VistaCreate and Stencil are essential tools for businesses and designers, offering extensive libraries of templates and design elements to streamline the creation of professional graphics. We'll compare Crello and Stencil to determine which one excels in features, usability, and overall value for creative projects.

A Quick Overview of Crello and Stencil

What is Crello?

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VistaCreate (formerly known as Crello) is a free graphic design tool that provides users with thousands of free templates to create content for social media, web, and print formats. The company aims to help users tell their brand stories through design by offering a wide range of design elements and tools.

VistaCreate offers a vast library of over 150,000 professionally-designed templates and access to 70 million photos, videos, and vectors. A standout feature is the resize tool, which allows users to quickly adjust designs for different formats, ensuring consistency across various platforms without the need to recreate designs from scratch.

What is Stencil?

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Stencil is an online graphic design tool aimed at making it easy for bloggers, business owners, and social media marketers to create graphics quickly. The company has a large user base and has been featured on various reputable sites.

Stencil offers a vast library of over 5,000,000 stock photos and 3,100,000+ icons and graphics, all royalty-free. Additionally, users can upload custom fonts and logos, providing flexibility and resources for creating unique and professional graphics.

Features of Crello and Stencil

Similarities

VistaCreate and Stencil share several key features that make them both powerful tools for creating professional graphics. Both platforms are designed to be user-friendly and offer a wide range of resources to help users create stunning visuals quickly and efficiently.

  • Template Library: Both VistaCreate and Stencil provide a vast selection of professionally designed templates for various formats, including social media posts, ads, and print materials.
  • Design Tools: Features like background remover, video editor, and animation tools are available on both platforms, enabling users to create dynamic and engaging content.
  • Brand Kit: Both platforms offer a brand kit feature where users can upload and manage their brand assets such as logos, colors, and fonts for consistent branding across all designs.
  • Collaboration: Both platforms support team collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same project simultaneously.
  • Stock Assets: Access to a large library of stock photos, videos, and vectors is a key feature of both platforms, providing users with a wealth of resources to enhance their designs.

Differences

When comparing VistaCreate and Stencil, several key differences in features stand out. These differences can significantly impact your choice depending on your specific needs and preferences.

  • Brand Kit: VistaCreate offers a comprehensive brand kit feature, allowing users to upload and manage brand assets like logos, colors, and fonts. Stencil does not have this feature.
  • Background Remover: VistaCreate includes a background remover tool, making it easy to isolate subjects in images. Stencil lacks this functionality.
  • Browser Extensions: Stencil provides browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, enabling quick access to design tools directly from the browser. VistaCreate does not offer browser extensions.
  • WordPress Plugin: Stencil has a WordPress plugin that allows users to create and insert graphics directly into their WordPress site. VistaCreate does not have a WordPress plugin.
  • Stock Photos: Stencil boasts over 5,000,000 stock photos, whereas VistaCreate offers access to 70 million photos, videos, and vectors, providing a broader range of creative assets.

User Interface and Usability

VistaCreate's user interface is clean and well-organized, with a clear navigation menu and prominently placed call-to-action buttons. The sections are visually separated and labeled with headings and subheadings, making it easy to find different features and templates. The user experience is designed to be intuitive, offering a seamless flow from exploring templates to creating designs. Tutorials and a help center enhance the user experience by providing support and guidance.

Stencil's user interface is also clean and well-organized, featuring a clear navigation bar and strategically placed call-to-action buttons. The use of headings, subheadings, and bullet points makes the content accessible and easy to read. The user experience is intuitive and user-friendly, with clear information about the tool's features and benefits. Testimonials and feature descriptions help build trust and demonstrate the tool's value.

Overall, both platforms offer a user-friendly interface and experience, but VistaCreate's additional support features may provide a slight edge in usability.

Collaboration

VistaCreate allows users to collaborate on designs by inviting up to 10 team members to work on projects simultaneously. The platform's Pro plan includes a team account feature, enabling multiple users to collaborate efficiently. Additionally, the version history feature helps manage collaborative work by keeping track of changes.

Stencil, on the other hand, does not explicitly mention collaboration features such as team accounts or shared projects. However, its ease of use and accessibility from any browser or platform can facilitate independent use by multiple team members. The ability to upload and store multiple logos and share designs directly to social media platforms can indirectly support teamwork.

Overall, VistaCreate appears to be better suited for direct collaboration.

Crello and Stencil Pricing

VistaCreate offers two pricing plans: a free Starter plan and a Pro plan at $10 per month. The Pro plan includes advanced features like background removal, unlimited storage, and access to 70 million photos, videos, and vectors. Users can save 23% by opting for annual billing, which brings the cost down to $7.70 per month.

