Start with the job, not the price
Decide whether you need a temporary placeholder or an identity that will represent the business on signs, packages, a website, apparel, and sales materials. A quick generator download can be sensible for an internal test. A public launch asks more of the mark, the files, and the people who will use them.
Write down the first applications, who approves the work, and what a change after launch would affect. That turns the comparison into a defined buying decision. Our AI versus human logo design guide explains the different work behind an initial option and a finished identity.
Read the tool plan closely
Check whether you are buying one file, a logo package, or an annual brand-kit subscription. As checked on October 19, 2026, Looka’s help page lists Brand Kit at $96 a year and Brand Kit Web at $129 a year; its logo-only packages follow a different purchase model. Confirm current checkout price, renewal, edit access, export formats, and usage terms for your region before adding the plan to a comparison.
Price the work after the download
List the tasks the first purchase leaves open: redraws, vector cleanup, typography and asset licenses, color versions, small-size checks, vendor files, and a consistent set of rules. A polished preview may still need that work. The vector-conversion guide shows why a traced file is not automatically production artwork. For a U.S. launch, review similar marks and get qualified advice when trademark risk matters; the USPTO explains trademark strength.
Compare the identity you can launch, not the image you can buy.
Compare equal deliverables
Put a tool plan and a custom-design proposal beside the same brief. Ask each seller what is included, excluded, billed again, and supplied at handoff. Record actual amounts only when the plan or proposal states them; leave unknown costs blank until someone answers. The table makes the next question clear without pretending a subscription and a full identity project are identical purchases.
| Cost line | AI-tool plan: verify | Custom proposal: verify |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Checkout total, tax, renewal, and post-cancellation access. | Project fee, payment stages, and change-order terms. |
| Artwork | Editable source, vector formats, variants, and file ownership. | Approved masters, exports, variants, and handoff rights. |
| Refinement | Time or fees for redraws, typography, and revision rounds. | Concepts, review rounds, revisions, and out-of-scope work. |
| Launch | Guidelines, vendor files, application tests, and outside review. | Usage rules, tested applications, vendor support, and exclusions. |
The Vibrantworks Financial project shows how a mark, website, brand guide, and applications can be planned together. Use it to ask what your own quote covers. A higher starting fee may be appropriate for that wider scope, but value depends on the agreed work and the files you actually receive.
Choose by the cost of changing course
A temporary concept can tolerate more unfinished decisions. A logo destined for storefront signs, uniforms, packaging, or paid campaigns cannot. If replacing it would mean reprinting, refabricating, retraining vendors, or explaining the brand again, include those possible costs in the decision. Ask for a written final-file list and clear revision path before either purchase.
When to bring us in
If the logo will carry the business beyond a short test, bring Left Hand Design in while scope and applications are still open. Our logo design and brand identity services can define the work, refine or rebuild a direction, and prepare the files your launch needs.
