Around 35.5% of all content marketers use online tools to create graphics. These can be anything from logos to infographics and can help quickly and easily connect with an audience. In fact, the difference between a good and bad graphic can be the decider between success and failure in the busy world of marketing.
Yet, with so many excellent tools out there to design with, it might seem tricky to understand which ones to pick and start creating your own graphics for your small business.
Three of the most notable names in this space are BrandCrowd, LogoMaker, and Canva. They’ve all been around for a while now, and if you’ve spent any time researching the top tools, you’ve probably stumbled upon them. However, like all tools, each has its own unique uses and distinct pros and cons.
BrandCrowd vs Canva vs LogoMaker at a glance
In this article, we’ll explore BrandCrowd vs Canva vs LogoMaker, highlighting everything you need to know about graphic design tools. However, if you’re just here for a quick overview, we’ve got you covered there as well.
All three platforms are pretty good options for small businesses looking to make quick and easy graphics. To this end, they all have some things in common, such as:
- Logo design
- Print materials
- Easy-to-use platforms made for the average person
- Less expensive than software like Adobe Illustrator
Since Canva has a much wider customer base, they tend to be more of a jack-of-all-tools sort of platform and offer more utility and general use than LogoMaker or BrandCrowd; however, as we’re focusing on comparing them, we’ll limit the comparison to things each of the three does. We’ll go through them in more detail in the rest of the article, but here is a brief look at their main features:
Feature | BrandCrowd | Canva | LogoMaker |
Logo Design | Extensive library, customizable templates | Versatile designs, user-friendly | Specialized in logo creation, AI-powered |
Print Materials | Variety of print options, easy ordering | Wide range of customizable templates | Good selection of professional-looking business cards and other promotional items |
Easy-of-Use | Intuitive interface, helpful tutorials | Beginner-friendly, extensive features, but has a lot of tools, so can be overwhelming | Simple to use, clear navigation |
Pricing | Competitive prices, subscription options | Affordable, but many of the best parts are hidden behind paywalls. | Reasonable prices, free use before purchase. |
BrandCrowd: A quick overview
BrandCrowd has been around for over a decade, having been founded in December 2011. They’ve been a pretty steady friend to graphic designers ever since. More specifically, the platform is designed for use by both professionals and novices, with an extensive amount of customizable elements and intuitive editing tools.
Key features
- Logo maker: BrandCrowd’s logo maker allows users to create unique, customizable logos with ease. While you might need to make a few changes to stand out, these are great starting places.
- Business card designer: First impressions matter, and BrandCrowd’s business card designer ensures that you have the ability to make a clear, clean first impression. To this end, they have a variety of templates that you can customize to build your cards.
- Online marketplace: Sometimes, you don’t want to have to go through all the trouble of creating a logo yourself. If that sounds like you, then you’ll like BrandCrowd’s online marketplace, which offers thousands of pre-made logos from which you can choose.
BrandCrowd pricing
BrandCrowd has a free plan, which is great for testing the waters. However, its free version’s customization and download options are quite limited. Therefore, if you want the full potential of the tool, you’ll want to get the “Premium Logo Pack.” According to GetApp, for $9 per month (or $5 per month if you pay annually), you’ll get unlimited edits and even downloads of print-ready business cards and more.
Positives of BrandCrowd
- Large logo library: BrandCrowd has over 21,000 templates for users to pick from, ensuring that even the pickiest customer can find something to like.
- User-friendly personalization: The platform offers user-friendly customization tools, allowing users to modify colors, fonts, and layouts to create a logo that aligns with their unique brand identity.
What could be better
- Pricing: In comparison to some of its competitors, BrandCrowd’s pricing structure can be relatively high, which might be a barrier to entry for small businesses or startups with limited budgets.
- Lack of Originality: While the logo library is vast, some templates may lack originality or distinctiveness, leading to a risk of brand identities appearing generic or similar to others in the market.
Canva: A quick overview
Canva is a big name in the graphic design space with its user-friendly platform and wide range of templates. Founded in 2012, they’ve quickly risen to become one of the most popular tools on the market, and for good reason.
Key features
- Drag-and-drop design tools: Canva’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for anyone to create professional-looking designs, even if they have no prior experience. Simply select the elements you want to use, drag them onto your canvas and customize them to your heart’s content.
- Collaboration features: Sometimes, the best ideas come from working with others; Canva makes it easy to collaborate with team members on design projects. You can easily share designs, leave comments and work together in real time, making feedback and edits much more efficient.
- Brand kit: Canva’s brand kit feature allows you to store your brand’s colors, fonts and logos all in one place, making it easy to maintain a consistent identity across all your designs, whether social media ads or banners. This is especially useful for companies that want to be instantly recognizable to their customers.
