Last Updated on 29. August 2026 by Martin Kraus
Piktochart Review 2026: AI Design and Infographics Put to the Test
Piktochart is an AI-powered design platform for infographics, presentations, social media graphics and promotional creatives. With the Pikto AI Studio, a single prompt turns into a finished layout within seconds. We tested Piktochart with our own account on the free Free Plan step by step – from AI image generation through the editor to the download. This review shows how capable the tool really is and where the Free Plan’s limits lie.
What Is Piktochart?
Piktochart is a cloud-based design platform that lets you create infographics, presentations, posters, reports, flyers and social media graphics without any design experience. At its core is the Pikto AI Studio: a collection of AI-powered tools that generate images, icons, logos and complete visuals directly from a text prompt.
Besides pure image generation, the Pikto AI Studio also includes an Image Modifier, an Image Upscaler, AI-powered image restoration, a Background Remover and an Object Eraser. This is complemented by classic, manually customisable templates for infographics, presentations, posters, reports and flyers, as well as its own collection of social media formats.
Core Features of Piktochart
The feature set covers both classic, template-based design and full AI generation from a prompt.
- Pikto AI image, icon, logo and visual generator: Creates images, icons, logos and complete visuals directly from a text prompt, with several layout variants per generation.
- Image Modifier, Upscaler and Restorer: Edits, enlarges and repairs existing images with AI support.
- Background Remover and Object Eraser: Automatically removes backgrounds or distracting objects from images.
- Classic templates: Infographics, presentations, posters, reports and flyers with a manually customisable editor.
- Social media formats in the Pikto AI Studio: Eight ready-made formats, from Square Post to Story, selectable directly when entering your prompt.
- Brand Assets: Central management of your own brand colours, fonts and logos; applying them in the editor is unlocked from the Pro plan.
- Team workspace: Shared access to projects and templates according to the provider – not testable with the single-user account used in our Free Plan test.
Advantages of Piktochart
The most striking practical advantage in our test is the low credit consumption: a complete AI image generation including four selectable layout variants cost just 1 of the 60 free starter credits in our test – noticeably less than is typical for comparable AI tools.
Generation itself runs quickly and delivers several layout alternatives to choose from straight away, without further credits being charged for switching between variants. Combined with the broad feature set spanning AI image generation, upscaling, background removal and classic templates, Piktochart covers an unusually large part of the design workflow within a single tool.
Who Should Use Piktochart?
Piktochart is aimed primarily at marketing teams, communications managers and anyone who regularly needs to create visual content without design experience.
Marketing and PR managers use the Pikto AI Studio to create social media graphics, promotional creatives and campaign visuals in minutes rather than hours – in our own test, a single prompt was enough for a ready-to-use layout.
Users handling design tasks benefit from the combination of AI generation and a classic, manually customisable editor to sharpen AI drafts in a targeted way rather than redesigning from scratch.
Freelancers and small business teams use Piktochart for reports, presentations and infographics without needing dedicated graphics software for occasional design tasks.
Educational institutions can create infographics and presentations for teaching and administration; Piktochart offers its own special terms for this, available directly from the provider (see the pricing section).
Less suitable is Piktochart for users who rely on freely editable text within AI-generated mockup images – in our test, the placeholder text in a phone mockup remained faulty and uneditable –, for anyone who needs more than two downloads per project on the Free Plan, and for teams that want to apply their own brand colours and logos directly in the editor from day one, rather than only seeing them in a preview.
Piktochart Pricing Overview
Piktochart offers a free Free Plan as well as the paid Pro, Business and Enterprise plans. Check all current terms on the official Piktochart website → *
| Plan | Price | Target audience | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 EUR/month | Best for giving it a try | Free way to try it out with 60 AI credits, unlimited visual projects and 2 PNG downloads included, plus 1 GB storage. |
| Pro | 15 EUR/month | Professionals and small teams | Pay flexibly month to month with 500 AI credits, unlimited PNG downloads and access to over 5 million premium icons, illustrations and 3D graphics. |
| Pro (annual) | 120 EUR/year | Professionals and small teams | Save 33 % with annual billing – 500 AI credits, unlimited PNG downloads and premium templates for an effective 10 EUR/month (12 × 10 EUR/month). |
| Business | 20 EUR/month | Teams who needs advanced brand controls | Advanced brand controls with 1,000 AI credits, unlimited PNG, PDF and PPT downloads, plus a Brand Kit with unlimited color schemes, fonts and logos. |
| Business (annual) | 204 EUR/year | Teams who needs advanced brand controls | Save 15 % with annual billing – 1,000 AI credits and full Brand Kit for an effective 17 EUR/month (12 × 17 EUR/month). |
| Enterprise | Custom | Enterprises who needs advanced brand controls | Custom terms for 101+ team members including a dedicated account manager, SSO/SAML and advanced security review. |
Price as of August 23, 2026 – prices may have changed since then. Please verify with the provider before placing an order. (Price automatically updated by AI)
The table below shows the feature differences between the plans, independent of price:
| Plan | AI Credits | Ideal for | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 60 starter credits | Getting started, individual users, testing | 2 PNG downloads per project, Brand Assets view-only, no transparent background |
| Pro | 500 credits per month | Freelancers, solo marketers, regular use | Unlimited downloads, apply your own Brand Assets in the editor, additional export formats |
| Business | Extended credit allowance according to the provider | Small to medium-sized teams | Additional team and collaboration features according to the provider |
| Enterprise | Individual | Larger organisations | Individual terms, on request from the provider |
Note: Prices can change at any time. Check current terms directly on the official website.
