Is Adobe Illustrator or Xara Designer Pro+ better?

Neither clearly leads. Adobe Illustrator starts at $22.99/month and Xara Designer Pro+ at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Adobe Illustrator or Xara Designer Pro+?

Adobe Illustrator starts at $22.99/month and Xara Designer Pro+ at On request.

Does Adobe Illustrator or Xara Designer Pro+ run on more platforms?

Adobe Illustrator runs on Windows, Macos, Ios. Xara Designer Pro+ runs on Web.

What is Adobe Illustrator best used for?

Adobe Illustrator is most often used for logo design, vector illustration, icon design, print design. Of those, logo design and vector illustration are not what Xara Designer Pro+ is typically brought in for.

What can Adobe Illustrator do that Xara Designer Pro+ cannot?

Adobe Illustrator covers Vector drawing, Bezier tools, Shape tools, Typography.

Design · head to head

Adobe Illustrator vs Xara Designer Pro+

Adobe Illustrator

Design

Professional vector graphics software

From: $22.99/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Xara Designer Pro+

Design

Desktop publishing, web design, photo editing and graphic design in one workspace

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Adobe Illustrator listed on UK G-Cloud as part of Adobe Creative Cloud (which bundles Illustrator) at £58 to £80 per licence per month, via reseller ServiceKey; Xara Designer Pro+ compatible with Windows only; the product page states no Mac version

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Adobe Illustrator and Xara Designer Pro+ actually diverge.

Attributes where Adobe Illustrator and Xara Designer Pro+ differ
Attribute	Adobe Illustrator	Xara Designer Pro+
Starting price	$22.99/month	On request
Pricing model	subscription	one-time
Platforms	Windows, Macos, Ios	Web
Founded	1982	Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Design).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Adobe Illustrator

Vector drawing
Bezier tools
Shape tools
Typography
Gradients & effects
Symbols & instances
Artboards
3D capabilities

Only in Xara Designer Pro+

Nothing recorded that Adobe Illustrator does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Adobe Illustrator

Logo designnot Xara Designer Pro+
Vector illustrationnot Xara Designer Pro+
Icon designnot Xara Designer Pro+
Print designnot Xara Designer Pro+

Xara Designer Pro+

Desktop publishing and professional layout workflowsnot Adobe Illustrator
Web design and e-commerce site creation without codenot Adobe Illustrator
Photo editing and image retouching for visual projectsnot Adobe Illustrator
Graphic design and illustration in single workspacenot Adobe Illustrator
Multi-discipline creative work with unlimited flexibilitynot Adobe Illustrator

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Adobe Illustrator

Listed on UK G-Cloud as part of Adobe Creative Cloud (which bundles Illustrator) at £58 to £80 per licence per month, via reseller ServiceKey

Xara Designer Pro+

Compatible with Windows only; the product page states no Mac version

Pricing, plan by plan

Adobe Illustrator

$22.99/month

Single App$22.99/month
- Illustrator desktop app
- 100GB cloud storage
- Adobe Fonts
All Apps$59.99/month
- All Creative Cloud apps
- 100GB cloud storage
- Adobe Stock trial

Xara Designer Pro+

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Xara Designer Pro+ review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Adobe Illustrator if

You need vector drawing.
You work on Windows, Macos, Ios.
You also want bezier tools.

Adobe Illustrator review

Choose Xara Designer Pro+ if

Nothing in the data separates Xara Designer Pro+ from Adobe Illustrator on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Xara Designer Pro+ review

Questions people ask

Is Adobe Illustrator or Xara Designer Pro+ better?: Neither clearly leads. Adobe Illustrator starts at $22.99/month and Xara Designer Pro+ at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Adobe Illustrator or Xara Designer Pro+?: Adobe Illustrator starts at $22.99/month and Xara Designer Pro+ at On request.
Does Adobe Illustrator or Xara Designer Pro+ run on more platforms?: Adobe Illustrator runs on Windows, Macos, Ios. Xara Designer Pro+ runs on Web.
What is Adobe Illustrator best used for?: Adobe Illustrator is most often used for logo design, vector illustration, icon design, print design. Of those, logo design and vector illustration are not what Xara Designer Pro+ is typically brought in for.
What can Adobe Illustrator do that Xara Designer Pro+ cannot?: Adobe Illustrator covers Vector drawing, Bezier tools, Shape tools, Typography.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Xara Designer Pro+: Does Xara Designer Pro offer a free trial?

Yes, Xara Designer Pro offers a free trial download, allowing users to test the software before purchasing.

Source

Adobe Illustrator vs Xara Designer Pro+

Adobe Illustrator

Xara Designer Pro+

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Adobe Illustrator

Only in Xara Designer Pro+

What people use each for

Adobe Illustrator

Xara Designer Pro+

Where each one falls short

Adobe Illustrator

Xara Designer Pro+

Pricing, plan by plan

Adobe Illustrator

Xara Designer Pro+

Which should you pick?

Choose Adobe Illustrator if

Choose Xara Designer Pro+ if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Adobe Illustrator

More on Xara Designer Pro+

Keep looking

Other head to heads