Design, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“powerful vector design toolkit”
Pros
Right after CorelDRAW, this is one of the better options for creating vector graphics. As it works really well for logos, icons and simple illustrations and I also appreciate that it's open source and updated regularly.
Cons
No cons as it is a very useful vector design tool especially when I need a free solution for certain creative tasks.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
10
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
10
Information Technology and Services, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“great SVG tool for small budgets”
Pros
Working with scalable vector graphics is one of the things this software does really well especially for icons and simple logo design. Plus the fact that it's open-source also makes it a very practical option when you're trying to keep costs low or working with a small budget.
Cons
Once files get more complex, the performance can start to slow down. Also it doesn't feel as polished as professional design tools and it's missing some of the more advanced vector controls those programs usually offer.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
9
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
8
Design, 11-50 employees
Less than a year
“top vector design companion”
Pros
Being a free tool, it still covers most vector design tasks really well. Also it is flexible enough for logos, icons and illustrations and once you become familiar with how it works, it turns into a dependable part of the workflow.
Cons
The interface does not feel as refined as some paid alternatives. It can also slow down when working with more complex files and a few of the advanced features take a while to fully learn.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
7
Value for money
8
Customer Support
8
Functionality
9
Computer Software, 1-10 employees
Less than 6 months
“Favorite SVG design tool”
Pros
Free, open-source, lightweight and simple to use tool. To be honest it's one of my top choices whenever I need to create a design and Honestly I find it much better than Adobe.
Cons
I really don't have any complaints. It performs better than the other alternatives I've tried and it's the only tool I rely on when I need to work with SVG files.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
9
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
8
Mental Health Care, 51-100 employees
Less than a year
“provides free design toolkit”
Pros
It's amazing that this software is free while still letting you handle the same kinds of tasks as other programs that cost $500 or more.
Cons
New users will definitely face a bit of a learning curve at first. That said the community offers lots of excellent tutorials that help with learning the software and its extensions.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
10
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
10
Information Technology and Services, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“Free design tool I rely on”
Pros
Having access to such a powerful program at no cost is amazing. So anytime I need to put together a quick design, this is the tool I reach for.
Cons
Honestly I can't think of anything I need that it doesn't already offer. For the kind of work I use it for, it handles everything really well.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
8
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
10
Retail, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“strong open-source design toolkit”
Pros
It lets me handle advanced, professional-level document creation and design which is a huge plus. Overall it goes well beyond Microsoft Publisher and for the features I use, it holds its own alongside Corel and Adobe Illustrator.
Cons
I don't have any complaints. It has consistently done exactly what I need whenever I've used it. The only thing I can even remember was a time more than five years ago when I needed to update it because it wasn't working properly.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
10
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
10
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 1-10 employees
Less than 6 months
“Outdated tutorials, mismatched menus”
Pros
From what I could tell, it seems like the software probably includes all the features I need for the kind of work I do. On paper the toolset looks like it matches my requirements well but I couldn't even get through the tutorials properly.
Cons
The tutorials are basically useless unless you go download a version from 10 to 15 years ago. With the current releases, the menus don't even match what the tutorials show so they are not actually usable. So to me it feels like a typical open-source problem where the developers keep changing things but the manuals and tutorials never get updated to reflect it.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
3
Value for money
4
Customer Support
4
Functionality
4
Computer Software, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“feature rich software”
Pros
The range of things this software can do is impressive and the community behind it is a big plus.
Cons
Not everything is immediately self-explanatory although thats understandable given how complex the software is.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
9
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
10
Arts and Crafts, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“excellent SVG editing for 3D prints”
Pros
Works really well for editing images and SVG files for my 3D printing projects.
Cons
The interface is a bit confusing and takes some time to understand at first.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
7
Value for money
8
Customer Support
8
Functionality
8
Building Materials, 51-100 employees
More than a year
“really like the vector design workflow”
Pros
Creating high quality vector based documents in Inkscape is pretty easy and the overall workflow is quite user-friendly.
Cons
One thing I'd really like to see is support for tabbed documents. At the moment I have to open a separate window every time I'm working on a different file.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
9
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
9
Research, 500+ employees
More than a year
“Reliable free design toolkit”
Pros
Being free is a big advantage and it still includes the basic tools needed to create and edit figures which is awesome.
