The 17 Best Graphic Design Software (2024) (2024)

Social Media Templates: Adobe Express

Adobe Express is an all-in-one web-based graphic design app that boasts a massive range of image and video tools for all kinds of projects. Numerous templates are available that let you quickly dive in and begin producing image or video posts for social media or other online platforms. Many are meant to help you create traditional PDF files and posters.

The UI is straightforward, with most of the main features available for free. Adobe Firefly, Adobe’s AI tool, can generate images in-app or edit existing images with text prompts, though prompts are limited to 25 credits per month for free users. Credits are required for each AI task. The $9.95 Premium monthly membership unlocks 250 credits, AI video editing tools, and stock image access.

Casual Graphic Design: Canva

Launching back in 2013 as one of the first web-based graphic design platforms, Canva has since expanded its offerings to include even more templates for a wider variety of formats, stock photos, video editing tools, and even AI-powered image editing and text writing.

As always, Canva is a good choice for designing PDFs, business cards, and posters, but it’s also now a solid choice for creating more ambitious design projects of various sizes.

Free Image Editing For Beginners: Paint.NET

Paint.NET is a free image editing app for Windows that comes with all of the tools one would need for doing some basic photo editing or graphic creation. In Paint.NET, you can adjust levels, install custom brushes, and use the Magic Wand to select areas. Layers, cropping, and resizing are also supported. It’s basically Adobe Photoshop from the early 2000s, but it is free and continually updated with bug fixes and improvements.

Paint.NET isn’t for everyone, though. If you’re a pro graphic designer or photographer who needs to manage large numbers of files and requires more advanced features, you’ll likely be better off with an Adobe or Affinity app. For beginner and casual use, though, Paint.NET is ideal.

Professional Stylus Drawing: Autodesk SketchBook

For those looking for an excellent app to draw with, it’s hard to beat Autodesk SketchBook. This app used to be a premium paid app, but it’s since gone entirely free with its numerous features and tools unlocked. You really can’t ask for a better deal with drawing apps than this one.

SketchBook supports touch, mouse, and stylus for drawing, and there are loads of brushes, inks, rulers, and more to help you create the digital artwork you envision.

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Biggest Memes Resource: ImgFlip

When you need to jump on a viral meme trend for a design project, few places are more reliable than ImgFlip. The popular meme images are available to view, download, and edit with just a few clicks, while the built-in text tools let you insert your message without switching apps.

A $9.95 monthly fee is required to remove the watermark from any created meme.

Interactive Graphic Design: Genially

Genially is the best software for graphic design projects requiring professional-looking graphs, charts, maps, and interactive games. The web-based interface boasts an enormous library of free templates, each of which can be fully customized, from the fonts and colors to the images and data behind each chart.

You can upload your images, but Genially also has its built-in library to browse, plus a solid selection of high-quality animated GIFs for when you want to make a presentation a bit more fun. All projects made with a free account can be shared online via a unique URL, but you’ll need to pay about $20 a month for Pro membership if you want to export your creations as images, movies, or code for offline viewing.

Best Free AI Image Creator: Microsoft Copilot

There are numerous AI image creation tools out there, but Microsoft’s Copilot (previously Bing AI) is by far one of the best. You can also access Copilot within the official Bing smartphone apps as well.

High-quality images can be created within seconds of typing a prompt, and several AI-powered edits and filters can also be applied after the fact.

Testing Tattoo Designs: InkHunter

InkHunter is a free app for iOS and Android devices that lets you preview tattoo designs on yourself or others via augmented reality. You can select tattoos from the app’s large library of designs, create custom text tattoos, or create your own by uploading an image.

While InkHunter lacks the ability to draw or paint a tattoo, it does feature a conversion tool that removes colors and enhances outlines from images. This lets you turn any image into a tattoo design, though the results will vary depending on the image used.

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Easiest AI Logo Creator: Looka

Looka is an AI-powered logo creator tool that lets you make and customize a professional-grade logo for your brand within minutes using only your web browser. After choosing your industry and aesthetic, Looka generates many high-quality logos, which can be further tailored to your specific tastes.

Unfortunately, Looka's logos aren’t free, but they can be purchased with a one-off fee of around $65. Several file sizes and formats are available to choose from.

Best Collaborative Vector App: Vectr

Vectr is a robust image editor dedicated to the creation and editing of vector images. The entire service is web-based and works in most major web browsers, so you don't need to download an app to use its features. This web-focused approach also allows for Vectr’s collaboration feature, which lets you share your workspace with others so that they can watch your progress in real time. Some basic AI image editing tools are also available.

