Best Design Software 2021

Design software is built to help various types of businesses create graphics and content. These can include presentations, social media posts, posters, and infographics. There are design systems that focus primarily on ready-made and highly shareable content for marketing purposes, as well as more targeted solutions dedicated to prototyping or photo editing.

These solutions typically offer features like design templates, photo editing, collaboration, and cloud storage. Design software provides value for a wide range of user types. Generally, small businesses with simple graphic design and marketing needs will find entry-level solutions like Canva and Visme helpful.

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Highest Rated Design Software

Design software is used by all types of businesses for their content creation and graphic design needs.

Figma
Rating: 96
Starting Price: Free

Figma is a design and prototyping software used by a wide range of businesses to collaborate on interactive prototypes and designs. Over four million users have used Figma for their design needs. Its standout points are its collaboration features and robust tool kit.

Pros:
  • Figma is browser-based and can be used by anyone
  • Figma’s interactive prototyping is intuitive to set up
  • Figma comes with a wide breadth of easily installable templates
Cons:
  • Figma does not offer offline access
  • Photo editing is basic in Figma
  • Figma’s free plan comes with only one team project
Adobe Illustrator
Rating: 94
Starting Price: $20.99 per month

Adobe Illustrator is a design software used by experienced graphic designers to create scalable and high-quality graphics. Its standout points are its tool kit and exporting options.

Pros:
  • Adobe Illustrator’s tool kit is very advanced
  • Adobe Illustrator comes with a number of high quality export options for printing
  • Adobe Illustrator’s user interface is highly customizable
Cons:
  • Adobe Illustrator’s learning curve is steep
  • Adobe Illustrator does not come with as many templates as Canva or Visme
  • Collaboration in Adobe Illustrator is not real time
Adobe Photoshop
Rating: 94
Starting Price: $20.99 per month

Adobe Photoshop is a design software used by a wide range of businesses to create and edit photos. Its standout feature is its highly advanced tool kit.

Pros:
  • Adobe Photoshop is the best tool for photo editing
  • Adobe Photoshop can easily remove unwanted elements from your photos
  • Adobe Photoshop’s tools allow for a wide range of use cases
Cons:
  • Adobe Photoshop is relatively more expensive than alternatives
  • Adobe Photoshop comes with a very steep learning curve
  • You cannot directly post to social media with Adobe Photoshop
Canva
Rating: 93
Starting Price: Free

Canva is a design software used by a wide range of businesses to create ready-made presentations, social media posts, and videos. Over 30 million users have used Canva for their design needs. Its standout points are its user-friendliness and content planner.

Pros:
  • Canva is browser-based and can be used by anyone
  • Canva is very user-friendly and built for businesses with little to no experience
  • Canva comes with a wide array of well designed templates
  • Canva’s content planner automates social media posts for your business
Cons:
  • Canva does not offer advanced photo editing features
  • Version history is limited in Canva
  • Canva’s customer service team can take up to a week to respond to free users
Sketch
Rating: 93
Starting Price: $9 per month

Sketch is a design and prototyping software used by a wide range of businesses to create interactive prototypes and designs. Over one million users have used Figma for their design needs. Its standout features are its extensive tool kit and customizable user interface.

Pros:
  • Sketch’s tool kit is very powerful for user experience designers
  • Sketch is very user friendly and its interface is highly customizable
  • Creating interactive product demos is easy to do in Sketch
Cons:
  • Sketch is only available on Mac
  • Sketch’s version control is not as user friendly as Figma
  • Sketch is not fully cloud-based which hinders team collaboration
Adobe XD
Rating: 91
Starting Price: $9.99 per month

Adobe XD is a design and prototyping software used by a wide range of businesses to collaborate on interactive prototypes and designs. Its standout points are its collaboration features and Adobe Creative Cloud integrations.

Pros:
  • Adobe XD can natively leverage assets and editing from Illustrator and Photoshop
  • Adobe XD’s prototyping is flexible and easy to set up
  • Adobe XD offers real time editing
Cons:
  • Comments can only be made on Adobe XD’s browser version
  • Adobe XD does not come with a free plan with collaboration like Figma
  • Adobe XD’s base photo editing is limited
Visme
Rating: 89
Starting Price: Free

Visme is a design software used by a wide range of businesses to create ready-made presentations, infographics, and documents. Over 10 million users have used Visme for their design needs. Its standout points are its user-friendliness and tool kit.

