10 Best Superside alternatives for small business & startups (2026)

TL;DR: Superside starts at $5,000/month with an annual contract, which prices out most small businesses and startups. 

✅ Best overall alternative: ManyPixels ($699/mo, no contract, daily output from a dedicated designer). For the tightest budgets, Penji ($499/mo) and Canva Pro ($13/mo for DIY) are solid picks. 

❌ Skip Designjoy unless your budget matches Superside's anyway.

Why small businesses outgrow Superside fast

Superside is a premium creative service built for companies with enterprise budgets and complex creative strategy needs. 

At about $5,000/month minimum with an annual commitment, most startups burn through a quarter of their marketing budget on design alone.

That's not a knock on Superside. Their Creative Director model, senior-level talent pool, and ability to handle large-scale campaigns genuinely set them apart. If you're a 50-person marketing team running global campaigns, Superside earns that price tag.

But if you're a 3-person startup shipping social media content, landing pages, and pitch decks? You don't need a Creative Director. You need a reliable designer who learns your brand and delivers work every day. That's a fundamentally different service, and it should cost a fraction of what Superside charges.

👉 Here are 10 Superside alternatives that actually make sense for smaller/more budget-conscious teams.

1. ManyPixels: best overall for startups and growing teams

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Starting price: $599/month

Best for: Small businesses and startups that need consistent, professional design output without enterprise pricing ✅

ManyPixels is the alternative I'd point most small teams toward first, and not just because we run it. The daily output model is what makes it work for startups: instead of submitting a request and waiting for it to land in a queue somewhere, you get a daily delivery every business day. 

A typical daily output is 2-3 social media graphics, or a first draft of a landing page, or a logo concept. Complex projects get daily progress updates until they're done.

That model is fundamentally different from Superside's credit-based system, where you're spending from a monthly budget and every request eats into your allocation. At ManyPixels, requests are unlimited. Revisions are also unlimited.

ManyPixels is also one of the rare design subscription services that includes a dedicated project manager in all plans. So, you’re guaranteed high-quality designs and a smooth process even at the 

72% of ManyPixels customers choose the Designated Designer or Design Team plans over the queue-based options. With the Designated Designer plan ($1,299/mo), you’re assigned a dedicated designer to work almost exclusively with you, get same-day delivery, and communicate in real time via Slack. That's closer to having an in-house designer than anything Superside offers at 3x the price.

Not ideal for: Teams that need senior creative strategy or creative-director-led campaigns. Superside genuinely does that better. ❌

2. Design Pickle: best for high-volume marketing teams

Starting price: $1,279/month

Best for: Marketing teams producing a high volume of graphics, presentations, and ads who need dedicated creative hours ✅

Design Pickle is one of the most established names in the unlimited graphic design  space, and they've earned that reputation. Their model is built around daily creative hours: the Graphics Pro plan gives you a set number of hours per day with a dedicated designer, and you can scale up to 12 hours/day on higher tiers.

Where Design Pickle pulls ahead of Superside for small businesses is simplicity. There's no credit system to track, no annual lock-in, and pricing is transparent on their website. You know exactly what you're paying for. The scope is broad too: graphic design, presentations, motion graphics, and video editing are all covered depending on your plan.

The catch is price. At $1,279/mo for the base plan, Design Pickle sits in the mid-range. It's still 73% cheaper than Superside, but it's nearly double what you'd pay for an entry-level plan at ManyPixels or Penji. 

Not ideal for: Very early-stage startups watching every dollar. The entry price is steep for teams with light design needs. ❌

3. Penji: best budget subscription with a dedicated designer

Starting price: $499/month

Best for: Small teams that want the subscription model at the lowest possible price point ✅

Penji is another Superside alternative that offers on-demand design. Its model  is nearly identical to Design Pickle's: dedicated designer, unlimited requests, flat monthly fee and fast turnarounds. Where Penji wins for startups is entry price. At $499/mo for the Starter plan, it's the most affordable design subscription on this list.

