Adobe InDesign vs VivaDesigner
Adobe InDesign
adobe.comVivaDesigner
viva.systemsSide by side
| Figure | Adobe InDesign | VivaDesigner |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19.99/mo | €299/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 9 | 10 |
| Spec score · Desktop Publishing Software | 9.2 (#4) | 8.7 (#6) |
| Company | Adobe says it was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke. | VIVA Vertrieb GmbH lists its address in Koblenz, Germany, and says VivaDesigner has been developed since 2005. |
| Integrations | Official integrations include Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Adobe Express, Adobe Capture, Bridge, Creative Cloud Libraries and InCopy. | VivaDesigner Server can be integrated into websites and web applications, and its functions can be accessed through an API. |
| Licence | InDesign is proprietary commercial software distributed through Adobe membership plans rather than an open-source licence. | VIVA licenses the proprietary software rather than selling it; the agreement restricts use to one computer at a time and forbids modification or reverse engineering. |
| Purpose | InDesign is a professional page layout application for designing, preflighting, and publishing content for print, web, and tablet apps. | VivaDesigner is an AI-based design, publishing, layout, typesetting and illustration program for desktop and web. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.8 out of 5 from 344 reviews. | 4.7 out of 5 from 3 reviews |
| Rating on G2 | 4.6 out of 5 from 3,363 reviews. | 4.5 out of 5 from 1 review |
| Rating on GetApp | 4.8 out of 5 from 344 reviews. | 4.7 out of 5 from 3 reviews |
| Rating on Software Advice | 4.8 out of 5 from 344 reviews. | 4.7 out of 5 from 3 reviews |
| Server deployment | InDesign Server exposes a multithreaded SOAP engine for document-management and publishing solutions. | The server can be deployed on premises in a customer's data center; VIVA says it installs the server itself. |
| Support | Adobe’s InDesign Help Center provides tutorials, technical requirements, troubleshooting articles, and product documentation. | GetApp lists email/help-desk and phone support, with in-person, live-online, webinar and documentation training options. |
| System requirements | InDesign 21.x requires Windows 10 or 11 64-bit, at least 8GB RAM, AVX2 and an internet connection; macOS 12 or newer is required for current versions. | Desktop requirements include a 64-bit OS, 1 GB free disk space, at least 1 GB RAM, a 1 GB video card and a 1920×1080 display. |
| Typography | The app supports Adobe Fonts, OpenType and variable fonts, kerning, tracking, character styles and paragraph styles. | It supports all languages and writing directions, with tools for typography, structured text, styles, tables, paths and barcodes. |
| What it does | InDesign creates and publishes books, digital magazines, posters, brochures, eBooks, presentations and other print or digital layouts. | VivaDesigner is an AI-assisted design, publishing, layout, typesetting and illustration application for desktop computers and web browsers. |
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
VivaDesigner
- Free EditionFree
- FREE Edition (Desktop)Free
- Free Edition Plus trialFree
- EDUCATION Edition (Desktop)$89, paid once
- PERSONAL Edition (Desktop)$139, paid once
- NPO/NGO Edition (Desktop)$159, paid once
- VIVA SaaS / IaaS€299 a month
- GOVERNMENT Edition (Desktop)$329, paid once
- COMMERCIAL Edition (Desktop)$399, paid once
- VivaDesigner Desktop licensed editionsPrice not published
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.
VivaDesigner
VivaDesigner is a desktop and web program for design, publishing, layout, typesetting and illustration. It supports projects such as books, brochures, flyers, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, business cards, resumes, logos and social media ads. Its tools cover typography, structured text, styles, tables, paths and barcodes, with support for all languages and writing directions. AI features include automatic translation in more than 30 languages and automatic image clipping. VivaDesigner imports native InDesign documents, and users can edit VivaDesigner or InDesign files in a browser. Teams can work online or offline, add text notes and track visual changes. Documents can be printed or exported to PDF, XML, PNG, JPG and other formats. The server can connect to websites and web applications through an API, or be deployed on premises; the hosted offer includes a German data center and automatic backup. The free edition can open, edit, save and print documents, but lacks hyphenation, spell check and PDF export. The SaaS / IaaS offer costs €299 a month, net plus VAT, on a one-year contract.