A Canva template is a design someone else can open in their own Canva account and make their own, such as a set of Instagram posts, a wedding invitation or a pitch deck. People buy them to save time getting the layout, fonts and spacing right.
For the person selling it, some questions are the same as for any digital product you sell online, such as where to list it, how buyers get their copy and how much of each sale you keep. Canva also has its own rules on what you can sell, and if your template uses Canva's Pro elements, those rules decide how you can deliver it.
This guide compares Canva's own Template Creator program with Etsy, marketplaces such as Gumroad and Payhip and your own checkout, including what Canva allows, how buyers get their template and the costs of each option.
Quick answer: Canva allows you to sell templates you design, as long as each one is an original design. You'd usually share each design as a Canva template link, which needs Canva Pro or another premium Canva plan to create. If the design uses Pro elements, Canva only allows you to sell it as a template link, not as a PDF or other file. You can sell the link on Etsy, on a marketplace such as Gumroad or Payhip, or from your own checkout with a tool like Checkout Page. Canva's Template Creator program pays royalties instead of a price per sale.
Where to sell Canva templates
You can sell a Canva template through Canva's Template Creator program, on Etsy, on a marketplace such as Gumroad or Payhip, or from your own checkout. The best place depends on whether you already have buyers, how much of each sale you want to keep and how much tax you want to handle yourself.
- Canva's Template Creator program: part of Canva Creators, it lets you sell templates on Canva itself. Canva makes Creator templates available to its users and pays you royalties from a shared pool, based on how often people download, print or present designs made from your templates. There's no price per sale. You apply with a portfolio, the program is in beta, and Canva says a reply can take a couple of months.
- Etsy: has its own shoppers, so buyers can find your listing there. You list a one-page PDF that contains the template link, and Etsy charges a listing fee and a fee on each sale.
- Gumroad and Payhip: give you a product page and deliver the file after payment, for a percentage of each sale. Gumroad Discover, Gumroad's marketplace, can bring in some buyers. Otherwise, you bring people to your page yourself.
Alternatively, you can sell from your own checkout page and share it in your newsletter, on your website or through the link in your social media bio. You set your prices and bundles, and you keep the buyer's email address.
With Checkout Page, the PDF holding your template link goes to the buyer automatically after payment, and the money goes directly into your own Stripe account.
What Canva allows you to sell
Canva's help center says you can sell templates "under certain conditions". Each one needs to be "an original design", and you "can't sell any Canva content on a standalone basis".
The elements you use decide how you can deliver the template:
- Templates that use Pro elements (the ones marked with a crown in Canva) can only be sold as Canva template links. In Canva's words, you "can't sell templates with Pro Content as a PDF or other file types, whether flattened or not."
- Templates that use only free elements and your own photos can be sold as a template link or as a PDF.
A buyer on Canva's free plan can still open and edit a template that contains Pro elements. In our test, the Pro element appeared with a watermark in the editor. When the buyer tried to download, Canva offered a Pro trial, a one-time fee for the element or a watermarked draft.
If your buyers are likely to use the free plan, it's worth choosing free elements or noting on your product page that the template includes Pro elements. That way, buyers know what to expect before paying.
How to sell Canva templates on Etsy
On Etsy, a digital listing is a file the buyer downloads, so sellers usually upload a one-page PDF that contains the template link and a few lines of instructions. After paying, buyers download the PDF from Etsy and click the link to copy the template into their own Canva accounts.
Etsy charges $0.20 to list each item and 6.5% of the sale price when it sells. It may also charge a one-time fee to open a shop, which it shows you during setup.
Payment processing through Etsy Payments is added on top and depends on where your bank account is. Our breakdown of Etsy fees covers the US rate and the other charges, including Offsite Ads.
How tax works when you sell Canva templates
For digital products such as templates, EU and UK VAT is generally due at the rate of the country where the buyer lives, and in the US, whether sales tax applies depends on the state. Some platforms calculate, collect and pay this tax for you. With others, you're responsible for registering, collecting, reporting and paying it.
A merchant of record is the business that sells to the buyer and takes on those tax duties. Here's who handles it on each route:
- Etsy: collects and pays VAT on digital items for buyers in the EU, the UK and a list of other countries, and US sales tax in the states where it's registered.
- Gumroad: acts as the merchant of record for sales made through its platform.
- Payhip: takes responsibility for EU and UK VAT on digital products, and collects and pays US sales tax as a marketplace facilitator. In Canada it handles GST/HST and PST, but you still deal with Quebec's QST yourself.
If you sell through your own checkout, you generally remain responsible for your tax obligations as the seller. Checkout Page can calculate and add tax at checkout through Stripe Tax, but you're still responsible for registering, filing returns and paying the tax due where required.
