Updated: August 07, 2026

18 min read

13+ Best Badge Makers Online (+ Comparison Table Updated for 2026)

Here’s the list of the best badge makers in 2026. With Certifier, compare features, pros and cons, reviews, and prices to find your perfect match.

Digital badge makers have been taking over as the latest way to show off your achievements in various fields, from education to business professional development. But with so many digital badge platforms out there, it's hard to know which one to choose.

That's where digital badge software like Certifier comes in!

We took a look at each digital badge maker's pricing structure, including any free or low-cost options, as well as the features and functions that they offer. We'll also examine the pros and cons of each digital badge platform to help you make the most informed decision.

And the icing on the cake – a comparison table allowing you to compare all options at once! So, let's dive in and explore the best badge maker available today.

TL;DR

Digital badge makers are revolutionizing how we showcase skills and achievements across education and professional development.

In this guide, we compare the top digital badge platforms — including Certifier, Credly, Canvas Badges, and Open Badge Factory — covering pricing, key features, and pros and cons.

You’ll also find a comparison table to help you pick the best tool for your needs, whether you want automation, analytics, or a free plan to start issuing badges instantly.

What to look for in badge making software?

Before we start our comparison, let’s take a quick look at the core features you should watch out for when choosing a digital badge maker. The right tool doesn’t just create pretty visuals—it helps you save time, verify achievements, and make your credentials truly shine online.

Here’s your quick checklist:

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Custom design flexibility – choose a tool that lets you create badges that match your brand perfectly.

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Automation and bulk issuing – ensure the platform supports smooth workflows and saves valuable time.

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Built-in verification – badges should be secure, authentic, and easy to validate.

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Effortless sharing – the best tools allow one-click sharing on LinkedIn, websites, or email signatures.

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Real-time tracking and analytics – monitor engagement and see how recipients interact with their badges.

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Seamless integrations – look for compatibility with tools like Google Forms, Zapier, or your LMS. This is particularly important for enterprise digital badging.

Comparison table: Spot to compare all digital badge makers online in 2026

Let's take a quick look at these top online badge makers and their features for digital badges.

Tool

Type

Free Plan

Entry Price

Badge Templates

Design Features

Social Sharing

Analytics Tracking

Integrations

Certifier

Issuing + verification

Yes

Free; from $42/month (billed annually)

Yes

Advanced

Yes

Yes

Yes

Open Badge Factory

Issuing + verification

No (60-day trial)

€220/year

Yes

Medium

Yes

Pro tier only

Canvas Badges

Issuing + verification

No

Not public

Basic

Yes

Yes

Accredible

Issuing + verification

No

$45/month (12-month term)

Yes

Advanced

Yes

Yes

Yes (API is an add-on on the entry plan)

Credly

Issuing + verification

No

Not public

Yes

Advanced

Yes

Yes

Yes

Openbadges.me

Issuing + verification

Yes (10 recipients)

$55/month or $620/year

Yes

Medium

Yes

Yes

Yes

Badge List

Issuing + verification

Yes (100 recipients)

$180/month or $1,980/year

Yes

Advanced

Yes

Yes

API only

TruScholar

Issuing + verification

Yes

Not public

Yes

Basic

Yes

Yes

Yes

Basno

Issuing + verification

No

$55/month (billed annually)

Basic

Yes

Yes

Yes

Bestr

Issuing + verification

Not applicable

Not public

None

Virtualbadge.io

Issuing + verification

No (7-day trial)

$26/month (billed yearly)

Yes

Advanced

Yes

Yes

Growth tier and above

CanCred

Issuing + verification

Yes (Passport)

$395 CAD/year

None

Yes

Yes (LTI)

Canva

Design only

Yes

$15/month

Yes

Advanced

Adobe Express

Design only

Yes

Free; from $10.99/month

Yes

Advanced

myCred.me

In-site gamification

Yes (core plugin + Badges add-on)

Free core; paid add-ons

Default set

Badge editor

Yes

WordPress + Zapier

Important: Pricing and features verified against each vendor's public pricing pages. Entry price is the cheapest paid tier with its billing period. Where a vendor publishes no pricing, the cell reads "Not public" rather than carrying an estimate.

