Looking for a 99designs Alternative?

Why Businesses Are Moving Away from 99designs

99designs pioneered the design contest model, offering businesses a way to receive multiple design concepts before choosing a winner. On the surface it sounds appealing: post a brief, receive dozens of options, pick your favourite. But as the platform has matured, more businesses and designers are questioning whether contests are really the best way to get quality design work.

The fundamental issue is that in a contest, only one designer gets paid while dozens work for free. This "spec work" model is controversial in the design industry and is actively discouraged by professional organisations like AIGA and the Graphic Artists Guild. Beyond the ethical concerns, contests often produce generic, template-based work from designers rushing to submit to as many contests as possible rather than investing time in understanding your specific needs.

The Problem with Design Contests

Before exploring alternatives, it's worth understanding why the contest model creates problems for both clients and designers. These aren't just theoretical concerns, they're practical issues that affect the quality of work you receive.

What is Spec Work and Why Does It Matter?

Spec work, short for speculative work, is when a creative professional produces work without any guarantee of payment, hoping to be selected and compensated. Design contests are the most common form of spec work, but it also includes pitches where agencies create full campaigns hoping to win accounts.

The design industry has largely rejected spec work as a legitimate business practice. Organisations like AIGA (the professional association for design), the Graphic Artists Guild, and Design Council all advise against participating in spec work. Their reasoning is straightforward: it devalues design work, creates unsustainable economics for designers, and ultimately harms clients by attracting less experienced professionals willing to gamble their time.

When you run a design contest, you're participating in this system. While it's not illegal or necessarily wrong, it's worth understanding what you're supporting. Many talented designers refuse to participate in contests on principle, meaning the pool of entrants may not include the best professionals in the field.

The alternative is direct hiring, where you select a designer based on their portfolio and pay them fairly for their time regardless of whether you ultimately use their work. This is how most professional design work happens outside of contest platforms, and it tends to produce better results because designers can invest properly in understanding your needs.

Is 99designs Good for Logo Design?

Logo design is 99designs' most popular category, and it's where the contest model seems most appealing. Getting 50+ logo concepts sounds like a great way to explore options. But there are important caveats to consider.

Professional logo design is a strategic process. A good logo designer spends time understanding your business, your competitors, your target audience, and your brand values before putting pencil to paper. Contest economics don't support this process. Designers entering contests typically spend minimal time on each submission because most won't win anything, they need to submit to many contests to make the model work financially.

The result is often a volume of generic concepts rather than thoughtful design. You might receive 50 logos, but many will be template variations, clipart combinations, or designs the entrant has submitted to dozens of similar contests. Finding a truly original, strategically-sound logo among them requires significant effort on your part, and you may not have the design expertise to evaluate what makes a logo effective.

Direct hiring often produces better logos because the designer has financial security to invest time in research, strategy, and iteration. You get fewer concepts, but they're more likely to be genuinely custom and strategically sound. You can also have conversations about direction before work begins, reducing wasted effort on both sides.

99designs vs Zinn Hub: Key Differences

Zinn Hub takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than running contests where designers compete on speculation, you browse verified designers, review their portfolios, and hire directly. It's the same model used by design agencies and in-house teams, just made accessible through a marketplace platform.

How Zinn Hub Works

Getting design work done on Zinn Hub is straightforward. No contests to manage, no briefs to write for anonymous designers, no wading through dozens of submissions. Just find a designer whose work you like and hire them directly.

Who Should Use Zinn Hub vs 99designs?

We believe in being honest about what each platform does best. Contests aren't always wrong, and direct hiring isn't always right. Here's our genuine recommendation.