Kimp Review 2024: A Great Platform but It’s Not for Everyone

Kimp Is a Great Option for Those Who Need a Constant Flow of Graphic Designs

Kimp is a subscription-based design service targeting businesses that require recurring graphic (and video) work. Clients pay a flat fee and can make an unlimited number of design requests*. You can then review the work and ask for revisions once it’s delivered, post new requests, and the cycle continues.

Each client gets assigned a Kimp team, which is made up of 1 project manager and 3 designers. The work I received from Kimp was of great quality, but aside from a head bubble on Trello, there wasn’t much information on who exactly was working on my projects, their experience, how they were screened, etc.

Kimp is partnered with Trello, a popular online project management platform – it doesn’t yet have its own software for managing requests.

Your Kimp team will work on two requests simultaneously, prioritizing tasks on top of your Trello board. They can handle hundreds of design tasks, including business cards, logos, blog images, brochures, posters, ebooks, and much more. Most Kimp designs are delivered in less than 24 hours.

*You can request as many designs as you like, but your Kimp team will work on your projects at a predetermined pace – 2.5 hours/day. You can learn more about that here.

My Experience with Kimp

Kimp offers a 7-day trial, complete with your own design team, a Trello work board, and 3 free (but watermarked) designs of your choosing. The trial gives you a taste of the real Kimp experience, so I jumped at the opportunity.

A New Brand Is Born

Kimp only works with businesses that show interest in recurrent design services, and I couldn’t commission work on behalf of Website Planet – it would only take a Google search for them to figure out we’re a review site.

I created a new brand, conveniently labeling it Content Planet. Kimp doesn’t do logos during the trial period, so I used a free logo service I found online – quality wasn’t an issue, as this was just a throwaway brand I had created for this review (if I wanted a proper logo, I would have put my trust in Fiverr Pro’s expert logo designers).

I used Website Planet’s themes and colors as inspiration for this content “agency” of mine, came up with a generic vision, and was good to go. I signed up for Kimp’s free trial, and a few hours later, I had my own Kimp team and Trello work board – success!

The Designs

I first asked for some help with the look of my new business card. I posted the request early on Monday morning, and by late afternoon the Trello card had been removed from “In Progress” and was ready for review.

My brief was concise, asking for a simple and modern business card based on my brand’s bright colors and planetary theme. I received two designs that I was pretty happy with. Here’s the one I liked best:

I then requested two stylized illustrations for my supposed blog, and they were both delivered in less than 24 hours. Here’s one I commissioned for an article titled “5 Time Management Techniques That Will Help You Get More Done:”

That’s impressive stuff, especially considering I only gave my team the bare bones of the design idea – every time. Funnily enough, this image looks much better than the one I uploaded on the card for the team to use as reference.

Overall, the quality of work on Kimp seems to be relatively high, and I love how quickly requests are processed. If you need a constant flow of designs and don’t mind the pricey subscription plans, Kimp could be a great choice for your business.

Kimp Does Many Things Right

I’d say Kimp is worth a shot if you need to produce a relatively large number of graphic designs for print, digital marketing, and social media. Its teams are reliable, tasks are successfully completed on time, and customer support is good.

Unlimited Requests and Revisions

What does unlimited design really mean? Well, you can, let’s say, make all your monthly requests at once, and your Kimp team will start working on your projects from the top down. But they’ll only work on two requests at once and dedicate about 2.5 hours daily to your orders.

That works out at about 10-15 simple designs (e.g., blog images/illustrations) a week – so not exactly unlimited, but actually still pretty good.

Once your requests have been completed, they’re moved to the “In Review” card on your Trello dashboard, where you can leave comments and feedback – your Kimp team will get back to you as soon as possible. You can keep asking for changes and revisions until you’re 100% satisfied with the result.

Quick Turnaround Time

My Kimp team was on fire! They completed my business card design in less than 10 hours, and my other two blog image illustrations were ready less than 24 hours later.

Even when managing multiple projects at once, you know exactly when they’ll be delivered. When you make a new request through your Trello board, your manager processes it, assigns the task to a designer, and sets a countdown timer on the corresponding card.

That’s perhaps one of Kimp’s biggest advantages compared to hiring freelancers the old-fashioned way. You know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

No Pricey Addons

Many platforms charge extra for certain design services, such as logo design, stock photos, animations, etc. There’s none of that on Kimp. Users pay a flat monthly subscription, and all graphic design services are included (except video – read more about that here).

