Design tools
Last updated
Design is one of the faster-moving corners of the AI tool market, with 38 tools currently tracked in this catalog. Rather than one dominant product, the space is split between a handful of well-funded leaders and a long tail of focused, single-purpose tools.
Most design tools compete on three things: how much setup they require before they're useful, how well they fit into tools you already use, and how transparent their pricing is once you outgrow the free tier. A quick trial against a real task from your own workflow tells you more than any feature comparison chart.
Where most people start
Squarespace AI
AI-powered website builder providing AI website generation, Squarespace Blueprint AI, template customisation, e-commerce, and hosting for businesses and creators without web development skills.
PicsArt AI
AI-powered creative platform for photo editing, video editing, AI image generation, and design used by 150 million monthly active users globally — creators, marketers, and social media users.
Microsoft Designer
Microsoft's AI-powered design tool that generates visual content from prompts, integrated with Microsoft 365 and powered by DALL-E 3.
Filter Design tools
Design tools curated for practical business use cases.
Squarespace AI
AI-powered website builder providing AI website generation, Squarespace Blueprint AI, template customisation, e-commerce, and hosting for businesses and creators without web development skills.
PicsArt AI
AI-powered creative platform for photo editing, video editing, AI image generation, and design used by 150 million monthly active users globally — creators, marketers, and social media users.
Microsoft Designer
Microsoft's AI-powered design tool that generates visual content from prompts, integrated with Microsoft 365 and powered by DALL-E 3.
Uizard
AI-powered UI design tool that converts text prompts, screenshots, and sketches into interactive wireframes and prototypes.
Webflow AI
Visual web design and development platform with AI features for generating website components, writing copy, and accelerating design workflows without coding.
Picsart AI
AI-powered photo and video editing platform popular among social media creators with AI image generation, background removal, avatar creation, and template-based design.
Adobe Photoshop AI
AI features embedded in Adobe Photoshop including Generative Fill for AI image generation within existing images, Generative Expand, Remove Tool, and neural filters for professional photo editing.
Zeplin AI
AI-powered design handoff platform providing automatic style guide generation, component documentation, and developer-ready specs from Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, and XD designs.
Figma AI
AI features built into Figma's collaborative design platform, including visual search, design generation, and content generation within the industry-standard design tool.
Remove.bg
AI tool that removes image backgrounds instantly with a single click, used widely for product photography, profile pictures, and design workflows.
Fotor AI
AI-powered photo editing platform with background removal, photo enhancement, portrait retouching, and image generation for non-professional users.
Simplified AI
All-in-one AI content creation platform combining AI writing, image generation, video creation, social media scheduling, and design for marketing teams who want multiple content types in one tool.
Adobe Express AI
AI-powered design tool for non-designers to create social media graphics, short videos, flyers, and branded content using templates and Adobe Firefly AI generation, included in Creative Cloud.
Recraft AI
AI image generation tool specialising in high-quality vector graphics, SVG icons, brand illustrations, and design-consistent imagery for professional design workflows.
Pixlr AI
AI-powered online photo editor accessible in any browser without download, providing background removal, object removal, AI image generation, and professional editing tools for casual and professional use.
Glif.app
No-code AI creative workflow builder for composing multi-model image generation pipelines that can be shared and remixed as reusable creative tools by the community.
TikTok Symphony AI
TikTok's AI creative suite for advertisers that generates video scripts, creates AI avatars for ad videos, translates and localises creative, and produces complete ad videos from product information.
Rask AI
AI video translation and dubbing platform that translates video content into 130+ languages with AI-generated voiceover, lip-sync adjustment, and subtitle generation for content globalisation.
Wisecut AI
AI automatic video editor that removes silences and filler words, adds auto-captions, creates background music, and trims talking-head and tutorial videos with minimal manual editing.
Vimeo AI
AI-powered video hosting, creation, and distribution platform for creative professionals and businesses with AI video editing, chapters, captions, and business video management.
Canva AI
Design platform with AI tools for non-designers including image generation, text-to-design, background removal, and brand-consistent creation.
Framer AI
AI-powered web design and publishing tool that generates complete websites from text prompts with professional animations and interactions.
Adobe Express AI
Adobe Express is the simplified creative tool from Adobe with AI features for creating social media graphics, short videos, PDFs, and branded content quickly.
Clipdrop
AI image editing toolkit from Stability AI with tools for background removal, image upscaling, relighting, object removal, and text-to-image generation.
Squarespace AI vs PicsArt AI
Two of the top Design tools, compared side by side.
Squarespace AI
Squarespace
PicsArt AI
PicsArt
Personal $16/month. Business $23/month. Commerce Basic $28/month. Commerce Advanced $52/month.
Free plan (ads, most features). PicsArt Gold $13/month. Business plans custom.
SOC 2 Type II. GDPR compliant. PCI DSS compliant. eCommerce compliance.
Review PicsArt's privacy policy. Photos uploaded for AI processing. Review image data handling and retention policies.
Website content and e-commerce data processed on Squarespace cloud. Customer data for e-commerce transactions protected under PCI DSS standards.
Photos and creative content uploaded for AI editing processed on PicsArt's infrastructure. Review PicsArt's privacy policy regarding image data use for model improvement and retention.
- Millions of websites validate Squarespace as a leading website builder platform
- Blueprint AI generates complete website design recommendations from business description
- Fluid Engine drag-and-drop provides precise layout control without code
- E-commerce and email marketing built in — comprehensive platform for business websites
- 1B+ downloads and 150M monthly active users validate global mainstream AI creative adoption at scale
- Broadest AI creative tool set in one app — generation, editing, design, and community content
- Community asset library adds a social creative layer beyond standalone editing tools
- Free plan with most features accessible without subscription commitment
- Personal plan at $16/month lacks e-commerce — Business plan required adds cost
- Competing with Wix (rank 831), Webflow (covered), and WordPress (covered) for website builder market
- Less design flexibility than Webflow for complex custom layouts requiring code-level control
- Ads in free plan — Gold $13/month for ad-free full feature access
- AI image generation quality is accessible but not at Midjourney's professional artistic level
- Competing with Canva (covered), Lensa (rank 641), and native social filters for mobile creative
Buying Guide
How to choose a design tool
- Shortlist two or three design tools and run the same real task through each before picking one — feature lists rarely predict day-to-day fit.
- Check the pricing model closely: usage-based plans can look cheap at first and scale unpredictably once you're a regular user.
- Confirm data handling and retention policies if the tool will touch anything proprietary or customer-facing.