Design Software Comparison
As the design space becomes increasingly popular, comparing the best solutions becomes more time-consuming and challenging.
We've spent dozens of hours hand-testing the leading document software platforms, and interviewing businesses to understand their experiences with the top solutions. The details of our research process can be found on our article covering the best design platforms.
Below, you'll find several resources that provide in-depth analyses comparing design platforms.
Table of Contents
- How To Compare Design Software
- The Most Popular Design Solutions Vs. Competitors
- Comparing Popular Design Solutions Against Each Other
- Bottom Line
How To Compare Design Software
There are nine design platforms that you should consider. As you learn about each tool, it's helpful to focus on how advanced the platform is and its price point.
As you can see, more advanced solutions are oftentimes more affordable in the design space. Different systems are built for different size customers. For example, Adobe Illustrator is built primarily for scalable graphic design. Canva and Visme, however, have pricing and feature tiers tailored specifically for small businesses.
Regardless, all the top systems offer the same core features. The primary features in design software are:
- Designs
- Tool Kits
- Collaboration
- Exporting & Sharing
In terms of price, you can expect to pay between $0 and $25 per user per month for your design software. Pricing is based on how many team members you have.
Design Comparison Overview
Our analyst rating is based upon four main criteria: features, usability, pricing, and customer support. A SoftwarePundit Analyst rating over 85 is above average, and above 90 is excellent.
| Software Company | Analyst Rating | Features | Usability | Pricing | Customer Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Figma | 96 | 9.5 | 10 | 10 | 8.5 |
| Adobe Illustrator | 94 | 10 | 9 | 8.5 | 10 |
| Adobe Photoshop | 94 | 10 | 9 | 8.5 | 10 |
| Canva | 93 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| Sketch | 93 | 9 | 10 | 9.5 | 8.5 |
| Adobe XD | 91 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.5 | 10 |
| Visme | 89 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 10 |
| InVision | 87 | 8 | 9 | 9.5 | 8.5 |
| PicMonkey | 86 | 8 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 9 |
| Adobe Spark | 85 | 7 | 9.5 | 9 | 10 |
For more details, you can read our review methodology.
The Most Popular Design Solutions Vs. Competitors
If you know the design tool that you're most interested in, it's also useful to see how it stacks up against its top competitors. Here are analyses that compare the most popular design tools against their top competitors.
Adobe Illustrator Competitors & Alternatives
Adobe Illustrator is an advanced design software built for intermediate and advanced graphic designers in need of the most flexible scalable graphic design tool. Although its tool kit allows for various use cases, Illustrator is not the ideal tool for newer designers in need of more guided and beginner-friendly design software.
Read our Illustrator Review.
Adobe Photoshop Competitors & Alternatives
Adobe Photoshop is the best option for experienced designers in need of highly advanced photo creation and editing features. Photoshop’s tool kit is built for a variety of use cases and is highly adaptable. However, this flexibility comes at the expense of an easy learning curve.
Read our Photoshop Review.
Figma Competitors & Alternatives
Figma is a powerful prototyping software built primarily for user experience designers and design teams in need of strong collaboration features. Figma’s free plan as well as its web browser support make it far more accessible than its direct counterparts, Sketch and Adobe XD. This accessibility also makes Figma a viable option for beginners in prototyping software.
Read our Figma Review.
Visme Competitors & Alternatives
Visme is a robust design software built for small business owners in need of ready-made and editable content. Visme’s tool kit is slightly more advanced than Canva’s and therefore offers more flexibility in creating presentations, infographics, and documents. However, marketers will find that Canva’s social media integrations and content calendar more suited for their needs.
Read our Visme Review.
Canva Competitors & Alternatives
Canva is a robust design software built for marketers, bloggers, and other small business owners in need of ready-made and highly shareable content. Canva makes creating presentations, videos, and social media posts very simple to do. In doing so, however, Canva loses much of the flexibility more advanced alternatives like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator offer.
Read our Canva Review.
Comparing Popular Design Solutions Against Each Other
One of the best ways to understand the differences between design software tools is to compare one solution against another. We've written in-depth guides comparing the top design tools against each other.
Canva vs. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is best for businesses in need of truly advanced photo editing and design software, no matter the steep learning curve. Canva, on the other hand, is the best option for businesses looking to create high quality graphics and videos as easily as possible, and willing to give up flexibility in features to do so.
Canva vs. Adobe Spark
Canva is the best option for businesses looking to create high quality graphics and videos as easily as possible. Although Adobe Spark is easy to use and affordable, each feature it offers is respectively more robust in Canva.
Canva vs. PicMonkey
Canva is the best option for businesses looking to create high quality graphics and videos as easily as possible. Although PicMonkey is easy to use and affordable, each feature it offers is respectively more robust in Canva.
Canva vs. Visme
Canva is the best option for businesses looking to create high quality graphics and videos as easily as possible. Although Visme is easy to use and slightly more powerful, Canva is more affordable and has more robust social media sharing features.
Figma vs. InVision
Figma is the best option for businesses looking to create high quality wireframes and interactive prototypes. Although InVision is also effective, its collaboration and workflow limitations as well as its lack of a free plan make Figma the better option.
Figma vs. Adobe XD
Figma is the best option for businesses looking to create high quality wireframes and interactive prototypes. Although Adobe XD is also effective, its features might not be best suited for users who do not already have Adobe Creative Cloud plans.
Figma vs. Sketch
Figma is the best option for businesses looking to create high quality wireframes and interactive prototypes. Although Sketch is also effective, it is only available through paid plans on Mac computers, and therefore does not offer the flexible team collaboration that Figma does.
Adobe Illustrator vs. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is best for businesses in need of truly advanced photo editing and design software, no matter the steep learning curve. Adobe Illustrator, on the other hand, is the best option for advanced graphic designers looking to create high quality graphics with little beginner-friendly assistance.
Bottom Line
When comparing design platforms, you should first narrow your shortlist to the solutions we've covered above. From there, you should consider how advanced of a platform you need. Here are some of the top solutions that we recommend for your business:
- If you’re a beginner in need of design software for readymade and highly shareable content, try Canva or Visme.
- If you are interested in more robust scalable graphic creation, try Adobe Illustrator.
- If you are interested in advanced photo editing software, try Adobe Photoshop.
- If you are in need of prototyping and wireframing software, consider Sketch or Figma.