Pros:
  • Visme is browser-based and can be used by anyone
  • Visme is very user-friendly and built for businesses with little to no experience
  • Visme’s tool kit is more robust than its closest alternatives
  • Visme helps build your brand kit through its branding feature
Cons:
  • Visme does not offer advanced photo editing features
  • Uploading content to social media platforms is easier to accomplish in Canva than Visme
  • Visme’s plans do not come with as much cloud storage as alternative tool
InVision
Rating: 87
Starting Price: Free

InVision is a design and prototyping software used by a wide range of businesses to collaborate on interactive prototypes and designs. Over seven million users have used InVision for their design needs. Its standout feature is its design tool kit.

Pros:
  • InVision’s paid plan is affordable
  • InVision comes with highly customizable prototype transitions
  • InVision offers helpful and interactive design tutorials as templates
Cons:
  • Files must be uploaded manually to InVision’s web app for collaboration
  • InVision does not support version control
  • InVision’s photo editing is very limited
PicMonkey
Rating: 86
Starting Price: $7.99 per month

PicMonkey is a design software used by a wide range of businesses to create ready-made presentations, social media posts, and videos. Over 450,000 users have used PicMonkey for their design needs. Its standout points are its photo editing features and social media integrations.

Pros:
  • PicMonkey is affordable for individual users
  • PicMonkey’s photo editing options are extensive compared to alternatives
  • PicMonkey can directly post to a high number of social media platforms
Cons:
  • Collaboration is only available with PicMonkey’s most expensive plan
  • PicMonkey cannot create advanced charts and graphs
  • PicMonkey does not support version control
Adobe Spark
Rating: 85
Starting Price: Free

Adobe Spark is a design software best for businesses with simple design needs who already own Adobe Creative Cloud.

Pros:
  • Adobe Spark is more accessible for newer designers than other Adobe products
  • Adobe Spark is relatively affordable
  • Adobe Spark’s customer service is very quick to respond
Cons:
  • Adobe Spark’s free plan comes with watermarks for videos
  • You cannot create graphs in Adobe Spark
  • Real time collaboration is not offered in Adobe Spark
  • Adobe Spark does not offer version control for files

Design Software Prices

Design software prices range from $0 to $50 per user per month. Most small businesses will pay around $10 to $15 dollars per user per month for design software. Here are details that will help you compare prices for the most popular design software platforms.

Software VendorStarting Monthly Price per UserFree Trial
FigmaFreeYes
Adobe Illustrator$20.99Yes
Adobe Photoshop$20.99Yes
CanvaFreeYes
Sketch$9Yes
Adobe XD$9.99Yes
VismeFreeYes
InVisionFreeYes
PicMonkey$7.99Yes
Adobe Spark$9.99Yes

Design Software FAQs

Design software allows small and medium sized businesses to create content, facilitate team collaboration, and edit their photos.

There are numerous benefits that design software offers. This includes:

  • Creating and storing presentations, graphic designs, and social media posts
  • Editing photos and graphics
  • Creating interactive prototypes
  • Automating social media posts with a content planner

The cost of design software depends on how many team members you have. You can expect to spend about $0 to $15 per month per user depending on which software and plan you're purchasing.

The best design software for you depends on what your business needs. The best software for small businesses with simple graphic design needs is Canva. Companies in need of the most advanced solutions for either photo editing or prototyping will find Adobe Photoshop or Figma ideal.

Canva is one of the most popular design tools in the market today. It has served over 30 million users.

