While you need an awesome, memorable, eye-catching logo, you might not have the budget to hire a pro. Or at least you think you don’t…I’ll share more on surprisingly affordable designers later. (Click here to jump down now.)

Maybe you need a free logo because you’re starting a new business and need to get to market fast. You could be exploring a side gig and not have many paying clients yet. Or you might just want to get some logo design ideas before paying a designer.

There are many free DIY logo makers out there, but not all of them produce good results. You don’t want to waste an hour designing your logo only to discover you can’t download the file type you need, or find out the file you can download for free is useless.

I’ve tested all the major logo makers to find out which ones give you a professional-looking logo and files you can actually use on your website, your social media, or anywhere else you like. Read on for my top recommendations on logo makers that are 100% free to use, or at least free to try.

What We Look For in the Best Free Logo Makers

When evaluating these tools, I looked for good logo design features without too many irritating limitations or upsells.

• Logo templates: Whether the logos are AI (Artificial Intelligence) generated or pulled from a template library, you should get plenty of variety.
• Customization tools: You should be able to personalize your logo by changing colors, fonts, layouts, and so on.
• Ease of use: DIY logo design shouldn’t be complicated, even if you have no creative background.
• File types: Free is only useful if your online logo maker gives you the right high-quality files to use online or in print.

Best Logo Makers That Are 100% Free to Use

Yes, you have been reading that right: totally free logo makers do exist! But what’s the catch?

Compared to paid tools, free logo makers are quite limited. You don’t get the same level of customization and you might not get the file types you need. Still, one of these options could be the best choice for you; it all depends on how unique you need your logo to be and how you intend to use it.

If you don’t mind paying a low price for much better quality, click here to jump to the paid logo maker section. You can use any one of them to design as many logos as you like for free. You pay only if you’re happy with the results.

1. Squarespace Logo Maker – A Blank Page Ready to Be Customized

Like Shopify’s Hatchful, this free logo maker is an offshoot of Squarespace, a highly rated website builder. You don’t need a Squarespace account to get started – just type in your business name to enter a logo editor that looks like this:

The blank canvas may look intimidating, but the editing tools are relatively intuitive. Just click on any text box or icon and then use the menu that pops up above. You can change fonts and colors from the menu, or you can resize and move objects by dragging them.

Keep in mind that there are no templates, easy layouts, or suggested color palettes, so what you see in the editor is what you get. For that reason, users with minimal design background may find this tool more challenging.

Whenever you’re ready, click Save Logo to immediately download your logo in high-resolution color, black, or white.

Although you do get high-quality files, the major downside is that Squarespace Logo Maker does not save your logos. You have to make a free account to use the tool, but it still won’t save your designs.

Click here to learn more about Squarespace Logo Maker.

Logos Made with Squarespace Logo Maker

2. Hatchful by Shopify – All the Logo Files You Need, Totally Free

Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce website builders, and its free logo maker, Hatchful, is similarly fantastic. You don’t need a Shopify account to use the logo maker.

Unlike logo makers that ask you to describe your branding and logo preferences in words, this tool gives you images to choose from, making it especially beginner-friendly.

After four quick questions, you’ll get over 150 logo templates with plenty of variety in color, alignment, and shape.

Hatchful’s customization tools are similarly user-friendly, with specific options varying by template. Once you’ve finished customizing your logo, click Download to immediately receive 16 PNG logo files by email, including pre-sized images for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and a website favicon.

You’ll even get logos with transparent backgrounds, which are fantastic for using your logo on the web and in print. (Confused about transparency? Here’s why you need a transparent logo.)

Logos Made with Hatchful

3. Canva Logo Maker – Outstanding Templates and Your Own File Uploads

Canva offers hundreds of logo templates, helpfully divided into industry categories for you to browse (see screenshot below).

One feature that sets Canva apart is that you can upload your own files, even on the free plan. That makes it easy to incorporate any branding elements you already have.

The Elements tab is also great, allowing you to choose modern logo design options like shapes, lines, and gradients. From this tab, you can even add animated elements like stars, arrows, or emojis. (If you want to download a GIF of your animated logo, however, you’d need to have a premium plan.)

Whenever you’re done, choose a file type for immediate download in the browser. The only disadvantage here is that transparent files are only available with paid plans.

Logos Made with Canva Logo Maker

Best Logo Makers That Are Free to Try

Looking for a little more functionality and pizzazz out of your professional logo maker? Then give one of the following three tools a shot! These logo makers are 100% free to try. You can design as many logos as you like for free, and you only pay if you love the logo you create.

4. Wix Logo Maker – AI-Powered and Very User-Friendly

Wix is another highly-reviewed website builder with a user-friendly online logo maker.

Wix Logo Maker is AI-powered, which means that it learns from your preferences to generate unique logo templates for you. You’ll start by entering details about your business, describing your brand, and teaching the AI which logos you like.

You’ll then choose a design to customize, which is where this tool stands out. It takes only a click or two to change colors/fonts, add background shapes, find a new icon, curve or rotate text, and more.

