I tested different OCR tools for invoices. DocuClipper was the easiest and most accurate.

It turns PDFs, scans, or digital invoices into clean data in seconds. You can send that data straight to QuickBooks or Excel.

It also has automation. You can match invoices to purchase orders, check transactions, and more.

Here’s how it works.

👉 Try DocuClipper Free

My Experience

I got a paper invoice and snapped a picture of it. Now I want to scan it into my accounting software without typing everything by hand.

This invoice is fake, but the paper and the photo are real. I’m using it to show how the OCR works.

To scan this invoice, go to DocuClipper. You can try it for free.

Drop an invoice into this view.

It only works with PDF files.

A few seconds later, the data shows up in neat columns.

Looks correct to me.

It also pulled some extra fields from the invoice:

It’s mostly correct, but there are a few small errors you can fix.

For example, it shows “Clara ThompsonBlueTech Ventures 77.” It should be the name, then the company, then the address.

Still, pretty impressive given how bad the image quality is.

Some parts are hard to read even for me.

If something is missing, you can add a new line and fill it in.

If there’s extra info or bad formatting, just delete that line.

After fixing the fields, you can export the invoice to Excel or QuickBooks for bookkeeping.

Before exporting, you can also customize the file.

For example, change the date format with a dropdown instead of editing it by hand.

That’s all you need for basic use.

Now let’s look at some advanced options.

After running OCR on the invoice, you’ll see a column on the right side of the viewer:

These options give you more control and automation.

1. Approvals help keep spending in check.
2. Automation saves time.
3. Matching makes sure invoices line up with bank records and purchase orders.

Let me show you.

1. Approvals

With this feature, you can set rules so some invoices need approval first. For example, invoices over a set amount go to a manager.

This keeps spending under control and adds a check before payment.

Here’s the view. Just add a name, description, conditions, and approvers.

2. Automation Rules

This feature lets you set custom rules for handling invoices automatically.

For example, you can auto-categorize invoices from a vendor or set default tax codes.

This cuts down on manual work and errors.

Here’s how it looks. Just set the conditions and choose what to include or exclude.

You can add more conditions by clicking Add another condition.

You can also set categories for them and add as many as you need.

3. Bank Transaction Matching

This feature matches invoice data with bank transactions.

It confirms the invoice was paid and matches your books, which cuts reconciliation issues.

Here’s how it looks with sample invoices:

4. Purchase Order Matching

This checks the invoice against a purchase order.

If the amount, items, and vendor match, it gets approved faster. If not, it flags a mismatch.

Here’s a sample:

Pretty handy, right?

This tool turns invoice images into digital data without typing everything by hand.

It also cuts down on errors.

But that’s not all. Sure, you could OCR an invoice with ChatGPT too.

The difference is this is a full invoice management platform. You can set rules and conditions to automate the boring parts.

👉 Try DocuClipper Free

Pricing

Here’s the pricing of DocuClipper AI.

Here’s what you get for the price:

Starter ($27/mo) — 120 pages/month. Good for freelancers and small businesses.

Growth ($52/mo) — 280 pages/month. Includes categorization and 1-year retention.

Pro ($111/mo) — 640 pages/month. Adds reporting, API, team tools, and premium support.

Enterprise (Custom) — Custom pages and features. Built for large firms with heavy needs.

👉 Try DocuClipper Free

Pros

Let’s go over the pros and cons.

This is based on my own testing and what others said in reviews.

• Works with any invoice format, no setup or training needed
• Very accurate at pulling data
• Fast, can handle big batches in seconds
• Connects with QuickBooks, Excel, and more
• Secure and reliable
• Easy to use with good support

Cons

• No deep analytics, it only extracts data
• Pricing depends on how many pages you process
• Sometimes splits invoices into separate files if they have multiple accounts

Core Features

Before I cap it off, here’s a quick rundown of the main features of this platform:

• High accuracy (97.5%+) — pulls key invoice data reliably
• Fast — processes invoices in ~30 seconds, handles big batches
• No setup — works out of the box, no template training
• Flexible export — Excel, QuickBooks, CSV, or other tools
• Handles any format — scanned PDFs, digital invoices, multi-page docs
• Smart automation — rules for categorization, approvals, vendor handling
• Enterprise security — SOC 2 compliant, AES 256-bit encryption, AWS hosting
• Scales easily — process 10x more invoices without extra staff

Handy, right? I also like that you can test it free on their site before paying.

👉 Try DocuClipper Free

To Take Home

DocuClipper makes invoices simple.

Drop in a PDF, it pulls the data, and you can fix anything before exporting.

It’s fast, accurate, and works right away.

You also get extras like approvals and matching if you need more control. But even the basics save a ton of time compared to typing by hand.

👉 Try DocuClipper Free

Thanks for reading! 🙂

In this post, I’ll show you the best AI logo generators right now.

I’ve tested them all and only included tools for different, specific purposes — whether you want full customization, hands-off automation, or to create something from scratch.

Let’s start!

Top Picks

Here are the top picks for the busy readers:

👉 1. Fiverr AI Logo Maker

👉 2. Looka AI Logo Maker

👉 3. Canva AI Logo Maker

But now, let’s jump into the details of each tool!

Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links at no cost to you.

1. Fiverr AI Logo Maker

Fiverr AI logo maker is the best overall AI logo generator that I’ve used.

Let me show you my results and how it works.

To create a logo with Fiverr’s AI logo maker, head over to their site.

Enter your brand name ot this view. For example, I’m creating a new logo for my site, softwareviews.net.

Specify your industry.

Add elements you want to see in the logo.

Pick your favorite logo styles.

