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Customisation options - How much control do you have over colours, fonts, and overall style?
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File formats and scalability - Do you get vector files (SVG, AI, EPS) that scale cleanly, or just raster images that get blurry when enlarged?
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Brand consistency - Can the tool generate multiple assets (business cards, social headers, etc.) in a cohesive style?
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Cost structure - Is the free tier actually useful, or just a taster? What happens when you want to use designs commercially?
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Learning curve - Can a non-designer use this effectively, or do you need to understand design principles first?
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Ownership - Do you actually own the designs you create, or are you licensing them?
The Top Options
Brandmark
What it does well
Brandmark is specifically built for logo generation, which means it's genuinely good at what it does.
You answer a few questions about your business, industry, and style preferences, and the tool generates dozens of logo options within seconds. Unlike generic design templates, these are actual AI-generated designs tailored to your inputs. You get full customisation over each logo once it's generated. Adjust the colour palette, swap out fonts, reposition elements, and see changes in real time. The interface is intuitive enough that you don't need design knowledge to make sensible tweaks.
Pricing
Brandmark operates on a freemium model. The free tier lets you generate logos and preview them, but downloading requires a paid plan. Their starter plan costs around £19 for a single logo package (logo files plus basic brand materials). If you need multiple concepts or full brand packages, prices go up, but you're still looking at a fraction of what an agency would charge.
Best for
Startups that need a logo quickly and don't have strong design preferences already locked in. It's ideal if you want to explore multiple directions before committing to a direction. Small service businesses, SaaS startups, and e-commerce shops tend to get excellent results here.
Limitations
Brandmark is logo-focused, so it won't generate your full brand identity system (colours, typography guidelines, icon sets). You're also somewhat at the mercy of what the AI thinks looks good. If you have very specific brand requirements already, you might find the generated options don't quite match your vision. The free tier is limited enough that you'll almost certainly need to pay something.
Diagram
What it does well
Diagram takes a different approach.
Rather than answering questions and waiting for results, Diagram is a collaborative design workspace where you can sketch, iterate, and refine visuals with AI assistance. It's particularly strong for product design work: creating mockups, UI elements, and visual prototypes. For branding specifically, Diagram shines when you want to generate custom illustrations, iconography, or visual elements that aren't just logos. You can describe what you want, and the AI helps you build it. The tool maintains design consistency across multiple outputs, which is crucial if you're building a cohesive brand.
Pricing
Diagram offers a generous free tier that covers most small business needs. You get access to the core creation tools with limited exports. Paid plans start around £10 monthly for individuals and scale up for teams. Commercial use is permitted on the free tier.
Best for
Teams that want more flexibility than templated logo generators offer, or businesses that need visual assets beyond just a logo. If you're building an app, website, or physical product, Diagram helps you create branded visual language across all of it. It's also useful if you're not sure exactly what you want and prefer to explore and iterate.
Limitations
Diagram has a gentler learning curve than traditional design software, but it's not zero. You'll need to spend time learning how to prompt the AI effectively and how to use the interface. The quality of output depends heavily on how well you describe what you want. It's less of a "plug in your company details and get a logo" tool and more of a "creative partner that speeds up your design process" tool.
SVGStud.io
What it does well
SVGStud.io is purpose-built for generating scalable vector graphics.
You describe what you want or search for similar designs, and it generates crisp SVG code that you can edit, customise, or integrate directly into your website or products. The real advantage here is that you get proper vector files from the start. That means your designs scale perfectly from a favicon to a billboard. You can also edit the SVG code directly if you understand basic XML, giving you granular control that AI-only tools don't provide.
Pricing
SVGStud.io is freemium. The free tier generates graphics and lets you download SVGs. Premium plans add features like batch generation and priority processing, starting at around £5 monthly. For solo founders and small teams, the free tier is honestly quite sufficient.
Best for
Businesses that need scalable graphics and don't mind working with code a bit. It's excellent for generating icons, illustrations, patterns, and decorative elements for your brand. If you're building a website and want custom graphics that load quickly and look sharp at any size, this is your tool.
Limitations
SVGStud.io is more technical than the other options. While you don't need to write SVG from scratch, understanding what makes a good vector prompt helps enormously. It's also less specialised for brand identity work. You won't get a complete brand system out of it; instead, you'll get individual assets you can combine into one.
Prerequisites
Before you start using any of these tools, you'll need: - A free email address to sign up with (all three tools offer free accounts)
- A web browser (no software installation required for any of them)
- 15 minutes to an hour for initial setup and exploration
- Basic clarity on what your business does and what style direction appeals to you (you don't need detailed briefs, but vague prompts produce vague results)
- No coding or design experience required
- No API keys or technical integration needed unless you're building something custom with SVGStud.io
Our Recommendation
Here's what we'd actually do, depending on your situation: If you need a logo this week and budget is tight: Start with Brandmark. It's the fastest path from zero to professional. Spend 20 minutes generating options, pick your favourite, customise the colours to match your brand, download it, and move on. You'll spend £20 and get a logo that looks genuinely professional. If you're designing a product or website alongside your brand: Use Diagram. It's worth the learning curve because you'll create all your visual assets within one tool, ensuring consistency. You'll spend more time but get a more cohesive result. If you need custom icons, patterns, or illustrations to support your branding: Use SVGStud.io for those specific assets. Generate your icon set, download the SVGs, and integrate them into your website or product directly. The honest truth: You probably want to use more than one. Generate a logo with Brandmark, create supporting graphics with SVGStud.io, and use Diagram to design your website or product interface. Together, these tools give you a complete branding and design toolkit for less than £50.
Getting Started
Here's how to launch your branding with Brandmark in five steps:
Step 1: Create your account
Head to brandmark.io and sign up with your email. No credit card required for the free tier.
Step 2: Start a new logo project
Click "Create Logo" and answer the setup questions: your company name, industry, and preferred style (modern, classic, playful, etc.). You can change these later if you want to explore different directions.
Step 3: Generate logo concepts
The tool will generate 50+ logo options in seconds. Scroll through and save any designs you like by clicking the heart icon.
Step 4: Refine your favourite
Click on your top choice and enter the editor. Adjust colours, fonts, and layout. Try changing the colour scheme to see what works best. You can generate variations of a concept you like.
Step 5: Download and use
Once you're happy, click download. On the free tier you'll be prompted to pay. Choose the option that suits you (logo files only, or logo plus basic brand assets). Download your files and start using your new logo across your website, social media, and anywhere else your brand appears. That's genuinely it. You'll have professional branding in under an hour for minimal cost. Not a designer in sight.