Adobe Express vs. Microsoft Publisher

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Creative Cloud Express (formerly Adobe Spark) is a task-based, web and mobile product used to create and share rich multimedia content – from social media posts and stories to invitations to marketing materials like logos, flyers and banners.
$0
Microsoft Publisher
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application available with an Office 365 subscription, or as a standalone download.
$139
one time purchase
Pricing
Adobe ExpressMicrosoft Publisher
Editions & Modules
Free
$0.00
Premium
$9.99 / $99.99
per month
Teams
$9.99
per month per user
Microsoft Publisher
$139
one time purchase
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe ExpressMicrosoft Publisher
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsContact Adobe directly for Enterprise pricing plan details.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe ExpressMicrosoft Publisher
Considered Both Products
Adobe Express
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Express is a unique offering
Chose Adobe Express
Well, they were using Canvas and I just knocked it out. We use After Effects too, but again, if you go into After Effects or Premier, you have to do a lot of addition. It's a lot more complex and Adobe Express for doing simple things. And I don't mean simple by diminishing …
Chose Adobe Express
I started on Adobe Spark / Adobe Express before ever trying Figma nad Canva. I tried them after being told how great the were by colleagues and honestly felt like they were cheesy and less adult. The final product didn't feel as polished and the user experience was lackluster. …
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Express is a lot more user friendly for people who aren't graphic designers that still want to create content
Chose Adobe Express
Express and Canva are very similar but backed by the power of Adobe; Express is the better option. Its feature set is greater, and the recent addition of Firefly is a game changer, making it leaps and bounds better than Canva. Certain features in Express that Canva doesn't have …
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Express seems to be slightly inferior design wise, but has greater integrations with the Adobe ecosystem
Chose Adobe Express
Express needs to continue with their AI improvements such as for professional profiles in photo editing.
Chose Adobe Express
Simplicity and more functional
Chose Adobe Express
Canva is a little more expensive and the usability of it for creation or quick changes are not there like Adobe Express has.
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Express has stronger branding features. For example, it's much easier to save custom logos and styles and I feel like the end-products are more polished.
Chose Adobe Express
I used Canva for a long time, but since we already had the Adobe Creative Suite and Adobe Creative Cloud Express was included, I went ahead and started using Adobe Creative Cloud Express, as it was more cost-effective. Unfortunately, Adobe Creative Cloud Express doesn't offer …
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Creative Cloud Express uses layers which is closer to the very widely used Adobe PhotoShop. Its integration with Adobe PhotoShop made it more familiar to use. But overall [in my opinion], Canva has more options of elements and effects.
Chose Adobe Express
I prefer Adobe Creative Cloud Express to Canva for the back-end interface. To me, Adobe Creative Cloud Express is more user-friendly and provides greater options. You really do get what you pay for. I was also able to learn how to use Adobe Creative Cloud Express with little to …
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Creative Cloud Express offers greater versatility in creating, including video, images, and pages. Access to Adobe content will take your creativity to new levels and this alone makes Adobe Creative Cloud Express stand out and above the rest. Finally, the apps are …
Chose Adobe Express
I think the main benefit of Adobe Creative Cloud Express over PicMonkey is simply the ease of use for the App. PicMonkey did have a better web interface, but it's also meant for users who have experience with graphics, whereas Adobe Creative Cloud Express is the most …
Chose Adobe Express
I have not used any other products like Adobe Creative Cloud Express. Adobe Creative Cloud Express has been the best thing for me and my work. I have no need to use any other products that are remotely close to Adobe Creative Cloud Express. I will probably not look for any …
Chose Adobe Express
They both have great ease of use. More recently, Adobe changed something in its interface that created a small but consistently aggravating inconvenience, so Canva may be better in that aspect. The platform for Canva has great UX in my opinion. Adobe Creative Cloud Express …
Chose Adobe Express
While I think Adobe Creative Cloud Express and Canva are actually pretty similar, I find that kids tend to see Adobe Creative Cloud Express as a little more manageable and less overwhelming. Graphic design can be a little scary, and I think Adobe Creative Cloud Express does a …
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Creative Cloud Express was chosen for us by somebody else in the organization, but I still really like it. Though I do like Canva, I'm so used to Adobe Creative Cloud Express now I'd never go back. We used to use Animoto (free version) and I do miss some of the …
Chose Adobe Express
Adobe Creative Cloud Express is easier to use than almost every other graphics program I’ve used. Those that are as simple, or simpler, do not produce creations with as professional and creative looks as Adobe Creative Cloud Express does.