Specify your brand personality with the brand sliders. For example, I told my brand is accessible, modern, innovative, somewhat fun, and somewhat simple.

Then wait for 10 seconds for the AI to create your logo.

After 10 seconds, you will see your AI-generated logos.

But the journey doesn’t end here.

As the next step, you can customize any of these logos.

For example, I liked this design:

But I wanted to change some things around.

For example, I picked a blue style instead of the black that it gave me.

When you do this, you get to see what your logo looks like on business cards, social media, coffee mugs, and more.

If you like what you see, feel free to download it and start using your new logo.

However, you can do more customizations on Fiverr too by clicking the “Customize This Design” button.

With this, you can move your elements around and resize them.

You can customize colors, name, slogan, shapes, backgrounds, and layouts.

For example, I chose a new layout for my logo where the element is not on the top, but on the left of the text instead.

Pretty cool, huh?

Then, once you’re ready, you can download your logo. This gives you a set of PNG files.

But for most, that’s not enough. That’s why Fiverr also allows you to download Favicons, Social Media Kits, SVG files, Zoom Backgrounds, and a roadmap to using your logo.

The essential package costs $30. That gets you an instant download with PNG files.

But if you need SVGs, revisions, social media kits, and more, pick either the Professional plan for $60 or the Unlimited plan for about $90.

I liked the Fiverr AI logo generator because:

• It’s fast: Logos are created in seconds.
• It’s free to try: You can play with it for free until you find the perfect logo for your business.
• It’s not too expensive: This service is way faster and way more affordable than hiring a professional logo designer. This is crucial for smaller businesses.
• Quality: The designs are surprisingly polished and professional-looking.

However, there were a couple of things that could be done better, too. For instance:

• The logos aren’t too unique: Since the AI uses existing design elements, some logos might look similar to others. Technically, some people might not call this an AI logo generator because it just combines existing logos.
• There’s a lack of advanced edits: For more intricate design needs, you might hit some limitations because this tool allows for basic edits only.

If you need a quick, budget-friendly logo that still looks professional, Fiverr’s AI Logo Maker is a solid choice.

However, if you want something more unique and customizable, you should continue watching.

👉 Try Fiverr AI Logo Maker free

2. Looka AI Logo Maker

If you’re looking to build a logo with a complete brand identity without hiring a designer, Looka is the AI logo generator you should choose.

Let me show you how it works.

First, you need to head over to the AI logo maker page.

Enter your company name.

Pick your industry.

Pick logo styles that you like.

Choose colors that you prefer. As you can see, there are way more options than on the Fiverr AI logo generator already.

Then, add your company name and slogan.

Pick the symbols you want in your logo.

I picked a computer. As I did this, it allowed me to choose different computer elements from a list.

After this step, you will see your AI-generated logos for the first time.

Pick the one that meets your eye and hit “Customize”.

It first shows you what the logo looks like right now. It also shows you what it would look like on a social media post, e-signature, and more.

In this section, you can customize your layout, palette, backgrounds, symbols, and much more. It gives you more controls than the Fiverr AI logo maker did.

Then, obviously, you can do more than just select colors and fonts.

For example, by clicking the symbol, you can resize and realign it.

On top of these customizations, Looka doesn’t just create your logo with AI. It creates for you a Brand Essentials kit that includes everything you might ever imagine.

This kit has the logo files, social profiles, covers, business cards, letterheads, and more.

Once again, this is much more than what Fiverr AI logo maker offers. Heck, you can even get printables, such as logos on a t-shirt.

Thus far, everything I did was free. You can create unlimited logos and brand kits for free on Looka.

However, to use them, you’ll need to pay for the service. First, hit download.

Then you’ll see the pricing options.

The one-logo package costs just $20. If you want unlimited customizations, support, and full ownership, you need the $65 plan, which is already more expensive than on Fiverr.

But then, here’s where it gets expensive. If you want to have those brand kits, such as business cards, social profiles, and more, you have to pick a recurring plan of either $96 or $129 per year. This can easily cost thousands in the long run.

If you’re not a relatively big company, I wouldn’t recommend this. As a small firm, it’s enough to have a logo in multiple formats and a round or two of edits.

To put it short, I liked Looka’s:

• Comprehensive Branding: They offer a brand kit with business cards, social media templates, and more.
• Variability in Options: There are more symbols, logo styles, brand kit options, and more than in any other AI logo maker I’ve tested.
• User-Friendly Interface: The platform is very easy and intuitive, making the design process straightforward.
• High-Quality Files: You get access to various file formats, including SVG, PNG, and PDF.

However, I think Looka isn’t perfect. Here are some problems I found:

• Limited Post-Purchase Edits: Once you download your logo, making further edits is not possible unless you have a more expensive plan.
• Recurring Payment: $96 might not sound like a lot, but once you notice it’s a recurring yearly payment, it can easily be just as pricey as hiring a real designer in the long run.
• Generic Designs: Some logos felt a bit templated, lacking a unique flair, despite having a lot of elements to choose from.

I’d prefer Fiverr over Looka for most. Fiverr logos are always a one-time fee with all the brand kits and such.

However, at some point, Fiverr’s service might be too basic. There are too few logo styles, symbols, customization options, and the brand kits are also somewhat limited.

👉 Try Looka AI Logo Maker

3. Canva AI Logo Maker

To create a basic, free logo, try Canva.

It’s technically not a full-on AI logo maker, but rather a traditional logo design tool with AI superpowers.

This is the easiest, most customizable, and most affordable AI logo maker on the list.

For example, I have a bunch of websites that are very small one-person businesses. In my use, the logo doesn’t matter, but it’s still good to have one.

That’s why I use Canva to create a logo for my sites. It usually takes less than 5 minutes, even without any design background.

