The price gap between these options is real, but it is not the most important difference. The bigger one is what you can do with the logo afterwards. Canva’s own licence says its graphics cannot be used as part of a trademark or business name, and Looka says you own your logo as a whole but not the symbols inside it. Check that before the logo goes on anything expensive.
How the four options compare
Abcon is a branding agency, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to describe each option the way its own website does, and we have not printed prices: they are set per country, per seller or per plan, they change often, and the pages we checked on 29 October 2026 showed prices for another market. Check the current figures on each site before you decide.
| Decision factor | Canva (you design it) | Logo maker (Looka and similar) | Freelancer on Fiverr | Branding agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who designs it | You, starting from templates and graphics | Software, from your name, industry and style choices | One freelancer you choose from listings | A team: strategist and designers, including Arabic lettering when needed |
| How you pay | Free plan or a paid subscription | A one-off logo package or a brand kit subscription | A price set by each seller for each gig | A proposal for the scope you agree |
| Thinking before design | None unless you do it | None | Usually a short questionnaire | A brief, research and a written direction |
| Arabic version | Only if you set it yourself | Rarely offered | Depends on the seller | Drawn alongside the English when the brand needs both |
| Files you receive | What you export | Depends on the package; Looka’s basic package is one low-res file | Depends on the gig | Vector masters, colour values, versions and guidelines |
| Trademark use | Canva content cannot be part of a trademark | Copyright in the logo as a whole, not its symbols (Looka) | Read the gig and Fiverr’s terms | Agreed in the contract; designed to be distinctive |
| Best for | Testing an idea, social posts, internal use | A placeholder for a side project | A small business with a clear brief | A business about to invest in signs, vehicles and packaging |
When a cheap option is the right call
Plenty of businesses should not hire an agency yet, and we would tell them so. If you are testing whether anyone will buy the product, running a weekend market stall, or need a placeholder for a pitch deck next week, a logo from Canva or a logo maker is a sensible use of money. You can replace it once the business proves itself.
A good freelancer can also be the right answer. If you already know who your customers are, what you want to say and where the logo will appear, and you are happy to write the brief and review the work yourself, a freelancer with a strong portfolio in your sector can deliver a solid mark. The risk is not the platform. It is that you are hiring one person you have probably never met, so check their past work closely and agree in writing what you will receive.
The point at which this changes is usually the money you are about to spend on top of the logo: a fit-out, a shop sign, a vehicle wrap, printed packaging or a trade licence in the brand name. Changing a logo after those are paid for costs far more than getting it right first.
The question none of the comparisons asks
The comparisons that rank for this question talk about price and speed. Almost none of them ask whether you can protect the result. That matters in the UAE, which registered 17,217 national and international trademarks in the first half of 2026 alone. A logo that looks like many others in your category is harder to register and harder to defend.
The platforms are open about their limits if you read the small print. Canva’s Content License Agreement lists among its prohibited uses any use of its content “as part of a trade-mark, design-mark, trade-name, business name or service mark”, with fonts excepted. So a Canva logo built from Canva’s graphics or templates cannot be the core of a registered brand. Looka’s pricing page says you have full copyright of your logo as a whole, “but not the individual elements (e.g. symbols)”, and points you to the trademark office in your country if you need legal protection. Software that assembles logos from a shared library can give other customers similar symbols.
If a trademark is part of your plan, take advice from a trademark specialist before the logo is final, and choose a route where the mark is drawn for you and the rights are written into the agreement.
Arabic is where cheap options struggle
Many UAE businesses need the name in Arabic as well as English, on the shopfront, the packaging and the paperwork. Template tools and logo makers are built mainly around Latin letters. You can type Arabic underneath, but the two rarely look like one brand: the weights differ, the heights clash and the Arabic often sits in a default font.
Two scripts drawn as one brand
Jumanah Foods’ original identity board shows English, Arabic and combined lockups built around the same decorative J emblem. The Arabic is drawn to sit with the English rather than typed underneath it, which is the part template tools and logo makers rarely handle.
Jumanah Foods Branding.pdf · Read the Jumanah Foods case study
Drawing the two scripts together is design work in its own right. Jumanah Foods, below, is an example: one monogram, with English, Arabic and combined lockups built around it. Our guide to Arabic and English logo design explains what good bilingual work looks like and what to ask for.
What an agency adds
An agency costs more because more work goes into the mark, not because the software is better. On a properly run project you pay for four things the cheaper routes usually leave out.
A reason behind the mark, and a version for every ground
Stryv’s original concept board explains how the letters S and V and a running figure combine in one angular symbol. Its variant board then shows the lockup on red and on black and the symbol alone as an icon. Both are the kind of working material a cheaper route rarely includes.
STRYV.pdf · Read the Stryv case study
- A reason behind the mark. The design starts from what the business needs to say and who it is up against. Stryv’s concept board, below, explains how the S, the V and a running figure come together in one symbol.
- Versions for every place it appears. Colour, one colour, reversed, stacked, horizontal and icon only, tested small and on dark grounds before anything is printed.
- Arabic and English as a pair, when the brand needs both, designed to share proportion and weight.
- Files and rules your suppliers can use. Vector masters, exact colour values and guidelines, so the signmaker, printer and web developer all produce the same brand without guessing.
Our logo design service covers the mark on its own. When the business needs the whole system of colour, type, patterns and applications, that is brand identity design. For what moves the price of either, read how much a logo costs in Dubai.
Which option suits which business
- Testing an idea or a side project: Canva or a logo maker. Keep the spend small and plan to replace it.
- A sole trader or small shop with a clear brief and a modest budget: a freelancer with relevant work you have checked, and a written list of the files you will get.
- A new company taking a trade licence, signing a lease or ordering signage: a designer or agency who will draw an original mark, in Arabic and English if you need both.
- A group, a franchise or a brand going into retail: an agency, because you need a system and guidelines, not only a logo.
Frequently asked questions
Can I trademark a logo I made in Canva?
Not if it uses Canva’s graphics or templates. Canva’s licence rules out using its content as part of a trademark or business name, fonts excepted. A mark you drew entirely yourself is a different matter, but ask a trademark adviser before you file.
Is a logo from a logo maker mine?
Check each tool’s terms. Looka, for example, gives you copyright in the logo as a whole but not in the individual symbols, which other customers can also use.
Is Fiverr safe for a logo?
It can be, with care. Choose a seller whose past work matches your sector, agree the number of concepts, revisions and file types in writing, and make sure the order includes the source files and the rights you need.
Can we start cheap and upgrade later?
Yes, and many businesses should. Plan the switch before you pay for signage, vehicles and printed packaging, because those are what make a logo change expensive.
For practical support with this decision, explore our logo design and brand identity services. Each page explains the scope, how we work and what to consider before commissioning the work. Talk to us about your business challenge.