Depending on your project’s scope, the team might spend more time on some requests than others, but you’ll never have to pay extra.

Time Zone Overlap

Kimp services thousands of clients across the globe, and they have teams working in several different time zones. Effectively, if you make a request early in the morning, your team will likely have it ready by the time their shift is over – for me, that time was 17:30 GMT+1.

Kimp Features at a Glance

Kimp Knows That Graphic Design Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

If you’ve ever used Trello (or any other online project management tool), then managing design requests with Kimp will be smooth sailing. Requests are processed from the top down, so just keep that in mind when adding new ones – your project manager will take care of the rest.

You’ll only ever visit the Kimp.io website for administrative purposes (such as accessing your account’s settings, updating your credit card, or canceling your subscription).

Quick Sign Up

You can sign up for a new Kimp account in just a few minutes. All they ask for from you is an email address, a phone number, and some basic information about your business. Once that’s done, you just wait a few hours for your manager to set up your Trello board, and you’re good to go!

If It Ain’t Broken…

At first, I was slightly confused about Kimp’s decision to use Trello as its main workflow tool. A proprietary platform would be good for the brand, and it’d certainly bring in more clients.

But Kimp has stuck with Trello, and after trying it out, I can’t really fault them for it. The popular Kanban board (i.e., board with visual cards for managing projects) is familiar, easy to use, and gets the job done.

Onboarding Call

Let’s say you’ve never used Trello prior to signing up for Kimp – no problem! Your project manager will tell you everything you need to know during your scheduled onboarding phone call.

They will demonstrate the process of creating new cards, rearranging their placement, leaving comments, and attaching files. Additionally, they will address any inquiries you may have regarding Kimp, its services, and the subscription options available.

The Kimp Customer Support Team Is Better than Most

If managing your way through Trello and familiarizing yourself with Kimp’s processes is proving challenging, there are a few things you can do.

If your query’s related to a specific request, you can, of course, just leave a question on the corresponding Trello card, and your manager will get back to you ASAP during working hours – for my team, that was 8:00–17:30 (GMT+1), Monday to Friday.

For general questions about Kimp itself, its services, and its subscriptions, you can contact customer support via phone, email, and live chat, available 8:00–17:30, Monday to Friday (GMT-5).

To see what support was like, I first sent an email at around 16:00 (GMT+1), asking the Kimp support team for more information about the service’s average weekly output. My question was:

How many simple graphic designs (e.g., blog images) can one receive with a Kimp subscription in any given week?

About 20 minutes later, I heard back from one of Kimp’s representatives:

The answer was quick and concise – exactly what I wanted!

Live chat is available to everyone (even visitors without an account) via the Kimp.io website. Although I had access to the chat, I received no reply during the weekend. I reached out again at around 15:00 (GMT+1) on a Thursday and asked about design requests that include copy in languages other than English:

Suhas here replied in just a few seconds, telling me everything I needed to know.

Phone support was also satisfactory. I asked several questions about trial limitations and Kimp’s scaling options. The representative was knowledgeable, patient, and willing to help without pushing too hard for a sale.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with Kimp’s response, but 24/7 support would be nice.

Kimp’s Flat Subscriptions Are Worth It If You Make Full Use of Them

Kimp offers three different subscription options. The Graphics plan is available for $599.00/month, the Video plan is available for $699.00/month, and the combined Graphics + Video plan is available for $995.00/month.

I admit I was a bit skeptical about Kimp’s pricing model at first. A flat subscription is obviously not going to work for you if you’re someone who just wants to complete one or two designs every now and then. If that’s you, I recommend looking at our list of the best freelance websites.

But let’s say you’re someone who needs recurrent designs or videos, be it for your business, personal blog, social media account, or whatever. If Kimp’s designers spend 2.5 hours every day on your projects, you’re getting approximately 50 hours of work per month. Based on my calculations, that’s about $10/hour – which is pretty reasonable.

Once you then throw all of Kimp’s perks and add-ons into the mix (including a manager, 24-hour turnaround, free stock images), you’ve got yourself a great deal.

As you can tell, the value of Kimp’s subscriptions goes up if you keep your designers busy. As you scale, Kimp can help you keep up with your design needs: just add an extra subscription, and you’ll double your team’s daily output (5 hours/day).

There are no contracts to sign, and you can cancel the service anytime. If you’re still not sure if it’s the right choice for you, you can take advantage of Kimp’s generous 7-day trial and test the platform yourself.