Choosing the right graphic design software can be a daunting task. Here’s a comprehensive list of paid and free design software to help you find the one.
UI design tools help designers create visually appealing and functional user interfaces for websites, mobile apps, and other digital products. They allow you to create layouts, design elements, and interactive prototypes. Such tools make it easier to visualize and test how the end product will look and function.
Platform: online, macOS, Windows
Link: figma.com
Figma is a free online design tool that lives on the web. It makes the design more accessible, collaborative, and efficient.
It has UX/UI design and prototyping features, making it a go-to tool for designers.
Plus, Figma has a library of design components and templates that help get your projects up and running in no time. You can pick from pre-built UI elements and customize them to your heart’s content.
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Pricing: Free | Professional plan starts at $12/month
Platform: macOS, Windows, Linux
Link: icons8.com/lunacy
Lunacy is a free online design software that offers all the standard tools you need for visual design. It offers a library of more than 1,300,000 icons, photos and models, and beautiful vector illustrations in the latest styles.
With Lunacy, you can easily create UI screens, blog illustrations, landing pages, prototypes, and more.
Plus, the typography and vector illustration tools make adding text and drawing your own graphics simple.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced designer, Lunacy is a useful tool for optimizing your workflow and producing high-quality designs.
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Pricing: 100% Free
Platform: online, macOS, iOS
Link: sketch.com
Sketch is a design tool many UI designers use for web and app projects.
It’s vector-based, which means your graphics won’t get all pixelated when you scale them up or down.
But there’s a catch – it’s only for Mac users. So, if you’re rockin’ a Windows or Linux machine, you’re out of luck. It’s also a paid app, so it’s not free like other options.
Some of its key features include shared styles. They enable consistent styling across elements in a project.
You can also create reusable components – Symbols, which allow for easy updating and management of design elements in a library.
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Pricing: 30-day free trial | Standart plan starts at $9/month
Platform: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Link: creativecloud.adobe.com
With Adobe XD you can create user interfaces and interactive prototypes.
It has features like Repeat Grids that let you duplicate elements and Auto-Animate to create smooth transitions between artboards.
As part of the Adobe family, it integrates with other Adobe apps, like Photoshop and Illustrator. It might be a good fit if you’re already using their Creative Cloud suite.
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Pricing: Paid plan starts at $9.99/month
UI prototyping is a useful step in the design process. It’s all about creating a rough, interactive version of your design before you dive into the nitty-gritty of development. It’s like sketching out your ideas and making them clickable so you can see how the whole thing flows together.
Platform: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Link: protopie.io
ProtoPie is a prototyping tool that helps you create interactive, high-fidelity prototypes for your app or web designs. You can do all that without having to write any code.
One thing that sets ProtoPie apart is its focus on creating realistic, complex interactions and animations.
It has the “Pie” editor, where triggers, responses, and variables can be set up to make your prototype behave like the real deal.
It’s more advanced than other prototyping tools, but it’s not too difficult to use.
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Pricing: Free | Pro plan starts at $67/month
Platform: online, macOS, Windows
Link: framer.com
Framer combines visual design tools and a built-in code editor.
You can drag and drop stuff and design it visually. But you can also dive into the code to get fancy with your interactions and animations.
You can preview your prototypes on any device, which is always a plus when designing for mobile or different screen sizes.
It isn’t free. They have a subscription model but offer a limited free tier if you want to test the waters.
And even though it has some powerful features, it might be intimidating for beginners or those who aren’t into coding.
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Pricing: Free | Paid plan starts at $5/month
Platform: macOS, Windows
Link: axure.com
Axure’s all about helping you create detailed, interactive wireframes and prototypes.
It focuses on complex interactions, conditions, and logic.
Axure got a deep set of features.
You can create all sorts of interactions, from simple click events to dynamic content that changes based on user input.
Axure’s desktop app is available for both Mac and Windows.
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Pricing: Pro plan starts at $25/month
Platform: online
Link: webflow.com/prototyping
Webflow is an all-in-one web design platform.
It focuses on creating responsive designs.
Plus, a CMS lets you manage and update your content.