Deciding between the top two contenders: Certifier and VirtualBadge? While both are excellent, they offer different strengths in design and pricing. See how they stack up in our Certifier vs. Virtualbadge comparison to find the best fit for your badge workflow.

If you're considering alternatives to Accredible badges or POK alternatives specifically, we have in-depth comparisons on those alone.

01 Certifier – best badge maker to create free digital badges

Certifier digital badge maker

If you like intuitive editors, drag-and-drop design, and automation that just works—Certifier is the tool for you. It’s not only a digital badge maker; it’s a complete credentialing platform that lets you design, issue, verify, and track badges and certificates in one place.

Sign up for a free Certifier account to access a library of pre-made free badge templates or craft your own custom badges from scratch. Choose bases, color ribbons, and icons – and literally generate badges in seconds. With just a few simple steps, create your dreamy badges, send them automatically to the recipients, track the status, and analyze them!

Create and Send Digital Credentials

Start issuing certificates and badges in minutes.

Key Certifier digital badge maker features

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Open Badge 3.0 Compliance: Every Certifier badge meets the Open Badge 3.0 standard, embedding verifiable metadata such as issuer, criteria, and date. This ensures global interoperability, credibility, and one-click authenticity verification across platforms.

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Drag & Drop Badge Maker: Certifier’s visual editor makes it effortless to design professional badges without design skills. Users can choose from ready-made templates or customize every detail — colors, ribbons, icons, fonts — all in a simple drag-and-drop interface.

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Bulk Issuing & Automation: Organizations can issue thousands of badges automatically. With integrations via API, Zapier, and Google Forms, data import and badge delivery happen instantly.

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Smart Tracking & Analytics: Track the full journey of each badge — who received, opened, shared, or verified it. Real-time analytics help measure engagement, reach, and impact, providing insights to improve learning and certification programs.

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Free Plan with Full Core Access: Certifier’s free plan includes the essentials—badge design, bulk sending, tracking, and sharing — making professional credentialing accessible to everyone.

Certifier pros

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Easy to use and super intuitive dashboard with a great custom badge designer

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Perfect for beginners — no badge design skills required!

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Built for all use cases — from education to enterprise.

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Recipient data can be automatically pulled from, e.g., Google Sheet or Excel

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Constantly updated free badge templates library (available in Word, Photoshop, and vector formats)

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Option to upload your own relevant elements to match the branding even more

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Robust certificates maker available as well

Certifier cons

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Integrations still expanding –– while key tools are covered (Zapier, Google Forms, Zoom), more native connections are on the roadmap.

What do people say about Certifier?

Certifier review from G2 as a badge maker online.

Source: G2

Certifier pricing

  • Free plan: Available

  • Pricing: Starting at $42/ month, billed annually

  • Return policy: 30-day 100% money back guarantee

Non-profit organizations receive a 15% lifetime discount (for all plans).

02 Open Badge Factory – online badge maker

Open Badge Factory – online to manage Open Badges achievements.

Open Badge Factory (OBF) is a cloud-based online badge maker for creating, issuing, and managing online badges. Organizations can use OBF to recognize and showcase the skills, achievements, and competencies of their learners, employees, or community members.

Open Badge Factory follows the Open Badges standard, which ensures that the personalized badges are interoperable and can be easily shared across various platforms and social media.

Key features of this open badge designer

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Online badge maker software

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Issuing and managing badges

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Analytics to track badge engagement

Open Badge Factory pros

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Compliance with Open Badges 3. 0 standard

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​​Intuitive badge-making app for users without graphic design experience

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Integration with Learning Management Systems (LMS), available on the Pro tier, simplifying the badge issuing and management process

Open Badge Factory cons

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High costs may be a barrier for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets

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Long learning curve (users may still need some time to familiarize themselves with the platform and its features)

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Potential for platform lock-in, making transferring existing badges and data problematic

What do people say about Open Badge Factory?