The onboarding walks you through brand setup in more detail than most services, which saves time on early requests. You'll get a dedicated designer who handles your queue, and revisions are unlimited. For teams producing social media content, blog graphics, and basic marketing materials, Penji covers the essentials well.

The place it falls short is scope. Complex deliverables like web design, custom illustrations, and motion graphics start hitting plan limits faster than the pricing would suggest. If you need anything beyond standard graphic design, you'll likely need to upgrade to the $899 or $1,497 plans. For a broader look at options in this space, check our Penji alternatives breakdown.

Not ideal for: Teams needing web design, motion graphics, or illustration-heavy projects on the base plan. ❌

4. Kimp: best for teams that need graphics and video together

Starting price: $1,397/month (Graphics or Video standalone)

Best for: Marketing teams producing both static graphics and video content who want one subscription for both ✅

Kimp's differentiator is the combo plan. Most design subscriptions treat video as a separate service or an expensive add-on. Kimp bundles graphics and video into a single subscription, which makes it appealing for teams running social campaigns that need both a carousel graphic and a 15-second video cut from the same brief.

The model gives you a dedicated design team (not a single designer) working on up to 3-5 concurrent requests depending on your plan. They offer a 7-day free trial, which is genuinely useful for testing quality before committing. 

Kimp's pricing has climbed significantly in recent years. At $1,397/mo for graphics alone, it's no longer the budget-friendly option it used to be. The value proposition only clicks if you're using both graphics and video consistently. 

If you're primarily doing static design, ManyPixels or Penji deliver more value at a lower price. 

Not ideal for: Teams that only need static graphic design. The price is hard to justify without the video component. ❌

5. Flocksy: best if you need design and copywriting together

Starting price: $897/month

Best for: Small businesses that need both design and written content from a single subscription ✅

Flocksy bundles graphic design, copywriting, video editing, web development, and voiceovers into one subscription.

That sounds great until you realize the design and copy queues run separately, so a "create a social post with caption" request actually moves through two different workflows. It works, but it's not as seamless as having one person handle both.

Where Flocksy genuinely shines for startups is the breadth of creative output you get for $987/mo. If you're a lean team that currently juggles a freelance designer, a contract copywriter, and occasionally needs a short video edited, Flocksy consolidates all of that. The white-label option is also useful for agencies reselling creative work.

Design quality is more variable than design-focused services like ManyPixels or Penji. Because Flocksy rotates creatives from a larger pool, your experience depends on who picks up the request. 

Not ideal for: Teams that need brand consistency across every deliverable. Designer rotation makes that harder to maintain. ❌

6. Designjoy: best premium boutique alternative

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Starting price: $5,995/month

Best for: Well-funded startups that want premium, founder-led design quality and are willing to pay near-Superside prices for it ✅

Designjoy is the opposite end of the spectrum from budget subscriptions. Founded by Brett Williams as a one-person operation (now with a small team), it's built a reputation for exceptional design quality, particularly for SaaS landing pages, brand identity, and product marketing materials.

At $5,995/mo, Designjoy costs nearly as much as Superside. So why is it on this list? Because the value proposition is different. With Superside, you're paying for an enterprise creative machine: project managers, creative directors, large production teams. With Designjoy, you're paying for design expertise. The output tends to be more polished and distinctive, which matters for startups where the website IS the product impression.

Not ideal for: Bootstrapped startups or anyone watching burn rate. This is a premium service at a premium price. ❌

7. 99designs: best for one-off projects and logo design

Starting price: $299+ per project

Best for: Startups that need a logo, brand identity package, or a single high-quality project without a monthly commitment ✅

99designs (now part of Vista) isn't a subscription service, and that's exactly why it belongs on this list. Not every startup needs ongoing design. If you need a logo, a set of business cards, and a brand style guide to launch with, a project-based platform makes more sense than locking into a monthly fee.

The contest model is what made 99designs famous: post a brief, receive multiple concepts from different designers, pick your favorite. It's useful when you're not sure what direction you want and want to see options. The 1-to-1 model works better for projects where you already know what you need and want to collaborate directly with a single designer.