Here's how the routes compare on one $19 sale, such as a pack of Instagram post templates.
Route | You keep on $19 | Who brings buyers | Tax on the sale | How buyers get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Canva Template Creator program | Royalties, no sale price | Canva | Not applicable (royalties) | Inside Canva |
Etsy | About $16.75, before any shop fee | Etsy's shoppers, and you | Etsy | PDF with the link |
Gumroad, direct sale | $15.75 | You, plus Gumroad Discover | Gumroad, merchant of record | PDF or link |
Payhip, free plan | $17.20 | You | Payhip (EU, UK, US, most of Canada) | PDF or link |
Checkout Page | $18.15 | You | Yours; Stripe Tax can add it | PDF with the link |
One US card sale at $19, before any monthly plan, Canva subscription, refunds or tax. Fees checked on each platform's own pages on 28 October 2026, Payhip on 27 October. Gumroad, Payhip and Checkout Page include card processing of 2.9% + 30¢.
If you're starting out without an audience, Etsy can help buyers find your templates, though it doesn't guarantee sales. If you already reach people through Instagram, Pinterest or a newsletter, you can sell directly to them through your own checkout and keep their email addresses. Some sellers do both.
Our comparison of the best platforms to sell digital products has the longer list.
How to sell Canva templates from your own checkout
The steps below use Checkout Page, but the process is much the same with other checkout tools. You prepare the template and its link, create a checkout page, set the price, add the delivery, run a test payment and share the checkout.
Step 1: prepare the template and create the template link
Once you've made the Canva templates you want to sell, make a copy of your working design and replace your own text and photos with placeholders, so buyers start from a clean layout.
Then open Share in Canva, choose Template link (under See all if you don't see it) and select Create template link. Canva's help center says template links are available on Canva Pro, Canva Teams, Canva Enterprise, Canva for Education and Canva for Nonprofits.
Use Template link rather than Copy link. Both give you a canva.link address, but Copy link shares your own design rather than a copy of it, and depending on the access level you set, it could let someone edit your original.
Create the link from a Canva account named for your business. When a buyer opens the link, Canva shows "A template created by" followed by the account's name.
Step 2: create a checkout page
In your Checkout Page dashboard, create a new checkout page for the template. Give it the template's name and a description that says who it's for, what's included, the sizes (for example, 1080 × 1350 px Instagram posts) and that buyers need a Canva account to use it.
Buyers can't open the template before paying, so add preview images, such as a few finished designs made from the template or a mockup showing it on a phone. If the template uses Pro elements, say so on the page.
Step 3: set the price
Set a one-time price for the template. If you have several templates for the same buyers, you can offer a single template and the full pack as two options on the same page, so the buyer chooses without leaving it.
Step 4: add the delivery
A template link is a web address rather than a file. Putting it in a one-page PDF means buyers can find it again later, so make a PDF in Canva with the template link, a line on how to use it and your terms of use. Then go to Product → File downloads and upload the PDF.
With Checkout Page, buyers get the PDF on the confirmation screen, by email and in the customer portal, where they can download it again later. Add the template link and a line of instructions to the confirmation message and the confirmation email as well, so buyers can see it straight away without opening the PDF.
Step 5: run a test payment
Switch the page to test mode and buy the template with a test card. Open the PDF and click the template link in a private browser window. It should open a Canva page with a View template button; if it opens the Canva editor instead, the PDF has a Copy link rather than a template link.
If you can, open the link with a free Canva account as well, so you see what a buyer on the free plan sees. Once everything works, switch test mode off so the page takes real payments.
Step 6: share the checkout
Publish the page and share the link wherever your buyers already are. For example:
- The Instagram or Pinterest post where you show the finished designs
- Your website, with the checkout embedded or opened from a button
- The link in your social media bio
- An email to people who have bought from you before
A short screen recording of the template being edited can help show buyers what they're getting.
Start selling Canva templates for freeHow much to charge for Canva templates
We couldn't find a sourced average price for Canva templates. Looking at five or six comparable templates on Etsy and noting the prices for single designs and packs can help you gauge what buyers expect to pay.
Whatever you charge, fees take a different share on each route. On a $12 single template, you'd keep about $11.35 from your own checkout and about $10.41 on Etsy.
A single template is the simplest option. At low prices, the fixed part of the card fee takes a larger share. On a $5 template, Stripe's fixed 30 cents is 6% of the sale on its own.
A pack of related templates, such as a month of Instagram posts in one style, gives buyers a set they can use together and earns you more per order.
A bundle across uses, such as social posts, a media kit and a price list in the same style, suits buyers who want everything to match. You can offer it as an option next to the pack.
Pay what you want with a minimum can be worth trying at launch to see what people are willing to pay, and you can switch to a fixed price later.