We've tried to find some verifiable reviews on platforms like G2 Crowd and SourceForge, but OBF still has just one review. Please gather feedback and public reviews before using any type of digital badge software.

Open Badge Factory pricing

  • Free plan: Not available

  • Free trial: 60 days available

  • Pricing: Starting at €220 per year (Basic)

  • Return policy: No information available

03 Canvas Badges – digital badging software

Canvas Badges and digital badges software dashboard.

Canvas Badges (formerly known as Badgr) is a digital badge maker that enables organizations, educational institutions, and individuals to create, issue, and manage digital badges. These badges can be used to recognize and showcase various skills, achievements, and competencies.

Canvas Badges is a part of the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) ecosystem, and it can be integrated with Canvas LMS for a more seamless badging experience.

If you're looking to automate the issuance of badges from Canvas LMS without increasing admin burden, you can check Certifier's native Canvas integration which lets you issue credentials when modules are completed.

Canvas Badges key features

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Data-driven insights to track and measure badge usage

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Secure badge issuing platform

Canvas Badges pros

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Compliance with Open Badges standard

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Interoperability with various Credential Backpacks

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Easy integration with Canvas LMS

Canvas Badges cons

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Limited integration with non-Canvas LMS

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Limited control over the badge logo design makes it difficult to customize badges to the business requirements

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Lack of transparency – no public pricing information and no reviews available

What do people say about Canvas Badges?

Canvas Badges is a reliable digital badge software. Its users particularly highlight such advantages as easy organization, clean UI/UX, and top-notch accessibility.

Canvas Badges pricing

Pricing is not available for public information. You need to fill out the form on the website to inquire about subscription pricing, consulting services, and support.

04 Accredible – digital badge platform

Accredible badge maker platform

Accredible is a credentialing platform aimed at organizations issuing at scale, such as universities, professional associations, and product certification teams.

Design, issuing, verification and analytics sit in one place, while the pricing works differently from most tools on this list: you pay per recipient, not per credential. Send the same person four badges and a certificate in a year and it still counts once.

Key Accredible features

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Unlimited credentials to each recipient inside your annual allowance

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Unlimited badge and certificate designs on every plan

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Pathways to group courses into a sequence

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Blockchain credentials and issuer verification on every tier

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Standard integrations with Moodle, Canvas, Zapier, Thinkific, WordPress and Kajabi

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Digital wallet cards for Google Pay and Apple Wallet

Accredible pros

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Paying per recipient rather than per credential works out well if you issue several credentials to the same people

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Self-serve entry plan

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SOC 2 reports available on every plan

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Certified for Open Badges 3.0 by 1EdTech

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Mature reporting across activity, engagement and marketing reach

Accredible cons

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No free plan and the cheapest way in is $45/month on a 12-month commitment

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Only the entry plan has public pricing

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API access is a paid add-on on the entry plan

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Primary branding and white-labeling are add-ons or higher-tier only

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50 recipients on the entry plan is a low ceiling for most programs

What do people say about Accredible?

"User-friendly credential management, but limited features in basic plans" (G2)

Accredible pricing

  • Free plan: Not available

  • Pricing: Satrting at $45/month, billed monthly on a 12-month term (50 recipients); Connect and Growth are custom

05 Credly – digital badge maker

Credly – issue digital badges and gain talent marketplace insights.Credly is a digital badge platform that enables organizations, educational institutions, and certification providers to recognize and showcase skills and achievements through digital badges. Credly platform (called Credly's Acclaim) offers a range of features to create and monitor all aspects of your credentialing. It also offers an online marketplace where users can showcase their badges.

