TL;DR / Key Takeaways
- Midjourney leads on image quality from $10 a month; private mode starts at $60.
- Ideogram and Google's Nano Banana are the strongest for text inside images.
- Recraft's free images are public and not licensed for commercial use; Ideogram's free images are public.
- Private images plus commercial rights start around $10 a month billed yearly (Leonardo, Recraft), $5 at Krea.
- Leonardo.ai, Krea and the Gemini app have the most useful free tiers.
Short answer: for the best-looking images, Midjourney (from $10 a month). For text inside images (posters, logos, ads), Ideogram or Google's Nano Banana in Gemini. For safe commercial use, Adobe Firefly. For vectors and SVG, Recraft. For a generous free tier, Leonardo, Krea or the free Gemini app. Before you pick, check who owns the images on the plan you choose: on several free plans your images are public, and on one they are not licensed for commercial use. Updated October 29, 2026.
How we checked: prices, allowances and usage rights come from each vendor's own pricing, documentation and terms pages, read October 29, 2026. A few vendors block automated reading of their sites, so for Midjourney, Leonardo and ChatGPT we used the search engine's copy of their own pages. We did not run the same prompt in every tool, so this guide does not rank image quality. Prices change often; check before you pay.
AI image generators at a glance
| Tool | Free option | Cheapest paid | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | No free plan confirmed | Basic $10/month ($96/year) | Image quality and style |
| OpenArt | Trial only (per OpenArt's blog) | Starter $14/month ($13 billed yearly) | Consistent characters |
| Ideogram | Weekly free credits; images are public | Plus $20/month ($15 billed yearly) | Text in images, layout control |
| Adobe Firefly | Free daily generations | Standard $9.99/month (2,000 credits) | Commercially safe models |
| Leonardo.ai | 150 fast tokens a day, commercial use included | Essential $12/month ($10 billed yearly) | Generous free tier |
| Krea | 100 compute units a day | Basic $9/month ($5 billed yearly) | Real-time generation |
| Recraft | Free plan; images public and owned by Recraft | Basic $12/month ($10 billed yearly) | Vectors and SVG |
| Magnific (formerly Freepik) | 20 images a day, personal use, attribution required | Premium $20/month ($14.50 billed yearly) | Many models in one subscription |
| Google Gemini (Nano Banana) | Free in the Gemini app | Google AI Plus $4.99/month | Text in images, editing, consistent people |
| ChatGPT Images | Limited on the free plan | Go $8/month; Plus $20/month | Editing in conversation |
Who owns the images: the fine print by plan
| Tool | Free plan | Paid plan |
|---|---|---|
| Recraft | Images owned by Recraft, public, not licensed for commercial use | Private, full ownership and commercial rights, kept after you cancel |
| Ideogram | Commercial use allowed, but every image is public | Private images from Plus |
| Midjourney | No free plan | Commercial use on every tier, but companies over $1M a year in revenue need Pro ($60) or Mega; private (Stealth) mode only on Pro and Mega |
| OpenArt | No free plan | Commercial rights listed from Plus ($27 billed yearly), not Starter |
| Magnific | Personal use only, attribution required | Commercial AI licence on all paid plans |
| Adobe Firefly | Free plan's terms not stated on the plans page | Firefly-model output usable commercially; partner-model output is your responsibility |
| Leonardo.ai | Commercial use included | Private generations from Essential |
Best for text inside images
Ideogram has made legible text its focus since launch and adds layout control with bounding boxes. Google says its Nano Banana Pro model renders text "from taglines to long paragraphs", blends up to 14 images and keeps up to 5 people consistent, and it is available in the free Gemini app with higher limits on paid Google AI plans. OpenAI says its latest ChatGPT Images models improved text rendering and multi-step editing; ChatGPT Go ($8) and Plus ($20) raise the free plan's limits, though OpenAI does not publish image counts.
Best for commercial work
Adobe Firefly is the conservative choice for client work: Adobe states that output from its own Firefly models can be used commercially, and standard features such as Generative Fill are unlimited on paid plans. Standard is $9.99 a month for 2,000 credits, Pro $19.99 for 4,000. Recraft's paid plans hand you full ownership and commercial rights that survive cancellation, and its vector and SVG output suits logos and icons.
Best value for volume
- Leonardo.ai: 150 fast tokens a day free with commercial use; Premium ($24 a month billed yearly) adds unlimited relaxed generations on selected models.
- Krea: 100 free compute units a day; Basic is $5 a month billed yearly.
- Midjourney Standard ($30 a month): unlimited Relax-mode images on top of 15 fast GPU hours.
- Magnific Premium+ ($33.75 a month billed yearly): unlimited Nano Banana 2 at 1K resolution plus other models in one subscription.
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Which one to choose
- Best-looking images, regular use: Midjourney Standard.
- Posters, ads and anything with words: Ideogram or Nano Banana in Gemini.
- Client and brand work: Adobe Firefly.
- Logos, icons and vectors: Recraft.
- Recurring characters across images: OpenArt.
- Free: Leonardo.ai, Krea or the Gemini app.
Want images as you type? See our best real-time AI image generators. Need bigger files from the images you make? See best AI photo upscalers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI image generator in 2026?
It depends on the job: Midjourney for image quality, Ideogram or Google's Nano Banana for text in images, Adobe Firefly for commercially safe output, Recraft for vectors, and Leonardo.ai or Krea for generous free use.
What is the best free AI image generator?
Leonardo.ai gives 150 fast tokens a day with commercial use included, Krea gives 100 compute units a day, and Google's Gemini app includes Nano Banana image generation for free. Ideogram and Recraft have free plans too, but their free images are public.
Can I use AI-generated images commercially?
On most paid plans, yes, but check the plan. Recraft's free images are not licensed for commercial use, Magnific's free images are personal-use only, and Midjourney requires the $60 Pro plan or higher for companies with more than $1 million in annual revenue.
How much does Midjourney cost?
Basic is $10 a month, Standard $30, Pro $60 and Mega $120, with yearly billing at $96, $288, $576 and $1,152. Standard and above include unlimited Relax-mode images; private Stealth mode is on Pro and Mega only.