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We tested 10 free logo makers But which one is the best?

Inka WibowoJosep Garcia

By Inka & Josep

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Best logo maker

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If you have a company or brand, having a logo is a no brainer. A good logo helps people to recognize your company and sets you apart from the competition. It’s a unique way to show customers who you are. They see your logo and connect all their experiences with the brand. They will know what to expect.

Established companies like Apple, Nike and McDonald’s are a perfect example. They don’t need any text or description for their logo. You’ll know that Apple stands for sleek designs and technology, that the famous Nike Swoosh is a symbol for sports and high energy, and that McDonald’s is known worldwide for burgers and fries. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, the point is it’s immediately recognizable.

And this is what your brand needs! A logo that connects your customers with your brand. But where should you start? Well, here are three options to create a logo:

  • Hire a logo designer: A skilled designer with experience will guarantee a unique logo. The problem for many starters is the cost though.
  • DIY (Do it yourself): Bring your ideas to life with pencil and paper and digitize them on your computer. You’ll at least need some knowledge about vector graphics and a graphic program like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape.
  • Logo creator: Those are dedicated tools optimized for one purpose only: create a logo as easily as possible. No additional software is required.

Why is it so hard to create a good logo?

I’m not an expert, so every time I tried to create one, I got kinda lost and frustrated when I started from scratch. Obviously, you need to have some inspiration and creativity. Staring at a white sheet of paper is where many people already give up.

Sketching your ideas is just the first step. You’ll need the tools and skillset, mixed with a lot of experience to bring your ideas to life. What’s more, every medium works differently. What might look great on your mobile phone, won’t work on a TV screen or your business card with a dark background. There’s a lot of trial and error involved and that takes a lot of time.

You quickly realize that what looks so easy, is actually a lot of work. Have you seen Apple’s first logo? It’s more a piece of art than a logo and after a ton of iterations they’ve come where they are today.

Apple's first logo vs. Apple's current logo

Apple’s first logo / Apple’s logo in 2020

So what can you expect from this article?

Well, after researching tons of articles and tutorials about logo creation, I thought I’d give these logo creators a shot. I’m neither a design expert, nor do I have a lot of money. So let’s give them a try!

In my test, I wanted to create a logo for an imaginary company that specializes in IT security. Boring you might think, but I thought that this could be a good example of a real-life scenario.

Also, about that time, a new Terminator movie hit the theater, enough inspiration for me to stop the rise of the machines. 😉

And here are our top 10 logo makers:

1. Hatchful (Shopify)

hatchful shopify logo maker

Hatchful is a logo maker that is powered by the ecommerce powerhouse Shopify. But don’t worry, you don’t have to open an online store in order to use the logo maker. When you hit the “Get started” button, you first start by choosing a business space (e.g. fashion, health and beauty, home and garden etc.). There are twelve categories available.

Similar to Wix’s Logo Maker, Hatchful gives you several logo style variations as modern, conservative, etc. In the next step, you decide where you want to use it: online store/ website, social media or for print and “swag”.

Magically, Hatchful creates about 100 logo suggestions. Sometimes, the slogan was missing though.

Overall, the logo editor is less flexible than with Wix or Squarespace, because you don’t have a lot of creative freedom. Also, the colors are predefined.

However, what you get for free here is impressive. Hatchful automatically creates a package with several sizes for different platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and so on. No other free logo maker gives you so much for free.

Here’s the logo that I created (Hatchful has its own icon library):

hatchful logo download

> Create a logo with Hatchful (Shopify)

 

2. Namecheap Free Logo Maker

namecheap logo maker

Namecheap is one of our favorite domain and email hosting providers because their prices are indeed cheap. Creating a logo doesn’t even require a sign-up! It works straight away by feeding the logo creator with information about your company and style preferences.

Once you’re done with it, it’ll create about 100 logo suggestions, a similar process to Hatchful. Sometimes the icon or slogan was missing though.

After picking one, you can start with the finetuning. I liked the preview because apart from the typical website, business card and t-shirt preview, you’ll also see an icon preview on mobile phones for the AppStore.

At the end, Namecheap’s Logo Maker will generate a download link that you can use, or directly send to a client. That means you don’t have to send out big emails with the PNGs and vector files.

Here’s the preview of the logo that I created:

namecheap logo maker preview

> Create a logo with Namecheap

3. Wix Logo Maker

wix logo make lp

Wix doesn’t only have “stunning” website designs, it also has a “stunning” logo maker landing page. Before you can start designing, you have to create a free account. The first step is not a big surprise: type in your brand name and optionally add a slogan.

The next steps reminded me of dressing up before going on a date: should I dress rather elegantly or go casual? What I mean here, is that Wix will show several rounds of two logo options and you click on the one that you prefer each time.

Once you’ve made your choices, Wix will create a lot of different suggestions. Not every suggestion makes sense, but don’t worry, you can replace everything. The editor is very flexible because you can add your slogan in a circle and rotate everything as you wish. Obviously, not every logo needs such a feature, but it’s a nice option to have.