Chose Adobe Express
We use Adobe Creative Cloud Express in addition to all of the above, depending on the project. It stacks up extremely well against all other products, except Premiere Pro on the video side (obviously). In the area that we use it most - for the on the fly social media - it is …
Chose Adobe Express
Canva has more free templates than Adobe Creative Cloud Express. The content planner option in Canva makes it different from Adobe Creative Cloud Express. Canva has a more easy-to-understand interface. We can use Canva on any device but Adobe Creative Cloud Express Post is only …
Microsoft Publisher
Chose Microsoft Publisher
It works better than PowerPoint if it is one-page sharing content or poster, as opposed to a full presentation.
It doesn't have as much functionality as Canva, but is more cost effective as it is included with the MS Office 365 Suite.
Chose Microsoft Publisher
At the time I was not impressed with Quark Xpress. I always disliked PageMaker. I always considered it over-rated. I like InDesign and have always liked InDesign, if I have a need for more complex documents I'll go with InDesign over Publisher or Quark Xpress in a heartbeat. …
Chose Microsoft Publisher
Publisher wins hand down. To be honest, In-Design can do things with more precision and perhaps a somewhat better final design. However, the learning curve is WAY too steep for In-Design. I have been using computers and publishing programs since the mid 80's. Publisher melds …
Chose Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Publisher is more for beginners, or for basic needs, anyone with some familiarity with the Microsoft suite should be able to use it easily. If you’re looking to create something more graphic and advanced, you’d probably want to look into something like InDesign, which …
Chose Microsoft Publisher
Not sure [why] it has a different name, but I briefly tried to create on my MacBook at home and used its version of Microsoft Word and was able to do similar things as in Publisher.
Chose Microsoft Publisher
I have also used Adobe PageMaker for desktop publishing and simple design work but have found Publisher to be so much simpler to use. The navigation is easy, the interface is clean and the program is intuitive for even the most novice of users. The templates that come along …
Chose Microsoft Publisher
I think Microsoft Publisher a correctly used to create invitation cards, flyers, and newsletters with the ability to choose from various templates. This feature is not available in Adobe Acrobat DC.
Chose Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Publisher has a powerful editing program. I would consider it Microsoft word and outlook came together. Microsoft Publisher offers many unique features that aren’t found in either Microsoft Word or Outlook. Being able to automate templates and save email list have …
Chose Microsoft Publisher
I have used Canva and multiple other tools like Adobe express for creating same type of graphics, designing and banner designing, and it had outcome with very well and defined result, and it can compete with Publisher, and both can be stack up against each other very …
Best Alternatives
Adobe ExpressMicrosoft Publisher
Small Businesses
Pexels
Pexels
Score 10.0 out of 10
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Pexels
Pexels
Score 10.0 out of 10
Canva
Canva
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Pexels
Pexels
Score 10.0 out of 10
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe ExpressMicrosoft Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.4
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe ExpressMicrosoft Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
I needed to create quarterly safety training posters. In the past, I have used Canva. But in Canva's free version, your options are limited. So off to AE I went. I was able to find four templates to help me create my four posters. I found templates that looked like a movie poster, and the results were so professional looking. It was easy to add my own pictures from my computer to further personalize the posters. I loved them so much I made them into movie poster size printouts, sprayed some liquid glue on a styroboard, and hung them up around our offices. Our employees loved them too, and it drummed up more people to attend my sessions.
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Microsoft Publisher is well suited for almost any situation. It is something that I'm sure has far more advanced tools than I use or am aware of, but it is also very simple for entry-level users to create professional documents quickly. I have used it for very involved brochures in real estate scenarios and I have also used it for very simple "Construction Zone" signs at a job site under construction. There are so many uses for this program!
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Pros
  • Out-of-the-box templates save a lot of time and effort for designers and new users.
