Comparison

Design Lab vs Adobe Express

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Design Lab

Create professional graphics and stunning visuals with a vast library of templates, images, and fonts. Enhance photos with filters and adjustments, and utilize advanced text and layer-based editing tools. Import your own artwork for custom branding and design.

Highlights
  • Customizable templates
  • Photo filters and adjustments
  • Advanced text tools
  • Free stock photography
  • Layer-based editing
  • Blend and erase tools
  • Vector shape creation
Features
Read full description

Create beautiful designs and pro graphics with DesignLab! Choose from millions of images, fonts and templates to produce stunning visuals, perfect for social media. FEATURES: • CUSTOMIZABLE TEMPLATES Search & select from our famous library of thousands of professionally designed templates. Organize them into customizable folders with our favoriting tool. • PHOTO FILTERS & ADJUSTMENTS Choose from our collection of filters to get the look you desire. Finely tune your photos with our suite of photo adjustments, including brightness, contrast, exposure, saturation, blur & more. • ADVANCED TEXT TOOLS Easily add multiple text layers, controlling their size, positioning, opacity, rotation, kerning, leading & color. You can also curve, bend, erase, and apply 3D transformations. • GORGEOUS ARTWORK DesignLab comes jam-packed with hundreds of irresistibly gorgeous illustrations, decorative ornaments, and design elements. • FREE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY Search from a collection of millions of free stock photos & illustrations. • LAYER-BASED EDITING Tap the layer menu to select one or multiple layers to edit. You can also rearrange their orders by long-tapping and dragging to the desired position. • CUSTOM ARTWORK Import custom artwork or your own logo, and use it in your photos as a fully editable layer. Perfect for the mobile creative, it helps branding efforts everywhere. • BLEND & ERASE TOOLS Erase parts of your artwork, text, or imported photo layers & apply several different blend modes to create unique images. There is also a built in "focus mode" - which allows for great precision when the eraser is active. • SHAPES Create vector shapes and control their properties with ease. • CROP TOOL Choose from a variety of aspect ratios. ...and more! Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the time of purchase confirmation. Subscription renews automatically unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your account settings on the App Store after purchase. Privacy Policy: https://onelightapps.io/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://onelightapps.io/terms-of-use

About

Adobe Express

Create professional marketing and business materials with ease. This app offers intuitive tools for video editing, photo enhancement, background removal, and QR code generation. Maintain brand consistency with customizable templates and brand kits.

Highlights
  • Video editing with templates, music, and effects
  • AI-powered photo editing and object manipulation
  • One-tap background removal for photos and videos
  • Branded QR code generation
  • Brand kit for consistent visuals
  • PDF editing and conversion
Read full description

Adobe Express is the quick and easy app to create on-brand content that helps your business stand out and make an impact. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned creator, Adobe Express empowers you and your team to make high-quality marketing and business materials while maintaining brand consistency. VIDEO MADE EASY Looking for the best free video editor? Adobe Express makes video editing simple. Use customizable templates, upload clips from your camera roll, trim and combine footage, add text, music, transitions, and sound effects. Automatically add captions, reframe for social channels, and remove background noise -- all in one place. PHOTO EDITING FOR EVERYONE Adobe Express is the best free photo editor for beginners, offering intuitive tools to enhance your images. Use AI to add or remove objects, apply Photoshop-powered filters, and instantly generate stunning photo art with our AI photo generator. BYE-BYE BACKGROUNDS Need the best app to remove photo backgrounds? Adobe Express makes it effortless. With Quick Actions, remove backgrounds from photos or videos in seconds, convert images to GIFs, and resize content with a single tap. QR CODE GENERATION MADE SIMPLE Create stylish, branded QR codes with ease. Adobe Express is your best QR code generator online, offering customizable styles and colors to match your brand. STAYING ON BRAND MADE EASY With brand kits, keep your fonts, colors, and logos ready to drop into any design. Apply your brand across all your content with a tap. Maintain a cohesive look with Generate Similar and refine designs. EDIT PDFs QUICKLY Update content, swap images, refine layouts, or add your brand’s colors, fonts, and visuals, all in just a few clicks. You can even convert files to PDF or export PDFs to share with your team or audience instantly. QUICK ACTION TOOLS · Trim & resize designs for any channel · Crop photos & convert image files · Convert to GIF from images & videos · Animate a character with your voice · Import PDF Some features are not currently supported on all devices, but good things are coming. Support for more devices is rolling out over time. QUESTIONS? Your feedback and engagement will help us make Adobe Express better for everyone. Join our Discord community [https://discord.gg/adobeexpress] to share your thoughts, connect with the community and get involved with creative challenges Visit Uservoice [https://adobeexpress.uservoice.com/forums/951181-adobe-express] to request new features Let us know about any bugs or issues you encounter in our Adobe Community Forum [https://community.adobe.com/t5/adobe-express/ct-p/ct-adobe-express] PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP Your Adobe Express Premium membership unlocks access to Premium features: · Over 200M royalty-free Adobe Stock photos, videos, music tracks, design elements and fonts · 250 generative credits to generate images, videos, templates and more · Remove Video Background, One-click Resize for multiple channels, brand kits and more Use your Adobe Express Premium plan across your desktop browser and mobile phone. Also includes Adobe Photoshop Express on mobile. Please refer to our full terms of service for more details. [http://www.adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en] Terms and conditions: Your use of this Adobe application is governed by the Adobe General Terms of Use http://www.adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en, and Adobe Privacy Policy http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy_policy_linkfree_en and any successor versions thereto. Do not sell or share my personal information: www.adobe.com/go/ca-rights-linkfree All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Screenshots