Let me show you how it works and what kinds of things you can do with it.

To use the Canva AI logo maker, first, head over to the Canva Logo Maker page.

Click “Start designing a custom logo”. This opens up the Canva AI-based logo editor.

Pick from the designs in the list.

You can also create a logo with one of the AI logo maker apps in Canva.

Once your logo is created, you can customize it fully. This is unlike Fiverr and Looka, since it lets you drag the elements anywhere and do literally anything in the editor. Canva is not a logo maker, but a full-on design and illustration platform instead!

For example, you can change the color of your element.

You can tweak the fonts.

You can change the text.

If you want to find a better color scheme, you can use Canva’s AI features.

For example, you can drag and drop any image into the view. I’ve dragged a photo that represents a color palette.

Then right-click on the image and choose “Apply colours to page”.

It then applies the colors from that sample image to your logo design.

You can do this as many times as you want and you will always get a different output.

Then, at any time, you can download the logo.

You can download it as PNG or SVG (and other formats).

If you used free assets in your logo, the logo is 100% free for you.

If you used a Pro design or elements, then you have to upgrade to Canva Premium, which costs $110 a year.

The fun doesn’t end there, though! Once you’ve downloaded your logo, you can upload it back to Canva as an image for AI mockups.

This lets you test the logo on a t-shirt, wallpaper, business card, and more.

To do this, open up Canva again, click “Apps”, type in “Mockups”, and choose the “Mockups” app.

Then pick a mockup template, such as a coffee mug from the left. Then drop your logo on top of the mockup. It takes a couple of seconds for the AI to render the mockup.

Isn’t that awesome?

With the help of AI, templates, and an easy-to-use interface, you can create professional logos in no time without design skills.

Just keep in mind that the Canva Pro plan costs $110 a year.

You can get decent logos for free, though.

However, some AI features and templates only belong to the paid plan. In that case, you might want to subscribe to a monthly paid plan for a month, for example. It’s going to be a lot cheaper than $110. Just remember to cancel it once you don’t need it.

In my eyes, the Canva Pro AI logo generator is best if you’re already using Canva to begin with. However, the free version is more than enough if you have a small business that just needs a logo as a formality.

This is what I liked about Canva:

• Ease of Use: The intuitive interface makes it accessible even without design experience.
• Template Variety: A huge library of templates provides a good starting point for various industries.
• AI Features: There are AI features and apps, such as mockups, color schemes, background removers, etc., that can be useful in logo design.

Here’s what could be better, though:

• Limited AI Features: The AI features are there to support you, but you still have to do most of the work. In that sense, it’s more of a logo design tool than an AI logo maker.
• Pro Features: If you want to do more customizations and use more templates, you quickly have to upgrade to a paid plan.
• Learning Curve: Because Canva is a proper design platform, it takes a while to learn how to use it.

That being said, Canva’s AI Logo Generator is excellent for brainstorming and creating quick, visually appealing logos.

I create my small website business logos from start to finish with it!

However, for a unique and fully ownable brand identity, you might need to invest more time or consider other tools or a professional to do the job.

👉 Try Canva AI Logo Maker free

4. ChatGPT

Last but not least, we have the laziest option of them all. That is, of course, ChatGPT.

If you just want the most basic, generic, and less customizable logo out there, tell ChatGPT to create it for you.

Thanks to the latest OpenAI model updates, ChatGPT is getting better and better with text.

For example, here I’ve told ChatGPT to create a logo for my site, softwareviews.net:

ChatGPT was wise enough to ask me follow-up questions related to my logo. I answered those and then the AI started to create my logo.

Here’s the result I got:

I mean, it’s not that impressive, but also, it’s the first attempt.

Note that if you just have a website (like I do), this can already be enough. Just download the logo, and use it as the favicon, logo, and theme of your site.

However, I thought it would be too basic. I asked the AI to make it darker and more dramatic.

Here’s what I got back:

That’s decent!

But I wanted something else. So I told ChatGPT to create an entirely different-looking logo. I started a new chat so that it wouldn’t repeat the above style anymore.

Here’s the result:

Way better!

To make edits to the logos, the options are quite limited, though. So, if you use ChatGPT to create a logo, create an image or two, and use those as-is.

• I like ChatGPT because it’s free and the easiest way to prototype logos. You can create logos for free, at least a couple of times a day.
• Also, the AI is good with text these days. The ChatGPT logos look less and less like AI-generated images.
• However, because the customizations are limited and uncontrollable, I wouldn’t use this if you need to make any tweaks to your designs.
• Also, the downloadable are just images, not SVGs.

👉 Try ChatGPT free

Chatling lets you build AI chatbots easily with a drag-and-drop builder. You don’t need technical skills to use it.

I’ve tested it thoroughly and it works great for businesses of all sizes. It answers customer support questions based on your business data accurately.

Let me show you how it works and what it does.

👉 Try Chatling free

Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links at no cost to you.

Features

Before I show you how the tool works, let me quickly give you an idea of what it does by checking the main features.

• Knowledge-Based Answers: Chatling AI bot gives you accurate responses using your documents or website.
• AI Training: Automatically train the chatbot by uploading your data, such as your (or anyone’s) website.
• Drag-and-Drop Builder: Create chatbots with no code.
• Multilingual Support: Build chatbots that can speak in over 85 languages.
• Lead Generation: Capture leads during chats to boost your business.
• Easy Website Integration: Add your AI chatbot to your site with a couple of clicks.

But thus far, it’s all hype. Let me see if it works!

My Experience

Feel free to just read along. But if you’re convinced to test it (because it’s free), feel free to repeat the steps I take here.

As the first step, you need your free trial of Chatling. You can get your free trial here.

Then create an account. (Sadly, this tool doesn’t let you create with a Google account.)

Once you’ve signed up and in, click “Create chatbot.”

Next, choose the option that best fits what you want to do.

For me, I wanted to create a simple AI chatbot for my website where I teach blogging.

Then give it a name. I named my chatbot Blog support bot:

Ignore the paid promotions you’ll see in the next view. They might be useful later, but they’re not needed right now since we’re focusing on creating a free AI chatbot.

To get started, open the chatbot builder:

Then you will see your chatbot’s main workflow, that is, what it will do once someone opens up a chat window.

You can move things around in this view as much as you like. I went with the default one that looks like this:

I think the default flow is good unless you have a very specific use case. It simply greets the user with a welcome message.

Just make sure you change the texts in the flow, though. To do that, click the text in the flow elements and type something.

I changed the welcome text to let the visitors know that they’re using my AI assistant for blogging.

Once you have changed the flow and texts in it, it’s time to tweak the AI configuration of your bot. This gives the AI a persona that’s on brand and in line with your information and style.

To do this, click on the ‘AI Configuration’ section on the left.

I restricted the AI to use my website as a resource for finding answers. That way I avoid creating made-up answers that make no sense.

But now there’s one problem. The AI doesn’t know you or your business information.

To change this, let’s add a knowledgebase for the AI to draw information from.

You can use a URL list, a document, a text file, and more as your knowledge source.

Yes, you got it right: The AI will read all the stuff you give it and then remember everything.

I want the AI to get its information from my website so I will add it as the knowledge base.

After I entered my site URL, it took about 2–3 minutes for the AI to read it through.

Then it listed my site URLs, that is, all the blog posts on my site.

After this, the bot is ready!

Click on the “Preview” to test your AI chatbot. This allows you to interact with your own bot before making it live.

For instance, I sent my Chatling AI bot a message that asks what’s realistic to earn as a blogger.

Here’s the conversation:

That answer is insane! That is exactly what it says on my website.

No generic, hype-filled answers like you get from other resources with false promises. It spoke exactly how I would, and even pointed me directly to the page or section of the knowledge base where it found the information.

When I clicked the links that the bot gave me for double-checking, I could also confirm that the answer was correct and in line with how I would say it on my site.

Once you’re happy with your Chatling chatbot, publish it with the “Publish” button on the top right corner.

Then embed it to your website or share a link for anyone to use it. This will save you a ton of time on customer support, lead generation, and more.

I’m really impressed with Chatling AI.

What I didn’t expect was how it listened to my input before responding to customers.

It even provided direct links to the sources where it found the information, showing that it truly ‘learns’ the knowledge base content.

👉 Try Chatling free

Pros

• User-Friendly: Just click a few buttons to set up your own custom ChatGPT-like AI bot for your site.
• Accurate: The results are impressive — it’s highly accurate and provides answers that feel very much like mine. I have no issues believing that it will automate 80–90% of my support. It also points you to the knowledge base location where it found the information.
• Global Reach: Supports over 85 languages to reach a wider audience. This is especially great since I originally thought these tools would only work in English (and honestly, not even that well just a couple of years ago).

👉 Try Chatling free

Cons

• Setup Can Be Tricky: Even without coding, adding the bot to your site might feel overwhelming, especially when you’re dealing with code adjustments.
• Quality Data Matters: If your data is inconsistent, like conflicting information on different pages, the AI might get confused.

Pricing

• Free: $0/mo
• Basic: $15/mo
• Pro: $35/mo
• Ultimate: $99/mo

👉 Try Chatling free

I tried Pikzels AI to save your time and money.

In this post, I will show you my results and overall opinion on the tool.

Spoiler: I think Pikzels AI is epic. It’s the best thumbnail maker I’ve tested.

Grab a 50% discount with code JALLI50.

But now, let’s jump into the review.

Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links at no cost to you.

My Experience with Pikzels

I’ll also walk you through my experience with Pikzels and how it works, so you know what to expect.

Let’s start by creating a basic viral-style thumbnail. After that, I’ll show you how to add your own face, make custom adjustments, and refine it further.

Create Thumbnail

The workflow in Pikzels is straightforward—you simply describe what you want to create, and the AI generates it for you.

For example, you might enter a prompt like: “A man swimming underwater, looking terrified at the camera while a shark looms menacingly in the background.”

After that, the image typically generates in about 20 seconds.

After a second, you’ll see the first version of your thumbnail.

It’s impressive, though it’s worth noting that AI has been capable of generating images like this for nearly two years. Tools such as ChatGPT and others have offered similar functionality for a while.

That said, let’s take a look at what makes Pikzels stand out.

For each image, you’re given three main options:

• Redo
• Edit
• Faceswap

After using the Redo option once, here’s the updated version of the thumbnail I received:

Keep in mind that working with AI often involves some trial and error. It takes a bit of experimentation to understand what delivers the best results.

One helpful tip: keep your prompts simple. Avoid overloading the input with too many details at once.

👉 Try Pikzels AI free — 50% off with code JALLI50

The “Thumbnail Copy” feature

Now let’s explore the feature that really sets Pikzels apart as a thumbnail creation tool: the Recreate feature.

This allows you to take a thumbnail from a channel you admire and generate a similar version with just a few clicks.

For example, here’s a thumbnail I found:

If you want to create a similar thumbnail for your own video, the process is simple.

In the Pikzels app, just paste the link to the video you want to reference. The tool will handle the rest.

To get the shareable link on YouTube, click the three dots next to the video and select “Share.”

Copy the link to the clipboard.

