8 Best Adobe InDesign Alternatives in 2022

If Adobe InDesign seems too expensive, tough to use, not so feature-rich, or for any reason you are looking for the top Adobe InDesign alternatives, you may read this write-up to get the best recommendations.  Marketing begins with making connections with prospective customers. And posters, brochures, and flyers are among the first things that click with the people. With this thought, many marketers choose Adobe InDesign (since it is so popular) to connect people and the product with each other. But is it the only attention-worthy designing software available, or are there any comparable (perhaps better) InDesign alternatives? Let us explore the answer to this question through this article.

Firstly, yes, there is a pool of commercial and free Adobe InDesign alternatives. But before taking an in-depth look at them, let us throw some light on why you should care about the desktop publishing and page layout designing software other than InDesign.

Why Do You Need an InDesign Alternative

Adobe InDesign is software that marketers and designers often consider a holy grail to create breathtaking materials, like magazines, presentations, etc. But nothing in the world comes fault-less.  Every application, software, or program has some shortcomings that often become unbearable enough for the users to look for its alternatives. The same is true in Adobe InDesign’s case.  Therefore, below we list some not-so-bearable downsides that triggered our search for the best Adobe InDesign alternatives.

Unbearable Cons of Adobe InDesign

We found the following drawbacks of Adobe InDesign quite a pain to bear. You should check whether you can sail through them or not (most of the users cannot).

• Fussy preview and font activation
• Heavy on system resources
• Pricey than other comparable software
• No support for image editing
• Frequent lags and crashes
• No automatic spelling checker
• Steep learning curve

If the above cons seem a turn-off (which they really are), you may proceed to the following carefully selected InDesign alternatives.

Well-Researched List of Adobe InDesign Alternatives

Our desire to find the best alternatives to Adobe InDesign led us to the following excellent (some of them are truly hidden gems) programs. You may choose from them for your marketing, advertising, and design needs.

1. VivaDesigner

Let us begin exploring the best InDesign alternatives with the VivaDesigner. It is a perfect choice for everyone who wants a bunch of features packed in a friendly interface.  With VivaDesigner, you can have a smooth document management and work process on both desktop and web. Moreover, it boasts a wide range of layouts to help you create stunning designs easily.  Furthermore, character inspectors, extended search for images, tracking of changes, and support for multilingual text editing are some other features making VivaDesigner a great Adobe InDesign alternative.

Also Read – Best Text Editor For macOS in 2022 [Free & Paid]

2. Affinity Publisher

Released in 2018, Affinity Publisher is another software deserving to be called a good InDesign alternative. What we like best about this program is that it infuses affordability, ease of use, and a feature-rich experience in a single package.  Talking about the features, Affinity Publisher boasts all essential and high-end options. For example, it comes with a preflight checker, smart color picker, accurate image scaling tools, an option to add multiple clicks together, customized table formatting, text styling across all document pages, artistic title effects, and a baseline grid for aligned text.

3. QuarkXPress

Launched in 1987, QuarkXPress is one of the best old-school and trial-free Adobe InDesign alternatives. It hosts a wide range of image editing tools and design layouts so that you can come up with the most amazing creations.  Apart from this, some of QuarkXPress’s other useful features include website designing in the WYSIWYG editor using HTML 5, numerous effects (like vector shapes, drop shadows, etc.), support for high-end typography, and the option to make a video the background of your website.

Also Read – 10 Best Prototyping Tools For UI/UX Designers

4. Scribus

Let us take a look at Scribus. It is yet another free Adobe InDesign alternative with an impressive feature set. For instance, it has a highly-reliable solution for color management.  Moreover, other reasons for which you should board the Scribus include storage of data in XML format for easy analysis, numerous PDF export options, and availability of 200+ color pallets. Furthermore, it also offers some additional features, such as tools for vector drawing and markup language rendering.

5. Swift Publisher (only for Mac)

Swift Publisher is a good choice if you want a cost-effective Adobe InDesign alternative for Mac. Along with a budget-friendly price, it boasts more than 500 project templates and over 2000 images to help you with your creations.  In addition to this, a plethora of cliparts, side-by-side editing of two pages, master page creation for making page numbers/headers/footers, and easy access to albums/collections from Apple Photos/ iTunes library are some other key features of Swift Publisher.

Also Read – 11 Best Mac Cleaner Apps to Clean and Optimize Your Mac in 2022

6. DesignCap

Let us now talk about an online InDesign alternative that claims to make graphic designing much easier. We found its assertions to be quite true. It is among the most user-friendly software tools available to make art for social media, infographics, etc.  Moreover, many other features like numerous theme templates, many stock images, a lot of icons, an option to upload pictures, the addition of charts, data importing from spreadsheets, layout customization with attractive backgrounds/text/other elements, and easy design sharing are a reason we call DesignCap one of the best free InDesign alternatives.

7. Microsoft Office Publisher

Here comes another easy-to-use InDesign alternative from none other than Microsoft. You can use Microsoft Office Publisher’s available templates to make brochures, postcards, etc., almost effortlessly.  Along with user-friendliness, Microsoft Office Publisher is a renowned name for its option to create and send high-grade email publications to your targeted group of people.

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8. LogoGarden

A logo is not just a picture. It is your brand’s language that communicates volumes with your customers. Thus, if you need the best Adobe InDesign alternative to create an impressive logo for your brand, LogoGarden is a great place to visit and try.  At LogoGarden, you get a variety of features like searching and browsing many icons, the availability of a plethora of fonts/colors/design tools, an option to choose from over 1000 symbols, a friendly interface, and round-the-clock access to your logo file.

Concluding the Top InDesign Alternatives

This article brought to light the best commercially available and free InDesign alternatives (some of them are even open-source). You may choose the one that suits your requirements the most from our list.  If you think any other Adobe InDesign alternative should also be a part of our list, you may share it in the comments section. We will try our best to review it as soon as possible.  Lastly, we hope you will continue to be our companion in this blog exploring the depths of technology.