Adobe Express vs Lunacy

Adobe Express is Adobe's online and mobile design app for quick, template-based content. It launched under that name in December 2021, replacing Adobe Spark, and has since been rebuilt with Firefly generative AI built in. Its core job is letting non-designers make social posts, flyers, presentations and short videos without learning Photoshop.

Express offers a large template library, drag-and-drop editing, one-click quick actions such as background removal and resizing, Firefly text-to-image and generative fill, video editing with captions and animations, brand kits, PDF quick actions, a content scheduler for social channels and real-time collaboration. The free plan includes core tools, 5 GB of storage and limited AI generations. Premium adds premium templates and fonts, 250 generative credits a month, brand kits, one-click resize and video background removal; Firefly Pro bundles Premium with 4,000 credits and Photoshop on web and mobile; Teams adds pooled storage and an admin console.

Express fits teams already paying for Creative Cloud, since it opens Photoshop and Illustrator assets through Creative Cloud Libraries. Canva has a larger template and stock library, a more mature whiteboard and docs suite and stronger team workflows; Figma is a professional interface design tool rather than a template editor. Express can feel less polished than Canva for multi-page documents.

Buying tip: Premium comes with a 30-day free trial, and Express Premium is also included in Creative Cloud Pro, so check whether your team already has access before buying separate seats.

Lunacy is a desktop design application made by Icons8, the company behind a large library of icons, illustrations and stock photos. It runs natively on Windows, macOS and Linux, opens and saves Sketch files, and first became popular as the way to work with Sketch designs on Windows. Today it is a general UI and graphic design tool with collaboration features and a free core plan.

The app includes vector editing, components, auto layout, prototyping and an inspection mode for developers, plus built-in access to Icons8 icons, photos, illustrations and avatars directly from the sidebar. AI-powered tools generate avatars and placeholder content, remove backgrounds and upscale images. Because it is a native app it works offline and stays fast on large files, while cloud documents allow real-time collaboration and sharing. Most features are free; a low-cost paid plan adds extras for heavier use.

Lunacy fits Windows and Linux designers, students and budget-conscious teams who want a capable design tool without a subscription, and anyone who needs to open Sketch files outside a Mac. Its plugin ecosystem, community resources and handoff integrations are much smaller than Figma's, and most design teams and developers expect Figma links. Penpot is the open-source, browser-based alternative, Sketch remains the Mac-native original, and Figma is the collaborative industry standard.