Pricing ranges from $299 for a basic logo to $2,499 for a full Platinum brand identity package. Compared to Superside's $5,000/mo minimum, you could get a complete brand identity for less than one month's subscription. The trade-off is speed and ongoing support. 99designs is a one-and-done transaction. There's no daily output, no queue, no designer who learns your brand over time.

Not ideal for: Teams needing a scalable creative partner. The per-project model gets expensive fast if you have consistent volume. ❌

8. Dribbble hire: best for finding vetted freelance designers

Starting price: $30-150/hour (varies by designer)

Best for: Startups that want to handpick a specific designer for a project based on their portfolio ✅

Dribbble isn't a design service. It's where designers showcase their best work, and the hiring feature lets you browse portfolios and reach out directly. For startups that have a unique visual taste, this is the most direct path to finding the specific talent.

Rates vary dramatically. Newer designers charge $30-85/hour, experienced North American designers typically range $75-150/hour, and top-tier specialists can go well above $200/hour. 

The trade-off is that there's no subscription, no project manager, no platform handling revisions. You're hiring a freelancer and managing the relationship yourself.

You handle contracts, timelines, feedback, and file delivery. For a startup founder already stretched thin, that project management time adds up.

Not ideal for: Founders who don't have time to manage freelancer relationships. The admin overhead is significant. ❌

9. Canva Pro: best DIY option for lean startups

Starting price: $13/month

Best for: Pre-revenue startups and solo founders who can handle basic design themselves using templates ✅

Canva Pro is another one that’s not exactly an alternative to Superside. It's not a service, but a tool. And for very early-stage startups, that distinction actually works in your favor. At $13/month, you get access to thousands of professionally designed templates, a drag-and-drop editor, premium stock photos, and brand kit features that keep your colors and fonts consistent.

For social media graphics, simple presentations, and basic marketing materials, Canva Pro is often good enough. Many startups use Canva for their first 6-12 months before graduating to a subscription design service.

The short answer on where Canva falls short: anything custom. Custom illustrations, web design, complex multi-page documents, brand identity systems, and motion graphics are all outside Canva's real capability. Experienced eyes can spot template-based design, and if your brand needs to stand out in a competitive market, that matters.

Not ideal for: Any team that needs custom design work, brand differentiation, or deliverables beyond basic marketing graphics. ❌

10. Fiverr: best for quick, low-cost one-off tasks

Starting price: $5-50+ per gig

Best for: Startups that need a single, simple deliverable done cheaply and quickly ✅

Fiverr is the "get it done for cheap" option. Need a social media banner by tomorrow for under $30? Fiverr can do that. Need a simple logo concept to test a business idea before investing in proper branding? Fiverr handles that too. The marketplace model means there's a designer available for virtually any budget, any time.

Here's the thing: Fiverr works best when your expectations are calibrated to the price. A $20 logo won't compete with a $2,000 brand identity. A $50 social media template pack won't match what a dedicated designer produces after learning your brand. Fiverr is a tool for speed and cost efficiency on simple, well-defined tasks. It's not a design partner.

On top of that, if you're using Fiverr more than 3-4 times per month, a subscription service like ManyPixels or Penji almost always delivers better value.

Not ideal for: Any team needing consistent quality, brand consistency, or more than a few projects per month. ❌

Which Superside alternative is right for you?

The right choice depends on your volume, budget, and how much you value a consistent designer relationship. Here's the decision framework:

If you need ongoing design at a fraction of Superside's cost, start with ManyPixels. The daily output model, dedicated designer option, and $699/mo starting price hit the sweet spot for most small businesses. 👉

If you're on the tightest possible budget, Penji ($499/mo) gives you a dedicated designer for the lowest subscription price on this list. Flocksy ($499/mo) adds copywriting if you need both.

If you need video and graphics from the same team, Kimp's combo plan is the most efficient way to get both without managing two separate subscriptions.