Cons
The downside is that it is not very user friendly especially when it comes to where the tools are located and how some of their functions work.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
7
Value for money
8
Customer Support
8
Functionality
8
Graphic Design, 11-50 employees
More than a year
“Durable and budget-friendly”
Pros
A big advantage to me is how durable and cost-effective it is.
Cons
Honestly the software feels perfect and very user-friendly.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
10
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
10
Design, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“Powerful free design tool”
Pros
Not having to spend anything is a huge plus. In short Inkscape has been a real lifesaver when working with a tight budget.
Cons
There was definitely a bit of a learning curve with the interface. Also it is not as simple as some other alternatives and it can feel a little slow at times.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
7
Value for money
8
Customer Support
8
Functionality
8
Retail, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“Free and feature-packed”
Pros
Inkscape does not cost anything and is easy to use, while still offering the tools you actually need.
Cons
A few features can be difficult to locate and not always easy to understand.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
8
Value for money
8
Customer Support
8
Functionality
7
Renewables & Environment, 11-50 employees
More than a year
“Complete and versatile toolkit”
Pros
It is a complete and versatile tool. Plus it supports a wide range of file formats and offers plenty of options.
Cons
The rendering is not very sharp on Linux.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
9
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
9
Higher Education, 1-10 employees
Less than 6 months
“adaptable open-source design tool”
Pros
Being open source is a big plus and it comes with a lot of useful features that work well for everything from scientific research plots to hobby projects.
Cons
As per me the weak point is the community support and the manual is not very user friendly or easy to navigate.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
8
Value for money
8
Customer Support
7
Functionality
8
Marketing and Advertising, 51-100 employees
More than a year
“great experience overall”
Pros
Using Inkscape has been a really positive experience. It's an outstanding vector drawing program that stands out for being both user friendly and packed with features. The interface is also user friendly so beginners can get comfortable quickly while professionals still have everything they need to produce high-quality artwork. With tools like layers, effects and extensions, it offers the kind of versatility that makes it essential for graphic design work. So to me it is without a doubt a powerful and accessible choice for anyone looking for reliable design software.
Cons
I honestly don't have any particular drawbacks to mention here.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
10
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
10
Computer & Network Security, 1-10 employees
More than a year
“pretty easy to learn”
Pros
Back when I could not afford Adobe Illustrator, I turned to Inkscape as an alternative and have been using it for about 11 years now. As a graphic designer, I needed something that could deliver similar functionality and it absolutely did that. Over time I also noticed it includes features Illustrator didn't offer especially plugins for tracing and other useful tasks. I've genuinely enjoyed working with it and consider it a very professional piece of software. Another big advantage is that the learning curve is much lighter than Illustrator so you can open it up and start working right away.
Cons
There really are not many downsides to using it. One thing that has bothered me is that it doesn't use tabs in the interface so whenever you start a new project, it opens in a completely separate window. Plus I personally prefer a tabbed layout because it looks cleaner and keeps the desktop from feeling cluttered.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
9
Value for money
10
Customer Support
10
Functionality
9
Printing, 11-50 employees
Less than a year
“Powerful free vector toolkit”
Pros
Compared with a lot of design programs that charge a lot without offering much back, Inkscape being free and open source is a huge advantage. It gives me access to every effect and tool I need for effective 2D vector graphic design. The trace bitmap feature is especially important when I need to resize and clean up customers old artwork. Though it definitely has some limits but usually nothing that can't be worked through with about an hour of extra effort.
Cons
When it comes to print work, color handling is where it runs into the same challenges against Adobe and similar software. I am constantly dealing with the default RGB setup and I usually have to ask someone with Adobe access to convert my PDFs into CMYK. I know a lot of people pair it with Scribus for that reason but Scribus has a complex interface that's hard to work with. Another major limitation is that it can't handle spot colors which is a big deal for printing white ink on dark materials. I'd also really like to see better support for geometric design especially more alignment options and movement across more axes than just X and Y.
Rating Distribution
Ease of use
7
Value for money
10
Customer Support
7
Functionality
6