For educational institutions – including campus licences for entire universities – as well as for nonprofit organisations, Piktochart offers its own special terms with reduced annual prices. Details and current terms are available directly from the provider.
Our Review of Piktochart
The following review assumes use on the Pro plan, since that’s where Piktochart reaches its full practical potential – in our view, the realistic scenario for anyone using the tool beyond occasional experimentation. Our own hands-on test was carried out on the free Free Plan: core features such as AI image generation, onboarding and the editor were directly testable, while Pro-specific features such as unlimited downloads, additional export formats and applying your own Brand Assets were assessed from the official product documentation. The Free Plan limitations we encountered in our test are listed separately below the scoring table.
Overall Score
| Category | Weight | Score | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output Quality & Design | 25% | 7.5/10 | The generated layout looks professional and ready to use in our test; the only deduction is for the uneditable placeholder text in the AI-generated phone mockup. |
| Template Variety & Customisation | 20% | 7.5/10 | Wide range of template categories (infographic, presentation, poster, report, flyer, social media) according to the provider; our test focused primarily on the social media format. |
| AI Generation Quality | 15% | 8.0/10 | Fast generation with four layout variants to choose from, without switching between them costing extra credits. |
| Export & Compatibility | 10% | 7.5/10 | The Pro plan offers unlimited downloads and additional export formats according to the provider; our own hands-on test could only assess the restricted Free Plan export. |
| Collaboration & Team Features | 10% | 6.5/10 | Brand Assets can be actively applied in the editor on the Pro plan according to the provider; a team workspace for multiple users wasn’t testable with the single-user account we used. |
| Value for Money | 10% | 7.5/10 | The Pro plan, with unlimited downloads and significantly more AI credits, is competitively positioned compared with other tools in the portfolio. |
| Usability & Setup | 5% | 8.5/10 | Clearly guided, personalised onboarding and a well-organised editor; the one-off loading error when first opening the editor was an isolated outlier that didn’t recur during testing. |
| Privacy & Compliance | 5% | 5.0/10 | According to the privacy policy, user content flows into AI training by default, regardless of the plan booked. Objecting is only possible by email, with no in-app opt-out. |
| Overall Score | 100% | 7.4/10 | On the Pro plan, an all-round convincing, highly credit-efficient AI design tool with one clear weakness on privacy (use of content for AI training). |
| AI Credit Efficiency | Tool-specific – not included in the overall score | 9.0/10 | A complete image generation including four layout variants cost just 1 of 60 starter credits in our test – noticeably more economical than comparable AI tools in the portfolio. |
Note: The score and weighting are an editorial proposal and will be finally approved by the editorial team before publication.
Limitations from our Free Plan test: The score above assumes the Pro plan. Anyone using Piktochart on the free Free Plan should expect the following limitations by comparison, which we experienced directly in our own test:
- Only 2 PNG downloads per project, no transparent background – unlimited on the Pro plan according to the provider.
- Brand Assets (your own colours, fonts, logo) can only be viewed, not applied in the editor – application is unlocked from the Pro plan.
- 60 starter credits instead of 500 credits per month on the Pro plan – used up quickly with regular use.
The one-off editor loading error when first opening the tool occurred independently of the plan, was fixed immediately by reloading the page, and didn’t recur for the rest of our test – we therefore treat it as an isolated outlier rather than a structural problem.
Strengths
- Very low credit consumption: just 1 credit for a complete image generation including four layout variants.
- Fast AI generation with a direct choice between several layout alternatives at no extra cost.
- Broad feature set: image, icon and logo generator, Image Modifier, Upscaler, Restorer, Background Remover and Object Eraser in one tool.
- Clearly structured, personalised onboarding with format selection before the prompt.
- Generous starter credit balance of 60 credits on the free Free Plan.