This online app is flexible when it comes to integrations and third-party tools. You can connect it with services like Google Analytics or Mailchimp.
Webflow got some powerful features and an active community. Yet, it may be a bit overwhelming if you’re starting or looking for something more lightweight.
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Pricing: Free | Paid plan starts at $14/month
Platform: macOS, Windows
Link: uxpin.com
UXPin is a design tool that lets you create wireframes, prototypes, and full-on designs for your digital products.
UXPin allows working with both vector and raster graphics, making it versatile.
This design software has many built-in UI elements and libraries.
You can work with your team in real-time, share designs, and gather feedback.
Plus, it has this version control, so you don’t have to worry about losing your work.
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Pricing: Free trial available | Paid plan starts at $69/month
Check out our top 8 prototyping tools to try in 2023.
Vector design software lets you create and manipulate vector graphics. Raster graphics are made up of pixels. But we create vector graphics using mathematical formulas, like lines, curves, and shapes. This means you can scale them up or down without losing any quality, which is pretty rad if you ask me. Use vector design software to create logos, illustrations, and infographics. It provides tools for drawing, shaping, coloring, and manipulating vector graphics.
Platform: macOS, Windows, Linux
Link: icons8.com/lunacy
We’ve talked about Lunacy as a UI design tool. It’s also perfect for graphic designers and web developers, who want to create and edit vector graphics easily and precisely.
Lunacy comes loaded with various drawing tools like pen, shape, and brush tools. They allow the creation of vector shapes and paths with gradients and textures.
This free design software also allows layer-based editing. You can work on individual elements of your design without affecting the rest of the project.
Lunacy includes a built-in asset library that comes with pre-made graphics and templates.
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Pricing: 100% free
Platform: online
Link: coreldraw.com/en/product/vector/
CorelDraw launched Corel Vector – an updated version of Gravit Designer Pro. A vector editing software that’s perfect for graphic designers, illustrators, and digital artists.
Corel Vector has features for creating geometric shapes with its smart shape primitives and magic control points.
You can also make complex compound shapes with Live Boolean operations and edit them later.
Plus, you can style objects with layered fills, borders, adjustments, and effects, and control their transparency and blending modes.
With Live Corners, freehand vector tools, and other vector manipulation features, you have complete control over your designs.
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Pricing: Free trial available | Subscription starts at $99.99/year
Platform: macOS, Windows, iPadOS
Link: affinity.serif.com
Affinity Designer works with both vector and raster graphics.
Yup, you can switch between vector and pixel personas. It allows working on stuff like illustrations, icons, and image editing all in the same software.
This vector design software has tools for creating and manipulating vector graphics, like a pen tool, shape tools, brushes, effects, and layer styles.
It’s easy to pick up and start playing around with, even if you’re a newbie.
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Pricing: Free trial is available | One-off payment is $69.99
Platform: online, ChromeOS, MacOS, Linux, and Windows
Link: vectr.com
Vectr is a free, lightweight vector design software that’s all about simplicity and ease of use.
It’s not as feature-packed as Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer. But with shape tools, pen tool, and options to align and arrange elements, Vectr gets the job done.
Advanced designers might find Vectr limiting, but if you need quick visuals without spending too much time and effort, Vectr is the tool for you.
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Pricing: 100% free
Planform: iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
Link: vectornator.io
Vectornator is a dynamic vector design tool.
With its intuitive UI, you can create stunning illustrations, web designs, and layouts.
One of Vectornator’s features is its machine-learning-based auto trace, which makes vectorizing images faster and more intuitive.
You can create complex designs with support for multiple artboards and an updated interface.
It also allows you to create CMYK previews and color profiles.
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Pricing: 100% free
Photo editing software allows you to manipulate and enhance digital images. It provides tools for cropping, resizing, color correction, applying filters and effects, and other modifications to improve the quality of the image.
Platform: macOS, Windows
Link: adobe.com/products/photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is the most popular software for photo editing, graphic design, and digital art.
It’s got tools for everything from basic adjustments like brightness, contrast, and color balance, to more advanced stuff like layers, masks, and blending modes.
