan, within its usage limits. Paid plans start at $20 a month for Pro.
Does Figma have AI?
Yes. Every Figma plan includes AI credits: 150 a day (up to 500 a month) on the free plan and 3,000 a month on a Professional full seat. Its AI features include Figma Make, AI image edits and productivity tools.
Will AI replace designers?
These tools make first drafts and variations faster. The judgment about what is original, usable and on brand still comes from a designer, which is the main point designers made about Claude Design.
Sources
- Figma pricing (plans, seats, AI credits, AI features)
- Canva plans and pricing and Adobe Firefly plans
- Claude Design and Claude plans
- Google Stitch and Google’s introduction of Stitch (May 2025)
- Hacker News discussions, linked above