The Best Social Media Design Tools to Use in 2024

Everyone needs quality social media design nowadays. But not everyone has access to professional design. Learn where to make graphics for your social channels with our list of awesome social media design tools!

Effective social media design can boost your engagement rates, help you build brand awareness, and even make your brand an internet sensation. On the other hand, you need to create social media graphics regularly. This can make things difficult for small business owners and entrepreneurs managing their social media.

Luckily, there are plenty of awesome social media graphic design tools out there, which allow you to create different types of content even with no design knowledge whatsoever. Best of all, a lot of them are free social media design software, which means you can also stay on top of your social media design budget.

Let’s go right ahead and dive into the best social media design tools!

Canva

Canva is probably one of the best free social media tools for two reasons: ease of use and the number of free templates and design elements.

Fonts, icons, shapes, illustrations, even audio - Canva has all the design resources you need to create social media graphics. Bear in mind that there are limitations to the free plan, as some of the elements from its vast library are only available with the paid subscription.

It also features a great mobile app, which can be quite useful for when you need to create social media graphics on the go.

So, what’s the catch? As one of the most popular social media design tools, you can imagine that Canva’s templates are a bit overused. So don’t be surprised if you see a gorgeous design you’ve selected for your post on various other profiles. Hopefully, you won’t choose the same one as your competitors!

Adobe Express

Adobe is known for professional design software including Illustrator and Photoshop. But luckily, they also have a free piece of software that works great as one of the best social media design tools.

Formerly known as Adobe Spark, Express is a great free tool, with similar functionalities as Canva. One particular design element to take note of are some of the free illustrations. While Canva mostly sports simple, isometric illustrations, Express is a place to find intricate designs that would be hard to come by elsewhere.

Pixlr

This is one of the most amazing free social media design tools, as it includes an AI image generator (similar to Midjourney) to help you create completely custom social media graphics.

In terms of usability, it’s pretty straightforward, although the search option could be better to allow you to filter the results.

Another great thing about Pixlr is that it includes a photo editor and lots of nifty features, such as a background and object remover.

It’s free, although you can upgrade to the premium version, which starts at just $4,90 a month. This will give you access to more of the templates, and an ad-free experience.

Snappa

This is another one of the social media design tools you’ve probably heard of. It’s pretty straightforward, ideal for anyone without a lot of technical or design knowledge. It has a pretty decent library of free social media images, but there’s no search option so it could take a while to find what you’re looking for.

The editor tool is dead simple, and there’s a reasonable number of free design elements, although nowhere near Canva or Adobe Express.

Venngage

Infographics are said to be the 4th most shared type of content. So, if you haven’t considered including them in your social media strategy yet, now’s the time.

Venngage is a design tool created for infographics. So although there are endless customization opportunities, you ought to consider using Venngage for creating more infographics quickly. There are lots of great templates that can even serve as infographic ideas, should you need any.

Infographics don’t always need to be a product of detailed research. Sometimes a funny infographic like this one can skyrocket your social media engagement.

Visme

Many free social media design tools are great for beginners. But Visme is a tool that reaches its full potential in slightly more capable hands.

Ease of use is not an issue - Visme has a simple drag-and-drop editor we’re all used to. However, it does have an array of features, so it might take time to unlock its full potential and learn how to create a social media graphic design that can truly make a difference.

It even has a free video editor, with several video and GIF templates.

Be Funky

I personally discovered this tool when looking for a simple photo editor. In addition to being one, it’s also one of the easiest social media graphic design tools, as you can start designing in a few clicks - no registration required!

It’s got a pretty simple dashboard (very similar to Canva in fact). The biggest drawback of this tool is that the number of free design templates and elements is fairly limited. However, pricing starts at just $5.99 per month (if paid annually). So if you don’t want to bother using several social media graphic design tools at the same time, this could be worth an investment.

A paid subscription gives you access to more templates and more extensive tools and features, such as a batch image editor, one-click background remover, A.I. image enhancer, watermark manager, and much more.

Giphy

You probably know about this platform as the place to find funny memes often used in blog posts. But have you considered it as one of the best software to create social media posts?

Giphy allows you to create custom GIFs in just a few clicks. Here’s my attempt at it.