Next, paste the link into Pikzels. You can also adjust the Inspiration Weight to control how closely the new thumbnail follows the original. Then, describe any changes you’d like the AI to make to the original design.

For example, I asked the AI to change the text from “$100/day” to “$500/day.”

Here’s the result it generated:

Not bad—it captures the same overall vibe and style as the original. Here’s a side-by-side comparison:

Keep in mind that these thumbnails are fully customizable.

For example, here’s what I got when I asked the AI to darken the background and change the shirt color to blue:

I also asked the AI to remove the helmet. Here’s the updated version it generated:

Just like that—the helmet is gone.

One thing to keep in mind: when you make edits, the AI might unintentionally alter other parts of the image. This is a common limitation, as AI still has trouble maintaining full consistency in visual elements.

That said, I think this version works well now.

There’s still one major issue—the thumbnail doesn’t resemble me at all.

It features a completely random, AI-generated person.

The good news is that Pikzels includes a Face Swap feature, which lets you insert your own face directly into the thumbnail.

The Face Swap

To use the AI face swap feature, click on the FaceSwap feature.

Upload the thumbnail and your picture to the view.

Then generate and wait for 20 seconds.

Here’s the image I used:

Finally, I asked the AI to remove the glasses, since I don’t wear them. After a few quick adjustments and re-generations, here’s the final version of my thumbnail:

Obviously, that’s not perfect. But it’s still close to what I look like. Perhaps a bit too young, but otherwise, really impressive.

Tip: One step at a time!

When creating or editing thumbnails in Pikzels, it’s best to take a step-by-step approach. Start with simple instructions to generate the initial image, then make edits gradually—one or two changes at a time.

Here’s the exact workflow I used to create the thumbnails shown above:

• Recreate
• Edit: “Darker background”
• Generate
• Edit: “Remove glasses”
• Generate
• Edit: “Remove background helmet”
• Generate
• Edit: “Change background color”

This helps prevent the AI from becoming overwhelmed and producing inconsistent results.

Taking it one step at a time is the key to creating high-quality thumbnails with AI.

👉 Try Pikzels AI free

Pikzels Pricing

Pikzels.com offers three pricing tiers, all billed annually:

Essential – $14/month
Includes basic features, 2,400 credits, and up to 240 thumbnails per year.

Premium – $28/month
The most popular plan. Offers more tools, 18,000 credits, and up to 1,800 thumbnails per year.

Ultimate – $56/month
Unlocks all available features, with 54,000 credits and up to 5,400 thumbnails per year.

Higher-tier plans provide more credits, access to advanced features, and greater flexibility for power users.

👉 Try Pikzels AI free — 50% off with code JALLI50

Pros

• User-friendly: Just describe what you want, and the AI generates a thumbnail to match.
• High-quality output: Among the tools I’ve tested, Pikzels consistently delivered the best results.
• Face swap feature: Thumbnails initially feature random faces, but Pikzels lets you realistically replace them with your own.
• Inspiration tool: A standout feature that allows you to replicate the style of an existing thumbnail—great for consistency and creativity.

Cons

• Limited free trial: The trial version allows for just five thumbnails, all with a large watermark—making it essentially unusable.
• Inconsistent results: You may need to spend multiple credits to refine or fix outputs, which can feel wasteful.
• Pricing: At $80/month for 300 thumbnails, it’s costly—especially considering it often takes 20–30 iterations to get one solid thumbnail.
• Market saturation risk: As more creators use tools like this, the novelty and impact of AI-generated thumbnails could decline. Overuse may lead to a generic, less engaging aesthetic.

My Honest Take

If you’re just starting out with thumbnail creation, Pikzels is worth trying. It can save time, streamline the process, and help spark creative ideas.

That said, there’s a downside. As AI-generated thumbnails become more common, their effectiveness may fade. What once stood out can start to feel generic and overdone.

Right now, though, tools like Pikzels are still new enough that they haven’t saturated the space. There’s still room to stand out—if you use them well.

Stay informed about evolving trends. Recently, YouTube seems to be favoring more minimal, cleaner visuals with fewer edits. Thumbnails are following suit—simpler designs that align with the content are gaining traction.

Balance automation with originality, and you’ll stay ahead of the curve.

👉 Try Pikzels AI free — 50% off with code JALLI50

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned!

I recently came across a new SEO tool called Semdash, so I decided to test it out.

In this post, I’ll share my experience, the results I got, and my honest thoughts on how it performs.

I’ll also compare it with my preferred SEO tool, Semrush (yes, the names are quite similar).

Let’s get started.

Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links at no cost to you.

What Is Semdash?

Semdash is a similar tool to Semrush and other SEO tools that you’ve probably heard of before. If you look at the UI, it looks exactly the same but with different colors and branding.

Semdash provides insights into competitor traffic, topic competitiveness, keyword opportunities, and more.

But let’s see how it performs and if it’s worth it.

My Experience with Semdash

I tested my website, nodesk.fi, using Semdash’s domain analyzer.

I simply entered the domain, selected the location and language—that part was straightforward.

Now, let’s take a look at the data Semdash provided and see how it compares to other tools and real-world results.

1. Traffic Distribution

Semdash provided the traffic distribution for nodesk.fi, indicating that most visitors are from Finland, with a small percentage coming from Sweden.

Promising! This is indeed the case. The traffic is mostly from Finland and Sweden.

2. Organic Traffic Distribution

Semdash also gave me an organic position distributio chart that looks like this:

Based on this report, it says that the domain ranks outside of the top 5, mainly in the second and third search results page on Google.

That is true based on what we’ve seen in the actual data on our site.