Once you are happy, you’ll have four download options:

  1. Free – JPG file 198 x 198px
  2. $20 – Commercial rights, standard logo png files
  3. $50 – All files incl. SVG for vector and files for social media
  4. Combo-Packages available: Website + Logo $16

Here’s the logo I created with the Wix Logo Maker:

Free Sample By Wix

> Create a logo with Wix

4. Squarespace

squarespace logo creator

Squarespace invites you with a great animation to start creating a logo. You type in your company name in a virtual business card and search for an icon that fits. Wanna add a catchy slogan like “Just do it”? No problem!

What I like here is that you can position all elements exactly the way you want. The default color is black (that’s so typical for Squarespace!) but you can come up with any kind of color combination. Similar to Jimdo, Squarespace will show you a preview on a business card, desktop monitor and t-shirt.

To download your logo, you’ll need a Squarespace account. Three variations will be available: colored, white on black and black on white. The sizes available are 500px to 5000px and will be a transparent PNG format. Unfortunately, you can’t come back to re-edit the logo.

Here is the example logo in three variations:

3 logo variations squarespace

> Create a logo with Squarespace

5. Jimdo Logo Creator

jimdo logo creator

With Jimdo you can create a website, blog and online shop. Everything under one hood. Additionally, it provides a logo creator that might come handy if you start completely from scratch. It’s a useful feature that is directly integrated in every Jimdo account.

Signing up is free. You start by typing your company name and searching for an icon. Then, you can tweak the style a little bit and define up to two colors. The creator will show you a preview for desktop, mobile phone and business card.

Jimdo gives you two download options:

  1. 0 € – Full commercial usage right, 1 JPG file (600px wide, bad for resizing, no transparency)
  2. 39 € – One Time Payment; Full commercial usage rights, Multiple hi-res file types, Resizable logo file (SVG), White version, Social media sized logo

Here’s the example logo that I could download for free:

logo

> Create a logo with Jimdo

6. Fiverr Logo Maker

Fiverr Logo Maker landing page

On Fiverr, you can get just about anything created for you – and with the launch of the Fiverr Logo Maker, that now includes logos on-demand. Although the tool was still in beta when I tested it, I have to say that it worked pretty well.

The Fiverr Logo Maker is AI-powered, so you start by typing in your brand name and slogan, and quickly answering a couple of questions. There are also a few toggles where you define your brand’s personality (e.g. classic vs modern, fun vs serious). Within seconds, you’ll have a wide selection of logos to choose from. We got around 60 designs – all created by designers on Fiverr.

Once you choose a design, you can then select a variation (usually with slightly different layouts or colors). What’s really cool is that you can preview how it looks across different mediums (digital, on business cards etc), and also customize fonts, colors, and shapes.

The quality of the designs was impressive, and most of them were relevant (the vast majority featured security-related illustrations). However, this comes at a price:

  • Essential Package – $30 for full commercial rights and high-quality, transparent PNG image
  • Professional Package – $60 for full commercial rights and all the logo files needed for websites, social media, print, and branding

So, I’d really only recommend it to those who are serious about getting a professional logo designed, and don’t mind investing a little more to get it. You don’t have to pay until you’ve settled on a design, so if you don’t like any of the ones generated for you, you can always try another logo maker.

Here’s the logo I settled on, along with some previews of how it looks across different media:

Fiverr final design

> Create a logo with Fiverr Logo Maker

7. Looka Logo Maker

looka logo maker

So far I’ve only tested the logo makers of website builders and online shops that I knew. So I thought I’d try a brand new player. My choice: Looka.

As usual, you start with your company name. Next, you select at least five logos that you like and up to three colors. Spice it up with a slogan. A small little detail that I like was the warning when the slogan appeared to be too long. It could throw off the balance of the logo.

Before the generator starts turning its wheels, you have to sign up (it’s free). From here on it’s all about fine-tuning. The share function allows you to send a preview on different mediums. So far, so good, but there is no free download available.

Looka has the following pricing model:

  • Basic: $20 PNG, but not transparent.
  • Premium: $65 High-Res files
  • Enterprise: $80 High-Res files, Social Media Kit

Even though the logo creator is pretty good, I think that it is too expensive. Again, Hatchful provides you these files for free.

Here’s what I created with Looka (as you can see they don’t have their own logo library):

looka logo preview

> Create a logo with Looka

8. Logaster

Logaster home page

Logaster describe themselves as ‘an online brand identity builder’, and it’s true that they offer more than logos. You can also get business cards, letter cards, email signatures and even favicons designed through their online tool.

Logaster’s logo maker is probably one of the easiest to use – all you have to do is type in your brand name, and you’ll automatically get a list of logos generated for you (you can keep scrolling down to get more suggestions).

The designs look decent, although they tend to be a bit generic. For instance, when I included ‘bakery’ in my brand name, I got corporate-looking logos. However, you can adjust for industry and also select colors to use/exclude, which does help to refine designs slightly.