How buyers get their Canva template
After paying, buyers open the PDF and click the template link. Canva shows a page with a preview of the template and a View template button, then asks them to sign in. When they choose Open in Editor, Canva puts a separate copy in their own account, named "Copy of" followed by your design's name.
Buyers need a Canva account to use the template, and a free account is enough to open and edit it. If the template has Pro elements, a buyer on the free plan sees a watermark on them and is asked to pay before downloading without it.
Can buyers share your Canva template?
Yes. Anyone with the template link can use it after signing in to Canva, and Canva doesn't tell you who has made copies. A template link can't be limited to the person who paid, whether you sell on Etsy, on Gumroad or from your own checkout. Canva makes one exception: if the link was made from an account on a work email domain, people on that same domain need a paid plan to open it.
You can delete a template link at any time, and the address then stops opening for everyone, including buyers who paid. If a link has been passed around widely, you can delete it, create a new one and replace it in the PDF under File downloads, in the confirmation message and in the confirmation email. In Checkout Page, buyers find the latest PDF in the customer portal, though they aren't notified about the change, so it's worth emailing them.
A line in the delivery PDF saying the template is for the buyer's own use, and can't be resold or shared, makes your terms clear. Our guide to how to sell Notion templates covers the same question for templates sold as Notion links.
Updating your template after it's sold
If you improve the template after launch, you can make the change in your original design. To see what new buyers will get, it helps to open your own template link in a private browser window afterwards.
What it costs to sell Canva templates
The platform's cut is only part of the cost. You also pay payment processing, any monthly plan and a Canva plan that includes template links; Canva's pricing page shows the price for your country.
- Canva's Template Creator program: there's no sale price, and Canva doesn't publish its royalty rates, so earnings depend on how often your templates are used.
- Etsy: $0.20 to list each template and 6.5% of each sale, with payment processing on top.
- Gumroad: 10% plus 50 cents on direct sales, with card processing on top, and 30% on sales that come through Gumroad Discover, which includes processing.
- Payhip: 5% of each sale on the free plan, 2% on the $29-a-month plan and nothing on the $99-a-month plan, with PayPal or Stripe processing on top.
Selling from your own checkout means paying the processor directly, which on a US Stripe account is 2.9% plus 30 cents per card payment, though Stripe's fees vary by country and card type.
On the $19 pack in the comparison table, your own checkout leaves you with about $1.40 more than Etsy and $2.40 more than a direct Gumroad sale. At 50 packs a month ($950 in sales, within the free plan), the difference from Gumroad comes to about $120 a month.
Checkout Page is free up to $3K in monthly sales. Paid plans are a monthly price based on your sales volume. Stripe's processing fees apply.
On the free plan, your pages pause once you pass $3K in a 30-day period and reopen when the period resets or you upgrade.
The Stripe fee calculator estimates the processing fees for your own price and volume.
Sell more than Canva templates
The same checkout account can sell other things to the people who buy your templates. For example:
- A membership that gives subscribers every new template pack you release
- Printables made from the same designs, such as planners or price lists
- A workshop or a paid call for people who want help adapting the templates to their brand
If you'd like to try it, you can start selling Canva templates on the free plan and upgrade once your sales pass $3K a month.
How to sell Canva templates FAQ
Is it legal to sell Canva templates?
Canva's help center says you can sell templates under certain conditions. Each template must be an original design, you can't sell Canva content on a standalone basis, and templates with Pro elements can only be sold as Canva template links. Canva's Content License Agreement has the full terms; this summary isn't legal advice.
Do you need Canva Pro to sell Canva templates?
You need Canva Pro or another premium plan to create a template link, so you can't make one from a free account. A template made only from free elements and your own photos can be sold without Canva Pro as a PDF, but buyers then get a file rather than a design they edit in Canva.
Can you make money selling Canva templates?
You can, though we couldn't find reliable published figures for how much sellers make. What you keep per sale depends on where you sell: on a $19 pack, from about $15.75 on Gumroad to $18.15 from your own checkout. How many sales you make depends on how many of the right people see your templates.
Which platform is best for selling Canva templates?
Etsy suits sellers without an audience, because shoppers can find your listing there, and you'd keep about $16.75 of a $19 sale. Your own checkout suits sellers who already reach buyers through social media or a newsletter, and keeps about $18.15 of the same sale. The table above also covers Gumroad, Payhip and Canva's Template Creator program.
How do you get paid for Canva templates?
Canva's Template Creator program pays royalties from a shared pool, based on how often people download, print or present designs made from your templates. On Etsy, Gumroad, Payhip and your own checkout, you receive the sale price minus fees, and with Checkout Page the money goes straight into your own Stripe account.