Design Lab4 screens
Adobe Express4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Adobe Express at none against Design Lab's shown. Adobe Express also leads on ratings volume (367K vs 6.3K) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Design Lab's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 58%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Design Lab sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Adobe Express sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Design Lab against 4.8 for Adobe Express. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Adobe Express has 367K ratings behind it against 6.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Design Lab's written reviews are positive against 58% of Adobe Express's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Design Lab ships an update every 2 months, Adobe Express every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Design Lab versus Adobe Express: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDesign LabAdobe Express
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6.3K ratings)4.8 (367K ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.3% of reviews — better58.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6.3K367K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#11 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size148 MB188 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperOnelight Apps CY LtdAdobe Inc.

Customer experience

Design Lab

All ratings6,332 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews1,568 reviews
Positive75.3%
Neutral7.7%
Negative17.0%

Adobe Express

All ratings366,940 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews3,156 reviews
Positive58.0%
Neutral6.6%
Negative35.4%

User reviews

Design Lab

From 6.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface
  • 💡 Powerful editing tools
  • 🎨 Variety of templates and graphics
  • 🔥 Helpful for social media content creation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔒 Limited access to features without subscription
  • 📥 Saving issues, lost work
  • 🔍 Lack of customization options

Adobe Express

From 367K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Quick and efficient
  • 💡 Vast collection of templates and design options
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Seamless cross-platform sync

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔒 Subscription model limits free features
  • 🔒 Watermark issues with free version
  • 🐛 Syncing and file management problems
  • 👎 Cluttered and confusing UI after recent update

Bugs and requests

Design Lab

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashing on launch
  • Saving issues, lost work
  • Glitches with gradient and text features
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to save unfinished projects
  • More free templates and graphics
  • Improved stability and performance
  • Landscape mode support for iPad
  • Better text editing and manipulation tools

Adobe Express

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes and freezes when using certain features
  • Disappearing fonts and design elements
  • Issues with exporting high-quality images
  • Inconsistent behavior across mobile and desktop versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more customization options for text, shapes, and layouts
  • Improve alignment and resizing tools
  • Introduce a search function for templates and design elements
  • Allow offline editing and local file storage
  • Provide better organization and management of projects and assets

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Design Lab

Subscriptions2
  • Graphic Design・Content Creator$9.991 Month
  • DesignLab Pro - Annual3 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • One-time purchase$79.99
10 purchases

Adobe Express

Subscriptions10
  • Adobe Express Mobile14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Express Subscription - Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Adobe Express Monthly14 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Adobe Express Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Adobe Design Mobile : Monthly1 Month trial$14.991 Month
  • Adobe Express Mobile - Yearly14 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Adobe Express - Yearly14 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Adobe Express Yearly14 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Adobe Express Premium - Annual$99.991 Month
  • Adobe Design Mobile: Yearly1 Month trial$149.991 Year

Questions

Is Design Lab free?
Design Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Adobe Express free?
Adobe Express is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Design Lab or Adobe Express?
Adobe Express is rated higher. Design Lab averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.3K ratings, while Adobe Express averages 4.8 from 367K ratings.
Do Design Lab or Adobe Express have ads?
Design Lab shows ads; Adobe Express does not.
Which is updated more often, Design Lab or Adobe Express?
Design Lab ships an update every 2 months, and Adobe Express every 3 weeks. Most recently, Design Lab was updated on September 23, 2026 and Adobe Express on September 24, 2026.

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