As technology continues its relentless march forward, everyday people can now use tools once only available to elite advertising agencies and major marketing firms. Included among these are online mockup generators that allow designing and creating professional-caliber digital images and videos with point-and-click simplicity, and leading the way is Placeit.

Is Placeit free? Placeit offers both free and paid options.

• Free Account: Limited free library
• Single Download: From $2.99 per download
• Monthly Unlimited: $14.95 per month
• Annual Unlimited: $89.69 per year

Particularly for small businesses, this web browser-based mockup generator offers many advantages.. Whether you are seeking to create a logo, mockup, design, social media posts, or more, Placeit can be the answer, and it can be done for free!

Can Placeit be Used for Free?

By registering for a free account (basically creating a username and password), you can immediately begin navigating Placeit’s browser-based mockup generator website and browsing through its extensive library of user-friendly templates. While most of them require either a paid subscription or an a-la-carte (per download) to use, there are a surprising number of templates in each Placeit category that are 100% free.

Placeit organizes its digital offerings into five major categories of media types:

• Designs
• Gaming
• Logos
• Mockups
• Videos

Hovering over each of these category tabs reveals submenus that list the various types of templates that are available (virtually all of each are customizable to some degree), and near the top of each list are the “Freebies” that any registered user can use for free.

Using a free Placeit template is simply a matter of:

1. Signing into your free Placeit account
2. Selecting “Freebies” from the drop-down list of the category that best fits your need (e.g., “Mockups,” “Designs,” etc.)
3. Choosing from one of the free options that appear (they will be marked with a “FREE” banner)
4. Customizing the free template by:
   • Uploading your logo (which will be digitally inserted into the image or video)
   • Inserting your own text
   • Modifying the color schemes to your own liking (for instance, you can choose the color of apparel as well as the background)
5. Downloading your customized template or video to use as often and however, you see fit, on your social media feed, on your website, or even your YouTube channel

(Source:  Placeit – Free Templates)

Placeit’s Paid Subscriptions

For access to the entire library of templates contained on the Placeit website, along with enhanced features including unlimited downloads, users can subscribe to one of two paid plans:

• Monthly – for users with specific needs or targeted marketing and promotional campaigns, Placeit’s monthly subscription service, which costs $14.95 per month, may be a highly cost-effective way to build branding and messaging collateral. With no long-term commitment and the freedom to cancel at any time, the monthly plan affords tremendous flexibility as well. Ps. Here is an additional 15% off Placeit coupon!

• Annual – for sustained marketing and networking activities, the annual plan provides unlimited access to Placeit’s entire library of templates and images for a discounted yearly rate (50% compared to the monthly subscription) of $89.69. With new templates uploaded to the Placeit site each month, annual subscribers will have access to fresh and updated materials.

There is also an a-la-carte option where you can purchase any individual customized image, logo, or video downloads without subscribing to either the monthly or annual subscription for a one-time fee. If you are interested in trying out Placeit but are unsure whether its features are a good fit for your needs, you can also sign up for the free account and stay within the limited free library.

What Can You Do on Placeit?

The appeal of mockup generators for most users, whether they are free or paid, is enabling the design and creation of dynamic and engaging digital images without having to use specialized (and sometimes difficult to learn) graphics software such as Photoshop. With intuitive, menu-driven design and editing tools, Placeit allows you to create vibrant branding or messaging collateral.

These are the categories of products and services offered by Placeit:

Mockups

This is the heart and soul of Placeit’s website, as evidenced by the thousands of customizable templates available to subscribers (there are even 3,500+ “Freebies” in the Mockups section). Placeit’s Mockup templates’ underlying concept is to simplify the creation of branded objects in digital format. The results are realistic, with a high level of image fidelity.

In particular, Placeit is the go-to when it comes to mockup t-shirt and apparel design. With thousands of templates within the t-shirt space alone, the sheer volume of styles, models, backgrounds, and other elements, ensures that the perfect template is just a few mouse clicks (or finger taps) away.

Here is a snapshot of the types of Mockup templates available:

• Apple devices (3,600+ templates)
• Book covers (600+ templates)
• Hoodies (800+ templates)
• Tote bags (400+ templates)
• T-shirts (4,200+ templates)

(Source:  Design Hub; Placeit – Mockup Generator)

Design Templates

Where Placeit’s Mockups allow you to insert your branding onto a stock image, the Design Maker page empowers you to create your own digital assets using built-in design and editing tools. Starting with a basic template, Placeit provides a broad range of customization options that can transform even the most inexperienced computer novice into a graphic designer.

These are a few of the things you can design on Placeit (many of which are free):

• Album and book covers
• Apparel (6,800+ design templates for t-shirts alone)
• Social media (Instagram stories, YouTube banners, Facebook covers, and more)
• YouTube collateral (thumbnails, ads, slideshows, and more)

(Source:  Placeit – Design Maker)

Logo Templates

Placeit’s Logo Maker is another popular service for budget-conscious operators or time-sensitive projects where hiring a graphic design studio may not be a viable option. The process of creating a unique, customized logo can be as simple as:

• Typing in your business or company name
• Selecting the visual elements you like (drag and drop)
• Choosing your desired color scheme

To make things even easier and to get you started on the right foot, Placeit categorizes its thousands of logo templates by specific industries and business types, with a choice of nearly a hundred. Here is a small sampling of the types of pre-formatted logos that will enable you to hit the ground running when designing your own logo:

With Placeit’s powerful tools and extensive template library at your disposal, the process of designing your own logo and putting it to use right away can be completed in no time at all and a fraction of the cost (or potentially none at all) of hiring a professional designer.

(Source:  Placeit – Logo Maker)

Video Templates

Without question, one of the most powerful marketing and promotional tools for businesses and enterprises is video. From websites to social media, the audience engagement value of even a few seconds of video is immeasurable.

In recognition of this reality of the digital age, Placeit’s Video Maker page provides users with simple, easy-to-use tools for creating professional videos that are not only captivating, but perhaps more importantly, lead to sales, awareness, and conversions.

Here are a few of the features of Placeit’s Video Maker:

• Animated logos
• Instagram story templates
• Product demo templates
• Slideshow video templates
• YouTube video templates

(Source:  Placeit – Video Maker)

Gaming

With gaming as popular as it is today, Placeit offers a section devoted exclusively to gaming-related marketing and promotion. As with the Mockup Maker and Logo Maker pages, the Gaming section consists largely of customizable templates designed to create engaging digital collateral for the gaming space.

Here are a few features of Placeit’s Gaming service:

• Animated logos
• Twitch banners and overlays
• Video intro templates
• YouTube banners and thumbnails

(Source:  Placeit – Gaming)

Conclusion

Whether you are promoting a product, service, or even an idea, effectively connecting with your audience will not only ensure that your message is heard but, more importantly, that it is seen. Visual engagement is crucial with today’s consumer and online mockup generators like Placeit make creating digital collateral fast and easy, and in certain cases, even free.