Best AI Image Generators in 2026 (Free and Paid)

There is no single best AI image generator; the right one depends on what you are making and how much you want to spend. If you want to try one for free, Adobe Firefly, Canva, Microsoft Designer, Leonardo.Ai, Krea and Magnific (formerly Freepik) all have a free option on their official sites. Midjourney's plans page lists no free plan, and Stability AI's models are free to use under its Community License for smaller businesses and creators.

Below are eight image generators we checked against their official sites on 20 October 2026, with free options, paid prices and commercial-use terms where the site states them.

Quick comparison

Midjourney

Midjourney generates images and videos, according to its plans page. It suits people who are happy to pay for a dedicated tool.

• Free option: The plans page we checked does not mention a free trial. It does say all four plans let you earn free GPU time by rating images.
• Paid pricing: Basic $10 per month, Standard $30 per month, Pro $60 per month and Mega $120 per month. Annual billing gives a 20% discount. See the official plans page.
• Commercial use: All plans list General Commercial Terms. Companies with more than $1,000,000 USD in gross revenue per year must buy the Pro or Mega plan.

Leonardo.Ai

Leonardo.Ai generates images and video, and also does editing and upscaling. Its site lists several models, including Flux.2 Pro and Ideogram 3.0. It suits people who want one place to generate and edit.

• Free option: The Free plan gives 150 Fast Tokens per day, with no rollover.
• Paid pricing: Essential $12 per month, Premium $30 per month and Ultimate $60 per month (excluding tax). Team plans start at $72 per month. See the official pricing page.
• Commercial use: Paid subscribers keep ownership of their images and can use them commercially. Free users get a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence for commercial use, but the page says Leonardo.Ai holds rights to use, reproduce, modify and distribute the images they create.

Adobe Firefly

Adobe Firefly generates images from text and also offers image-to-image tools, background changes and object removal. Adobe says its Firefly models are trained on licensed content from Adobe Stock and public domain content where copyright has expired. It suits people already using Adobe apps, or anyone who cares about how the model was trained.

• Free option: Adobe says you do not need a plan to get free daily generations across image, video and audio.
• Paid pricing: Firefly Standard has 2,000 generative credits per month, Pro 4,000, Pro Plus 10,000 and Premium 50,000. When we checked, the plans page showed prices in local currency and ran a limited-time discount on the two top plans, so we have not quoted a dollar figure. Check the official plans page for your price.
• Commercial use: Adobe's FAQ says outputs generated with Adobe Firefly AI models can be used for commercial purposes. For partner models, you are responsible for deciding whether the content suits your project.

Canva

Canva's AI image generator makes an image from a text prompt. You pick a style such as Photo, Vibrant or Sketch and set an aspect ratio. It suits people who already design posts, slides and flyers in Canva.

• Free option: Canva Free is US$0 and includes up to 20 Standard or Premium AI uses.
• Paid pricing: Pro is US$144 per year and Business is US$250 per year per person. Pro lists up to 200 Premium AI uses. See the official pricing page.
• Commercial use: Canva says you can use generated images in personal or commercial projects if you follow its AI Product Terms and Terms of Use. It also says you may not have exclusive rights, and you must check an image is suitable for commercial use.

Microsoft Designer

Microsoft Designer is for social posts, invitations, greeting cards and other graphics, and it can create images with AI. It suits people who already pay for Microsoft 365.

• Free option: Designer has a free plan with monthly credits for AI creating and editing. Microsoft says each Designer AI feature or Copilot interaction uses one credit, and credits refresh at the start of each month.
• Paid pricing: Paid plans come through Microsoft 365. On Microsoft's Australian page, Personal is AU$16.00 per month, Family AU$18.00 per month and Premium AU$33.00 per month. Paid plans offer up to 4X more credits for the account owner. See the official Designer page.
• Commercial use: The page we checked does not address this, so read Microsoft's terms before using images in business work.

Krea

Krea is a creative suite for images, video and 3D, with real-time image generation, an AI image editor and upscaling. Its site says it gives access to about 20 image models. It suits people who want to try many models in one place.

• Free option: The Free plan gives 100 compute units per day with no credit card required.
• Paid pricing: Basic $9 per month, Pro $35 per month, Max $105 per month and Business $200 per month. The pricing page also shows discounted offers, so check the live figures at the official pricing page.
• Commercial use: We could not confirm which plans include a commercial licence, so check Krea's terms first.

Stable Diffusion (Stability AI)

Stable Diffusion comes from Stability AI, which offers a Platform API, a self-hosted licence for running models in your own environment, and cloud options. It suits developers and technical users more than beginners.

• Free option: The Community License is free for researchers, developers, small businesses and creators with less than US$1M in annual revenue.
• Paid pricing: The Enterprise License is for businesses over US$1M in annual revenue and has custom pricing. See the official licence page.
• Commercial use: Stability AI says that, between you and it, you own outputs from Core Models and may use them commercially if you follow the law and its Acceptable Use Policy.

Magnific (formerly Freepik)

Magnific's site says Freepik became Magnific. Its image generator offers text-to-image and image-to-image, with over fifteen models from 12 families, including Flux, Ideogram and Nano Banana. It suits people who want to compare models without separate accounts.

• Free option: The site says "20 free images a day. No card required."
• Paid pricing: Premium $20 per month ($14.50 per month billed annually), Premium+ $45 per month ($33.75 billed annually) and Pro Starter $110 per month ($82.50 billed annually), excluding VAT and local taxes. See the official pricing page.
• Commercial use: The site says you own what you generate, and paid plans include a commercial AI license.

How we chose

We picked eight image generators from our directory and checked each one against its own official website on 20 October 2026. We only include prices, plan names, free limits and commercial-use terms that the official site showed. Where a site did not state something, we left it out or said so. Prices change often, so confirm on the official page before you pay.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free AI image generator?

It depends on what you need. Adobe Firefly gives free daily generations, Leonardo.Ai gives 150 Fast Tokens per day, Krea gives 100 compute units per day, and Magnific says 20 free images a day. Try two or three and see which style you prefer.

Can I use AI-generated images for business?

Often yes, but the terms differ by tool and plan. Leonardo.Ai, Adobe Firefly, Canva, Stability AI and Magnific each state commercial-use terms, and Midjourney has extra rules for larger companies. Canva also warns that you must check an image is suitable for commercial use, for example if it shows logos or trademarks.

Do I own the images I create?

Each company words this differently. Leonardo.Ai says paid subscribers keep ownership, while free users get a licence and Leonardo.Ai keeps rights to use the images they create. Magnific says you own what you generate. Canva says you may not have exclusive rights and that the law on AI-generated copyright is currently unclear. Read each tool's terms for your situation.

Which AI image generator is easiest for beginners?

Canva and Microsoft Designer are design apps that include AI image creation, so they are a reasonable starting point if you already make posts or graphics and do not want to learn a separate tool.

Are AI image generators safe to use with other people's faces or logos?

Use care. