Unveiling Kimp.io: The pioneer of unlimited graphic design and alternatives
Access to high-quality design is pivotal to brand success in the ever-evolving market. We live in a highly visual marketplace, meaning every brand needs to stand out. How can businesses keep up with the growing demand for visuals in an affordable way? With unlimited graphic design subscription services.
In this brief, we'll explore the success of Kimp.io, a trailblazer in unlimited design subscriptions, and how it has revolutionized the way businesses approach design solutions. We'll also give you the run-down on unlimited design subscriptions, the origins of Kimp, its service offerings, pros and cons, top alternatives, and why REEL UNLIMITED stands out as a compelling alternative.
Understanding unlimited design subscriptions
There are a few key aspects of unlimited design subscriptions that allowed them to rise in popularity, but first:
What are graphic design subscriptions?
Unlimited graphic design subscriptions offer businesses unlimited design tasks for a fixed monthly fee. This allows businesses to save on an in-house design team while keeping up with the demands of various campaigns and design needs. These types of subscriptions also allow rapid scalability, which is excellent for smaller businesses and startups who don't have a clear idea of what their needs will be at first. There are four main features of these types of service:
Via Getty ImagesUnlimited requests
While each subscription may vary in terms of how many tasks you can have simultaneously and things like turnaround time or type of request, every service will allow unlimited requests within the month. This is a huge money-saver for companies that have a high volume of design needs.
Unlimited revisions
Getting a vision just right can be tough. Most allow as many revisions as are needed on their work to ensure the customer is completely satisfied with each project and task. This helps ensure consistency across branded and marketing materials.
Flat monthly fees
Businesses will always know what their monthly bottom line looks like no matter how many tasks they request for the month. This is a huge help in budgeting and generally means businesses protect their budget while still receiving exceptional work.
Dedicated design team
This type of service model saves companies the trouble of finding, recruiting, training, and retaining in-house designers. Most will have vetted top talent from around the world, and many offer a designated design team. As your relationship grows, tasks and revisions will become fewer and fewer as the designers get to know your voice and style. Providing designers also means you won't experience the flakiness many brands struggle with when hiring freelancers.
The need for graphic design subscriptions
As the world grew increasingly visual, many businesses struggled to keep up. They either couldn't afford to have their own designers in-house, were stuck in the agency bottleneck and missed deadlines, or were experiencing challenges in finding a consistent, skilled, and reliable freelance designer for their tasks. Bills were wracked up, deadlines were being missed, and some projects were falling through the cracks entirely. It's only human to be fed-up with the traditional design agency experience!
Then came Kimp, alongside a few other pioneers, who presented the subscription model to solve these pain points. They offered accessible and reliable design services at a predictable price. It took off like wildfire, which was a sign businesses were ready for a new way of fulfilling their design needs.
The origin and popularity of Kimp.io
As mentioned, Kimp.io was one of the first to step into the unlimited graphics space. Here's how they started and why they were so popular.
The Kimp story
Starting out in Canada's York University startup hub, Kimp.io was founded in 2003. Their goal was to provide features current design agencies were missing, improve content, and help companies save time and money on design while providing their employees with awesome jobs. They emerged as one of the first movers in the subscription trend, catering to businesses of all sizes seeking on-demand design offerings. By 2019, they were running completely on a fixed-rate, unlimited design subscription model.
Via KIMPPopularity
Thanks to its affordability, streamlined process, and consistency in delivering high-level designs, Kimp rapidly became a star in the design world. Not only could businesses request and review tasks quickly and easily, but design tasks became an exceptionally smaller expense and still received the connection and feedback companies needed from their ads and content.
What's offered by Kimp
Like what is outlined above, Kimp provides many of the features a typical subscription graphic design company offers, including graphic design for various marketing materials, such as social media posts, banners, and advertisements. Here's where they stand out from other businesses: Kimp will also provide features for video. With the right subscription, users can have unlimited video design requests, creating an entirely new ad experience and style of marketing campaign. In today's visual world, engaging videos can go a long way.
What does Kimp cost?
Subscription prices vary and come in a few different options: Design only, video only, or both videos and design. They start at around $600/mo and go up to around $1,000/mo.
Why Kimp.io is popular:
According to feedback and reviews, users love Kimp for a few reasons, the top two being:
Affordability:
At a fraction of the cost of hiring in-house designers or the time it takes to find freelancers, users love that Kimp.io is affordable and can provide features and designs their clients respond to.
Access to vetted designers:
How does Kimp stay affordable? With outsourced yet vetted designers. They hire exceptional talent from countries like the Philippines, where labor costs are lower. This enables Kimp to keep its competitive pricing without sacrificing quality.
Pros and Cons of Kimp.io
Like any business, there are pros and cons to Kimp.io and what they offer. From loving affordability to struggling with limited design options, here are what real human clients have said in their reviews:
PROS
Affordable pricing
Compared to other agencies and providers, Kimp.io is in the lower range for price points. Clients love their affordability.
Unlimited design tasks
Whether you have one task a month or one hundred, you can make unlimited requests. The caveat is that your subscription dictates how many simultaneous requests you can have underway. Revisions, queues, and designer capacity are part of determining how many you can actually get done.
Quick turnaround times
Whereas large agencies also have extensive queues and bottlenecks, Kimp.io prides itself in offering designated design teams that provide quick turnaround times on tasks—as fast as 24 hours for simple requests and 2-3 days for more complex ones.
Small business oriented
With a reliable bottom line every month and competitive price points, as well as scalability, small businesses love Kimp and the service they offer. While any sized business can benefit, it's SMBs and startups that really capitalize on the saved cost and time of the Kimp.io model.
CONS
Limited scope
Kimp's subscriptions may not cover everything you're looking for. Yes, they do video design and graphic design, but marketing teams will need more than that for a successful campaign, and businesses also need great websites to host the new designs. Depending on their designers and your request, they may not be able to cover everything you need, or it may not be included in the price you've already paid. The sometimes limited scope means businesses then need to get supplementary work done elsewhere, ultimately driving the overall price of the campaign up. Plus, a review or two can be found that says custom illustrations can also have a much slower turnaround.
Might not need a subscription
While the subscription model can save businesses a lot of cash, it can also cost them if they don't actually need multiple tasks done every month. In that case, it's likely better to find a one-off designer. If you're not spending about 8-10 hours on design work per month, it may not be for you (yet!).
Different timezones
As mentioned, Kimp.io works with designers in places like the Philippines and India. While it's great to keep prices low, some clients have struggled with quick and effective feedback and revisions because of timezone differences. They can't get a real human connection to make their point. It can be hard to review a draft consistently when there's a delay in the back-and-forth, especially if you're on a tight deadline.
Top 10 alternatives to Kimp.io
Every business should do its research before selecting a design provider. Below, we've selected the top 10 alternatives to Kimp.io and put them in a brief overview to help you decide what's best for your business.
1. REEL UNLIMITED
Via REEL UNLIMITEDOffering everything Kimp.io does, plus web design and Webflow development, REEL UNLIMITED is a leading alternative to Kimp. Starting at $795, all plans include video, web, and graphic design (unlimited, of course), with unlimited revisions, a dedicated designer, quick turnaround times (24-48 hours), real-time communication in Slack, and a dedicated project manager to ensure each of your requests stays on track and on brand. REEL UNLIMITED puts out designs your target audience will respond to and feel a connection with. REEL UNLIMITED also offers payment services in several currencies, a risk-free $5 trial for 5 days where you can try services provided before you subscribe.
2. ManyPixels
Via ManyPixelsManyPixels is a high-talent and affordable alternative. However, many clients end up needing to level up their subscription to the highest tier (around $1200) to unlock the true benefits of the company and get all the design options they need, such as motion graphics and real-time communication. While most are happy with the delivered task, they also need to spend more to achieve the desired results.