Creadly open badge designer and its key features

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Analytics and insights into badge engagement

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The network that increases badges' credibility and value

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Design skill tags that streamline badge search

Credly pros

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Digital social media sharing

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Creating personalized badges and their metadata is easy

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Ability to consolidate earned credentials on a single platform

Credly cons

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Lack of transparent pricing information on their website

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Limited options for customizing your organization's branding

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Lack of features for creating and managing digital certificates, excluding badges

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No monthly payment plans

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Price may be a barrier for smaller organizations

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Badge design options might be limited compared to other software

What do people say about Credly?

“The data and analytics aren't super clear.” (G2)

Credly pricing

Credly pricing is not available on their website, so you need to fill out the form to get more information about the pricing details.

06 Openbadges.me – open badge designer

Openbadges.me – standard for digital badges (developed by Mozilla).

Openbadges.me is a badge design and issuing platform built by MyKnowledgeMap, a UK software company based in York. It’s easy to confuse with the Open Badges standard itself. That standard was created by the Mozilla Foundation while Openbadges.me is one of many tools that implement it.

Openbadges.me key features

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Embedded Metadata that provides information about the badge

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Issuing Open Badges through tasks, assessments, and portfolio submissions

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Backpack for storing badges

Openbadges.me pros

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Easily sharing across different platforms and systems

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Used to represent a wide range of skills, from formal qualifications to informal learning experiences

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Admin system for managing users, organizations, and roles

Openbadges.me cons

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Limited badges design editor

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Outdated design templates to choose from

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No customization options, so you don’t have the freedom to design badges the way you want

What do people say about Openbadges.me?

We checked platforms like G2 Crowd, Clutch, and SourceForge for authentic reviews of Openbadges.me experience with design but came up empty. The only available testimonials are the two case studies featured on their website.

Openbadges.me pricing

  • Free plan: Available

  • Free trial: Not available

  • Pricing: Starting at $55/month

  • Return policy: No information available

07 Badge List – digital badge platform for educators

Badge List – helps educators create Open Badges to guide learning.

Badge List is a powerful online badge maker that enables educators to create and manage Open Badges. It helps them to recognize and guide students' learning achievements, providing learners with a sense of accomplishment and motivation to continue their educational journey. With Badge List, educators can design and issue badges, track progress, and provide targeted feedback to their students in a streamlined and efficient manner.

Key Badge List features

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Easy badge creation process

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Badge-sharing features

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Robust automation features

Badge List pros

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Custom badge design editor that matches the branding

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Supporting evidence is included with every badge

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Tracking system to see exactly who and when earned the credentials

Badge List cons

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You cannot start using the system from the get-go (even the free trial); you have to wait for the information from the team instead

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No reviews available

What do people say about Badge List?

Badge List reviews from reliable sources are not available.

Badge List pricing

  • Free plan: Available

  • Free trial: Not available

  • Pricing: Starting at $180/month per plan (Team, which includes 3 admins), or $1,980/year

  • Return policy: No information available

08 myCred.me – badges inside your WordPress website

myCred.me platform

myCred is a points, loyalty and gamification plugin for WordPress from WPExperts. Its Badges add-on is built into the free core plugin: you design badges in a built-in editor and award them automatically from a member's activity history — approved comments, purchases, course completions — rather than issuing them one at a time.

Badge levels let the same badge be earned repeatedly under different criteria. It’s a different job from the rest of this list: the badges live inside the site you already run, rather than being portable credentials a recipient carries elsewhere.

Key features of Mycred.me

Mycred.me pros

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Ready-made badge design icons

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Super simple to use

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One-time payment

Mycred.me cons

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Requires a self-hosted WordPress site

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Badges are awarded inside your website rather than as externally verifiable, portable credentials

What do people say about Mycred.me?

“My experience is neutral” (G2)

Mycred.me pricing

  • Free plan: Not available

  • Free trial: Not available

  • Pricing: Starting from $100/year

  • Return policy: 14-day money back guarantee

09 TruScholar – blockchain open badge designer

TruScholar – blockchain digital badges platform.