You can use tons of brushes, filters, and plugins to get some really unique effects.
Photoshop is overwhelming when you first start using it. There’s a steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you can achieve the desired results.
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Pricing: Free trial available | Paid plan starts at $20.99/month
Platform: macOS, Windows
Link: adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom
Adobe Lightroom is designed for professional photographers and hobbyists alike. It’s a one-stop shop for organizing, editing, and sharing photos.
Lightroom has a non-destructive editing process, allowing you to change your photos without permanently altering the original files.
Lightroom is all about organization and workflow. Its catalog system helps you keep your photos organized.
You can apply edits to multiple photos at once, which is a time-saver if you have a large batch of images to work on.
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Pricing: Paid plan starts at $9.99/month
Platform: macOS, Windows
Link: captureone.com
Capture One is a strong competitor of Lightroom. In addition, Capture One offers a layering system for editing similar to Photoshop.
You can customize the user interface to create workspaces that suit your needs and preferences.
It also has some tremendous tethered shooting options. You can hook your camera to your computer and shoot directly into the software.
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Pricing: Free trial available | Paid subscription starts at €29/month | One-off payment – €349
Platform: Linux, macOS, Windows
Link: gimp.org
GIMP is a free design software used for image retouching, editing, drawing, and conversion between different image formats.
It can handle various image editing tasks, from simple photo touch-ups to complex graphic design projects.
Its intuitive tools, filters, and effects make enhancing and manipulating images easy. The layer system allows for precise control over each element of the design.
You can add plugins, brushes, and other tools to enhance the workflow and make your design process more efficient.
Gimp is open-source software, which means that it’s constantly updated and improved by a community of developers.
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Pricing: 100% Free
Platform: macOS, Windows, iPadOS
Link: affinity.serif.com
Affinity Photo is a photo editing software similar to Adobe Photoshop, but with a more affordable price tag.
It has all the basic adjustments you’d expect, like exposure and color correction. But there are also more advanced features like frequency separation and live filter layers.
Plus, it has a range of retouching tools that are great for portraits.
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Pricing: One-off payment of $69.99
Platform: online, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Link: fotor.com
Fotor is a user-friendly, online photo editing tool for beginners.
It’s not too basic or too complex and has a range of editing and design tools and features.
Fotor is great for making collages, editing single images, and creating graphic design projects.
An auto-color correction feature can enhance your images with just one click.
It’s free but has premium options for extra features.
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Pricing: Free | Pro plan starts at $8.99/month
A social media graphic software or website helps you create visual content specifically for social media platforms. These tools often provide pre-made templates, images, and design elements that you can customize to fit your brand and message.
Platform: online
Link: canva.com
Canva is a free design software for creating social media graphics, presentations, posters, and more.
You can upload your own images, remove the background and start creating.
Canva provides a library of stock pictures, icons, and text templates.
There’s also a video editor, so it’s basically an all-you-need web app that will provide you with all the basics to create your brand image.
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Pricing: Free | Pro Plan starts at $119.99/year
Platform: online
Link: icons8.com/mega-creator
Mega Creator is a fresh addition to the DIY graphic design scene.
With thousands of customizable flat and 3D illustrations in over 70 styles, this tool simplifies the design process by providing an all-in-one platform for creating marketing materials.
The interface is user-friendly, and the drag-and-drop feature allows users with no design experience to create designs.
You can change colors and styles for all the assets to suit your brand or project theme.
It’s powered by AI-powered suggestions and advanced search filters, so creating content is faster than ever.
Plus, Mega Creator also offers a free background remover and a non-destructive crop tool for seamless editing.
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Pricing: Free | Subscription for the assets starts at $9/month
Platform: online
Link: adobe.com/express/
Adobe Express is an online, easy-to-use design tool for quick graphics, collages, and photo editing.
It comes with customizable templates and a user-friendly interface.
Adobe Express gives you access to Adobe Fonts, Adobe Stock assets, and Cloud storage, which makes it very convenient to work on the go.
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Pricing: Free | Paid version starts at $9.99/month
Platform: online
Link: pablo.buffer.com
Perhaps, Pablo is one of the easiest free design software to use online.
