Graphics can be an important tool for a small business to use in their email campaigns and on their social media pages, but what if you don't have the budget for a designer? There are lots of options online now for creating your own customized infographics for free. All of the sites we list offer either a free subscription level or trial. Some also have paid subscriptions you may want to consider, depending on your goals. The site that best suits your needs will depend on what you’re looking for and what sort of skills you have at your disposal, and there is a wide range of options available to suit all of your design needs without impacting your budget.
1. Canva
Canva is a popular site for creating graphics because of its affordability and its easy-to-use format. Canva is free to sign up, and most of the components you’ll use to make your infographic are free, though there are options to buy an element or design for a small fee—most carry a $1 price tag. Canva’s popularity is due in large part to how easy it is to customize your graphic. If you’re creative, you can start with a blank page and add images, shapes, text, and more until you’re satisfied with the finished product. If design isn’t your strength, Canva offers a large selection of infographics which are already made and waiting for you to plug in your own unique information. Some of these ready-made graphics are free, though most will carry a charge. You can use Canva to make posters, charts, social media posts, and more.
2. Venngage
Venngage can be used to create diagrams, charts, and other graphics that are ready to be plugged into your website or social media feed. It’s free to sign up, and the site will ask a few questions to gauge what sort of service you’re looking for. If you’re a creative type, you can start with a blank canvas, but if you work better from a template, Venngage has a large selection to choose from. The site offers lots of pop-up advice boxes, so even a true novice could use the tools to make a graphic they’re happy with.
3. Piktochart
For those without any design experience at all, Piktochart may be the best option. After answering a few questions about yourself and signing up for free, Piktochart walks you through every step of the process. There are featured templates to choose from, or you can choose “Create New” and be guided through the entire process. There are no mysteries with Piktochart; if you don’t understand a feature, you can be sure that the site will offer plenty of details about what it is and how it works. There is the option to take a full tour of the site, or to receive help throughout the process through small pop-ups and bubbles. For someone with experience in this field, the extra help may seem redundant, but when you’re just trying your hand at something you’ve never done before, the helping hand can be a valuable tool. While it ranks as one of the most helpful sites, Piktochart has less free content to offer than the other sites on our list, making it less ideal for someone who knows what they want in a design and how to get it.
4. Easely
Easely offers graphics, templates, and tools that you can use to customize your infographic to your needs, though only a small portion of these are free. Easely offers less than Canva in terms of elements that you can use to customize your graphics, but also offers a “no-frills” approach that will be enticing to someone who has a general understanding of how to make their design work but doesn’t want all the bells and whistles. If you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for, and you find that Easely can deliver it, then this site will prove to be a quick and painless tool for getting those graphics created and ready to distribute.