TruScholar is India's first home-grown digital badge maker. These badges follow the structure and guidelines of the open badges standard, allowing for fast and easy recognition of skills. With TruScholar, recipients can establish a digital identity and transfer their skills globally. While TruScholar offers great potential, it's important to note that some technical expertise may be required.

TruScholar key features

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Tamper-proof digital badges

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Extra security features

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Sharable and customizable digital badges

TruScholar pros

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Seamless integration with the existing tool stack

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Bulk badge issuance

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Metadata of badges available

TruScholar cons

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Basic, quite amateur design of sample badges

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Troublesome interface

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Limited customization options

What do people say about TruScholar?

“Sometimes it tends to be slow” (G2)

TruScholar pricing

  • Free plan: Available

  • Free trial: Not available

  • Pricing: Custom pricing, depends on features

  • Return policy: No information available

10 Basno – digital badge creator

Basno – identify and certify the skills with badges.

With Basno digital badging software, companies can create digital badges that highlight individuals' skills and accomplishments and distribute them in quite an easy way. It provides employers and others with peace of mind by verifying that each badge is legitimate. There isn't much to its badge editor, but it can be enough for those who just need basic editing capabilities.

Key features

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Badge making app

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Badge distribution

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Badge issuing and tracking

Basno pros

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Network of professional designers (additionally paid by the hour)

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Automate targeted badge invitations

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Invitation email tool

Basno cons

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Customization is available only on the highest plan ($415/mo)

What do people say about Basno?

We couldn’t find any reliable reviews about Basno.

Basno pricing

  • Free plan: Not available

  • Free trial: Not available

  • Pricing: Starting from $55/month (Pro)

  • Return policy: You can cancel renewal or switch plans

Create and Send Digital Credentials

Start issuing certificates and badges in minutes.

11 Canva – digital badge creator with a popular builder

Canva – create a beautiful badge design with a popular builder.

Canva is a popular platform for designing graphics and visual content. It likely saved your life many times over. No wonder – it’s easy to use and readily accessible. It’s an amazing platform for crafting graphics, banners, and a plethora of other visuals for businesses.

However, it falls a bit short of the best badge maker. You won’t be able to send them in bulk or analyze their performance. It gives you just the badge project, nothing more.

Canva digital badge maker and its key features

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Intuitive interface

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Extensive library of elements

Canva pros

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Great UI and super simple interface to use

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Regular updates

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Collaboration features

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Badge templates available

Canva cons

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No issuing options

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No tracking and analytics

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There is no compliance with Open Badges standard

What do people say about Canva?

“Canva has a simple, intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to create and edit designs.” (Capterra)

Canva pricing

  • Free plan: Available

  • Free trial: Available

  • Pricing: Starting from $15/month (pricing can differ depending on your region)

  • Return policy: You can cancel the plan anytime

12 Bestr – digital badge maker app

Bestr – explore digital badges available.

Bestr is a digital badging software from Italy that aims to showcase and connect competencies acquired through higher education with employers. Bestr serves mainly universities, research bodies, recruiters, and learners, offering benefits such as highlighting and certifying competencies, providing verified and portable badges, and facilitating the recognition of valuable experiences.

Bestr digital badging software key features

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Badge verification

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ePortfolio

Bestr pros

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There is a library of badges available with the number of times they have been issued

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Easy verification process

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High safety standards

Bestr cons

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No editing options

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No analytics and tracking features

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No default sharing options are enabled to streamline adding badge to LinkedIn or other social media platforms

What do people say about Bestr?

We couldn’t find any reliable reviews about Bestr.

Bestr pricing

Bestr pricing is not available to the public. You have to contact the vendor for more details.

13 Virtualbadge.io – engaging digital badge software

Virtualbadge.io – solution to send digital badges that are made to engage.

Virtualbadge.io is a solution for digital badges. Besides having an intuitive badge designer tool, it’s quite limited in options. But, there is a very good focus on sharing there.

Recipients can easily share their badges on social media platforms with just one click without needing to create an account. This badge maker even allows users to suggest hashtags and post texts for recipients' LinkedIn digital badges, maximizing the sharing rate.

