The best logo designer: the best paid-for and free logo designer software

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Looking to design a logo? Some of the best logo designer software can help you do just that, even if you're a novice or non-designer. The designs won't, of course, be anywhere near as good as paying a professional designer or agency to craft your logo. But if you don't have the budget for that, and just want something that looks half decent for, say, your hobby, a personal project, a mockup or internal presentation, there are many tools to help you get you there.

In this article, you'll encounter the best logo designer for pros, for beginners and for non-designers, and we'll explain exactly which tools are likely to meet your specific needs. So if you need to create look for your brand, quickly and easily, check out these cool apps (and our guide to logo design). Whether you're looking for the best paid-for logo designer software, or the best free logo designer software, we've got you covered.

The best paid-for logo designer software

A decent logo can be crucial to your business success, so only focusing on free tools can be a false economy. In all honesty, the best logo designer for your needs is probably going to require a bit of cash. So in the first section of this post, we round up the best logo designer software around that's paid-for; for different platforms, and for pros, novice designers and non-designers respectively.

Adobe Illustrator is the best logo designer for professional use

First launched in 1985, Adobe Illustrator has spend several decades now as the market-leading vector editor. As the name suggests, it's not just for logo creation, but is used to craft illustrations, posters, website layouts, icons and more. But it is the tool most likely to be used by professionals to design a logo. 

That’s partly because it’s very powerful and feature-rich piece of design software. It’s also because it works smoothly and efficiency with the whole Creative Cloud ecosystem, which means it’s interoperable with other Adobe apps, and you can access assets such as Adobe fonts and Adobe Stock within its interface. And it's partyly because it's been around so long, it's the indisputed industry standard.

If you’re completely new to design software, though, then there is a quite steep learning curve. Also be aware that Illustrator is not available as a one-off download but solely as part of a monthly subscription, which can be quite expensive (although our Adobe Creative Cloud discount article can help keep the price down). 

To get up to speed with designing logos using Adobe Illustrator, check out this Adobe tutorial and our own walkthrough, Design a Killer Logo in Illustrator.

Create logo designs easily using Canva Logo Maker's drag-and-drop interface

If you’re a novice designer with little or no experience of creative software, something like Adobe Illustrator can be a little scary. In contast, you’ll find that Canva Logo Maker makes it easy to create a nice-looking logo using a drag-and-drop interface that works right in the browser. 

You can use one of Canva’s professionally designed logo templates to get started, then add your brand name, and start tweaking the elements until you’ve crafted a design you’re happy with. Once you’re done, you can download and share your finished logo as PNG file. 

If you use your own images and graphics then you won’t pay a penny from start to finish, while the graphic elements in the library start from $1 a pop. Overall, our favourite thing about Canva Logo Maker is how easy it use to use, with helpful pop-up instructions guiding you through from start to finish.

Some examples of logos created by Tailor Brands' AI-powered logo design software

In our view, Tailor Brands Logo Maker is the best logo designer software for non-designers: people without a creative bone in their bodies. Because, quite simply, it does all the designing for you.

It begins by asking you to type in your logo wording, then presents you with a series of typographical options and asks which you like better (you can also choose ‘I dislike both’). It’s a bit like taking a pop quiz on Facebook, and only takes a minute or two to make your choices. 

Once you’re done, the tool harnesses some clever AI to conjure up a selection of potential logo designs based on your choices, which can be either icon-based, initial-based or name-based. If you like one of them as they are, then you’re free to go ahead and download as an SVG or EPS file (at which point you pay). If you sort-of like one of them, you can start to customise the text, typeface, colours etc, with simple in-browser tools until you’re happy. 

At this point, to get access to the hi-res logo files, you’ll have to pay from £2.99 per month, billed annually. This might sound like a lot of money, but there’s plenty more thrown in too, including a logo resize tool, your logo in different social media sizes, plus a graphic design tool, stock photos and icons, and an AI-driven website builder.  

In short, if you’re a non-designer looking for a bundle of marketing and website services, along with a bespoke logo design, then this is well worth considering. 

Designhill uses AI to make creating logos easy for non-designers

Designhill Logo Maker is powered by AI and works in a very similar way to Tailor Brands’ tool (above). You enter your details, pick a range of colours and designs that you like the look of, and then the software produces a number of bespoke designs for you to choose from, and/or customise. 

