Instead of Adobe Illustrator
Vector editing for logos, icons and illustration.
Inkscape is the real answer and 1.x closed a lot of the gap. It is also the tool people bounce off hardest, because the muscle memory is Adobe's.
You lose: The pen tool you know, and the print workflow around it.
Start here
Inkscape
Capable and free. Different shortcuts, different snapping, and it will fight you for a week.
gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscapeinkscape.org
One container, no domain needed.
Also worth a look
- Graphite
A new vector tool with a node-based approach. Ambitious, and not finished.
- Penpot
Design in the browser with vectors. Not an illustration tool, but it covers a lot of logo work.
Facts checked 8 November 2026. Licences, activity and archive status come from each project's own repository; the verdict and the cost lines are the desk's.