Logaster includes some nice previews of how your logo can be used across different mediums, which can help to bring it to life. To download or edit your logo, you’ll need to sign up for a free account. You’ll then be able to download a small PNG version of your logo, and create other logos.

If you need a larger size, different format, or variation of your logo, you can then purchase one of the following packages:

  • XS – $19.99. 1 single high-resolution file, on a white background. For web use only
  • S – $49.99. 5 different color variations of your logo, plus 6 different layouts – in web and print quality. Favicons also included
  • M – $64.99. Includes files for social media use and business card designs
  • L – $89.99. Includes letterhead design, email signatures, and a brand book

Are you going to get the world’s most original logo? Maybe not. But if you’re going to be using your logo in business cards, letterheads and social media, it’s a convenient way to get all your designs created in one place.

Here’s the logo I created (with previews across different mediums):

logaster logos

> Create a logo with Logaster

9. Tailor Brands Logo Maker

tailor brands logo maker info

My next contender was the Tailor Brands Logo Maker. It has a unique approach because instead of choosing an industry, you write a small description about your company as seen in the screenshot above.

I can’t say if this really helps because in the next steps you play the typical “Choose A or B game” until you get to the point where the creator generates a couple of logos. Similar to Looka, you will have to sign up with a free account at some point.

What I noticed is that the editor felt a little bit slow and it also ignored the lower case writing of CyberNet Systems. You can download a free 320x320px JPG file or opt for a paid subscription (which I actually find not very attractive).

Different terms 1 month, 1 year, 2 years available:

  • Basic: $3.99 JPG, PNG, transparent
  • Standard $5.99 Vector files included, business card designer etc.
  • Premium $12.99 Also for social media

Here’s the free logo that I created withTailor Brands Logo Maker:

LogoSample ByTailorBrands

> Create a logo with Tailor Brands

10. Placeit Logo Maker (by envato)

placeit logo maker

Envato is one of the greatest market places for digital media: no matter if you need a theme, plugin or simply a logo. At Envato you’ll find it. And of course, they have their own logo creator, called Placeit Logo Maker.

After typing in your brand name and picking your industry, the software will directly create a ton of different logos. It also includes some variations of the name (that you can change of course).

Once you have chosen a logo, you have to create a free account in order to edit it further. The editor looks very powerful, but actually I couldn’t figure out how to remove the unwanted shadow in my test logo.

Unfortunately, a free download is not available. Placeit will give you two options:

  • One-off: $39.95; 4000x4000px png, commercial usage
  • Subscription: also includes mockups, designs and videos. $14.95/ Month + logo $19.97/ logo or $99.95/ year.

Here’s a screenshot of the logo that I recreated with Placeit:

placeit logo

> Create a logo with Placeit

Let’s summarize the pros and cons of logo makers!

Pros

 

  • Ease of use: Step by step, you choose an existing logo, modify it by picking your own colors and adding a slogan.
  • Great choice of icons: Most logo creators are based on the library of “The Noun Project”. It’s a library of over 2 Million curated icons that are free for commercial use.
  • Time saver: Most logo creators can create the same logo in different sizes and show you a preview for websites, business cards, t-shirts, etc.. This will speed up your creation process.
  • No software installation required: All you need is a modern browser! You sign up and start creating.

Cons

 

  • Icons aren’t unique: Even though the available icons are high quality, they aren’t yours only. You might even see l your chosen icon used by another company.
  • No custom fonts or icon upload: The ease of use is great, but it’s not possible to upload an existing icon or font.
  • Locked with logo maker: you can export your existing logo, but all options are saved in the logo maker platform itself.

So what’s the best choice for a logo maker?

Overall, I had a good experience with all logo makers. The ease of use is really impressive. Trying to achieve the same result with a graphic software would have been so much more complicated. And I guess I would have simply given up.

So when it comes down to price, I’d go with Hatchful or the Namecheap Logo Maker. You’ll get basically everything for free.

If you’re looking for more flexibility I’d go with Wix’s Logo Maker or Squarespace’s Logo Maker.

The other logo makers might be interesting when you either already have a website with them (e.g. Jimdo) or find a great that’s only in their specific libraries. However, some logo makers (especially Looka) should lower their prices.

And if you don’t like any of these, you can still hire a logo designer!

The authors

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Inka Wibowo

Content Manager

Hi, I'm Inka! I started using website builders and content management systems over 10 years ago, when I managed websites for clients in my first marketing role. Since then, I've worked on hundreds of web and digital projects. Now, at Tooltester, I'm happy to be able to use my experience to help users like you find the right website builder for your needs.

Josep Garcia

Content Manager

Hi there, I am Josep Garcia. Since 2014 I've been testing and writing about website builders and hosting services, and I share all my learnings at Tooltester.com. Today I am not an active staff member anymore, but I do hope you enjoyed this article. And if you have any questions, please leave me a comment below.

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We keep our content up to date

29 Oct 2021 - Added Logaster
08 Jul 2021 - Added Fiverr Logo Maker

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