If you’ve been using a free Canva account to share template links to your Canva designs, you may have noticed that the option to create new links has disappeared.
In this video, I explain why that’s happening and walk you through the changes Canva is rolling out in 2025, both for individual users and those sharing templates with others under the same business domain.
Resources Mentioned
- Free Trial of Canva Pro (Affiliate Link)
Transcript
If you’re on a free Canva account and have recently tried to create a template link, you may have already discovered that the option is no longer available. This shift began rolling out earlier in 2025, and now Canva has confirmed that template links are officially becoming a Pro-only feature.
While many individual free Canva users have already been affected, an additional change is coming on June 2, 2025, which will impact free users who are part of a team using the same business email domain. If you regularly share templates, whether with clients, customers, or colleagues, it’s important to understand what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and how to avoid disruptions moving forward.
What’s Already Changed for Free Users
As of February 2025, Canva began phasing out the ability for free users to create new template links, though template links you created before February 15, 2025, will still work normally.
This change directly affects individuals on a free Canva plan who share templates as part of their business, which potentially includes folks like template sellers, course creators, coaches, virtual assistants, and other service providers who rely on template links as part of their offerings. While your previously shared links will still function, any new template-based content you release going forward will require a Pro subscription in order to create shareable links.
If you’re already on Canva Pro, there’s no change… you’ll still be able to create and share template links as usual, and anything you previously shared will continue to work.
What’s Changing for Teams
In addition to the restrictions already in place for free users, Canva is also introducing a new policy that will take effect on June 2, 2025, and will specifically affect users on the same business email domain.
If you’re using a Canva account with a domain like *@brendacadman.com* and you share a Template Link with someone who also uses that same domain but is on a free Canva plan, they won’t be able to open or edit the template after June 2 unless they upgrade to Pro or are added to your Canva team.
Here’s an example to help clarify how this works.
If I’m using a paid Canva Pro account under the email hello@brendacadman.com and I share a template link with someone else using a free account under assistant@brendacadman.com, they won’t be able to open or use the template link after June 2 unless they’re part of my Canva team or have their own Pro plan.
Canva is essentially treating anyone with the same branded domain as being part of a shared organization and is restricting link access for free users within that domain.
However, any Template Links created before June 2, 2025, will continue to work as they always have, even if the recipient is on a free plan under the same domain.
This could affect small businesses where multiple people use Canva accounts under the same email domain, but not everyone is on a paid plan. If you’ve shared templates with others on free accounts who share your domain, they’ll lose access to new shared links unless they upgrade or are added to your Canva team.
If you’re sharing templates with someone using a Gmail, Outlook, or similar personal email address, or their own business domain, this particular rule won’t apply. The domain-based restriction is only enforced when both the template creator and the template recipient use the same business domain, and the recipient is on a free plan.
So if you’re a Pro user sharing templates externally, such as with clients or customers who don’t share your domain, your workflow won’t be impacted by this change.
What This Means and What to Do Next
This change won’t affect everyone, but if you rely on Canva template links as part of your business or client work and you’re on a free Canva plan, it’s worth taking a moment now to assess whether you’ll need to upgrade in order to maintain your current workflow and uninterrupted access to the Template Link feature.
Canva Pro also includes additional benefits like premium templates, Brand Kit tools, and advanced design features.
If you’re not sure whether Canva Pro is the right fit for your needs, you can explore it with a free Canva Pro trial. You’ll find more information, along with a breakdown of the features included, at BrendaCadman.com/pro.
It’s also a good time to review your current setup. If you’ve shared templates with others in the past few months, take a look at when those links were created and whether they’ll continue to function as expected.
