Playbook by MediaBistro | Tools & Software for Creative Professionals
Adobe Express and Haikei serve distinctly different design needs. Adobe Express delivers a comprehensive content creation platform with templates, brand tools, and AI features for social media and marketing materials. Haikei focuses exclusively on generating unique SVG backgrounds and abstract shapes for web designers.
Adobe Express targets creators who need to produce polished marketing content quickly without deep design skills. The platform provides thousands of professionally designed templates for social posts, flyers, videos, and web graphics. Its template-first approach lets users customize layouts, swap imagery, and maintain brand consistency through saved brand kits.
The tool integrates AI features for generating images, removing backgrounds, and converting text prompts into design elements. Adobe Express connects to Creative Cloud libraries, making it useful for teams already working within the Adobe ecosystem. The mobile apps match desktop functionality, allowing creators to design and publish from anywhere.
Haikei specializes in one thing: generating abstract SVG design assets for backgrounds and visual interest. The web-based generator creates waves, blobs, gradients, layered peaks, and geometric patterns through an intuitive interface. Users adjust parameters like complexity, color, and layering until they achieve the desired look, then export the results as scalable SVG or rasterized PNG files.
The tool appeals to web designers and developers who need unique, lightweight graphics that scale perfectly across devices. Because Haikei generates vector assets, the files remain crisp at any size while keeping file sizes minimal. The generator approach means no two designs are identical, helping designers avoid the template fatigue common with stock graphics.
Thousands of templates across social media, print, and video formats
No templates; generates custom abstract shapes and backgrounds
JPG, PNG, MP4, PDF, with platform-specific social media sizing
SVG and PNG export with customizable dimensions and quality
Brand kits store logos, colors, fonts; auto-apply across designs
No brand management; manual color selection per design
Limited vector capabilities; primarily raster-based outputs
Native SVG generation with full parametric control over shapes
Minimal; template selection and text editing get immediate results
Very low; adjust sliders and see real-time previews
Team sharing, commenting, and brand kit access for Premium users
No collaboration tools; individual generator use only
Haikei's free model makes it accessible for any budget, while Adobe Express requires payment for professional features like brand management and expanded template libraries. The pricing difference reflects their scope: Haikei solves a specific problem at no cost, while Adobe Express charges for a broader content creation platform.
These tools occupy different creative territories. Adobe Express functions as a general-purpose design platform where speed and templates matter more than design expertise. It handles the full workflow from concept to finished social post, flyer, or short video. For teams producing regular marketing content, the brand consistency features and template variety justify the Premium subscription cost.
Haikei solves a narrow problem exceptionally well: generating unique SVG backgrounds that would otherwise require illustration skills or stock purchases. Web designers and developers get the most value here, particularly when building sites that need distinctive visual elements without heavy file sizes. The free pricing removes any barrier to adding it to your toolkit. Choose Adobe Express when you need to create complete designs quickly. Choose Haikei when you need perfect, scalable background graphics. Many designers will find reasons to use both.
