Your logo is your seal of approval. No matter who you are and what you’re doing, a logo represents you in a universal language that appeals to everyone.
People will always pick out your logo from the crowd, so better start making a great one. Here’s the list of the best logo design software you can use to create it.
Beginner Logo Design Software
1) Logo Design Studio Pro (by Summitsoft)
This was initially a downloadable application that became a subscription service, priced at $19.99 a month. Offering 6,000 vector shapes and 2,000 templates, the program maker boasts that you will be able to own all rights to the logo you create. Even better, you can even use it for commercial purposes!
The official website will nudge you towards the subscription service, however once you scroll all the way down, you will find the link to the standalone application.
Summitsoft primarily targets their logo maker towards newbies wanting to start a commercial venture with a cool logo. If that sounds like you, go for it.
Price: $49.99
Pros:
- Usable for commercial purposes
- Support for entrepreneurs
Cons:
- Simplistic templates
- Quite expensive
2) Logo Maker Pro (by Sothink)
Logo Maker Pro excels at subtle, layered shading, giving your logo a realistic 3D look. You can download a free 30-day trial straight from the main page as a 30 MB ZIP archive. The interface is quite good, seeing how it’s literally copy-pasted from later Microsoft Office products.
You can disassemble the logo into its separate components, all of which can be rotated, resized and recolored. The program will even auto-fit and auto-crop things for you as you move the elements around. The trial version will only allow you to save your work in a proprietary LMK file format, but you can zoom all the way in and take a screenshot to get a workable image.
Price: $59.99
Pros:
- Free 30-day trial
- Very good interface
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Too expensive
- Limited editing options
3) Logoshi
This online-only logo maker only requires entering the business name and choosing a color scheme. Click “Make a Logo” and you’ll see 9 options, each with a stilted style and bland design.
However, you can click the “Drawing a Logo” link to get sent to another page where you can draw a couple lines in the box and the logo generator will try to match your design.
You can also click “Make a Logo from an icon” and get presented with 313 icon categories, ranging from airplanes to zigzags. Unfortunately, you can’t upload your own icons.
Then, you can edit only the padding, color, and fonts. Trying to download any of these will send you to the checkout, where you’ll be asked to pay $5 or $20 for Basic or Pro packages.
Price: $5 or $20
Pros:
- Make a logo out of an icon
Cons:
- Bland designs
- Can’t use your own icons
- Very limited editing options
4) Laughingbird
Here you’ve got two separate products: the standalone program and the online-only editor. Both are graphics editors capable of creating logos and both must also be paid for.
Known as the “Swiss army knife of graphics makers”, Laughingbird standalone app has four modules: logo creator, business card maker, people pack (images of people) and unique character creation tool. The online service seems much richer, with 12 modules that cover everything from social media to marketing materials and logo making.
As the name suggests, Laughingbird is informal and more oriented towards unconventional but lively and zany marketing materials with artsy fonts. There are some real gems in Laughingbird, such as silhouettes of crowds and people doing air yoga, though the editing options are quite limited – you can change colors, shadows, size and position but that’s pretty much it.
Overall, Laughingbird seems fairly priced either way, and you’ll easily be able to make custom characters or mascots for whatever it is you need. According to its official website, some collections of elements were made by a professional cartoonist, and that right there is great value.
Price: $12/month (online) or $37 (standalone)
Pros:
- Online and standalone products offer flexibility
- Rich and unique image creation
Cons:
- Informal look and feel to graphics
- Limited editing options
5) AAA Logo Maker
500 logo templates and 10,000 icons come bundled with the AAA Logo Maker, though the trial version is very limited in comparison. The trial version won’t even let you save your image, but you can still tinker with geometric shapes, shadows and colors.
The interface is clean and pleasant. Although it is definitely a program to unleash your creativity in, it appears that this program is a carbon copy of JetA Logo Maker which is actually $10 cheaper.
Price: $49.95
Pros:
- Clean interface
- Intuitive controls
Cons:
- Limited trial version
- Lacks advanced options
6) LogoYes
This is an online-only logo maker. It lets you choose a simple vector image in which you can later fiddle with it by adding text, changing the color, or rotating the image. However, you won’t be able to get your logo unless you buy a “Webcard” for $0.99.