3. Penji
Via PenjiPenji is a great place to start for smaller businesses with minimal needs, with their base package priced around $500. The biggest catch is that this price tag doesn't include a dedicated designer, any web design or web flow offerings, presentation design (crucial if you're in the funding stage), or even motion graphics. For all that and better turnaround, businesses need to level up.
4. Awesomic
Via AwesomicAwesomic is a little more unique in their subscriptions, offering either more part-time designers like the other companies with variations in the design amount and complexity needed or something a little closer to having an in-house designer, but without the hassle of hiring and retaining one. Sitting in the middle of affordability and flexibility, prices start around $600 and go up to as much as $2000+ per month.
5. Flocksy
Via FlocksyLike REEL UNLIMITED, Flocksy provides clients with a designated designer and project manager at every level. The biggest difference between tiers is the type of design service offered. Depending on what your business requires, you can level up or down. Starting at $500, anything more complex than basic graphics will run you between $1000-$1700 per month.
6. Superside
Via SupersideSuperside's subscriptions work by providing clients with credits they can put towards hours of design each month. If you're an excellent planner with a clear vision, this can help save money and time. However, if the designer doesn't quite get your brand or the design is complex, budgeting time can be tough. Unused hours do roll over, but the price tag starts at a whopping $5000/mo.
7. Designity
Via DesignityDesignity covers anything you could possibly need to be designed, including ads, web coding, video, motion graphics, custom illustrations, presentations, and more. If you need it, they can make it. You'll also get partnered with a designated creative director, who streamlines communication and revisions, builds the required designers for the task, and acts as a singular touchpoint for all your needs. The downside? The price tag. Starting at $3500 per month for limited creative, the full package comes in at close to $8500 monthly.
8. Design Pickle
Via DesignPickleAnother pioneer of the subscription model for graphic design, Design Pickle, has been around the block once or twice. Most clients are very happy with the graphics this company puts out. However, for real-time communication via Slack, they need to up the subscription. Design Pickle also uses their own AI-powered tools and platform, which, while ensuring a thorough understanding of each request for fewer revisions, can also severely slow down the requesting process and be cumbersome to use.
9. Teamtown.co
Via Teamtown.coOffering graphics and videos, Teamtown is a great option for businesses who want to create engaging, moving content. They have a variety of subscriptions but only offer video and motion graphic options at the higher levels, as well as creative teams. Already starting higher than most at around $2000/mo, this quickly pushes businesses into the $3000-5000 range.
Why REEL UNLIMITED stands out
With its affordable price tag and more comprehensive range of offerings, such as website design, web flow development, and designated project leads and design teams, REEL UNLIMITED stands out as one of the top competitors and alternatives to Kimp—especially for startups and agencies.
They pull from only the top talent, bringing in a team of highly skilled designers. This ensures consistent high-level design and delivery, and creativity in every design task, plus unlimited revisions and excellent communication. Thanks to their startup and agency focus, REEL UNLIMITED truly understands the unique needs of this stage of business, providing tailored solutions.
Reasons to Consider Kimp.io or one of its alternatives
For businesses with few design needs and limited styles, Kimp.io is an excellent choice. They have great turnaround times, affordable and flexible subscriptions, and are highly ranked in the industry. However, for more comprehensive offerings, a project manager, and specialized support that is tailored to startups, businesses that are scaling, and marketing agencies, a more full-service option like REEL UNLIMITED is the way to go. It is still affordable, but gives businesses more of what they need to grow and thrive.
Where we're at today
REEL UNLIMITED pricing pageKimp.io has paved the way for unlimited design subscriptions by offering affordable and accessible design solutions to businesses worldwide. However, alternatives like REEL UNLIMITED provide a broader range of offerings, design assurance, and specialized support, making them a compelling choice for businesses seeking comprehensive design solutions. Every business needs a website, and many spend thousands on web development and flow. Having web service included with design and videos ensures you'll have the optimal place to host your gorgeous designs. Ready to give it a try after this review of KIMP's graphic design subscriptions? Transition seamlessly from Kimp.io to REEL UNLIMITED and enjoy a 25% discount for the first 3 months using the code BYEBYEKIMP.
