What ZCOOL does

ZCOOL (站酷) is a vertically integrated designer community and creative services platform founded in 2006 and operated by Xiamen ZCOOL Information Technology Co., Ltd. The platform serves two primary customer segments: individual design professionals (illustrators, graphic/UI/UX designers, 3D artists, photographers) and enterprise clients seeking design talent, brand competitions, and creative marketing services. As of the available data, ZCOOL hosts 17M+ registered users, 900K+ daily unique visitors, 9.5M+ daily page views, and 40K+ original works published daily, with coverage across 300+ cities in China and claim of broader global footprint.

The core product is a web-based community platform that combines portfolio hosting, a hierarchical recommendation system (首页推荐/三火, 频道推荐/二火, 佳作推荐/一火), design competitions, talent matching, and AI-assisted creative tooling. The product surface has expanded beyond the core community into a sub-brand for copyright-cleared commercial stock imagery (Hellorf / 站酷海洛), an AI workflow suite (prompt database, AI Skills marketplace, AI workspace), a curated font library, and educational courses delivered through a GoGoUP partnership. Mobile applications are available on iOS and Android, and authentication is integrated with Weibo and QQ for onboarding convenience.

ZCOOL monetizes through four streams: (1) PRO subscriptions for premium creator features; (2) enterprise services including design competition hosting, creative marketing campaigns, and copyright licensing — serving 20,000+ enterprise clients annually; (3) transaction-based talent matching connecting designers to freelance and full-time opportunities; and (4) affiliate referral revenue from educational courses. Notable enterprise clients across automotive, technology, e-commerce, consumer goods, home appliances, and real estate include Audi, JD.com, Baidu, Intel, Xiaomi, Durex, Haier, Beijing Hyundai, Wanda, and Lenovo (ThinkPad). The company has raised disclosed venture funding from IDG Capital, Dell Technologies Capital, Hearst Ventures, Shutterstock, and Hillhouse Investment across four rounds between 2014 and 2022, and remains privately held with no parent company or public listing.

Name

ZCOOL

Legal name

厦门站酷信息技术有限公司

Website

https://zcool.com.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

ZCOOL is a Chinese designer community platform founded in 2006 connecting 17M+ creative professionals with 20,000+ enterprise clients annually. It monetizes through PRO subscriptions, design competitions, copyright licensing via Hellorf, talent matching, and integrated AI-assisted design tools and courses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Designer Community & Marketplace

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (54143)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Experience (BX) & Service Design (BPAFAEAI), Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience (BPAHAEAC)

Keywords

• Designer community platform
• Creative marketplace
• Stock content licensing
• Design talent matching
• AI design tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Beijing

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. PRO Subscription: Premium membership service providing enhanced features, visibility, and tools for professional designers
2. Enterprise Services: Design competition hosting, creative marketing campaigns, and copyright material licensing for enterprise clients. The platform serves over 20,000+ enterprise clients annually with services including design contest organization, brand promotion, and copyright trading
3. Design Services and Talent Matching: Connecting enterprises with designers for freelance work, full-time positions, and project-based opportunities
4. Educational/Course Platform: Partnership with GoGoUP for professional design courses and educational content

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ZCOOL operates as an online designer community and creative marketplace platform serving 17M+ registered design professionals across 300+ cities. The platform enables designers to showcase portfolios, access AI-powered design tools, participate in competitions, find freelance and full-time opportunities, and access licensed stock content via the Hellorf sub-brand. For enterprise clients, ZCOOL provides design competition hosting, creative marketing campaigns, talent matching, and copyright material licensing, serving 20,000+ enterprise clients annually.

Product overview

ZCOOL (站酷) operates as a comprehensive design creative platform with a main community hub (站酷ZCOOL) connecting over 17 million registered designers. The ecosystem includes licensed stock content (站酷海洛/Hellorf), AI-powered creative tools (私房提示词, 精选Skill, AI工作流), premium membership (PRO计划), and enterprise services (企业服务). The platform enables designers to share portfolios, participate in competitions, access AI generation tools, and source licensed assets while providing enterprise clients with design talent, competition hosting, and creative marketing services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 站酷海洛: A related platform for creative assets and licensing services operated alongside ZCOOL.

