When it comes to graphic design services, 99designs and Fiverr are often compared as top choices. While there are undoubtedly better platforms available, many clients still weigh these two options to determine which is more suitable for their graphic design needs.
If you’re curious about how 99designs and Fiverr stack up, this article is for you!
Get ready as we explore the strengths and weaknesses of each platform to see which one comes out on top. Stay with us until the end—we’ll introduce you to a fresh alternative that offers guaranteed quality, top-tier digital services, and exceptional results. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Overview of 99designs vs Fiverr
Imagine you’re a client exploring graphic design services and you’ve heard about 99designs and Fiverr. Your first thought might be that 99designs is the better option since it specializes exclusively in graphic design. However, you’re also aware that Fiverr offers access to a diverse pool of talented designers. So, why are these two platforms often compared?
Success with hiring someone from Fiverr or 99 Designs?
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If you enjoy working with freelancers or are interested in hiring designers through design contests, these two platforms might seem like logical choices.
For those unfamiliar with 99designs and Fiverr, here’s a quick overview to help you understand their differences.
What is 99designs?
99designs is a well-known platform that connects individuals in need of design work with talented graphic artists from around the world. It originated from a website called “SitePoint” in 1999, where graphic designers participated in design contests for fun. As its popularity grew, 99designs was officially established as a standalone company in 2008.
Two Ways With 99designs
99designs offers two amazing ways to work with their vetted designers:
- Through contest-based model
- One-on-one with a professional designer directly
The contest model allows you to initiate graphic design projects by posting design briefs and budgets. Many freelance vetted designers from all over the world will then submit their creative concepts, after that, you will choose your preferred design and collaborate with the designer directly.
Most clients initiate logo design contests, and all the designers available will then present you with high-quality designs, just like a suitor trying to get your attention. You don’t have to worry about not getting a single logo design as there are over 1.4 million registered freelance designers the platform offers.
On the other hand, when you hire a designer directly, you get to have an instant design partner. The best part is you get to choose who will be your design partner. You can just browse their designer portfolio and choose the one that you think fits your needs.
With design contests, you can have multiple designers working on your design concepts, offering a variety of creative ideas. On the other hand, working one-on-one with a graphic designer provides consistent communication and greater control over the final outcome.
When it comes to choosing the best “hiring process” for your project, consider the following tips:
- Choose design contests if you’re unsure about your project’s direction and want to explore multiple ideas from different designers.
- Choose one-on-one projects if you already have a clear concept in mind and prefer a more tailored approach.
Unlike Fiverr, which offers more business-oriented operations, 99designs focuses specifically on the design industry.
Once your design is finalized—whether through a contest or collaboration with your chosen designer—you can continue working together using communication platforms of your choice or directly on the platform. And there’s no need to worry about payments, as they will only be released once the project is completed.
Services Offered
99designs offers a wide range of design services to cater to various business needs. Here are some of the key services they provide:
Logo & Branding Design:
- Logo Design
- Business Card Design
- Brand Guide Creation
- Stationery Design
Website & App Design:
- Web Design
- App Design
- Landing Page Design
- Icon or Button Design
Business & Advertising:
- Postcard, Flyer, or Print
- Brochure Design
- Signage Design
- Trade Show Banner Design
Art & Illustrations
- Illustration or Graphics
- Book Cover
- Album Cover
- Character or Mascot
Packaging & Label:
- Product Packaging
- Product Label Design
- Merchandise Design
- Vehicle Wrap Design
These services are designed to help businesses establish and enhance their visual identity across various platforms. This vast range allows you to fulfil all your design needs within one platform, ensuring consistency across different projects
Pros of 99designs
Variety of Designs: The contest model enables you to have multiple concepts created from your design brief. The rich selection of design options is really ideal for clients who have trouble having a firm design idea.
High-Quality Talent: All the designers are professionals and you can freely browse their works in the designer portfolios.
Collaboration Tools: The platform has built-in communication tools to facilitate your communication with the designer.
Cons of 99designs
Expensive: If you are on a tight budget, then you might want to rethink availing 99designers. Clients typically pay a premium for the variety and quality of submissions they receive. It’s a little pricey especially if you are on a limited budget.
Time: The contest model may prolong project timelines because you will have to wait for submissions and revisions, which can be a drawback if you need quick results.
Limited to Graphic Design: While 99designs excels in graphic design, it may not cater to broader creative needs such as web development or copywriting.
No Unlimited Graphic Design: One of the current trends in the design industry is unlimited graphic design services. While 99designs does not offer unlimited graphic design, their pricing can sometimes rival the cost of a standard subscription plan (spoiler alert: keep reading to learn more!).
Overall, you may not find other services aside from graphics design on this global creative platform, but you can guarantee good project management, great design work and other services under graphics designing. 99designs is ideal for those who want high-quality graphic design work and are willing to invest in it.