GIFs can be a perfect addition to your social media profiles, especially on platforms like Twitter and Pinterest. This shows you're in touch with current trends, and can be a great way to communicate visually. Of course, just ensure you use appropriate content, and don’t overdo it. Nobody likes a try-hard, and your professional social media exists to promote your brand, not your aspirations to make it in comedy.

Desygner

Desygner is a tool created for social media. Although it’s not free, it does come with a set of features not usually available with other social media graphic design tools. This includes post scheduling and a motion graphics editor.

The design library is really vast, with lots of trendy designs you don’t see as often as some of Canva’s graphics. The editor is pretty straightforward too. Another great asset recently added is a ChatGPT integration, which allows you to add text to your designs without having to think about the copy yourself.

The biggest downside is that Desygner doesn’t offer a free plan. There is a 14-day free trial though, after which you’ll need to pay $9.95 per month.

Piktochart

Like Venngage, Piktochart is a tool created for data visualization. If this is a significant part of your social media content strategy, Piktochart is worth checking out.

It does have a library of social media templates too, although you’ll find the designs mostly on the more serious/corporate side.

Piktochart offers a free version, which is enough if you’re looking for simple free social media design tools. One slightly difficult limitation of the free plan is that you can only have up to 5 projects on your account at a time. So if you want to create more social media graphics free, you’ll need to delete the old ones.

Paid options come with extensive features, such as custom fonts, unlimited design projects, and 100GB of cloud storage.

Snagit

So far, we’ve mostly focused on social media graphic design tools. However, there are many types of content you can share on social media.

If you’re looking to create how-to videos or tutorial posts, you’ll need a good screen capture tool. Loom is a fine free option, but with Snagit, you also get lots of useful features including screen drawing, grab text, and the possibility to create videos from images.

Pricing starts at 68 Eur per year.

PicMonkey

This design tool is created by Shutterstock, so, unsurprisingly, it has one of the best libraries of stock photos. The photo editing options are also really extensive, including things like spray tan, eye and lip tint, and diverse makeup options.

So, it could be a great social media design tool for influencers, and businesses that post a lot of photos on their social accounts.

Pricing starts at 7.49 Eur a month. There is a 14-day free trial available.

Easel.ly

This is another useful platform to check out if you want to use infographics to boost your social media marketing efforts. There are a number of free templates available, although you might find that the range of styles is pretty limiting. The drag-and-drop editor is easy to master, but doesn’t offer quite as many customization options.

If you want to create images with simple graphs and charts, this free design software can be a great choice. You can also try their premium plan with a 7-day trial. Or upgrade to it anyways for just $5 a month!

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Bonus: stock photo platforms

Although they’re design tools, these platforms are definitely worth bookmarking. Creating eye-catching visuals for several social media platforms can be a little draining, especially if you run a local business. 

So, getting a high-quality stock photo can sometimes be a great way to keep your content production going. Just make sure to customize photos with branded elements, such as small illustrations, typography, or effects (e.g. duotone or overlay) that will give them a more personal touch.

So, here are some of the best platforms to find stock photos and videos:

• Unsplash
• Pixabay
• Pexels
• Freepik
• Stocksy
• Stocksanp
• Adobe Stock, and many more.

Should you design your own social media graphics?

We hope this list answers your questions about where to make graphics for social media. However, understanding how to make a social media graphic that performs takes a little more time than editing a free template.

Any one of these social media graphic design tools allows you to create pretty decent graphics. However, don’t forget that people are bombarded by visual content on social media, so for something to stop their scrolling, it really needs to be extraordinary.

If you don’t want to waste your time on mediocre social graphics, we suggest you try our social media graphic design service. Our team has heaps of design experience in this area, as we create professional graphics for hundreds of clients daily!

So, whether you’re planning your content calendar months in advance or need something for tomorrow - we deliver most social media graphics in just 1 working day! You also don't have to worry about creating detailed social media design briefs - just follow a few simple steps in our custom app, and you'll submit your request in no time.

Best of all, our design subscription package includes other types of designs, including landing pages, ad design, even motion graphics that you can also use to amp up your social media presence! 

‍Book a call with us to ask any questions, or pick a plan and get started today!