The most common design software features are:

  • Design template creation
  • Content creation
  • Photo editing
  • Prototyping
  • Cloud storage
  • Collaboration

Design Software Research & Advice

Design Software Comparison

By Yousef Fatehpour |

With several high-quality options to choose from, it can be hard to find the best design software for you. We've spent over 100 hours...Read More >

Figma Competitors & Alternatives

By Yousef Fatehpour |

Are you considering purchasing Figma to manage your design needs? Before making the purchase, it’s best to learn about Figma’s top...Read More >

Visme Competitors & Alternatives

By Yousef Fatehpour |

Are you considering purchasing Visme to manage your design needs? Before making the purchase, it’s best to learn about Visme’s top...Read More >

Canva Competitors & Alternatives

By Yousef Fatehpour |

Are you considering purchasing Canva to manage your design needs? Before making the purchase, it’s best to learn about Canva’s top...Read More >

Canva vs. Visme

By Yousef Fatehpour |

Is Canva or Visme the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you decide which design tool is the...Read More >

Figma vs. Sketch

By Yousef Fatehpour |

Is Figma or Sketch the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you decide which design tool is the...Read More >

Why You Should Trust Our Recommendations

The team at SoftwarePundit has been testing software since 2017. We’ve hand-tested over 250 software products in that time, including four in the design category. We applied the same rigorous process to each piece of design software that we analyzed. The specifics of our design category research process are outlined below.

Yousef led our analysis of design software. He has spent more than 250 hours evaluating leading design software solutions.

In addition, all research and content was overseen by Bruce Hogan, SoftwarePundit’s Co-founder & CEO. Bruce has more than a decade of experience researching, building, and reviewing the world’s best software products. His technology advice has been featured on a wide range of media sites such as AngelList, CMSWire, Dental Economics, iPhone Life, Reader’s Digest, Thrive Global, U.S. News, and the Zapier Blog.

How We Selected the Best Design Software

We selected the best design software based upon a number of criteria. The most important criteria were each software tool’s features, usability, price, and customer support. The details of our analyses are captured in the in-depth reviews we publish about each software tool.

There are a handful of critical features that you should look for in design software. We prioritized the following features in our analysis:

  • Designs: Different design software systems offer different design types. For example, prototyping software may be limited to wireframes. Solutions geared towards small businesses with minimal design experience usually offer an array of design types, including presentations, videos, social media posts, and infographics.
  • Tool Kit: The breadth of tools a design software offers in its tool kit is critical for both new and experienced designers. A robust tool kit gives users more flexibility in what they can and cannot create in any given design software.
  • Collaboration: Many design tools offer a multitude of ways to communicate and collaborate with your company team members. The best solutions offer user-friendly, real time collaboration with detailed commenting features.
  • Exporting & Sharing: Flexible exporting and sharing options are important for designers. This is especially true for users looking for print-friendly PDFs or marketers interested in uploading their designs directly to social media.

How We Evaluated Design Software

We used the same rigorous process to evaluate design software as all other software categories. For the design category, Yousef invested several weeks researching the market, testing out key design features, and publishing his insights about the tools.

Yousef signed up for free trials of each solution listed above to gain a deeper understanding of each design tool. This allowed him to authenticate the features offered by each solution. He spent hours testing each tools’ user interface, design types, tool kit, and exporting options. He also downloaded the mobile app version of design solutions to understand the mobile experience for small businesses.

In addition to conducting conversations with the software companies and hand-testing every piece of software, Yousef also spent dozens of hours interviewing real customers of the software tools listed above. Design software customers that provided insights that were included in our analysis and reviews were:

  • Christian Ungureanu: Christian Ungureanu is a senior digital marketer of QuickMail. He currently uses Figma.
  • Huy Doan: Huy Doan is a digital marketer at Collato. His company currently uses Canva.
  • Chukwuemeka Chukwudi: Chukwuemeka Chukwudi is a blogger at DepreneurDigest. His company currently uses Canva.
  • Patty Malowney: Patty Malowney is the creator of Badass Web Goddess. She currently uses Canva.
  • Aaron Thomas: Aaron Thomas is a managing director at Hive19. His company currently uses Adobe Photoshop.
  • Denis Jastrzebski: Denis Jastrzebski is the owner of Hawking Design. His company currently uses Figma.
  • Oliver Feakins: Oliver Feakins is the CEO of Trusted Search Marketing. His company currently uses Canva, Sketch, and Figma.