  • Collaboration to share resources and monitor task status centrally.
  • Great design elements bring a wow factor to digital content.
  • Single design tool for all types of content design.
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  • Microsoft Publisher is just like Word, but Publisher, give much more features like multi page printing of single image and banner
  • We have faced very much difficulties for picture control in Microsoft Word, but Microsoft Publisher has much advanced picture. Control features with multiple alignment and distortion correction function.
  • We are also using Publisher for big banners for streets for promotion of our products, which is helping us on a very large scale advertisement with in-house design, designing, and printing of large banners easily
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Cons
  • Canva has a better interface, in my opinion... I like that this one is friendly to Adobe users, but I would likely recommend Canva to someone who's never used design software for a complete beginner.
  • Removing the background from images doesn't always work well. I almost always need to switch to Photoshop for this.
  • The touch screen interface could be better; graphics on mobile apps are tough in general but specifically, the iPad interface could use some improvement.
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  • Formatting in general. It's a pain to refine a layout in Publisher in my opinion.
  • Microsoft is so invested in their approach to software and making it look and feel like an Office 365 application that they inadvertantly cripple applications like Publisher.
  • Earlier versions of Publisher gave you a lot more latitude and creative freedom. They were also much easier to work with. Not everything has to look like it's part of Office 365. They did the same ... thing to Access.
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Likelihood to Renew
I use it daily for almost all my marketing needs. So far it is the program that has the most and best to offer for what I need and is the easiest to use
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No answers on this topic
Usability
The overall usability of the software was strong. The application, especially relative to other Adobe services like Photoshop that can demand a lot of knowledge and skill, was highly easy to use. At the same time, that also speaks to the somewhat limited amount of customization opportunities that allow content designers to truly create content that is dynamic, engaging, and different than the standard stuff that floods our vision every day.
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It has a great feature set but does not overwhelm me with its complexity. This is not an entry-level program, but it is also not one of the top of line graphic designer programs, like Abode In-Design. I can use Publisher to do 95% of what I need to get done. The other 5% I farm out to the graphics design person in the organization. It simply works and does so in a simple to use manner.
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Support Rating
Because adobe is so widespread the community support is amazing. I have never actually used adobe support short of their website, but I go to youtube a lot to get my questions answered. You can google any problem you have and not have any issues finding an answer. In my opinion, community support is much more meaningful and helpful than support directly from the company
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While I have not directly used support for Microsoft Publisher, I have used their help files and found them to be useful. I have also found that most answers that I need can be found through simple web searches and chat platforms. In all though, there are very few times when the preloaded help files have not given me the answers that I need.
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Alternatives Considered
For users already in the Adobe ecosystem, Adobe Express is a great tool to consider for it's modern, professional templates, impressive stock image library and the easy drag-and-drop tools. I mostly do most of my work on desktop, but I know Canva is generally better for mobile usability and its got more third-party integrations that may be important to some users.
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Microsoft Publisher is more for beginners, or for basic needs, anyone with some familiarity with the Microsoft suite should be able to use it easily. If you’re looking to create something more graphic and advanced, you’d probably want to look into something like InDesign, which is not as user friendly if you’re not familiar with it at all. For basic needs the average employee should be able to use Microsoft Publisher with ease.
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Return on Investment
  • It has allowed us to complete more demos and projects in less time by being so flexible.
  • It has positively impacted our efficiency in delivering creatives such as YouTube thumbnails, event poster designs, Instagram story posts, etc to clients in a timely manner no matter where work takes us.
  • I would say the ROI has been seeing more projects completed and invoiced per month. I would estimate overall a 20% increase in volume on deliverables.
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  • Don't really have a way to measure ROI in my industry (Religious organization), but let me say, Publisher is at the heart of the way that I do things. If I did not have it, then my productivity would be crushed and the ability to communicate with individuals within the annual conference would be greatly diminished.
  • Publisher allows me to produce quality, sometimes complex, documents in a simple and efficient manner.
  • It has been my go-to program for the majority of my communication needs for more than 10 years. It would be difficult to do my job without Publisher.
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ScreenShots

Adobe Express Screenshots

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