If you only need a logo or one-off brand project, 99designs or Dribbble Hire let you pay per project without any monthly commitment.

If you're pre-revenue and doing everything yourself, Canva Pro at $13/mo is the pragmatic starting point. Graduate to a subscription service once your design needs outpace what templates can deliver.

If you can afford Superside's price range but want more flexibility, Designjoy offers comparable quality without the annual lock-in. But honestly? ManyPixels' Assigned Designer plan ($1,399/mo) gives you 90% of the value at a quarter of the price.

Bottomline: the number most people miss is cost per delivered asset, not cost per month. A $699/mo subscription that delivers 40-60 assets per month costs $12-17 per asset. Superside at $5,000/mo would need to deliver 300+ assets to match that efficiency.

Why teams switch from Superside to ManyPixels

We talk to a lot of teams that started with Superside and switched. The pattern is almost always the same: the creative strategy layer was useful at first, but once the brand was established, they were paying $5,000/mo for production work that didn't require a Creative Director.

Here's what ManyPixels offers that matters most for small businesses:

• 💰 Pricing that makes sense for startups: Plans start at $699/mo. The Assigned Designer plan ($1,399/mo) gives you a dedicated designer with Slack communication. That's 72% less than Superside's entry price.
• ⚡ Daily output, not credits: Your designer delivers work every business day. No credit budget to track, no surprises at month-end.
• 🎨 Choose your own designer: 72% of customers pick the Assigned Designer or Design Team plans because working with someone who knows your brand saves hours of re-explaining.
• ✅ Unlimited everything: Unlimited requests, revisions, and brands. All plans. No fine print.
• 🔄 Month-to-month flexibility: Pause for $10/mo when cash is tight. No annual contracts. Cancel anytime.

"To me, it's great value to pay a monthly subscription and get access to an entire design team, instead of hiring a designer who would likely cost more." — Joe Howard, Founder, WP Buffs (63+ projects delivered)

Frequently asked questions

Is Superside worth it for small businesses?

For most small businesses, no. Superside's $5,000/mo minimum with an annual contract is built for enterprise teams. Small businesses get better value from subscription services like ManyPixels ($699/mo) or Penji ($499/mo) that offer similar deliverables at a fraction of the cost.

What is the cheapest Superside alternative?

Canva Pro at $13/mo is the cheapest option if you're willing to design yourself. For a full-service design subscription with a professional designer, Penji and Flocksy both start at $499/mo. ManyPixels starts at $699/mo with a broader scope of services.

Can I get a dedicated designer without paying Superside prices?

Yes. ManyPixels' Assigned Designer plan ($1,399/mo) lets you pick your own designer, communicate via Slack, and get same-day delivery. Penji and Design Pickle also offer dedicated designers at lower price points than Superside.

Are unlimited design subscriptions actually unlimited?

They're unlimited in requests and revisions, but not in simultaneous output. Most services (including ManyPixels) work through your queue one or two requests at a time, delivering a daily output. You can submit as many requests as you want, but they're completed sequentially, not all at once.

What's better for a startup: a design subscription or hiring a freelancer?

Below 8 requests a month, a freelancer is usually more cost-effective. Above 15, a subscription almost always wins. The breakpoint is roughly 10-12 requests. Subscriptions also give you brand consistency and managed workflow that freelancer relationships don't. For more on weighing these options, see top unlimited design companies compared.

Can I pause or cancel a design subscription if my needs change?

Most subscription services offer month-to-month billing. ManyPixels lets you pause for $10/mo and resume anytime, keeping all your files intact. This flexibility is one of the biggest advantages over Superside's annual contract requirement.

Bottom line

Superside is a strong service for the companies it's designed for: large teams with big budgets and complex creative strategy needs. For everyone else, there are better options that deliver professional design without the enterprise price tag.

For most small businesses and startups, ManyPixels is the strongest overall alternative: broad design scope, daily output, dedicated designer option, and pricing that starts at $699/mo with no annual contract. 

Get started today or book a free consultation to see if it fits your needs.