Products and services

• ZCOOL Main Platform (站酷ZCOOL) ZCOOL's primary designer community platform providing a creative marketplace where designers share portfolios, participate in design competitions, access learning resources, AI tools, and connect with clients and employers.
• Hellorf (站酷海洛) Licensed stock content platform offering copyright-cleared images, videos, fonts, music, and design assets for commercial use. Integrated with ZCOOL main platform.
• Enterprise Services (企业服务) Enterprise solutions including design competition hosting (赛事承办), creative marketing services (创意营销), and advertising solutions. Serves 20,000+ enterprise clients annually with professional design talent acquisition.
• PRO Plan (PRO计划) Premium membership service offering exclusive features, enhanced visibility, advanced analytics, and priority support for professional designers and creators.
• AI Prompt Database (私房提示词) AI prompt database providing curated prompts for AI image generation tools, helping designers optimize their AI workflow and achieve better generation results.
• AI Skills Marketplace (精选Skill) AI skills marketplace featuring curated AI workflow templates and specialized prompts for various design tasks including illustration, UI design, and brand assets.
• AI Workspace (AI工作流) AI workspace tools enabling designers to create, manage, and automate AI-assisted design workflows with integrated generation, editing, and export capabilities.
• ZCOOL Font Library (站酷字库) ZCOOL font library offering curated typography resources for designers, integrated into the platform for easy access during creative projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• Platform serves 20,000+ enterprise clients annually with design competitions and creative services
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• GoGoUP (高高手)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational platform partnership offering professional design courses integrated into ZCOOL platform. GoGoUP courses appear as featured content and banners on ZCOOL, providing design education resources to the community of 17M+ designers. The partnership enables course promotion through ZCOOL's extensive designer network.
• HelloRF (站酷海洛)coreOthersZCOOL's own copyright image library platform (hellorf.com) providing legitimate design assets and materials for commercial use. The platform is operated by 厦门站酷信息技术有限公司 alongside ZCOOL main platform.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Canva: Global design platform with broad consumer/SMB user base for templates, design tools, and stock assets. Comparable to ZCOOL in democratizing design and in offering integrated AI features, though targeted at end-users rather than professional designers.
• Getty Images: Global premium stock image and visual content platform serving editorial and commercial customers. Comparable to Hellorf's enterprise licensing model and to ZCOOL's broader move into copyright-cleared creative content.
• Pinterest: Global visual discovery and inspiration platform widely used by designers for moodboards and trend research. Comparable to ZCOOL as an inspiration/discovery destination, though monetization model differs (ad-supported).
• Shutterstock: Global stock image, video, and music licensing marketplace; also an investor in ZCOOL ($15M, 2018). Comparable as a stock content and creative services platform with mature B2B licensing monetization.

Emerging players

• Freepik: Global graphic design resource platform offering free and premium vectors, photos, PSDs, and AI-generated images. Comparable to ZCOOL/Hellorf as a destination for designers sourcing assets and AI tools.

Regional players

• 小红书 (Xiaohongshu / RED): Leading Chinese lifestyle and inspiration platform with strong design/aesthetic content vertical. Increasingly competes for Chinese designer mindshare and brand-creator marketing spend that ZCOOL also targets.

Direct peers

• Dribbble: Designer community focused on UI/UX, illustration, and graphic design portfolios with job board and freelance marketplace. Closely mirrors ZCOOL's portfolio + talent matching model for design professionals.
• Behance: Adobe-owned designer portfolio and community platform serving creative professionals globally. Directly comparable to ZCOOL as a designer portfolio/community hub, but operates globally and is bundled into Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions.
• 视觉中国 (Visual China Group): Major Chinese stock image and visual content licensing platform. Comparable to ZCOOL's Hellorf sub-brand on the B2B image licensing side, and a potential competitor for enterprise creative marketing budgets.
• 花瓣网 (Huaban): Leading Chinese design inspiration and bookmarking platform with tens of millions of users. Direct competitor to ZCOOL in the Chinese designer discovery and inspiration category.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ZCOOL