What is the best logo design software?

The quality of your logo depends on your creative ideas, a careful market analysis, and a pro­fes­sion­al logo design program. Which logo design software suits your needs depends on how much time and effort you plan to invest in designing your logo. Below we discuss the ad­van­tages, dis­ad­van­tages and different target audiences of the best free and paid software options for logo design.

Overview of the best logo design software

What makes a logo design software the best one for you depends on your budget, needs and the time you wish to invest in creating a logo. Here’s an overview of the top design programs for your custom logo:

Updated: March 2023

Why is using pro­fes­sion­al logo design software important?

The first and sometimes most important contact with a company or brand during the customer journey is via your logo. You’re probably already familiar with es­tab­lished brand logos such as those from Coca Cola or Apple. With a creative and dis­tinc­tive logo, you can com­mu­ni­cate the most important char­ac­ter­is­tics of your company, shape your personal branding with high-quality designs, and sharpen your corporate identity.

A logo in­flu­ences your target audience in just a few seconds, so it’s best to improve your chances of success by using the style guide for your website when designing your logo. You can make a bigger impact by ensuring that your logo and website design are based on a unified design language. You’ll want to get an idea of other suc­cess­ful examples and pro­fes­sion­al design software during your first brain­storm­ing session for your logo. Which tool is suitable for your project depends on your budget and re­quire­ments. Some logo design programs are free of charge and include all the important standard tools, while others are paid pro­fes­sion­al tools.

Important aspects to consider when selecting a program include:

• A user-friendly interface with the flattest possible learning curve
• Costs that meet your needs in the form of low-cost sub­scrip­tion models, free trial periods or free software
• Import and export of all major logo formats for vector and raster graphics
• Tools for creating popular online design formats such as favicons or social media profile images
• Multiple design features for custom logo colors and logo sizes

What are the best paid logo creator software programs?

Want to create a par­tic­u­lar­ly unique, high-quality logo? We recommend the following tools:

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

Suitable for: CorelDRAW focuses on digital hand sketches and il­lus­tra­tions. The tool is aimed primarily at graphic designers and digital artists.

Ad­van­tages:

• Supports Windows and macOS
• Supports common file formats for pixel graphics and vector graphics in logo design (including BMP, AI, SVG, PDF, PSD, CS6, PNG, VML and EPS)
• Versatile design features and effects for layouts, il­lus­tra­tions and text editing
• LiveS­ketch tool supports hand sketches and il­lus­tra­tions, e.g., via stylus or touch pen (con­ver­sion to vector graphics is possible)
• Various feature packages available with in­di­vid­ual sub­scrip­tion plan (e.g., Graphics Suite, Technical Suite, Standard or Vector)

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Design files must be trans­ferred to standard formats when shared with clients (CDR format in CorelDraw isn’t standard for logo design)
• Doesn’t always prove com­pat­i­ble with industry formats, which can lead to errors when importing files
• Requires prior knowledge of design programs and a longer training period
• Ac­qui­si­tion is very expensive

Costs:

• Graphics Suite: one-time purchase approx. $499 (version 2021)
• Starter offer Graphics Suite 2022: one-time purchase approx. $249 annually
• Free trial: 15 days

Adobe Il­lus­tra­tor

Suitable for: Adobe Il­lus­tra­tor is part of Adobe’s well-known product family for design, image and media editing. As a so­phis­ti­cat­ed design software, it’s primarily aimed at pro­fes­sion­al il­lus­tra­tors and graphic designers who want to invest in pro­fes­sion­al design software for the long term.

Ad­van­tages:

• Ideal for a wide range of image formats and logos in flexibly scalable sizes because it’s vector-based graphics and drawing software
• Contains all the necessary drawing and editing tools for the pro­fes­sion­al design of logos as vector graphics
• Supports the in­te­gra­tion of tools from the Adobe software family such as Photoshop or InDesign
• Com­pat­i­ble with major logo formats such as PDF, SVG, EPS, VML and WMF

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Limited features for 3D designs
• Requires an intensive training period -With com­par­a­tive­ly high purchase and sub­scrip­tion costs, one of the more expensive logo design tools
• As a vector-based program, only suitable to a limited extent for designs with a lot of detail and fine textures
• Bitmap editing, i.e., editing of raster graphics in BMP file format, is only possible to a limited extent

Costs:

• Annual sub­scrip­tion approx. $239.88 or approx. $20.99 monthly
• Approx. $31.49 per month (without sub­scrip­tion)
• Free trial version for 7 days

Adobe Photoshop

Suitable for: As the world market leader among tools for image editing and graphic design, Adobe Photoshop offers a wide range of tools for both raster and vector graphics. However, the scope and features show that Photoshop is aimed at ex­pe­ri­enced, pro­fes­sion­al designers, with the focus of the program being primarily on raster graphics, which don’t scale as well.

Ad­van­tages:

• Offers a full range of drawing tools for digital il­lus­tra­tion and design (brush, pencil, wa­ter­col­or, or charcoal pencils)
• Seamless in­te­gra­tion with other Adobe programs such as Il­lus­tra­tor or InDesign
• Cus­tomiz­able preset templates and settings
• Large number of designs with high-quality effects such as embossing, shading, glossy and metallic elements
• Rec­om­mend­ed for detailed raster designs

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Limited suit­abil­i­ty for logo design as a raster-based graphics program (no pos­si­bil­i­ty for flexible zooming in and out)
• Limited options for vector designs
• Extensive training required

Costs:

• Annual sub­scrip­tion approx. $239.88 or monthly approx. $20.99
• Free trial version for 7 days

Affinity Designer

Suitable for: Affinity Designer is aimed at pro­fes­sion­al or semi-pro­fes­sion­al designers. The software is a cost-effective tool for vector and raster graphics and includes all the most important editing tools you need for logo design.