You can make unlimited edits for free, and you can start over with a new logo design at any time. From the check-out page, you can also download a free sample (for non-commercial use).

Since Wix Logo Maker saves your designs, you can always come back later to edit or buy.

Logos Made with Wix Logo Maker

Read our expert review to learn more about Wix Logo Maker.

5. Tailor Brands – Attractive Templates with Great Icon Selection

Tailor Brands also uses AI technology to power its helpful startup wizard. To train the AI, you’ll be able to choose your preferred logo style (shown in the screenshot below) and then select for your favorite fonts.

My personal favorite is icon-based, as the built-in icon library offers a great selection. You can opt for an AI-generated abstract icon or choose your own by searching.

The logo customization tools are easy-to-use and offer creative, visually appealing preset options for font, color, and layout. You can also download a free sample at any time (free for non-commercial use) by clicking the button highlighted below:

Tailor Brands will save your designs, so you can return at a later time without having to start over. One downside, however, is that logo purchase requires a subscription; there are no one-time payment plans available.

Logos Made in Tailor Brands

Want to know more? Check out our Tailor Brands expert review.

6. Looka – Beautiful Templates with Tons of Preset Options

Also AI-powered, Looka differs in that you can select up to five specific icons you like during the startup process. This makes your AI-generated logo designs more relevant to you, and the terrific icon library may even spark some creativity.

Within the editor, Looka offers plenty of ready-to-go designs. In just a click, you can apply suggested color palettes and gradients, change fonts, or try new text layouts (shown in the screenshot below).

Looka will save your logo designs so you can always come back later, but there is no free logo sample, even for non-commercial use. The basic plan is also quite limited, giving you only one PNG file (with no transparency).

Logos Made with Looka

Learn more in our expert review on Looka.

What You Get (and Don’t Get) with Free Logo Makers

When it comes to 100% free logo makers, you might actually get more than you’d expect from something that costs nothing. For instance:

• You may not find easy-to-use templates on Squarespace Logo Maker, but Canva and Hatchful have tons.
• You can’t download a free logo with a transparent background on Canva, but you can on Squarespace Logo Maker and Hatchful.
• You can’t go back and edit your logo later in Squarespace Logo Maker, but you can make unlimited edits in Canva and Hatchful.

So What Do You Get If You Pay More?

The biggest difference between a free logo maker and a paid logo maker comes down to three aspects:

• Templates: The AI-powered logo makers don’t really provide templates, but rather custom-generated logo designs, which will make your logo more unique than a free template. (My favorite in this department is Looka.)
• Customizations: You’ll almost always get more customization options from a paid online logo maker. Wix Logo Maker especially stands out here with its diverse editing options for color, font, layout, and icons.
• Usage Rights: All of the paid programs specify that you will own the rights to your logo once purchased. With the free tools, you may have to do some digging. (Squarespace Logo Maker, for instance, uses icons from the Noun Project, which are only free for commercial use if you credit the designer).

When Should You Upgrade?

If you have the budget, it’s worthwhile to go with a paid DIY logo maker. You won’t have to worry about usage rights, and you’ll be able to make the finer customizations that set your logo apart. Logos fail when they’re too generic, so the extra personalization can make a big difference.

Want a Better Logo? How to Hire a Designer Almost for Free

If you’ve tried to design a logo online but haven’t been wowed, don’t worry. You can also hire a designer on Fiverr for only $5 – which is practically free, right?

Fiverr has almost 1,500 logo designers available (see screenshot below). That means that you can likely hire a pro for less than you’d pay for a DIY logo design maker!

Fiverr also makes the logo design process easy by letting you:

• Browse designer portfolios, prices, and reviews
• Sort by file types, price, and deadline
• Directly message designers before hiring
• Request revisions before approving the final logo design

Compared to even the best logo maker online, a professionally designed logo will be far more unique and personalized to you. And like a paid logo maker, you’ll only pay when you’re happy, as Fiverr doesn’t release funds until you’ve approved the work.

It’s no surprise that many reviewers rate Fiverr so highly.

Fiverr Designers Available for Hire at $5

Logo by usashi (hire now for $5)

Logo by bilal_khann (hire now for $5)

Logo by ei8htz (hire now for $5)

Free or Almost Free? It’s Up to You!

High-quality logos can be pricey, but don’t let anyone convince you that you have to spend big bucks on design. Each of the tools discussed above can create a solid logo, it all depends on what you’re looking for:

• If you want the most robust logo package without paying a cent, I’d go with Hatchful. The templates are attractive, the customizations are easy, and the free download includes nearly any social media image you could want.
• If you’re willing to invest a little more, then I particularly love the customization options of Wix Logo Maker. The one-time payment is still affordable and gives you useful logo files, including transparency.

As a quick refresher before you go, here’s how these free logo makers stack up:

Of course, if you want a truly personalized logo, the best choice will always be to hire a professional. But why not try the free logo makers first? You might be surprised by your hidden creative talents! (Or…you might just get some interesting ideas to share with your Fiverr designer.)

Either way, you can get a new logo that looks great with little time or money investment. In fact, it’ll look so professional that no one has to know it was practically free!