This tool provides a straightforward interface that enables you to easily edit and share images on social media.
There’s a library of pre-made templates for popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
You can also upload your own images and customize them using a variety of filters, fonts, and design tools.
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Pricing: 100% free
Platform: online
Link: create.vista.com
Vistacreate is a free design tool that makes it easy to create graphics without any design experience.
They have templates and design elements to spice up your creations.
It has a handy drag-and-drop and text editor to make the process a breeze.
And if you need printing services, they’ve got you covered.
Plus, they can integrate with Google Drive and Dropbox.
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Pricing: Free plan available | Pro plan starts at $10/month
Logo design software helps you create unique, eye-catching logos for your brand or project. These software tools provide an easy and cost-effective way to design logos. Logos usually come with different design elements, such as icons, shapes, colors, and fonts.
Platform: online
Link: looka.com/logo-maker/
Looka is an AI-powered online logo maker designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses that need to create logos quickly.
It is convenient: just enter your brand name and choose your preferences, and the AI generates various logo options for you to customize.
The platform also allows you to make changes to your logo design until you’re satisfied with the final result.
Once your logo is ready, you can download it in high-res formats suitable for any application.
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Pricing: Free | Paid package starts at $20
Platform: online
Link: adobe.com/express/create/logo
Adobe Express is a free design software that includes a free online logo maker.
It’s beginner-friendly and walks you through three steps:
However, customization options are limited, and you can only change the color and font of your logo.
Once you’re happy with your logo, you can download it for free, but there’s a catch. You may not get commercial rights to use the icon.
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Pricing: Free | Paid version starts at $9.99/month
Platform: online
Link: wix.com/logo/maker
Wix Logo Maker uses AI to generate custom logo designs based on your preferences and industry.
You start by entering your company name, slogan (optional), and selecting your industry.
You can customize your favorite logo by changing the colors, fonts, and layout.
Plus, you can preview how it will look on different marketing materials like business cards, websites, and t-shirts.
However, if you want to edit it later or get the vector files, you must pay for the premium package.
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Pricing: Free | Basic package starts at €20
Platform: online
Link: tailorbrands.com/logo-maker
The setup process in Tailor Brands is straightforward.
It also allows choosing between icon-based, name-based, or initial-based layouts.
The Logo Maker can be a bit buggy, and it may not follow your instructions precisely.
But there are editing options available to make the necessary changes.
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Pricing: Free | Basic plan starts at $3.99/month
Platform: online
Link: ucraft.com/free-logo-maker
Ucraft’s design suite includes a free logo maker, along with a website builder.
The logo maker is user-friendly but offers basic icons.
Instead of templates, you start with a blank canvas and add elements.
There aren’t guidelines for a balanced design. But it’s free and provides PNG and vector files to users.
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Pricing: Free | $7 fee to download an SVG file
Platform: online
Link: designevo.com
You can choose from standard and gradient colors for your logo, more than 100 different style logo fonts, and solid, transparent, or gradient backgrounds.
You can also add icons and shapes from a library of customizable vector icons.
DesignEvo doesn’t have the advanced features of professional design tools
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Pricing: Free | Paid plan starts at $24.99/month
Platform: online
Link: shopify.com/tools/logo-maker/service
Hatchful by Shopify offers a free design tool with a quick startup process and logos in seconds.
The logo maker features 100+ templates with various colors, font styles, and layouts.
However, the customization options are limited and basic, making it difficult to find a good or unique template.
The logo maker does offer free downloads of high-res PNGs with full color, transparent backgrounds, favicons, and social media profile images.
Overall, Hatchful is a decent free tool for personal or small business logos. But don’t expect to truly personalize your logo or use it for large printing purposes.
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Pricing: 100% free
Platform: macOS, iPadOS, Windows
Link: adobe.com/products/illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor used to create illustrations, graphics, logos, and typography.
However, it can also be used as a UI design tool.
Illustrator has a library of fonts and other design assets that designers can use to create UI elements.