The main difference is in the pricing: while Tailor Brands Logo Maker charges you a subscription, Designhill wants a one-off fee of £50 to download and own your logo. That might seems like a lot of money, but the logo generation itself is quick, easy and free, so if you're a non-designer it's definitely worth trying. After all, if it auto-generates a logo you absolutely love, then that's not really a lot of money at all.

ICONA Logo Maker is surprisingly powerful logo designer software for iOS

ICONA Logo Maker is a paid-for app ($2.98) for iPhone and iPad that most educated people will probably swipe past on the App Store, thanks to its misspelled tagline “Porfessional Logo Studio”. Typos aside, however, this logo designer software is surprisingly sophisticated. Boasting more than a million customisable designs, 350K+ image backgrounds and custom hues ranging from solid colours to gradients, there’s a lot of flexibility on display here, making it more likely you’ll create something that doesn’t look like everybody’s else logo. 

You can customise your design further with a range of advanced controls, including smart layering, fill and stroke colouring, solid and gradient colouring, type kerning and leading, and grid snapping. Of course, non-designers won’t know what most of that means, and thus will probably be better off with one of the simpler tools on this list. But if you’re a novice designer who doesn’t want to spend a lot of time in a tool like Illustrator (and/or spend significant money), this app might be right up your street. 

Logo Design Studio Pro Online lets you create unlimited logos, quickly and easily

Despite having 'Pro' in the title, Logo Design Studio Pro isn't really for professionals. Instead, it's closer to something like Canva Logo Maker in providing a simple interface that makes it easy for novice designers to craft a basic logo. 

With tools 2-4 on this list, the creation process is free, and you pay when you download the logo. Logo Design Studio Pro, conversely, charges you to use the software itself, but allows you to design as many logos as you like. As we went to press, you had the choice of paying $29.99 for a single month, or $19.99 per month if you sign up for a year.

There are plenty of included assets to help you complete your logo, including thousands of templates and graphics, and hundreds of commercially licensed fonts. If you're only looking to create one logo, this app is probably overkill, but if you want to create lots, it might well be worth the subscription.

The best free logo designer software

While it can pay to invest in logo designer software, sometimes you just need a quick and simple logo design as a placeholder, before you sort out a more sophisticated design further down the line. 

However, if you Google "free logo designer software" then beware! Many of the results will bring you to logo tools that seem to be free, but actually charge you once you want to download your logo. These three tools, however, allow you to both create AND download your logo for free (albeit with some restrictions). Read on to discover the best free logo designer software available today...

Shopify Hatchful is the best free logo designer software around

Shopify is a paid-for platform for building your own ecommerce website, and very good it is too. But you don't need to subscribe to Shopify to use Shopify Hatchful: it's a separate app that's absolutely free. You can use it within the browser, or download the free iOS or Android app.

You start by answering a series of questions about your type of business and the kind of style you're looking for, and then the software generates a series of logos for you to choose from. Click on the one you like and you can then tweak it in terms of colours, fonts and layout. It's all pretty basic, but the logos look very decent and there are no hidden charges: it's all absolutely free. 

Squarespace Logo Creator is super-fast and fuss-free

Squarespace is another paid-for website building platform, and they were pretty much the first to offer their customers free logo designer software. Compared to the other tools on this list, though, Squarespace Logo Creator is an extremely basic logo designer. 

You tell the browser-based app your company name and it generates you a logo. You can choose a symbol from the Noun Project, and that's about it in terms of customisation. Then it's time to download your logo.

Not a huge amount of sophistication on offer, then. But if you just want a quick logo and don't really care about the design, as long as it looks okay, then this is the fastest and easiest way to do it. However, be aware that you need to be a Squarespace customer to get a high-res version of your logo for free. Otherwise you can download the low-res version for free, but you'll have to pay $10 for the high-res file.

Ucraft is the best free logo designer software for crafting your own logo from scratch

Don't want an auto-generated logo but would rather craft something of your own, from scratch? Website building platform Ucraft offers a Free Logo Maker that lets you do exactly that, for free. Click on the 'Text' button, type your text and tweak the size, font, etc. Then add shapes, icons and/or backgrounds to complete your design. 

As far as design tools go, this is no Adobe Illustrator. But it is very easy to use, and unlike with other so-called "free" tools, you can download a hi-res PNG version of your logo without paying a penny. (An SVG file costs $7.) 

Read more:

• The 10 best logos of all time
• Where to find logo design inspiration
• 9 of the best monogram logos ever made

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