Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover design & graphics and thumbnails & cover art. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| 99designs | VistaCreate | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $249 | From $120 |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Annual only |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
| Covers | Hiring & Freelancers, Design & Graphics, Thumbnails & Cover Art | Thumbnails & Cover Art, Design & Graphics, Stock Footage & Assets |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
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.
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Templates and a brand kit for $120 a year
VistaCreate, which was Crello, is a template editor for social posts, thumbnails and short animations, owned by the same company as Vistaprint. The free plan designs and exports; the paid one adds the brand kit, background removal and the full object library. It bills once a year and nothing on the page offers a monthly option, which makes the real question whether a year of it beats a month of something else.
Our note
Annual billing with no monthly escape is the thing to weigh. At $120 a year it undercuts most of this category on price, and it asks for the whole year before you know whether the templates suit your work, which is what the fourteen days are for.
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.
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