Weaknesses
- One-off editor loading error on first launch, fixed in our test by reloading the page.
- Placeholder text in AI-generated mockup images was faulty and uneditable in our test.
- Brand Assets on the Free Plan are view-only; applying them in the editor requires the Pro plan.
- Only 2 PNG downloads per project on the Free Plan, no transparent background possible.
- User content flows into AI training by default; objecting is only possible by emailing the provider, not directly in the account.
Our Experience With Piktochart
For this test, we worked through an existing Piktochart account, covering the full journey from the first onboarding question to downloading an AI-generated promotional creative – entirely on the free Free Plan, without any actual purchase or upgrade. The steps below show what using Piktochart actually feels like in practice.
Step 1: Onboarding and Personalisation
Right after logging in, Piktochart asks about your intended use – Personal Use, Work, Education or Nonprofit – followed by a second question about your role. For our test, we chose “Work” and the role “Marketing/PR/Advertising”. Both answers noticeably steer the later template recommendations on the dashboard.
Step 2: First Impressions of the Empty Workspace
The “For You” dashboard presents itself straight away with clear entry tiles: AI video, AI visual, file upload and the classic formats sit side by side on equal footing. For an empty Free Plan account, the starting point feels tidy rather than cluttered.
Step 3: Choosing a Format in the Pikto AI Studio
Via “Create AI Visual” you first land on format selection rather than going straight to prompt entry. For our test we chose the “Social Media” category and, within it, the “Square Post” format – a total of eight social media formats are available before you even enter a prompt.
Step 4: Prompt Entry and AI Credits
After choosing the format comes the actual prompt entry, with additional instructions on headline, colour scheme and intended use. The cost display is immediately visible: 60 starter credits were available, and the generation itself costs 1 credit. After generation, we could choose between four layout variants without the switch costing any further credits.
Step 5: A One-Off Editor Loading Error
After “Save & Edit”, the full editor was supposed to open with the chosen layout – instead, an “Unexpected Error” appeared on the first attempt. The error occurred only once and was fixed by simply reloading the page, without losing any progress.
Step 6: Editor Loads Cleanly With the AI Tools Panel
After reloading, the editor opened without errors, with the “Pikto AI Tools” panel visible on the left for further AI editing steps directly within the layout. The generated phone mockup did reveal a flaw, though: the placeholder text it contains is part of a single raster image and can’t be edited – unlike the actual headline text layer, which was fully editable.
Step 7: The Finished Layout in the Editor
In the overview, the complete creative comes together: headline, body text, phone mockup and a “Discover now” CTA button combine into a coherent, ready-to-use layout – aside from the mockup placeholder text mentioned above, no further work was needed.
Step 8: The Download Limit on the Free Plan
The download panel reveals the central Free Plan limit: you can only export as PNG without a transparent background, and only 2 downloads were initially available for this project. After the first export, the counter dropped to 1 remaining download.
Step 9: Brand Assets Locked on the Free Plan
In the Brand Assets area, you can store your own brand colours, fonts and logo and view them as a sample, but actually applying them in the editor remains locked on the Free Plan and requires the Pro plan. For consistent corporate design, that’s a noticeable restriction.
Further impressions from our test – from the download counter after export, through the saved project on the dashboard, to the composite preview of the finished creative – are shown in the gallery below:
Value for Money in Detail
Compared with other AI design tools in the Delavo portfolio, Piktochart stands out mainly through its very economical AI generation credit consumption: a single image generation with several layout variants uses only a fraction of the starter balance. The catch is in the detail: the Free Plan limits downloads to two per project and denies applying your own brand colours and logos in the editor.
If you mainly use Piktochart for occasional, individual graphics, the Free Plan gets you surprisingly far, as long as the download limit doesn’t become an issue. If you publish regularly or need consistent corporate design across multiple projects, you should budget realistically for a paid plan. All current amounts can be found in the pricing table above.
Key Alternatives
| Tool | Advantage over Piktochart | Disadvantage over Piktochart | When it’s the better choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma AI | AI presentation generation from a single prompt, including automatic text and structure for complete decks | No dedicated infographic or social media format library like Piktochart | When the focus is on complete presentations rather than individual graphics |
| AdCreative.ai | Specialised in performance-oriented ads with AI-powered creative optimisation across multiple formats at once | No extensive infographic or report template range | For regularly producing many ad variants for performance marketing campaigns |
| Simplified AI | Also bundles copywriting, video and social media planning in one interface | Broader in scope, and therefore tends to be less focused on individual, high-quality design output | When you need an all-in-one platform rather than a specialised design tool |
Piktochart, AdCreative.ai or Simplified AI: Which Tool for What?