Canva pricing
Canva offers a free plan, which is great if you’re just starting out or have a tight budget. With this option, you get access to a decent range of templates and features, but there are some limitations on premium content and tools. If you need those more advanced gadgets, like the background remover or resizing, you might want to consider upgrading to “Canva Pro,” which will set you back $12.99 per month, but it also unlocks extra elements, images, and assets.
As we mentioned in their key features section, Canva excels for teams, so they offer another price plan called “Canva for Teams.” Starting at $14.99 per month for up to five users, this plan gives you more storage, access to brand kits, and all the other perks of Pro. Plus, if you decide to pay annually, you can get a discount.
Positives of Canva
- Versatility: Canva’s extensive range of design options makes it a versatile tool for creating various visual content, from social media graphics and presentations to posters and invitations.
- Tutorials: They offer a wealth of educational resources, including tutorials, design courses, and blog articles, to help users improve their design skills and stay up-to-date with the latest design trends.
What could be better
- Paywalls: While Canva offers a free plan, many of its most useful features and assets are hidden behind a paywall. This can be a barrier for individuals or small businesses with limited budgets who could benefit from these tools, potentially limiting their ability to create high-quality designs.
- Overwhelming options: The sheer number of tools, features, and design elements available on Canva can be overwhelming for new users. This abundance of choices may make it challenging for beginners to find the right features quickly, potentially slowing down their design process and leading to frustration.
LogoMaker: A Quick Overview
At LogoMaker, our primary focus is on creating logos using an AI-driven design tool. This makes us an excellent choice for businesses that want to create professional logos quickly and easily without the expense of hiring a graphic designer or needing years of extensive visual design experience.
Key features
- AI-Logo Design: LogoMaker’s AI-powered logo generator is like having your own personal designer in your pocket. Just answer a few questions about your brand, and boom – you’ve got a custom logo.
- Branding: From business cards to custom apparel, LogoMaker can help you get your logo out to the world with a range of branding materials
- Website-Building: Why stop at a logo when you can have a whole website? LogoMaker’s website builder is easy to use and packed with features. For instance, this service includes a free domain for the first year, an SSL certificate for website security, and even options for e-commerce.
LogoMaker pricing
LogoMaker has several different plans to pick from. Including the one-time download fee of $39.99, which allows you to design and use your new logo. However, there is no fee to design with the platform, which means that you can spend as much time as you like trying out the tools and features on offer, only needing to pay when you’ve got your heart set on a design.
There are also other options for people looking for a bit more, such as the Premium plan, which offers more customization, and the Enterprise one, which offers more extensive branding tools.
Positives of LogoMaker
- Easy to use: Like Canva and BrandCrowd, we’re proud to offer an initiative, easy-to-use interface that is usable for people no matter how much experience they have in design. With thousands of templates and customization options for colors, fonts, and layouts, you can easily create the perfect logo to represent your brand. If you’re unsure about the basics of logo design, we also offer a style guide for your logo.
- Pay when you download: Moreover, we have a unique pricing model. While you can create logos for free with LogoMaker, you only pay when you want to download a high-resolution version of your design. This makes us a cost-effective way to make logos for small businesses. And with over 40 million companies globally using our platform, it’s clear that LogoMaker is a trusted and reliable choice.
Downsides of LogoMaker
- Limited customization: While LogoMaker offers a user-friendly interface and a wide selection of templates, the customization options for each logo design may be limited compared to other tools.
- Lack of advanced designs: LogoMaker focuses primarily on logo creation, which means it may lack some of the advanced design features and tools found in more comprehensive graphic design platforms.
BrandCrowd vs Canva vs LogoMaker: Design capabilities
There are a lot of factors to consider when comparing these tools, but the number one thing you’re probably interested in is ‘Which is better for graphic design?’ That’s the whole point of them, after all.
Obviously, there’s no one-size-fits-all definitive answer to this question, but let’s explore it to see if we can figure out which might suit your personal preferences best.
Logo design
When it comes to logo design, both BrandCrowd and Canva offer pretty decent general options. BrandCrowd’s logo maker is quite impressive and is purposely created to fill this niche; while Canva does not have a predetermined ‘logo maker,’ they do have plenty of templates, offering a more flexible service; however, this might make it more challenging for those to use without a design background.
On the other hand, LogoMaker takes a distinct lead on this front as a specially designed tool created to make logo design easier for the average person. Its AI-driven process means that you don’t have to worry about getting anything wrong, as the tool does all the heavy lifting for you.
Print materials
Let’s talk about print materials. All of them can help you with templates for business cards, flyers and brochures. Ultimately, though, Canva is a strong option here. With their wide range of layouts and design elements to choose from, they make it easy to create top-quality content without the need for expensive software.
LogoMaker is also pretty good here, with a wide range of different print materials that you can put your logo on, ranging from business cards to t-shirts to other promotional items. As for BrandCrowd, their print templates are usable, but they’re not as flexible or customizable as their competitors.
Which is easier to use?