It’s got an array of tools and features, like the Pen tool, Shape Builder, and advanced color options, making it versatile.
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Pricing: Free 7-day trial | Paid plan starts at $20.99/month
Platform: iPadOS, iOS
Link: procreate.com
Procreate is a digital painting and illustration app for iPad and iPhone.
It’s got tons of brushes, layers, and blending modes.
Procreate is known for its responsive and smooth drawing experience, which feels natural and intuitive for artists.
Procreate is a raster-based app. So if you want to work with vectors, it’s not for you.
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Pricing: One-off purchase – $12.99
Platform: GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows
Link: inkscape.org
As a cross-platform free design software, Inkscape boasts a range of powerful and efficient advanced tools.
It’s not as powerful as Illustrator. However, Inkscape’s capabilities are enough for many design tasks, especially for beginners and hobbyists.
You can still work with layers, gradients, and shape tools.
While GIMP also has minimum system requirements, it tends to be poorly optimized, making Inkscape a superior option.
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Pricing: 100% free
Platform: GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows
Link: krita.org
Krita is an open-source digital painting and illustration software.
It offers a bunch of brushes, textures, and tools for creating digital artwork, concept art, and illustrations.
Krita supports layer management, custom brush creation, and advanced selection tools.
On lower-end hardware or large canvases with many layers, it may experience performance issues or lag.
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Pricing: 100% free
Platform: macOS,Windows, iPadOS, iOS, Android, Chromebook
Link: clipstudio.net
Digital art software mainly focuses on illustration, manga, and comic creation.
It’s got brush customization options that allow experimenting with different styles and techniques.
Clip Studio Paint is also known for its natural drawing experience, giving you that authentic pen-on-paper feel.
You can dive into 3D objects and models. It has an animation timeline, which allows users to create and preview animations within the software.
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Pricing: Free trial available | Paid plan starts at $24.99
With infographics software, you can create diagrams, charts, maps, and other visual representations that help convey complex information in an easy-to-understand way. It can be used for a variety of purposes, such as creating reports, social media posts, or educational materials.
Platform: online
Link: infogram.com
The platform offers a variety of templates and design elements to choose from.
It comes with drag-and-drop interface, allowing you to add and manipulate different types of data to create custom charts and graphs.
Plus, Infogram integrates with Excel and Google Sheets.
But it starts lagging on complex projects. It also lacks customization and inconsistencies in fonts and color options.
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Pricing: Free | Pro plan starts at $19/month
Platform: online
Link: piktochart.com
Free online design app that helps you create infographics, posters, and presentations.
Piktochart has pre-made templates for different fields, like business or education.
You can add videos and images from their media library and collaborate remotely with others on your designs.
Even so, the limited choice of add-ons and the absence of API integrations are disappointing. The steep pricing doesn’t help matters either.
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Pricing: Free | Pro plan starts at $14/month
Platform: online
Link: venngage.com
Venngage helps create professional-looking infographics, reports, and visual content.
You don’t need any design experience to use Venngage. The platform provides templates and a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to add text, images, charts, and icons to your project.
You can also add animation and make GIFs there.
But the free version is limited. You can download your graphics only on a premium plan.
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Pricing: Free | Paid plan starts at $10/month
Platform: online
Link: easel.ly
Free online infographic maker that allows you to create infographics and visual content.
The platform offers a variety of templates, graphics, and icons to choose from, making it easy to customize.
You can also upload your own images or logos to include in your design.
The interface is straightforward, and you can easily add, delete, or move elements around with a drag-and-drop feature.
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Pricing: Free | Paid plan starts at $2/month
“I’ve looked through the list. So, how do I choose the right one?” We’ve seen it coming.
Choosing a suitable paid or free design software can be challenging, especially if you’re new to graphic design. Here are some tips to help you make the right choice:
We hope that this list of paid and free design tools has been helpful to you in finding the right software for your needs. It’s time to take action and start experimenting with these free design tools.
Remember to keep learning and practicing with the tools that you enjoy using. And always keep in mind that your mind is your most powerful tool, and it’s free! So use it wisely to create stunning designs and bring your creative ideas to life.
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