3. Organic Keyword Distribution

Semdash creates organic keyword distribution charts too. Here’s one for our site, nodesk.fi:

This metric is similar to the previous one but focuses on the number of keywords ranking in specific positions in the SERPs. Based on our actual data, the results were fairly accurate.

If you’re analyzing competitor sites, this kind of insight can be quite valuable.

4. Traffic Analysis

Now we get to the more interesting part—the traffic and keyword metrics.

Here’s what Semdash estimates for nodesk.fi:

It suggests we have 17,000 visitors monthly. However, in reality, the number is just 1/3th of that.

The estimate is quite far off—but to be fair, traffic prediction is notoriously difficult. Even Semrush didn’t get it right.

5. Top Keywords Report

To help with competitive analysis, Semdash also shows the keywords the target site is ranking for.

Each keyword comes with associated data such as search intent (e.g., commercial), traffic volume, keyword difficulty (KD), cost per click (CPC), and more.

These metrics are useful for evaluating potential niches. For example, a keyword with high CPC and volume but low KD can indicate a valuable, low-competition opportunity.

Semdash also provides a top pages report for the site, offering further insights.

This is close but still wrong. The real top pages are here:

(I won’t share the actual traffic numbers for individual pages, but I can say that the estimates from Semdash were noticeably off.)

Other leading SEO tools, like Semrush, tend to provide more accurate figures in this area.

6. Link Analysis

Semdash lets you analyze your competitors’ links too. This is what all good SEO tools let you do.

Semdash also shows the number of referring domains, backlinks, and both new and lost links and domains.

This information is helpful for understanding how competitive a niche might be. For example, if a site has 100,000 high-quality backlinks and ranks in the top 10 on Google, targeting the same topics could be challenging. Competing would likely require building a similar backlink profile—a process that can take years of consistent effort.

7. Competitiveness Analysis

You can also use the competitiveness analysis feature to see how your site is positioned within the broader competitive landscape.

However, for our site, nodesk.fi, the competitiveness report was quite inaccurate.

Our site focuses on electricity-related content, but Semdash identified major newspapers as competitors—which doesn’t really align with our niche. While there may be some overlap in topics, those sites cover a wide range of subjects. Their reported keyword and traffic numbers (e.g., 15 million keywords and 500,000 visits) are inflated in this context and not a meaningful comparison.

8. Keyword Overview

Next, I explored Semdash’s keyword overview feature.

This tool allows you to enter a keyword—like “AI”—and view data on its competitiveness, search volume, and related keywords. It’s useful for identifying low-competition topics to target on your site.

I ran a search for “AI Tools” and received the following report:

The tool gave “AI Tools” a competitiveness score of 59 out of 100.

While that’s useful, it’s worth noting that most other SEO platforms offer similar data. For comparison, Semrush rates the same keyword as nearly 100% competitive—a significantly higher estimate than Semdash’s.

So essentially:

Semdash suggests it’s a topic worth targeting.

Semrush indicates it’s highly competitive and likely not worth pursuing.

Based on my own experience—having worked in this space for nearly three years—I’d agree with Semrush. “AI Tools” is a highly competitive topic, and targeting it would be challenging without a strong foundation.

👉 Try Semrush free for 14 days—forget about Semdash!

My Verdict

Overall, Semdash feels like a simplified, less accurate version of Semrush.

Personally, I’d still choose Semrush over Semdash. For example, the related keyword suggestions were limited, and the competitiveness scores didn’t align with real-world data—both of which are critical features in an SEO tool.

While Semdash does cover the essentials, it falls short in terms of accuracy and advanced capabilities.

At this stage, I wouldn’t recommend using Semdash—even if it comes at a lower price point. You’re likely better off using free tools and your own research until you’re ready to invest in a more reliable option like Semrush.

That said, there’s clearly a lot of buzz around Semdash. I’ll revisit it in the future to see how it evolves.

BTW, you can use better tools like Semrush for free. I’ve arranged a free 14-day pro plan deal.

👉 Try Semrush free for 14 days

Let me bring you customers passively!

I help you dominate your competitors with powerful, AI SEO-driven content and YouTube videos that rank, attract organic traffic, and convert like crazy.

With 2M+ blog views, 70k+ monthly YouTube views, and millions generated for my partners, this strategy will fast-track your sales to success.

For Who Is This?

This is best for anyone looking to get organic leads, customers, and mentions in relevant industry-leading articles.

Most of my clients are startups looking for rapid growth. However, I’m happy to work with all kinds of SaaS businesses.

What’s Included?

To get more customers, you need leads, views, and content.

I do it all.

Here’s what I’ll create for you:

1. A Practical How-To Blog Post: A helpful showcasing of your product. Written with potential customers in mind—SEO-friendly and easy to read.
2. A Clear, Value-Focused How-To Video: Think of it as a demo that is engaging and created to inspire confidence in your product. Some of these go viral on YouTube!
3. An Honest Review Blog Post: Authentically written to highlight your strengths, address potential concerns, and build trust. This targets people who are in the “Yes or No” phase in the funnel.
4. A Straightforward Review Video: Designed to connect with real users and answer their questions while showcasing your product in action.
5. Mentions in Relevant, Niche Articles: Natural integrations into well-performing existing articles.

Proof?

Sounds good… but does it work?

Let me introduce one of my clients.

PortraitPal, is a new AI startup in the competitive AI headshot space. I put them through my Software Visibility Kit… 

In less than 2 months, they’re making over $12,000/month from my content passively!

This is all thanks to a couple of YouTube videos and blog posts to over 20,000 followers. Yes, that’s just a couple of pieces of content all done in less than a week.

How It Works

I target people who are close to buying—people who are looking for information with a credit card in their hands. This means people who do searches like “best AI tools” are just a click or two away from buying.