Editing options are barebones and won’t let you do anything interesting but LogoYes is still considered a good training tool that requires no downloads or installation.
Price: $0.99
Pros:
- No installation required
Cons:
- Basic editing options
- Asks for payment after editing
7) LogoSmartz
LogoSmartz provides you with 1,800 logo templates, 300 fonts, 1,000 taglines and slogans, and 5,000 vector graphics. The trial version is fairly limited and won’t let you save your project in anything other than the proprietary LSP file format.
The interface feels extremely out-dated and more like something from the early 2000s, but the program is considered to be good enough for beginners.
Price: $39.95
Pros:
- Simple to use
- Plenty of cool graphics
Cons:
- Limited trial version
- Outdated interface
8) JetA Logo Creator
This program takes 16 MB of space but installs quickly. It features an interface that lets you do a few cool things with layers and gradients but that’s about it.
Price: $39.95
Pros:
- Trial version for training
Cons:
- Windows only
- Limited options
Professional Design Software
1) Adobe Illustrator
Here’s a graphic design tool that often ends up taking the #1 spot in “Best Logo Design Software” lists. Perhaps it’s more appropriate to say that Adobe Illustrator is on an entire level of its own, with a whole slew of options and functions.
With Adobe Illustrator, you can make pixel-perfect logos that can be scaled, made realistic, and much more. However, it takes a lot of time and money to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator; if you’re not in the business of making money through graphic design, it could be a bit too complex for you.
If you decide to buy Adobe Illustrator, you’ll be given the choice to purchase an additional subscription to Adobe Stock which includes a repository of photos. However, instead of spending money on Adobe Stock, you can just use Unsplash and StockVault which serve as online collections of copyright-free HD photos.
Price: $20.99 a month
Pros:
- 7-day free trial
- 100 GB cloud storage
- Extremely professional tool
Cons:
- Requires installing Adobe Creative Cloud
- Complicated user interface requires a lot of training
2) Affinity Designer
Vectors are simple graphics that can be scaled up or down without a noticeable loss of quality. Logos are most often done as vector graphics, and Affinity Designer is a tool that takes full advantage of that.
On the official website you can take a look at some samples of work done with Affinity Designer; the graphics are incredibly impressive. Working with it can be super smooth, provided you have the hardware that can handle it.
This is due to the fact that Affinity Designer allows for super-precise layer editing with up to one million percent zoom. Affinity Designer also has a very diverse file format support which enables you to finish what you started on another program.
Price: $49.99
Pros:
- Produces art of ethereal beauty
- Layered picture editing
- 60 fps pan and zoom
- Raster support adds realistic shadows
Cons:
- Requires an email address, even for the free trial
- Hardware specifications
3) CorelDRAW
Here’s a great program for professional designs, especially those that are meant to look clean and detailed. The main feature of CorelDRAW is symmetrical drawing, where you can ensure everything matches up and down to the very last pixel.
However, the problem is in its price. Unless you’re working on the most extraordinary designs that will require its complex functions, it’s hard to justify having CorelDRAW just to play around with logo designs.
Price: $659
Pros:
- Extremely powerful and detailed graphics engine
- Produces work of professional quality
- Touch-friendly interface
Cons:
- Price
- You’ll need years to become an expert
4) Apple Motion
Here’s a fancy editor that is primarily designed for animation and cool transition effects. However, it can also be used to make stunning animated logos, especially for video platforms. Sadly, the program is only available on Mac and provides a 30-day trial version only if you already own a previous version.
Apple Motion is easy to learn but hard to master. If you work with or have a passion for video creation and have a Mac, this might be the right choice for an animated logo.
Price: $49.99
Pros:
- Approachable to newbies
- Allows for very complex effects
Cons:
- Mac only
- Takes a lot of time to master
5) Sketch
Sketch possesses advanced features, such as using boolean operations for complex curves. Using something called Sketch Libraries, several people can share design elements which allows for an automatically updated style that stays consistent across the entire team.
