Placid is a hosted creative automation service. You design templates in its Template Editor, generate images, PDFs, and video through its APIs and no-code integrations, and can embed that editor in your app with its Editor SDK. Polotno SDK is a design editor SDK you ship in your own bundle, with rendering that can run on your servers. One question decides it: should the editor and rendering run on Placid's cloud, or on your side?
Pick the one that matches what you're building
Pick Placid if…
- You want automation running with little or no code: build a template, then generate from the REST API, the URL API, or no-code tools such as Zapier, Make, and Airtable.
- Your team generates visuals from forms: Placid Studio gives teammates shareable forms that turn a template into an image, PDF, or video.
- You want a hosted editor in your app with nothing to run: the Editor SDK embeds Placid's Template Editor as a web component. Placid hosts the editor, stores the templates, and renders the output.
- Your mobile app generates images offline: Placid's native iOS and Android SDKs render images on the device.
Pick Polotno SDK if…
- The editor is part of your product's UI: you compose it from React components, replace panels, and add your own controls.
- You need editing and rendering on your side: every Polotno license includes self-hosted editing and rendering, including restricted networks. We found no self-hosted server option in Placid's docs.
- You want your templates as files: designs are JSON you store, version, and diff in your own systems.
- You need exports beyond image, PDF, and video: Polotno also exports SVG, HTML, and PPTX.
How Placid and Polotno differ
Both products generate images, PDFs, and video from templates, and both can put an editor in front of your users. They differ in who runs that editor, how far you can change it, and who keeps the templates.
1. Where the editor runs
Placid's Editor SDK embeds the Template Editor as a web component. You load it from Placid's CDN, authenticate with a JSON web token, and your users create or edit templates in a themed editor inside your app. Placid hosts the component, and you get new editor features as Placid ships them.
Polotno SDK is a package you install and ship in your own bundle.
The hosted component leaves you less to run, and your editor depends on Placid's cloud. The SDK leaves you more to integrate, and you choose when to upgrade.
2. How far you can change the editor
Placid documents theming with your colors, permissions, hard and soft layer locks, switches for built-in features such as canvas resizing and the title bar, and a white-label option you arrange with its support team. Its docs don't describe adding your own panels.
Polotno ships React components you lay out inside your own UI. You can replace side panels, add controls, and connect your own asset libraries. For governance, you get per-element locks on moving, resizing, deleting, content, and style, admin, user, and viewer roles, a font allowlist, and a brand kit panel. You write the validation rules and approval workflow. Polotno has guides for Next.js, Vue, Angular, Svelte, and plain JavaScript, and customizing the editor needs React.
If theming and locks cover your product, Placid gets you there with less code. If the editor has to work like the rest of your app, you need access at the component level.
3. License limits
Placid's SDK terms require its VIP plan for use in a SaaS. They bar building a direct competitor, and they say "the value proposition of your product can not just be to generate images/pdfs/videos from templates". Your product has to wrap creative generation in a wider workflow.
Polotno's license sets limits too, so read it against your roadmap.
If creative generation is the main thing you sell, talk to both vendors before you commit.
4. Who keeps the templates
Placid templates live in your Placid account. You manage them through its API, and the template object exposes the dynamic layers you fill at render time. The docs list no full template export, so plan to rebuild your templates if you leave.
Polotno templates are JSON files you store, version, diff, and migrate yourself. Your code sets values in the JSON, and programmatic generation and user-edited variants share one data model. The files stay with you if your hosting or rendering setup changes.
5. Where rendering runs
Placid renders API output on its cloud, so you have no render infrastructure to operate. Its Mobile SDK adds offline, on-device image generation in native iOS and Android apps.
Polotno SDK renders in three places: through the Cloud Render API, on your own servers, or in the user's browser. The quickest route is Cloud Render: you send the JSON and get the file back in seconds, with no servers to run. Self-hosting stays an option when your data has to stay on your side, with no per-render fee, and those servers are yours to operate.
On mobile, Polotno runs through a WebView, with guides and demo projects for iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter. You build and maintain the bridge, and there is no native SDK.
Placid and Polotno side by side
| Polotno SDK | Placid | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Design editor SDK you ship in your bundle | Hosted automation service with an embeddable editor |
| Editor in your app | React components in your bundle | Hosted web component |
| Customization | Replace panels, add controls, theme | Theming, permissions, layer locks, white-label on request |
| Templates | JSON files you store | In your Placid account, managed by API |
| Self-hosting | Editing and rendering, with every license, unlimited under fair use | None found in its docs |
| Rendering | Cloud Render API, your servers, or the browser | Placid's cloud, plus on-device images on mobile |
| Design data | Reaches Polotno servers only with Cloud Render or AI features | Stored and rendered on Placid's cloud |
| Output | PNG, JPEG, PDF, PPTX, GIF, MP4, plus SVG and HTML outside Cloud Render. Print: CMYK, bleed, crop marks, PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-4 | Images, PDFs, and video, canvases up to 16k pixels, video up to full HD |
| Native mobile SDK | None: WebView guides, and you build the bridge | iOS and Android, offline image generation |
| No-code integrations | None: you call the API from your code | Zapier, Make, n8n, Airtable, Webflow, WordPress, Ghost |
| Forms for your team | You build them | Studio shareable forms |
| License limits | See Polotno's license | VIP plan for SaaS, no direct competitor, no product that only generates from templates |
| Pricing model | Fixed license fee by custom quote, no per-render fee when self-hosted, Cloud Render billed per use | Monthly plans with credits that roll over |
| Evaluation | 30-day free trial, no credit card | Free trial, no credit card, unlimited watermarked previews |
When Placid is the right call
If you generate templated images and PDFs as part of running your business, Placid gets you there with a template and an API call, and Polotno SDK would be more than you need. Studio forms let your team produce on-brand visuals with no code, and you can test with unlimited watermarked previews before you spend a credit.
Placid also fits product teams. If you want an editor in your SaaS with hosting, template storage, and rendering handled for you, and theming and layer locks cover your needs, the Editor SDK is a shorter path than integrating an SDK. Its Mobile SDK generates images on-device, which Polotno has no native answer for.
A reasonable rule: if a hosted editor passes both your product review and your security review, start with Placid. If either one says no, evaluate Polotno with the 30-day free trial, no credit card needed.
FAQ
What is Placid Studio, and does Polotno have one?
Placid Studio is a set of shareable forms that generate visuals from your templates. You design those templates in the Template Editor, a separate part of the product. Polotno Studio shares the name and does a different job: it's a free design app built on the SDK that anyone can open in a browser. A form like Placid's is something you'd build in your own app.
How does Placid's pricing work?
Placid sells monthly plans with credits. Generating a creative uses credits, previews are free, unused credits roll over up to double your monthly budget, and generation stops when you run out, with no overage fees. Check Placid's pricing and request a Polotno quote to compare them at your volume.
Can I migrate Placid templates to Polotno?
There is no automatic transfer. You'd map text layers to text elements and picture layers to image elements. For a small library, rebuilding in Polotno is usually faster than writing a converter.