What is Fiverr?
Fiverr is a lot more broad than 99designs. It is kind of like a social media site where services are offered and sold by freelancers—a perfect example of the gig economy. The services are called “gigs”, you, the client are referred to as “buyers” and the freelancers who will offer you services are called ” sellers”.
Fiverr includes gigs that you can’t even imagine because it is so broad, a fun fact is you can find the most bizarre services there are such as “de-ranking services” for your online games, lawn-mowing, pranks; however, in the past years, Fiverr has rebranded and shifted more into professional services such as graphic arts, digital marketing, content creation, etc.
The business model of Fiverr allows designers or freelancers to set their prices and cut out “middle-man” services.
Fun fact: Fiverr got its name from the $5 minimum price that was originally common for gigs. However, don’t get too excited—this is just the starting price for most services. For example, graphic design services often start at $100 or more, which is still reasonable given the quality provided.
Let me show you how Fiverr works:
In this case, we are going to dive only into the Graphics and design services.
You can see the range of services there and you can choose.
For example, you picked “minimalist logo design”
As you can see, there is a toggle that says “pro services” If you click that—the interface will change and the prices will go higher—some are $500 above. This is for those who want high-quality Fiverr designers
Before you start browsing for a skilled designer, you can customize first the selections by choosing your personal picks on each dropdown. You have logo options, seller details, budget, and delivery time—and you can sort the Fiverr designers by best-selling to recommended.
For the logo options, you can choose the file format, service offerings and service inclusions.
Here on the seller details you can choose the seller level (if they are always picked), seller type (individual or agency), seller availability, seller language, and where your seller lives.
You can set the price range or you can choose among their minimum prices.
You can set the delivery time based on your needs.
Lastly, sort the Fiverr designers based on best-selling, recommended, and newest arrivals.
Here’s what you will see after you have chosen a seller/designer. You can either avail the basic, standard and premium prices of their services. After that contact the designer.
The overall customer experience for Fiverr is much more basic compared to 99designs, however, when it comes to quality, the consistency may vary. According to reviews, there were good and there were subpar. Either way, if you are on a tight budget, then hiring Fiverr designers is for you.
Services Offered
Fiverr hosts a vast range of services across multiple categories, but we’re just going to explore the design work services:
- Minimalist logo design
- Illustration
- Web Design
- AI Artist
- Architectural and Interior Design
- Social Media Graphics
- Video Editing
Pros of Fiverr
Budget-Friendly: You can get designs under $30 and high-end designs for $60 and above. This is perfect if you have a small business or for your personal projects.
Wide Range of Services: The platform’s extensive categories under graphics design is something that 99designs lacked, they do not have web design or social media graphics.
Quick Turnaround: Many freelancers offer express delivery options for urgent projects, this is convenient especially if you have a tight deadline.
Cons of Fiverr
Quality Difference: Fiverr has an open structure which means that the quality of work can vary significantly among Fiverr freelancers. You need to understand that not all sellers meet professional standards, since most offer cheap services.
Less Collaboration: Fiverr does not foster an iterative design process as good as 99designs. It’s more of like a task given, then it’d get worked on and after that, you’ll receive the deliverables, tho revisions are still included especially if you have communicated it well with the seller.
No Unlimited Graphic Design Services: The same goes with Fiverr, it does not have an unlimited graphic design service, which is I think a much better design service package that clients should avail if they need consistent design projects.
Pricing and Design Quality
Pricing Comparison
99designs
Here are some price points to consider for 99designes:
- Logo Design – Bronze ($299) – Logo design contests (with 30 designs or an individual designer. Money-back guarantee.
Silver ($499) – Expect 60 designs. Money-back guarantee.
Gold ($899) – Expect 90 designs. Money-back guarantee.
Platinum ($1,299) – Expect 60 premium designs, a dedicated manager on your end and prioritized support. Money-back guarantee.
- Logo and brand guide ($429) – Includes logo and brand guide document.
- Brand starter pack ($599) – Includes logo, brand guide, social media assets, and business card.
- Brand launch pack ($699) – Includes everything in the brand starter pack plus postcard flyer and letterhead.
Fiverr
Here are some price points to consider for Fiverr:
- Pricing in general – Value: Under $30
Mid-range: $30-$60
High-end: $60 above
Custom – Can range up to $800-$1000 max
Graphic Design Quality
99designs is known for its high-quality designs due to its process for designers. You can expect professional-grade work as designers compete to win design contests. On the other hand, Fiverr’s open marketplace means that the quality varies and you can’t always expect to land a jackpot among freelancers.
But don’t fret, you can always get high-quality work on Fiverr as long as you follow these tips:
- Read reviews and examine the work of the seller through its profile. Anything less than a 4-star review should be a red flag. Look for repeat customers with the seller.
- Create a short list of quality sellers and message them for your queries.
