More and more simple logo design software options are entering the market. While the vast majority of professionals still use Adobe Illustrator CC, or at least a comparable vector design program such as Affinity Designer. These powerful tools offer pretty much all the creative freedom you could want in logo design software.
However, these tools have steep learning curves, and many small businesses don't have the resources to be able to employ a designer who knows how to use them. See our pick of the best graphic design software for a full range of options, or see our pick of the best free logo designer software if you're on a tighter budget.
But if you're a novice, and you want simple, intuitive logo design software that can get you a usable result fast, the guide below is for you. We've tested out the tools below and think that pretty much anyone should be able to use them. Of course, getting a great result will generally require having some awareness and knowledge of design, but you can see our guide to how to design a logo for tips.
The best simple logo design software alternatives
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01. Canva
An intuitive drag-and-drop interface, simple but effective design functionality, and an extensive range of high-quality templates make browser-based tool Canva a leading choice for non-designers and time-poor professionals alike.
Canva is not exclusively geared up for logo design – it's been expanding considerably over the years as it aims to become a one-stop design platform. However, there are over a hundred logo design templates to get you started.
If your budget is tight, you can make use of Canva's free elements, or upgrade to its higher-quality options. If you prefer, you can import your own straight into the tool, or use premium assets from your favourite stock library. See our full Canva review for more details.
02. Squarespace logo maker
If you're designing and hosting your portfolio through Squarespace, it could be worth checking out its accompanying logo creation tool if you need a personal brand to adorn it. This tool's extremely basic functionality could be ideal if your time, logo design skills, or both are limited – or you just want to take advantage of the latest design trends and create something very minimal and graphic.
Using a simple drag-and-drop editor, Squarespace's logo maker enables you to arrange text and icons in various configurations, and customise their colour, shape and style. Low-res, watermarked versions are free to download, or high-res versions cost $10 – although they're free if you're already a Squarespace user.
03. Looka
Whether you choose to be terrified that artificial intelligence will ultimately swallow up all our jobs, or prefer to embrace it as an invaluable supplementary tool for designers, is entirely up to you. The people behind Looka clearly advocate the latter, as the logo design tool uses AI to aid your creative process.
Providing information about your business, as well as the types of logos, colours and other design features you admire, and Looka will auto-generate design ideas for your consideration. While it's very unlikely that professional designers will ever dabble in, or endorse, such dark arts, there seems to be a market there for non-designers with minimal budgets.
It costs just $130 for high-res, downloadable files that have never been touched by human hands, or for a bit extra, one of Looka's in-house designers will spend an hour giving it a polish. There's another suggested use, though: for $20 you get a low-resolution logo file, which could be used as a reference point for a moodboard, for instance.
04. Hatchful
From the makers of Shopify, Hatchful is another logo design tool that dabbles in some basic AI – it uses machine learning to suggest appropriate brand assets for your business, drawing on hundreds of icons and colour combinations as a starting point. There are various free templates on offer, or you can upgrade to premium templates for up to $8.99 each.
Optimised for mobile devices, this completely free tool is a great way to sketch ideas and play with different graphic combinations while you're on the move – and it could also be ideal for quick, last-minute, relatively low-profile logo design projects, such as temporary graphics for social activity.
05. Tailor Brands
Another AI-based tool, Tailor Brands promises to design you a unique, customised logo based on a series of questionnaire responses. Unlike Looka's pay-per-project approach, however, it is available on a subscription basis – ranging from $2.99 to $10.99 per month (on an annual basis).
Besides the hi-res logo assets themselves, the top-end premium package includes everything from social analytics to supplementary tools to create business cards, presentations, social ads and more.
It's an interesting model that controversially takes much of the creative process out of the hands of professional designers, offering a range of services to cater to those with no design skills. Businesses considering a tool such as Tailor Brands are unlikely to be making a direct comparison with hiring an agency, but as AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, it may well keep the industry on its toes. See our full Tailor Brands review for more details.
Looking for inspiration for your logo designs? Don't miss our pick of the best new logos and the best logos of all time.
