99designs vs Creatomate Comparison 2026
Both cover thumbnails & cover art. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Run a design contest, pick the entry you like
Video and image templates rendered by API
At a glance
- Creatomate starts cheaper, at $45.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
99designs | Creatomate | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $249 | From $45 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | One-time purchase | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
99designs
Run a design contest, pick the entry you like
99designs, now owned by Vista, runs the contest model: post a brief and a prize, get dozens of submissions from designers around the world, pay only the one you choose. For a logo or a channel identity that is a lot of directions to look at for a fixed price. The people who dislike it dislike it on principle, because everybody who does not win works for nothing.
Our note
The objection to the contest model is real and worth stating: everybody who does not win works unpaid. If that sits badly, Dribbble and Contra both put you in touch with a designer who is paid for the work they do.
Only on this side
- Covers hiring & freelancers
- Covers design & graphics
Creatomate
Video and image templates rendered by API
Creatomate renders finished videos and images from a template and a payload, so a thousand variations of a cover or a promo clip become an automation rather than an afternoon. It works from code or from the no-code automation tools, and a spreadsheet of rows can drive a batch. Credits rather than seats are what a plan buys. Anybody making a handful of graphics by hand will find this expensive and slow to set up.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.