Design Cloud review
Graphic design, Branding, Packaging · Manchester, United Kingdom · Since 2020
Design Cloud is a Manchester company, launched in January 2020, that sells design capacity by the designer. Every plan buys one designer from its UK team, working 9am to 5pm UK time on weekdays, and each designer works on one active request at a time. More output means adding designers, which the site compares to buying more home internet bandwidth.
Plans are split into three services, each with its own price ladder: graphic design from £699 a month, video editing from £899 and UI/UX from £1,099. Within each, the tier is set by the complexity of work allowed, so logos, packaging and complex print sit in the PRO tier rather than Essential.
The About page names 32 staff by city, and the FAQ says every designer is a full-time employee, with no freelancers on retainer. The site claims more than 800 marketing teams and agencies as customers.
Who Design Cloud is for
UK marketing teams and agencies with a steady flow of everyday design work who want the same designer learning their brand each day. Communication runs through the platform or Slack, and the FAQ says there are no phone calls with designers, which suits teams that brief in writing or on Loom.
Buyers outside the UK should note that prices are in pounds and exclude VAT, and that the team keeps UK office hours. A euro price list is marked as coming soon.
Strengths and limits
What it does well
- The FAQ states that all designers are full-time UK employees, and the About page names each one
- A comparison table itemises the work each tier covers, from social graphics on Essential to packaging on PRO
- The one-month rolling contract needs only seven days' notice, and longer terms carry stated discounts
- Adding a second designer adds a second active request, so capacity grows in a known unit
Where it falls short
- Its terms keep ownership of the intellectual property in deliverables with Design Cloud and grant the client a non-exclusive licence instead
- One active request per designer means a busy week's work queues behind whatever sits at the top
- There is no free trial, and pausing a subscription is not mentioned anywhere on the site
- Three-, six- and twelve-month contracts renew automatically for the same term unless cancelled with 30 days' notice
Design Cloud pricing
Graphic design runs £699 (Essential), £899 (Agency) and £1,099 (PRO) a month on a one-month rolling contract. Video editing runs £899 to £1,299 and UI/UX £1,099 to £1,499. Each price buys one designer and one active request, and prices exclude VAT. On the lower graphic design tiers, Slack access is £99 a month and Zapier £49.
Longer contracts cut the monthly rate by 5% on three months, 10% on six and 15% on twelve, each with a larger discount on the first month. Annual prepayment brings Essential graphic design to £559.20 a month, or £6,710.40 in one payment. There is no free trial; the FAQ points buyers to the monthly plan instead.
How many at once, whose files, whose hands
How many requests run at once
One active request at a time
“Just keep in mind that your designer will only work on one active request at a time from your queue.”
Who owns the files and the rights
Says it keeps rights or grants a licence
“the Supplier and its licensors shall retain ownership of all Intellectual Property Rights in the Deliverables, excluding the Customer Materials”
Who does the work
Says its own people do the work
“All of our designers are in-house, full-time employees based in the UK.”
This records what Design Cloud publishes about itself, read in September 2026. It is not an assessment of what the company does in practice.
Verdict
UK marketing teams that want a salaried designer's consistency without hiring one are the clearest match. Design Cloud publishes every price, names its staff and itemises what each tier may be asked to design, so a buyer can tell before signing whether packaging or a web app falls inside the plan.
Its terms, not its marketing pages, answer the ownership question: Design Cloud keeps the intellectual property and licenses it to the client non-exclusively. A brand that needs to own its logo or packaging outright should get that changed in writing, and a team needing several pieces moving at once has to pay for several designers.
Others worth a look
Awesomic$1,490/mo · Matched within up to 24 hours, then an update on each active task every business day
Designity$5,995/mo · Minor requests in 24 hours on Plus and 12 on Premium; larger projects on a timeline set by the creative director
Kimp$1,397/mo · 24 hours for simple tasks, 2 to 4 days for complex designs
Design Shifu$549/mo · Most requests within 24 hours, six days a week; motion 24 to 48 hours; not guaranteed under its terms
This is an independent review. Design Cloud is not a client or a partner, we have no affiliate relationship with them, we earn nothing if you hire them, and nobody pays for placement in the directory. Prices were read from the company's own pages in September 2026 and change without notice.