I don’t have a crazy huge audience. I just have the right one.

My blog content has over 2M+ total views and counting.

My YouTube channel gets 70k+ monthly organic video views.

I also have 20k+ avid followers on Medium.com and have generated millions in revenue for my partners.

To put it short: I will create you content once, and it will bring in passive traffic and customers for years.

Start here

This isn’t a cookie-cutter approach. It’s tailored content designed to build trust and drive results.

Let’s discuss your goals and see if we’re a good fit.

👉 Contact me at artturi@softwareviews.net

Please start the email with “I’m interested in Software Growth Kit”.

Testimonials & Results

Let’s Do It!

Sounds good? Please, send me an email (or reply if you’re already in the loop).

👉 Contact me at artturi@codingem.com

I will get back to you asap!

Thinkific and LearnWorlds are both popular platforms for hosting courses. But which one should you choose?

I’ve used both extensively—let’s find that out!

Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links at no cost to you.

Who Is The Winner?

My platform of choice is Thinkific.

I’ve used Thinkific to host and sell 2 courses for nearly three years. I love it because it offers all the basic elements you need for courses.

Better yet, you can use my link to start using it for free:

👉 Activate Your Free Trial Here

But to be fair, the winner is also all about the use case.

For some, LearnWorlds could be a lot better than Thinkific.

• If you’re just getting started, Thinkific is the way to go.
• But if you have a team, then LearnWorlds might be better. That’s because there you can do all the marketing, community stuff, and more in a better way than on Thinkific.

Let me compare the two platforms a bit closer to give you a better idea.

Free Versions

Before I even try platforms like Thinkific or LearnWorlds, I ensure there are free trials.

I think it’s a signal of confidence and reliability if a platform offers either a free version or a free trial.

Thinkific

Thinkific has an entirely free plan.

It lets you create and publish courses without spending money.

This was great for testing my ideas before upgrading to a paid plan when I started my courses there.

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds doesn’t have a free plan, but there is a complete 30-day free trial.

This way I could explore the features of the paid plans before deciding to buy.

So this is a win for both Thinkific and LearnWorlds!

Customer Support

I looked into support options because having reliable support is crucial for resolving any issues quickly and keeping everything running smoothly.

Thinkific

Thinkific provides support through a Help Center, community forums, and email.

In my experience, they are active supporters.

However, I sometimes find myself talking to a support bot for a bit too long to my liking before an actual human steps in. (Also, the human answers are usually from a template.)

That being said, I never really have to wait for my answers. That’s great because I have a lot of questions related to specific setups and features.

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds offers support through email, a detailed knowledge base, and how-to articles.

I found the video tutorials and dedicated (human) support team especially helpful.

They provide 24/7 email support, and higher-tier plans include priority email support and personalized onboarding.

Once again, this is a win for both platforms!

(However, both could improve here a bit as well.)

Coaching/Webinars

Personalized webinars and coaching sessions can increase student engagement. Also, in some cases, they are crucial if you’re doing live teaching.

That’s why I wanted to see if these platforms offer solutions for live webinars and coaching.

Thinkific

Thinkific makes it easy to create 1-on-1 coaching through the platform.

Just create a new event in the products section:

To do this, you need to use the Thinkific Zoom integration. The same applies to live webinars and live teaching.

LearnWorlds

Similar to Thinkific, LearnWorlds integrates with Zoom for webinars and live classes.

Mobile Apps

A course platform mobile app allows students (and instructors) to access courses on the go.

That’s why I wanted to see if there’s one for Thinkific and LearnWorlds.

Thinkific

Thinkific has a mobile app for you and your students to engage with the content on the go.

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds also offers a branded mobile app option for schools. You can download this from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.

AI Course Creator

Ok, I had to include this because it’s 2024. I’m of course talking about AI.

As much as I’m not a huge believer in creating content fully automatically with AI, I believe it can streamline some workflows at least.

Thinkific

Thinkific doesn’t use AI to create entire courses.

However, it has some basic AI features, for example, to create a course outline, course name, or ideas.

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds lets you create an entire course with AI.

It just asks you a bunch of questions related to your course, audience, and goals, and then it renders a ready-made course.

But at least based on my experience, this is something that you need to edit heavily.

Email Sales Funnels

The number one way to sell a course is through email marketing.

You first collect newsletter subscribers and then warm them up with valuable content while subtly promoting your course.

This happens with email sequences that you automate. When someone joins your course, they will start a journey of for example 5 emails during the next 10 days.

There’s no reason to do it manually. That’s why I expect course platforms to offer services like this.

Thinkific

Thinkific doesn’t offer native tools for creating sales funnels, but it integrates well with tools like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and ConvertKit nicely.

However, I’m surprised how big a hassle it still is.

Even though you can do marketing with Zapier and MailChimp integrations, I don’t think a modern course platform should ask you to join two other paid platforms to do basic email automation…

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds has built-in features for email marketing and sales funnels.

You can use it with tools like Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign.

Then the platform’s automation and funnel-building capabilities make managing your marketing efforts much easier than on Thinkific.

For example, here’s a simple sales funnel I set up on my account:

With the marketing tools on LearnWorlds, you can track progress, customize emails, send times, and more without having to jump between platforms.

SEO Features

SEO or search engine optimization means that your course website or landing page appears on Google (and other search engine) results.

Although SEO is all about building a good landing page and content, there are some small things you can tweak to tick some extra boxes.

That’s why I decided to include the SEO features on the list as well.

Thinkific

Thinkific comes with basic SEO features.

It lets you customize URLs, meta tags, and descriptions for your course pages.