Ad­van­tages:

• Suitable for vector graphics and raster graphics designs
• Support for various design formats and other logo design software
• Handy features like live preview and various filters
• Suitable for importing PDF and PSD files from Photoshop
• User-friendly interface with simple switching between vector and raster graphics
• No sub­scrip­tion required

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Un­suit­able for beginners
• No per­son­al­iza­tion for the workspace
• No per­spec­tive grid for three-di­men­sion­al designs
• Com­pli­cat­ed editing of small errors in vector graphics

Costs:

• One-time purchase approx. $86.90 (Windows, Mac)
• Universal license V2 (all platforms) approx. $211

Looka

Suitable for: Thanks to ease of use and low cost, Looka is rec­om­mend­ed for busi­ness­es and in­di­vid­u­als without in-depth design knowledge or ex­pe­ri­ence using logo maker software. If you’re looking for an intuitive logo designer, Looka should be on your shortlist.

Ad­van­tages:

• Ar­ti­fi­cial in­tel­li­gence and user input (based on ques­tion­naires) used to create logos with con­fig­u­ra­tion options for style pref­er­ences, industry and brand
• Simple and practical software for users without pro­fes­sion­al design skills
• Fast logo designs without investing much time or money
• For flexibly scalable, vector-based logo files

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Fewer per­son­al­ized designs possible due to automated designs based on templates
• Un­suit­able for original, cus­tomized logos for niche companies and spe­cial­ized brands
• Only available in English and as web version

Costs:

• Brand Kit with licensing rights for logos: approx. $95.88 annually
• Brand Kit Web with licensing rights and AI-generated website: approx. $192 per year
• Logo Basic only: one-time purchase approx. $20 (1 low-res­o­lu­tion file)
• Logo Premium only: one-time purchase approx. $65 (several file types possible)
• Logo design for testing: free (download of logo file for a fee)

Canva

Suitable for: Canva’s free basic version provides a wide range of templates, making it possible for pro­fes­sion­als and beginners alike to create unique logo designs.

Ad­van­tages:

• Good free version with large database for logo templates, fonts, custom di­men­sions and stock photos or graphics.
• Good per­son­al­iza­tion options for logo templates
• Support for exports in formats like PDF, JPG, PNG and the CMYK color space
• Easy to use even for beginners

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Functions for editing templates and shapes are limited
• Poor customer support
• Free version offers only limited functions
• Raw data format cannot be saved locally

Costs:

• Basic version: Free of charge
• Pro version: starts at approx. $99.99 annually
• Pro version for teams: starts at approx. $129.90 annually

What are the best free logo design software programs?

You don’t nec­es­sar­i­ly need to use a pro­fes­sion­al logo design tool for trained designers. You can achieve high-quality results using a free program to create your logo. Logo designs for startups can be created pro­fes­sion­al­ly and in­ex­pen­sive­ly using the right free tool.

IONOS Logo Generator

Suitable for: Con­sid­ered one of the best free logo gen­er­a­tors, IONOS Logo Generator is an easy-to-use design tool for high-quality logos. With a flat learning curve and the ability to create pro­fes­sion­al logos in minutes, it’s a handy tool for startups and the self-employed who don’t need the ad­di­tion­al features that pro­fes­sion­al tools offer.

Ad­van­tages:

• Wide selection of templates for logo designs
• Logo designs with and without slogans
• Industry-specific design language according to your ideas
• High-quality company logos for a variety of purposes such as websites, business cards, search entries, profile pictures or print products
• Saves logo designs in popular logo graphic formats (including SVG, PNG, JPG or GIF)

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Only available as a web tool

Costs: Free

Inkscape

Suitable for: Inkscape is aimed at companies and in­di­vid­u­als who don’t need an expensive pro­fes­sion­al design program but want flexible templates and the most important features for their logo designs.

Ad­van­tages:

• Vector-based graphics tool based on open-source software
• Offers the most features among free design programs
• Allows easy cus­tomiza­tion for design templates
• Supports export to common logo formats such as PNG, PDF, EPS or SVG
• Active community that con­sis­tent­ly improves the program
• Tools and features include templates for vector graphics, text editing, color palettes and pen tool

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Offers only SVG as default native file format
• Operation via an interface that may be confusing at the beginning
• Beginners should expect a steep learning curve
• Editing and creation of high-res­o­lu­tion graphics can lead to crashes

Costs: Free

Vectr

Suitable for: The web tool Vectr is ideal for busi­ness­es, the self-employed or in­di­vid­u­als looking for an online logo generator that doesn’t require special training or high in­vest­ments.

Ad­van­tages:

• Design tool with focus on vector graphics for flexible scaling
• Can be used both in the browser and on the desktop
• Supports real-time col­lab­o­ra­tive editing via URL sharing
• Com­pat­i­ble with Windows, macOS, Linux and Chrome­book
• Common features for logo design and graphic layer editing
• Formats such as PNG, JPG and SVG are supported for saving graphics
• Low learning curve allows for quick fa­mil­iar­iza­tion

Dis­ad­van­tages:

• Limited func­tion­al­i­ty for high-quality designs
• Web version only in English

Costs: Free