Disclosure up front: we build SportGraphics, one of the apps in this comparison. So instead of asking you to trust our ranking, we judge every app — ours included — on criteria you can verify yourself in ten minutes, and we tell you plainly when a competitor is the better choice. Several of the tools below are genuinely excellent at what they do.
How we judged
- Soccer-fit: does it understand goals, lineups, substitutions, and full-time boards — or is football one filter among thirty sports?
- Setup-once branding:after you save your club's colours, crest, and roster, does the next graphic build itself?
- Animation: can a volunteer export a moving post without learning motion design?
- Speed under match pressure: can you post a goal graphic from the touchline before the celebration ends?
- Price for a club budget: committee-approvable money, not agency money.
The quick comparison
| App | Best for | Sport focus | Built-in animation | Club profile auto-fill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SportGraphics | Soccer clubs that post every match moment | Soccer only | Yes — every design has an MP4 version | Yes — colours, crest, full roster |
| Terrace | UK grassroots football clubs | Football only | Partial | Yes — club skinning |
| Kickly | Multi-sport template variety | 15+ sports | Some animated templates | Per-template editing |
| Gipper | US school athletic departments | All US school sports | Limited | Department branding |
| BoxOut Sports | US team-sport programs | US team sports | Limited | Team branding |
| Canva | Freeform design of anything | Generic | DIY per design | Brand kit only (no roster) |
1. SportGraphics — for soccer clubs that post every match moment
SportGraphics is built around one workflow: save your club once (colours, crest, roster with photos), then generate the five matchday posts — matchday announcement, starting lineup, goal, substitution, and full-time result — in under a minute each, from a phone at the pitch. Every design ships with a built-in animated MP4 version, and exports cover both feed (1080×1080) and story (1080×1920) sizes.
Price: free plan (watermarked goal + matchday graphics, no card), Basic $9/mo, Pro $15/mo with AI player cutouts — full pricing here.
Where it falls short: it is soccer-only by design — a multi-sport athletic department should look at Gipper or BoxOut. And it trades freeform control for speed: if you want to art-direct every pixel, you want Canva.
2. Terrace — for UK grassroots clubs
Terrace is the closest thing to SportGraphics in spirit: football-only, set-up-once club branding, priced for grassroots committees (a free tier with watermark and daily export limits, with a paid plan around £6/mo as of July 2026). If you run a UK non-league or Sunday league club and want a simple, football-native tool, it deserves a place on your shortlist alongside us.
Where it falls short:the design range and animation depth are narrower, and there's no roster-driven AI tooling (player cutouts, design-from-reference). Try both free tiers on the same fixture and compare the output.
3. Kickly — for multi-sport template variety
Kickly's strength is inventory: a very large template library spanning 15+ sports and every graphic category, each template editable in the browser. If you want maximum stylistic choice and don't mind editing each graphic individually, it's a capable pick.
Where it falls short: the workflow is per-template editing rather than a club profile that fills every design — so each matchday still costs real editing time. Worth noting for a 2026 buyer: much of its educational content dates from 2021, so verify current features on the product itself rather than its guides.
4. Gipper — for US school athletic departments
Gipper is the department tool: built for US high-school and college athletics where one office covers football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and more. Its per-sport template pages and school-branding workflow are polished, and for a multi-sport SID it's probably the safest choice.
Where it falls short:soccer is one sport among many — the templates lean US-school "game day" rather than football-native ("matchday", "starting XI", "full time"), and pricing targets department budgets. A single soccer program on a college or high-school budget can get soccer-specific tooling for less.
5. BoxOut Sports — for US team-sport programs
BoxOut covers US team sports with a graphics library organised by sport and a team-branding workflow aimed at coaches and program staff. It's a solid Gipper alternative in the same US school/club lane.
Where it falls short: the same trade as Gipper for a soccer-only club — breadth over football depth, and animation is not the centre of the product.
6. Canva — for freeform design of everything else
Canva is the best general-purpose design tool there is, and most clubs should keep it around for what it's great at: posters, sponsor decks, fundraising flyers, print. Its weakness is the weekly matchday cycle — every graphic is a manual edit, rosters don't exist as a concept, and animation is on you. We wrote an honest side-by-side on exactly this: SportGraphics vs Canva.
The verdict, by club type
- Soccer club, any level, wants every moment posted: SportGraphics — it's the only one on this list where animation and roster auto-fill are the default, not an upsell. Start with the template gallery.
- UK grassroots club comparing options:shortlist SportGraphics and Terrace, run one fixture through both free tiers, pick the output you'd rather post.
- US multi-sport athletic department: Gipper (or BoxOut) — one tool for every team beats a better tool for one team.
- Club with a designer on the committee: Canva for one-offs, plus a club tool for the repeatable matchday five.
Frequently asked
It depends on the club. Soccer clubs that want set-up-once branding and animated posts use SportGraphics (or Terrace in the UK); US school athletic departments covering many sports tend to use Gipper or BoxOut; clubs with a design-confident volunteer often stay on Canva. This guide compares all six honestly.
Several tools have free tiers. SportGraphics' free plan makes real (watermarked) goal and matchday graphics with no credit card; Canva's free tier is a general design canvas; Terrace offers a limited free tier. Watermark-free club tools typically start around $9/mo.
SportGraphics ships a built-in animated MP4 version of every design (no keyframing, included from $9/mo). In general-purpose tools like Canva you animate elements yourself; most template marketplaces sell static files.