Key features of Virtualbadge.io digital badge creator

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Intuitive badge designing tool

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Badge distribution

Virtualbadge.io pros

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Badge templates available

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Integration with popular tools (Zapier, Zoom and API access start on the Growth plan at $49/month, not on Lite)

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Optimized sharing

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Private-label

Virtualbadge.io cons

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Limited in badge design features

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Outdated badge templates

What do people say about Virtualbadge.io?

“VirtualBadge could be improved in terms of design.” (G2)

Virtualbadge.io pricing

  • Free plan: Not available

  • Free trial: 7-day free trial available

  • Pricing: Starting from $26/month (Lite), billed annually for up to 300 badges/year

  • Return policy: No information

14 CanCred – digital badge design software built on the Open Badges standard

CanCred – digital credentials built on the Open Badges standard.

On this slightly obsolete website is hidden CanCred – a digital badge software that allows for making, giving out, and handling digital badges for both formal micro-credentials and non-formal badges.

With CanCred Factory, organizations can acknowledge learning accomplishments across different platforms in one convenient spot. Also, the CanCred Passport gives badge earners a free way to store and share their credentials, as well as build career portfolios.

CanCred key features

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Multilingual badges

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Alignment with key public frameworks

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CanCred Passport

CanCred pros

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LTI integration and free plugins for popular eLearning systems

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PDF badges

CanCred cons

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It may not offer the same level of support and features for users outside Canada

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Outdated design elements with limited options

What do people say about CanCred?

We couldn’t find any reliable reviews about CanCred.

CanCred pricing

  • Free plan: Available

  • Free trial: 60-day free trial

  • Pricing: Starting from $395 CAD/year

  • Return policy: No information

15 Adobe Express – free badge design tool

Adobe Express tool

Adobe Express is a browser-based design app with a dedicated badge template library. It belongs in a different category from most tools here: it makes the artwork and stops there. Nothing issues the badge, tracks it, or verifies it.

If what you need is a badge image to hand to another system or to a platform like Certifier that does the issuing that is often exactly the job. We have a full walkthrough in How to Make Badges with Adobe Express if you want the step-by-step.

Key Adobe Express badge maker features

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Dedicated badge logo template library

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100,000+ templates and 1M+ royalty-free Adobe Stock assets on the free plan

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4,000+ Adobe Fonts free; the full 30,000+ collection on paid plans

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PNG export with a transparent background — set the background to "no fill"

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Works in a desktop browser and on mobile, with 5GB storage on the free plan

Adobe Express pros

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The free plan is genuinely usable, with no credit card required

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Transparent-background PNG export, which plenty of free design tools gate or block

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Adobe's stock and font libraries at no cost

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Familiar territory for anyone who has used an Adobe tool before

Adobe Express cons

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No SVG export at all — PNG, PDF, PPTX and HTML only, so there is no scalable vector file for print

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No issuing, no tracking, no analytics

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No Open Badges compliance; the output is an image file, not a verifiable credential

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Premium templates, the full font collection and brand kit sit behind the paid plan

What do people say about Adobe Express?

“Adobe Express: Effortless templates for fast, professional designs” (G2)

Adobe Express pricing

  • Free plan: Available

  • Free trial: Available on the paid plan

  • Pricing: Starting from $10.99/month for individuals, $11.99/month per licence for teams

  • Return policy: Cancel anytime

Get the best badge-making online software up and running

So, have you made a decision yet? With so many online badge makers out there, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. However, we hope that our list has at least made the decision-making process a little bit easier for you.

Just a quick reminder: with Certifier’s digital badge maker, you can get started right away without providing any credit card details. Start for free and see why Certifier is the top choice.

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Aksen Semak avatar
Aksen Semak

Chief Marketing Officer

Aksen leads marketing at Certifier, bringing 7+ years of experience with global brands to position digital credentialing as a trusted solution for training providers and educational institutions.