Adobe InDesign vs Inkscape
Adobe InDesign
adobe.com
Inkscape
inkscape.orgSide by side
| Figure | Adobe InDesign | Inkscape |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19.99/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 2 |
| Spec score · Graphic Design Software | 9.2 (#10) | 9.0 (#18) |
| Spec score · Design tools | 9.2 (#10) | 8.9 (#24) |
| Spec score · Designing Solutions | 9.2 (#2) | 8.5 (#15) |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes |
| Documentation | Adobe provides a desktop help center with user guides, release notes, technical requirements, troubleshooting, scripting and plug-in documentation. | Official learning resources include interactive basic, shapes, advanced, bitmap tracing, calligraphy, interpolate and design tutorials plus videos, books and keyboard references. |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Illustration tools | No | Yes |
| Limit: learning curve | Independent reviewers say the extensive interface and feature set take time to learn, especially for beginners. | Reviewers describe the interface and tutorials as unintuitive for beginners and say advanced tools take time to master. |
| Limit: performance | Reviewers report occasional slowness, high RAM use, freezes, crashes and slow exports, particularly with complex documents. | Reviewers report slowdowns or occasional lockups with complex or high-resolution files. |
| Mobile app | No | No |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.8 out of 5 from 344 reviews. | 4.4 out of 5 from 518 reviews |
| Rating on G2 | 4.6 out of 5 from 3,363 reviews. | 4.4 out of 5 from 416 reviews |
| Rating on GetApp | 4.8 out of 5 from 344 reviews. | 4.4 out of 5 from 518 reviews |
| Rating on Software Advice | 4.8 out of 5 from 344 reviews. | 4.4 out of 5 from 518 reviews |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 9.2 out of 10 from 975 reviews. | 8.9 out of 10 from 18 reviews |
| Support | Adobe’s InDesign Help Center provides tutorials, technical requirements, troubleshooting articles, and product documentation. | User help is community-provided through project-maintained channels including RocketChat and the Inkscape Forum. |
| Template library | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Adobe InDesign
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachers$19.99 a month
- InDesign$22.99 a month
- InDesign$22.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro$34.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro$34.99 a month
- InDesign for teams$37.99 a month
- InDesign for teams$37.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro for teams$99.99 a month
- InDesign annual prepaid$263.88 a year
In their own words
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a professional page-layout application for designing, preflighting, and publishing content for print, web, and tablet apps. It can produce brochures, digital magazines, eBooks, posters, and presentations, with precise typography controls and access to Adobe Fonts. Adobe describes layout and AI features including Flex Layout, layout-aware Rewrite, PDF-to-InDesign conversion, generated alt text, and Generative Expand. InDesign integrates with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat, and includes tools for sharing assets, receiving feedback, and collaborating with stakeholders. It runs on macOS and Windows as a desktop app, not a mobile app, and is available only through a membership plan. A seven-day trial provides the full version but converts to a paid Creative Cloud membership unless canceled before it ends. The InDesign plan includes 100GB cloud storage and 25 monthly generative credits; Creative Cloud Pro plans include access to 20+ apps. For versions 21.3 and later, Adobe lists at least 8GB RAM and an internet connection for activation, subscription validation, and online services.