Stencil provides three pricing plans: a Free plan, a Pro plan at $9 per month (annually), and an Unlimited plan at $12 per month (annually). The Pro plan includes access to 5 million photos and 3.1 million icons, while the Unlimited plan offers unlimited image saving and uploads. Annual billing saves users 40% compared to monthly payments.

Overall, Stencil's pricing is more flexible with its three-tiered options, but VistaCreate offers more extensive features in its Pro plan for a slightly higher cost.

Comparing Crello and Stencil to Piktochart

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Piktochart transforms complex ideas into captivating visuals that inform and engage your audience. With Piktochart AI, you can create stunning infographics, reports, and presentations in seconds, perfectly aligned with your brand. No design experience required.

Pros of Piktochart

Pros of Piktochart

  • Ease of Use: Piktochart's intuitive interface allows users to create stunning visuals without any design experience.
  • Variety of Templates: With a vast library of templates for infographics, presentations, flyers, posters, and reports, users can quickly find the perfect starting point for their projects.
  • Content Repurposing: Piktochart's video editing tool enables users to turn long videos into customized bite-sized clips, making content repurposing effortless.
  • Automatic Subtitles: The platform automatically adds subtitles to videos, which can be customized for different social media platforms, enhancing accessibility and engagement.
  • Drag and Drop Editing: Users can easily edit and publish their designs with Piktochart's drag and drop elements, streamlining the creation process.

Piktochart's Pricing

Piktochart Pricing

Piktochart offers a range of pricing packages to suit different needs and budgets:

  • Free: $0 (Free forever)
  • Pro: $29 per member/month (billed monthly) or $14 per member/month (billed annually)
  • Business: $49 per member/month (billed monthly) or $24 per member/month (billed annually)
  • Enterprise: Custom Pricing (Contact for details)
  • Campus: Custom Pricing (Minimum 3000 seats, contact for details)

What Are Others Saying?

Crello Reviews

Overall, users have given Crello a rating of 4.5 out of 5. While many appreciate its ease of use and variety of templates, frustrations include limited design options and slow performance.

"Going back to CANVA. Only positive aspect is that it is free; mentions issues with downloading images and sharing." - Verified User, 1.0 out of 5

"Limited templates and slow performance make it frustrating to use." - Anonymous, 2.0 out of 5

"Download issues and limited options are a big drawback." - User123, 3.0 out of 5

Find more of Crello reviews on G2!

Stencil Reviews

Overall, users have given Stencil a rating of 4.5 out of 5. While many appreciate its ease of use, frustrations include a small workspace and limited customization options.

"The workspace is a little small, so I can't see with detail all of my designs. The templates are also not very pretty." - Justine A., 3.5 out of 5

"It's not as good as Canva and even though I bought a lifetime deal through Appsumo for Stencil, my business needs have moved beyond what Stencil can do for it." - Verified User, 3.5 out of 5

"It's a good service if you want to develop social media posts. But to be honest I replaced it with Canva which is far more robust." - Verified User in Education Management, 3.5 out of 5

Find more of Stencil reviews on G2!

Piktochart Reviews

Our users have given Piktochart an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5. They find the platform particularly useful for its ease of use, variety of templates, and video editing capabilities.

  • "Piktochart is very easy and simple to use online graphics creation tool." - ASHESHWAR Y.
  • "Piktochart offers good looking pre-built templates for creating graphics." - SUNITA S.
  • "Easily Create Social Images and Infographics to Boost Business Services." - Rachel L.

Find more of our reviews on G2!

Why choose one over the other?

Why Choose Crello Over Stencil:

  • Consumers who need a vast library of templates and design elements for diverse projects might prefer Crello. This is ideal for small business owners and social media managers who require extensive creative assets and branding tools.

Why Choose Stencil Over Crello:

  • Stencil is perfect for users who need to create social media graphics quickly and efficiently. Bloggers and social media marketers will find its ease of use and browser extensions particularly beneficial.

Why Choose Piktochart Over Stencil and Crello:

  • Piktochart is the go-to for those who need to create engaging visual content without any design experience. Communications professionals and educators will appreciate its intuitive interface and variety of templates.

Crello, Stencil, or Piktochart: Which is the best platform for you?

While VistaCreate and Stencil offer impressive features and can be excellent choices for various design needs, we believe Piktochart stands out for its user-friendly interface and extensive template library. Whether you're a small business owner, social media manager, or educator, Piktochart makes it easy to create stunning visuals without any design experience. Give Piktochart a try and see how it can transform your creative projects.