The Top Software For Logo Design, Free and Premium

Last updated on April 17, 2023 by Cameron Sheppard

The logo design process, as stressful as it is, does not need to be made any harder by the use of underdeveloped and difficult-to-use software.

Well, that’s my philosophy.

Some of you may prefer to draw the old-fashioned way: pen and paper. But why not take advantage of the convenient tools that technology has to offer? In this article, I’ll list my favorite apps for logo design, free and premium. Let’s go.

Canva (free)

Canva is loaded with templates and quick solutions for businesses that want to design a logo on their own. And that fact is the exact reason why it’s unpopular with graphic designers. Let me explain.

Canva primarily creates raster images. That’s a nightmare in the printing process and a COMPLETE violation of good logo design practices. But wait, there’s more.

You might find the platform’s restrictions on free media confusing. If you’re designing a logo with Canva, you cannot use any of its images, free or paid. For about anything else, you can.

Small businesses may use Canva for its short-term solutions, but in no way should it be used in the long term. A good logo is the foundation of a great brand strategy and should be the unique face of your business.

So while the platform is a quick and easy solution with many templates, you really shouldn’t use it for logo design.

Inkscape

This is my favorite open-source app for graphics design. Funny, because there’s not many, but this one blows the others out of the ink. (Get it?)

With Inkscape, you can basically do all of the things that Adobe Illustrator can do. The only reason you might choose Illustrator is because of the industry-standard .AI file format for graphic deliverables.

Inkscape’s UI has its benefits, but one thing you may find is that some panels are hidden and hard-to-find. For example, changing a shape’s stroke requires you to scan the bottom toolbar for the tiny fill and stroke boxes. Your choices of color palettes are hidden behind a…hamburger menu icon?

There’s another thing that might screw up your graphic design process: Inkscape isn’t great at handling raster content. Yes, you can import JPEGs and PNGs, but the program’s tools are meant for vectors. Let me give you an example.

If you want to draw only inside a selected area in a shape (something that Photoshop handles well but Inkscape doesn’t), then you might be forced to use Boolean operations. Yeah, you’re with me in not knowing what the heck that means.

But if you can get past the minor errors, Inkscape is all around a good tool to use for logo design.

Adobe Illustrator

There can’t be a ‘favorite app’ list without mentioning a product from the Adobe suite. But the products just have so many advantages as well as being backed by a reliable developer team that believes in constant updates to their software. Let me tell you more.

Adobe Illustrator is the primary app I use for designing logos, and for good reason. The UI has a perfect degree of complexity. And the gridlines, well, you can manipulate them to draw the most bizarre of shapes. But wait, there’s more.

Adobe’s fonts are licensed for commercial use. No longer do you have to pay for typographies based on monthly pageviews or use in mobile apps.

Moreover, you have the convenience of saving to the cloud. Your assets are even cross-compatible with other Adobe products.

What about the learning curve?

It’s not that bad.

Once you learn the basic layout (which took me a total of ten minutes), the rest of its usability really comes down to your skill as a designer. Anything difficult can be left up to YouTube.

Final thoughts

I was initially going to call this article ‘The Best Software For Logo Design’ but found myself critiquing each one. Oh well. Software can’t be perfect.