For example, thanks to this, I was able to make my course landing page look like this in Google search results:

You can also integrate your Thinkific account with Google Analytics to see the views and performance.

LearnWorlds

Very similar to Thinkific, LearnWorlds offers good basic SEO features and a Google Analytics 4 integration to see the landing page performance.

Both platforms nail the basics of SEO. And why do I keep on saying the “basics of SEO?”

Well, that’s because SEO is all about you providing value to your audience. There are no specific settings that would make you rank on top of Google.

If you create a landing page full of valuable, well-structured, and consistent content, that’s the definition of SEO.

Third-Party Addons

Both LearnWorlds and Thinkific offer third-party integrations, such as Google Analytics, MailChimp, ConvertKit, and more.

Also, on Thinkific, there’s a plugin store from where you can install extensions to your account to add a missing feature, for example.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate marketing means that your students get a little kickback for recommending your course. If someone signs up after clicking their link, you will pay them a commission.

This is one of the best marketing strategies out there as it’s all performance-based. If your students don’t bring any customers, you’re not going to pay them. And if they do, you will give them a reward for each sale—automatically.

Affiliate marketing is such a powerful way to promote courses that I had to include it on the list. Before I had experience with both platforms, I was sure that both offer affiliate tools for course creators—and yes, I was right.

Thinkific

Thinkific includes an option for you to set up an affiliate program.

The Thinkific affiliate system which allows you to set up, manage, and track affiliate partnerships.

As I mentioned before, this allows your students (that is, affiliates) to promote your courses and earn commissions on sales.

This expands your course’s audience and reach automatically.

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds offers built-in affiliate program capabilities across all its plans.

This lets you create and manage affiliate programs, track performance, and provide affiliates with the tools they need to promote your course.

I love the fact that the affiliate program is not a higher-tier plan thing but it belongs to all the plans.

Course Website Builder

This is a no-brainer. To sell a course, you need a website where your students sign up and find your courses, sales, checkout pages, and support.

Once you’ve created your course and built your community, dealing with all the integrations can be overwhelming. Creating a website from scratch on top of that is a daunting task, isn’t it?

That’s why the best online course platforms allow you to do this very easily.

Thinkific

Thinkific offers a built-in website builder that lets you create and customize your course website.

For example, here’s my Thinkific school page (with my two courses listed):

And here’s an example of one of my courses landing pages:

Obviously, no coding is needed. Just drag and drop elements to the view and that’s it! This makes it a smooth and quick process.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the basic editor and have a knack for coding, you can use HTML and CSS for more customization too!

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds provides a comprehensive website builder with customizable templates and a drag-and-drop editor.

Here’s a sample page I built:

And here’s a sample course page:

LearnWorlds offers advanced options like custom domains, HTML/CSS editing, and various elements to create a fully branded online school.

The platform also supports multilingual websites, making it versatile for global audiences.

Payment Plans

If your students can’t pay in one go, you need a payment plan. This is a common excuse for someone to not take your course, so it’s a must-have feature.

Thinkific

Thinkific allows you to offer payment plans. This feature is available in all the paid plans and integrates with payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal to process these payments smoothly.

LearnWorlds

Similar to Thinkific, LearnWorlds allows you to set up payment plans and offer courses in installments.

This is in my opinion a crucial feature and both platforms nailed it!

Coupons and Promotions

Adding some scarcity offers can bump up your course sales as it creates a sense of urgency and incentivizes you to act now.

This is possible thanks to coupons and discounts that I expect both platforms to offer.

Thinkific

Thinkific lets you create coupons and promotions to offer discounts on courses.

You can set up percentage-based or fixed-amount discounts and specify the duration and usage limits of the coupons.

For example, if you want to create a promotion that gives 20% off for the first 100 students, you can do it easily on Thinkific.

One thing I didn’t like on Thinkfic, though, is that you can’t strike through the original price of your course on the landing/checkout page. I thought that’s easy to do but apparently, it’s not.

LearnWorlds

Similar to Thinkific, LearnWorlds allows you to set up promotions and discounts. You can do percentages and fixed discounts.

You can limit the number of codes as well as the date.

Payment Processors

Integration with payment processors is essential for handling transactions securely and efficiently. Imagine you had to send invoices, do refunds, and set discounts manually. That would get out of hand with just a handful of customers.

This is where the online course platforms shine. They’re not just course hosting platforms or community pages but also payment processors (or at least they integrate with one.)

Thinkific

Thinkific doesn’t have a built-in payment processor.

Instead, it relies on integrations with third-party payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal to handle transactions.

Anyways, this means that you don’t need to worry about payments. Everything happens under the hood. You get a checkout page that looks like this automatically:

Also, you can handle refunds and chargebacks there with a click of a button as well.

For example, the other day I had a student who wasn’t happy with my course.

Instead of having to hassle with the refunds, I could just click one button to refund the fee. That was just 15 seconds of extra work for me.

👉 Try Thinkific for Free

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds, like Thinkific, doesn’t have a built-in payment processor. It integrates with popular payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal to do payments and refunds.

To Take Home

Thinkific and LearnWorlds are great course platforms. As you can see from the comparison and reviews, they both have all the necessary features and integrations to successfully host a course.

That being said, now it’s time to consider which one you should choose.

As I mentioned before, I am using Thinkific to host 2 courses. I have an audience of about 25k subscribers and my student count is less than 100.

So for a small one-person team, Thinkific is a great platform to get started.

👉 Try Thinkific for Free

However, if you have a school or a big team of marketers, coders, designers, and such, you might find more bang for your buck on LearnWorlds.

It’s all about that use case.

Thanks for reading!

See also

• Best Online Teaching Platforms