Figma has had a blockbuster moment in the public markets.
The design platform went public on July 31 at $33 per share and surged more than 250% on its first day of trading, closing at $115.50. At its peak, Figma’s market capitalization touched $47.1 billion, signaling strong confidence from Wall Street in its enterprise collaboration story.
At nearly the same time, Canva quietly made headlines of its own.
The design giant launched an employee stock sale last week at a $42 billion valuation. According to reports, the sale was significantly oversubscribed, with Canva posting annualized revenue of $3.3 billion — a clear sign of sustained demand and profitability.
While investors are split between the two companies, a different picture is emerging in how people actually discover design tools today.
AI Search Is Telling a Different Story
Data from AthenaHQ, based on analysis of 1,900 AI-generated responses, suggests Canva currently dominates AI-driven recommendations.
When users ask tools like ChatGPT or Claude questions such as “What’s the best design tool for my team?”, Canva appears in 47.4% of responses. Figma, by comparison, shows up 17.3% of the time.
In simple terms, Canva is being recommended nearly three times more often than Figma in AI search results.
The reason is less about enterprise features and more about accessibility. AI systems tend to highlight Canva’s ease of use, broad template library, and appeal to non-designers — qualities that resonate with a wider audience asking general design questions.
Two Different Growth Signals
Public market investors are clearly backing Figma’s strengths in real-time collaboration, product design workflows, and enterprise adoption.
AI systems, on the other hand, are steering everyday users and marketers toward Canva as the more approachable, all-in-one design solution.
This matters because the buyer journey is changing.
For many teams, discovery no longer starts with Google searches or sales demos. It starts with an AI recommendation. By the time a human conversation begins, a shortlist has often already been formed — influenced by how AI tools frame pricing, use cases, and suitability.
What This Means Long Term
Figma may be winning investor confidence today.
Canva appears to be winning mindshare where modern discovery begins.
Which signal will matter more over the next decade — stock market enthusiasm or AI-driven visibility — is still an open question.
But one thing is clear: in the age of AI-assisted decision-making, being recommended may become just as important as being valued.