Vectr is free, though a Premium monthly fee is needed to unlock all elements and remove ads. The $3.99 Premium subscription also unlocks 1GB of space and 50 AI credits, while the $5.99 Premium plan unlocks 3GB and grants 120 AI credits.

Best App for Color Palette Inspiration: Palette Cam

Palette Cam is a free, lightweight app for selecting color codes, creating palettes, and finding artistic inspiration. The UI is easy to use, requiring you to simply tap different parts of an image to save the appropriate color details. Multiple colors can be selected per image, and each palette can be saved along with the image for easy access later on or for sharing on social media.

The app lets you take a photo or upload an image from your device, though the main appeal of Palette Cam is its massive library of high-quality and diverse stock photos, which are perfect for when creativity is running low.

Best App for Collaborations and Pitches: Microsoft Whiteboard

Microsoft Whiteboard is one of the best apps for brainstorming and communicating with teammates and clients. This app lets you quickly sketch a design concept in a meeting. You can also import image files allows for more detailed presentations when needed.

The main appeal of Microsoft Whiteboard is its focus on collaboration. All changes made to a digital board are uploaded to the cloud and synced to other devices in real-time, which means that you and your client or colleague can use it to visualize thoughts while talking on the phone or via a chat service such as Zoom.

Official apps are available on Windows, iOS, and Android devices. A web app is also available, which can be accessed in a browser on any device.

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Industry Standard Graphic Design Tools: Adobe Creative Cloud

It’s impossible to talk about graphic design apps without mentioning Adobe’s suite of products. Most design professionals have likely used at least a couple of Adobe apps, and many clients and companies require their use. The main four Adobe apps are Photoshop for creating and editing images, Illustrator for vector artwork, Lightroom for organizing photos, and InDesign for creating print media, though there are several niche services that many people use.

Access to these apps is available with a monthly Adobe Creative Cloud subscription of $59.99 (frequently discounted to $35.99). However, individual apps can also be obtained with solo app-specific subscriptions ranging from $4.99 to $19.99 monthly.

Best Subscription-Free Photoshop Alternative: Affinity Photo 2

Affinity Photo 2 is undoubtedly the best alternative to Photoshop. Affinity Photo 2 has all of the primary features found in Photoshop and can be used for any graphic design project you’d typically use. It also supports the importing and exporting of Photoshop's PSD file format so there’s no issue using it when working with a client who’s a Photoshop loyalist.

Affinity Photo 2 lacks some of Photoshop’s newer features, such as one-click object selection and AI asset generation. However, if you don’t need those tools and want to avoid an ongoing Adobe subscription, Affinity Photo 2 is a no-brainer.

Available on iPad, Mac, and Windows.

Best Subscription-Free InDesign Alternative: Affinity Publisher 2

Affinity Publisher 2 is arguably the best software for graphic designers looking for something like Adobe InDesign that doesn’t need a monthly subscription. Publisher 2 features all of the main functions found in InDesign for creating magazines, books, and marketing materials. It also tends to load and run faster than InDesign too.

However, unlike Affinity Photo 2, which can be used seamlessly with Photoshop, Affinity Publisher 2 doesn’t support InDesign INDD files which can make collaborating with large clients who use InDesign difficult. For smaller teams and freelancers, though, Publisher 2 is worth considering.

Available on iPad, Mac, and Windows.

Best Subscription-Free Illustrator Alternative: Affinity Designer 2

Affinity Designer 2 is a solid rival to Adobe Illustrator regarding vector creation software. Designer 2 matches almost all of Illustrator’s features, is less intimidating, and requires fewer system resources.

The main downside of Affinity Designer 2 is its inability to save projects in Adobe Illustrator's AI file format which is incredibly common in the graphic design industry. Finished files can be exported as PNG and a host of other file types, though, so this is only an issue if collaborating with someone who requires AI files.

Available on iPad, Mac, and Windows.

Best Tool for Royalty-Free Stock Photos: Unsplash

If you’re working on a graphic design project, you’ll likely need high-quality stock photography, and it’s hard to beat Unsplash. Unsplash is completely free to use, web-based, and boasts a library of over 3 million photos taken by professional photographers. All photos are royalty-free, meaning you don’t need to pay or ask permission to use them. Various resolutions are available.

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