The difference between a refresh and a rebrand comes down to whether your positioning is still true — not to how dated your logo feels.
A refresh keeps the strategy and updates the expression: type, color, photography, tone, and layout. A rebrand changes the strategic position — who you serve, what you stand for, sometimes the name itself — and rebuilds the identity around it.
The test is whether your current positioning is still accurate. If customers describe you the way you would describe yourself, and the business has not fundamentally changed, you likely need a refresh. If the market has moved, the offer has shifted, or your name now misleads, a refresh will only make the wrong story look better.
Rebrands are expensive in ways beyond design. Everything built on the old identity has to be migrated: product surfaces, sales collateral, partner co-branding, legal naming. Go in when the strategy demands it, not when a new logo looks tempting.