- If you have decided to place an order, set some expectations straight. Most sellers will clarify how many rounds of revisions are included in the price, be sure to get as many revisions as stated. Also, be clear on your delivery timeframe and ask the seller if he or she will need a leeway.
- Communication is the key. Fill out order requirements and be as detailed as possible to avoid confusion. Use understandable words and be straightforward.
- Ask the seller to provide early draft versions so that you can see if you are both on the same page.
- If there are any issues with the order you can always go to the Fiverr Help Center.
With 99designs, you should also incorporate these tips especially for “specific works”.
Which Is The Best Platform for Freelance Graphic Designer
If you’re a freelance graphic designer, do not skip this part. I know working in the gig economy might be exhausting, especially when you are trying to find the best platform to offer your services. Now, if you are considering between these two platforms, here are some insights you need to know:
- 99designs charges a fixed 5% platform fee, and designers pay a separate platform fee that varies with their level.
- Fiverr adopts a transaction-based fee model, where sellers are deducted a 20% fee for every transaction they make.
- Fiverr is generally cheaper than 99designs, with prices starting at $5. If you think your work level is not for pro, then you can swing a few gigs at Fiverr.
- 99designs has a community of 1.4 million designers, while Fiverr has a community of around 7,000 designers.
- 99designs specializes in design work exclusively, while Fiverr caters to a wide array of business services.
- 99designs personally assesses each designer in their database based on design qualifications.
Secure Payment Systems and Customer Support
Payment Systems
Back to clients, take note that 99designs ensure your payments are secure by holding funds in escrow (financial agreement held by a neutral third party) until they’re satisfied with the submitted work.
On the other hand, Fiverr also provides a secure payment system, where funds are held by Fiverr and only released to the freelancer once the client approves the delivered work.
Both platforms have measures in place to protect clients’ personal information and financial transactions.
Customer Support
99designs boasts dedicated customer support that assists clients throughout the design process. They also have the following help options:
- Submit a help request
- PR queries
- A phone number
Fiverr’s Help Center includes a search bar where you can ask your queries. You can also search your queries by choosing each category such as:
- Your Fiverr Account
- Payments and Withdrawals
- Trust and Safety
- Order Management
- Buying on Fiverr
- etc
Both platforms have measures in place to resolve disputes and ensure client satisfaction.
Choosing the Right Platform for Logo Design
At last, you made it to the last topic we’ll talk about, which is choosing the right platform for your logo design. Here are some considerations you need to take note of:
- Consider your target audience and the project type when selecting a platform.
- If your sole focus is on design, 99designs may be the best option.
- If your business needs diverse freelancer skills, Fiverr’s broad marketplace may be more suitable.
- When it comes to budget, you need to weigh more the chances of availing expensive but quality work, or cheap but unsure deliverables.
These considerations might help you, but if you ask me, I think the best platforms to choose for Logo Design are platforms that offer unlimited graphic design. Why?
- You can avail of pricing plans that have multiple projects being worked on at a time.
- You can request unlimited designs.
- You can request unlimited revisions.
- The quality varies on the plan that you choose (which is worth it in my honest opinion)
Why you should choose Graphically?
Graphically offers unlimited graphic design services. Where you can guarantee high-quality in-house design at an affordable price!
Pricing Plans
- $299 (Standard) – For only $299/month you can avail of the standard plan which includes unlimited graphic design, custom illustrations, presentation design, and video and motion graphics. You also get unlimited revisions and a 24-36 hours turnaround time. Take note that with this plan you get to have one project being worked on at a time.
- $349 (Premium) – As for the premium plan of $349, you get everything in standard plus three different projects being worked on at a time. This plan is good if you need to have multiple design projects all at once!
Services Offered
- Graphic design
- Custom illustrations
- Presentation Design
- Video and motion graphics
- Unlimited designs and revisions
Graphically has a powerful request management platform so you wouldn’t have to worry about your requests not reaching the project manager.
Also, Graphically has a user-friendly interface and you can see the status of your designs. If your designs are done, you will receive a message from the project manager and from then you can start your request for revisions if the design does not meet your standards.
Graphically is good if you need consistent design projects, plus it is also very affordable.
99designs and Fiverr are both okay when it comes to graphics design, but they lack the unlimited feature, which is I think a very important feature especially when it comes to logo designs.
The Bottom Line
If you’re a small business owner or on a limited budget, using 99designs might strain your wallet. While it delivers high-quality results, it may not be the best option if you need consistent, ongoing work.
Fiverr is a versatile, one-stop-shop platform, especially if you’re looking for graphic design services not available on platforms like 99designs. However, its main drawback lies in managing expectations around deliverables and the limited scope of service inclusions.
For high-quality, consistent graphic design, consider platforms that offer unlimited graphic design services, such as Graphically. These options provide genuinely cost-effective solutions.