If you’ve ever spent any time looking at graphic design tools, you know it can get complicated pretty fast. Look at Adobe Photoshop, for example. It’s a powerful tool, but it has a learning curve steeper than a mountain. That’s why ease of use is so important, especially if you’re not a professional designer.
So, how do Canva, BrandCrowd, and LogoMaker stack up here? Well, for starters, all of the tools are designed with the average user in mind, which means you don’t need a degree in graphic design to get started.
But let’s check them out in detail.
Canva is ever so slightly more complicated. They have a wider range of tools and features, which might seem overwhelming at first. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize it’s really intuitive to use. Plus, they’ve got a good onboarding process with plenty of tutorials and guides to help you overcome any hurdles.
As also briefly mentioned above, one thing Canva really shines at is collaboration. If you’re working with a team, this makes it a much better option, as it lets you share designs and work together with colleagues in real-time.
BrandCrowd’s interface, on the other hand, is pretty straightforward, with a simple drag-and-drop system that makes it easy to customize templates and create designs from scratch. Its search function lets you easily filter elements by industry, style, and more, which can save you a lot of time when looking for that perfect design. But, unlike Canva, BrandCrowd doesn’t quite have the same level of collaborative features.
Nevertheless, both BrandCrowd and Canva are excellent at enabling the average person to create something without feeling overwhelmed. However, if ease of use is your top priority, then LogoMaker is the tool for you. It is simple, effortless, and a breeze to navigate, even if you’ve never used a graphic design tool in your life.
More specifically, LogoMaker’s template library is well-organized and easy to browse, with clear categories and search functions that help you find the perfect starting point for your design. Once you’ve selected a template, the customization process is just as user-friendly. All it takes is a matter of clicks to transform its fonts, colors and layouts.
BrandCrowd vs Canva vs LogoMaker: Pricing
Hopefully, by now, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what these three tools can do and what sort of things they’re best suited for. You might even know which one you prefer. But like any savvy entrepreneur, you’ll want to consider pricing before making your decision.
First of all, they each offer a free version or at least a way to try them out before you pay for their extended features. However, they each have different prices in general, as you can see from the overviews at the start of the article.
Of the three free options, Canva’s version is the most generous. Still, they do paywall many of the most useful features behind their Canva Pro plan of $12.99 a month, which means their payless plan might not be of any use to you depending on what exactly you want to get out of the service.
LogoMaker, on the other hand, has just a one-time fee for your logo packages, with prices starting at $39.99 and rising to $199.99. BrandCrowd does both approaches. It has a one-time fee option where customers can pay $45 for their logos, or they can pay for their Premium Logo Packs, which are billed monthly, starting at $9 a month.
If you’re only planning on creating one logo, then LogoMaker offers arguably the best pick, as it’s not as pricey as BrandCrowd’s one-off fee, and it doesn’t sign you up to a monthly fee like the other competitors. However, if you’re just starting out, Canva’s free plan is probably good enough for your needs. But if you want an advanced, easy-to-use tool, then BrandCrowd’s plans might be the way to go.
Canva vs BrandCrowd vs LogoMaker: Which is better?
Feature | BrandCrowd | Canva | LogoMaker |
Logo Design | 4.2 | 4 | 5 |
Print Materials | 3.8 | 5 | 3.8 |
Ease-of-Use | 4 | 4.5 | 4.7 |
Pricing | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the differences between BrandCrowd vs Canva vs LogoMaker. While all the platforms offer user-friendly interfaces, they all have unique strengths and target audiences. By understanding the key features of each tool, you can figure out which one will suit you better and make an informed decision that best meets your design needs.
Happy designing!
Get started: Promote your business
If you’re looking for a specialized tool that focuses primarily on logo design and branding, you should opt for LogoMaker. We provide all sorts of services and products for businesses of all sizes, including:
- Professional Logo Designs
- Slick Business Cards
- T-Shirts and Other Promo Items
So why not give us a try today? Sign up on our website and play around with our tools for free. We’re confident you’ll love what you see!
FAQs
Why not make a logo on Canva?
While Canva offers a large range of design templates and tools, it’s not specifically designed for logo creation. If you’re looking for a tool that specializes in logo design and is accessible to individuals no matter their skill level, you might be interested in alternatives like LogoMaker.
Do you own the logo from BrandCrowd?
No, when you purchase a logo from BrandCrowd, you do not own the logo outright. The design remains a part of BrandCrowd’s template collection and can be bought and used by others as well. To own it exclusively, you must pay for a Buyout license, which ensures you’re the last person to buy that logo.
Is Canva logo design free?
Canva has a free plan that includes a limited selection of logo templates. However, if you want to access their more advanced features, you’ll need to upgrade to one of their paid plans.
Do you have to pay for Canva?
Canva offers a free plan that lets you use its features at no cost. However, if you want to use the full potential of the website, you’ll need to subscribe to one of their paid plans, which starts at $12.99 per month.