Design Huddle vs. IMG.LY vs. Polotno
White-label graphic design and video software refer to tools that organizations can embed into their websites or offer as standalone solutions. The software typically features template-based media creation, empowering businesses to deliver a premium design and editing experience for their customers.
In this blog, we explore the different types of white-label graphic design software and review the top competitors to help you find the best fit for your goals, resources, and priorities.
When evaluating white-label graphic design software, two primary types of platforms dominate the landscape: cloud-hosted design and video editors, as well as SDKs. Each tool serves a distinct audience and use case, with resource requirements ranging from minimal technical involvement to full developer implementation.
So, how do they compare to each other?
Cloud-hosted graphic design and video tools typically provide themed, ready-to-use, embeddable editors with integrated templating, user management, and project storage, eliminating the need to build from scratch or invest in extensive back-end development. They blend the quick deployment of a turnkey platform with the optional flexibility of custom development.
Specifically, cloud-based storage delivers fast, dependable performance without requiring developer resources to manage servers, maintain infrastructure, or host assets. This ensures rapid and reliable rendering of projects, templates, and media at scale while enabling a collaborative design environment, version control, and easy access from anywhere.
Since cloud-hosted graphic design and video software is already fully developed, incorporating additional custom features is quick and straightforward. APIs empower users to customize the back-end infrastructure—like integrations and workflows—to meet an organization's exact requirements, while the front-end SDK allows users to tailor the visual appearance. This makes cloud-hosted media solutions an ideal fit for agencies, brands, SaaS platforms, franchises, and web-to-print businesses that focus on key revenue-generating components rather than technical build-outs and ongoing platform maintenance.
A design and video editor SDK is a collection of tools, libraries, and APIs that enable customizable design and video editing within a site or application. Instead of delivering a fully hosted, out-of-the-box platform, a design and video editor SDK provides developers with the toolkit to build their own backend systems and workflows that complement the front-end editor. For organizations with the resources and need for complete control, deep backend customization, and the ability to build a native mobile app, an SDK presents a great option.
Implementing a custom backend requires extensive technical expertise, developer resources, and a significant time investment to manage hosting, maintenance, media storage, and the development of the entire media creation, user, and admin experience.
Choosing the correct type of white-label graphic design and video software platform depends on your unique goals. Let’s dive into the three main competitors in the white-label graphic design and video software landscape.
✅ Design Huddle
✅ Polotno
✅ IMG.LY
Solution | Developer Resources | Time-to-Live | Customizability | Notes |
Cloud-hosted | 🟢 Low | Days to Weeks | Medium-High | Out-of-the-box platform with the fastest deployment time. |
SDK | 🟡 Medium | Weeks to Months | High | Requires developer resources for backend build-out, but offers faster integration than a proprietary build. |
Custom-built | 🔴 High | Months to Years | Full | Built fully from the ground up with the longest development cycle. |
Design Huddle is a white-label, web-based media creation platform that seamlessly transforms existing designs into editable, lockable templates, enabling easy media personalization through both programmatic customization and intuitive, hands-on editing.
Whereas most design and video editor SDKs require building backend functionality from scratch, Design Huddle offers a ready-made platform with a robust API library and JavaScript SDK for custom integrations and tailored UI experiences. Customers gain the flexibility to customize to their requirements, without the complexity of hosting, building workflows, managing media creation, or developing permissions from scratch.
Design Huddle is highly rated by users, with 91% of G2 reviews rated 5 stars.
White-Label Graphic
Design Software Checklist:
Must-Have Features
Try Design Huddle through a demo account or a paid pilot program. Plans range from $500 to $750 per month, with custom quotes available for enterprise plans.
How Planning Center increases custom video production
26-fold with Design Huddle
“Replacing our proprietary platform with Design Huddle was the solution we needed from day one.” Benson Lee, Product Manager
Polotno is an SDK that provides developers with a visual design toolkit to create and host a lightweight, web-based, embeddable design editor and media creation experience.
While the SDK provides a framework for extensive editor customization, it also requires developers to build the backend infrastructure, including workflows, media creation, user portals, permissions, and media storage, as well as ongoing hosting and maintenance.
The benefit is that, with sufficient time and resources, the SDK provides complete control over the backend, making it a viable solution for businesses that require deep customization.
Discover the key differences between Design Huddle and Polotno.
Polotno currently has no customer ratings on G2.
Polotno’s Design and Video Editor is often used by businesses with robust engineering resources that want control over both backend and frontend setup.
Typical users include:
Start with a free 100-day trial. Plans range from $199 to $399 per month, with enterprise pricing available upon request.
(Source: Polotno)
IMG.LY’s CreativeEditor SDK is a customizable graphic toolkit that enables developers to integrate template-based design, video, and photo editing functionality into mobile, web, desktop, and server-side applications.
Similar to Polotno, IMG.LY is not a plug-and-play editor and requires developer resources to build a media creation experience that integrates seamlessly into their existing apps.
IMG.LY is a strong choice for businesses that require deep customization or want to build a fully tailored media creation experience, and have the technical resources and time to support that level of implementation.
IMG.LY has earned 5-star ratings from 75% of reviewers on G2.
Customers across a wide range of industries use IMG.LY’s SDKs to embed photo, video, and design editing functionality directly into their apps:
Experience IMG.LY SDKs with a 30-day free trial. Get a custom quote based on your project specs for ongoing usage.
(Source: IMG.LY and G2)
Feature/Consideration |
Cloud-Hosted (e.g., Design Huddle) |
SDK (e.g., IMG.LY, Polotno) |
Custom-Built Solution |
Setup Time |
Days | Weeks | Months+ |
Maintenance Required | Low | Medium-High |
Very High |
Design Locking/Guardrails | Designer-controlled, no dev work needed | SDK-only, dev required | Fully custom-coded |
White-label Branding | Yes | Yes |
Yes |
Integrations (e.g., DAM, PIM) | API + plug and play options | SDK integration | Fully custom |
User Permissions | Built-in roles & access control | Needs implementation | Fully manual |
Template Management UI | Admin Portal for non-devs | Developer-built | Not available unless built |
Feature Updates & Bug Fixes | Handled by vendor | Vendor + your dev team | All on you |
Cost to Build | Subscription-based | Dev time + license fees | High upfront |
Cost to Scale | Predictable | Variable | High ongoing |
Flexibility/Customization | Medium-High | High | Very High |
Security/Compliance | Vendor-managed (e.g., SOC 2) | Shared responsibility | Your responsibility |
UI/UX Control | Some customization | Full control | Full control |
Support Level | Dedicated support & onboarding | Community or paid tiers | None (in-house only) |