All three tools create visual content with AI support, but each has a different focus. Piktochart stands out for its very economical credit consumption and the combination of AI generation with classic templates for infographics, presentations and social media graphics. AdCreative.ai is the right choice once performance-oriented ads with many variants take centre stage. Simplified AI plays to its strengths when text, video and social media planning need to run alongside design in a single tool.
| Tool | Focus | Ideal for | Less suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piktochart | AI image and infographic generation with classic design templates | Marketing teams and individual users with broad graphics needs | Systematically producing many ad variants at scale |
| AdCreative.ai | AI-powered ads and performance creatives | Performance marketing teams with high ad volume | Users who primarily need infographics or reports |
| Simplified AI | All-in-one platform for text, design, video and social media | Creators and teams needing multiple content formats | Users looking for a focused, specialised design tool |
Our Verdict on Piktochart
Piktochart impresses in our test with exceptionally economical AI credit consumption, fast generation and a broad feature set that combines AI image generation, image editing and classic templates in one tool. For marketing teams and individual users who regularly need different types of visual content, that’s a compelling overall package.
If you need more than two downloads per project on the Free Plan, want to apply your own brand colours directly in the editor, or rely on error-free, editable AI mockups, you’ll quickly hit the limits of the free access and should budget realistically for a paid plan.
Verdict: Recommended for marketing teams and individual users with regular, broad-ranging graphics needs and a limited budget – second choice for users who need unlimited downloads or full brand consistency in the editor from the outset.
Privacy at Piktochart
According to Piktochart’s privacy policy, content uploaded and created by users flows into training the provider’s AI models by default. Objecting is possible, but not via a setting in your account – only by emailing ai-privacy@piktochart.com.
Piktochart is not a German or EU provider. In our test, we did not review any publicly available, explicit GDPR contractual documents (DPA) on the website. If you process personal data of European users via Piktochart or want to object to the use of your content for AI training, check the current contractual documents directly with the provider before productive use – this page cannot replace individual legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions About Piktochart
What exactly is Piktochart?
Piktochart is a cloud-based design platform for infographics, presentations, posters, reports, flyers and social media graphics. With the Pikto AI Studio, you can generate images, icons, logos and complete visuals directly from a text prompt.
How much does Piktochart cost?
Piktochart offers a free Free Plan as well as the paid Pro, Business and Enterprise plans. The current amounts are kept automatically up to date in the pricing table further up this page. Full pricing overview: delavo.de/… #piktochart-pricing
Is there a free version of Piktochart?
Yes, the Free Plan starts with 60 AI credits and allows up to 2 PNG downloads per project, though without a transparent background. Unlimited downloads and applying your own brand colours in the editor require the Pro plan.
How does AI image generation work in the Pikto AI Studio?
In the Pikto AI Studio, you first choose a format, then enter a prompt with details on content, colour scheme and intended use, and receive several layout variants to choose from. The full process from our own test: delavo.de/… #piktochart-experience
How many AI credits do I get on the Free Plan?
The Free Plan starts with 60 AI credits. In our own test, a complete image generation including four layout variants cost just 1 credit – a very economical use compared with other AI tools.
How many downloads are possible on the Free Plan?
The Free Plan provides 2 PNG downloads per project, without a transparent background. After the first export, the counter drops accordingly, as documented in our own test: delavo.de/… #piktochart-experience
Are there discounts for educational institutions or nonprofit organisations?
Yes, Piktochart offers its own special terms both for educational institutions – including campus licences for entire universities – and for nonprofit organisations. The exact, current terms are available directly from the provider.
What happens to my content during AI training?
According to Piktochart’s privacy policy, user content flows into AI training by default. Objecting is only possible by emailing ai-privacy@piktochart.com, not via an account setting. More details: delavo.de/… #piktochart-privacy
Who is Piktochart best suited for?
Piktochart is best suited for marketing teams, communications managers and individual users who regularly create different kinds of visual content without design experience. For highly specialised needs such as systematic ad variants, tools like AdCreative.ai are often the better fit.
What alternatives are there to Piktochart?
Well-known alternatives include Gamma AI, AdCreative.ai and Simplified AI. Depending on your focus – presentations, ads or all-in-one content – a different tool may suit you better. Detailed comparison: delavo.de/… #piktochart-alternatives
Can I use my own brand colours and logos on the Free Plan?
Your own brand colours, fonts and logos can be stored and viewed in the Brand Assets area, but actually applying them in the editor remains locked on the Free Plan and requires the Pro plan.
Which export formats does Piktochart offer on the Free Plan?
On the Free Plan, only export as PNG without a transparent background is possible, limited to 2 downloads per project. Additional export formats and unlimited downloads are included from the Pro plan according to the provider.
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