Libraries work through Dropbox or even GitHub to create a hassle-free team environment. For individuals, the upside is that Libraries ensure an automatically updated style across all their devices.
Price: $99 a year
Pros:
- Easy collaboration
- 30-day free trial
Cons:
- MacOS only
- Not suitable for individuals
6) Adobe Photoshop
The Godfather of all graphics design software, Photoshop entered our consciousness to the point it became a verb you don’t have to Google to understand (“that looks photoshopped”). Despite its power and flexibility, Photoshop mainly specializes in adding effects to existing images, not creating ones from scratch. So, you will have to make a logo out of text characters or use another program alongside it, such as Adobe Illustrator.
The easiest way to make a logo on Photoshop is to choose a couple letters, such as initials of your business. You may later edit them by adding shadows, changing hue, or messing around with background layers until you’re happy. There are infinite Photoshop tutorials online which even helps teach newbies how to produce cool logos. Unless you’re really going to go big with Photoshop, it could be an app that is too expensive for you.
Price: $20.99 a month
Pros:
- Well known and widely used, making it a good career tool
- Massively supported by tutorials and articles
- 7-day trial
Cons:
- Requires installing Adobe Creative Cloud
- Trial requires payment information
Best Free Software
1) Inkscape
This program is available for Linux, Windows and macOS but is still in beta as of August 2019 (version 0.92.4).
Thanks to it being an open source, Inkscape can be compiled into your own version. Nonetheless, there’s also an entire community that can do for you. Bug fixes, translations and more is done for free by volunteers.
Inkscape uses SVG as its native file format but supports saving your work in a bunch of file formats, including PNG (it’s there when you try to save, just look a bit closer). There are plenty of features, such as adding Javascript to your images, though you’ll have to dig through the menus to find them. This software is one that is definitely not made for beginners.
Price: Free
Pros:
- Open source code
Cons:
- Supported by volunteers (slow bug fixes)
- Difficult to learn
2) Hatchful (by Shopify)
Upon starting Hatchful, you’ll be asked to choose one of the 12 industries you want your logo to remind audiences of. This includes fashion, health, sports and so on. Next up, choose up to three of the 17 design styles, such as bold, calm, conservative etc. You can also just go with the “none of the above” choice for both cases.
You’ll be presented with 80+ ready-made logos within seconds which is pretty impressive. There’s a little overlap between them and indeed, they do look like they’ve been made by a professional. Overall, Hatchful is pretty cool and the logos are memorable but you can barely edit anything on them.
Once you provide your email address, you’ll get a ZIP file with PNG cover images already optimized for Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Youtube.
Price: Free
Pros:
- Requires zero computer expertise
- Pretty cool logos
- Already optimized PNG images sent in a ZIP file to your inbox
Cons:
- Requires an email address
- Barely any editing options
3) Desygner
This is a smartphone app for creating logos. Its main focus is optimization for social media and creating all sorts of graphical elements for Facebook, Youtube and so on, but you can also make business cards, flyers, etc.
If you don’t have a computer for creating logos, Desygner is the best choice. There’s also an online version of it that’s pretty clean, usable, and surprisingly high in quality.
Price: Free
Pros:
- Comes with a smartphone app
- Optimized for social media
Cons:
- None
4) Canva
An online-only logo creator that’s completely free, except for when you are using the optional premium images, which are $1 per image.
Logos created with Canva are minimalistic but clean and easily recognizable. They involve simple shapes, a solid background, and some text on top.
The creation process is very simple and can be done by simply typing in the name of your company and clicking a few templates so that the website automatically creates a unique logo for you.
Price: Free
Pros:
- No computer expertise required
- Allows collaborative logo creation
Cons:
- Online only
- Perhaps too simplistic, even for beginners
- Requires creating an account
Besides having grown up in the design Industry, Christiaan has advised some of the world’s largest companies on their branding & packaging designs. Has been the resident judge for design awards, and has spoken at numerous global design & marketing events. Christiaan founded the London office of the award-winning Cartils agency, and has founded the DesignBro.com platform.
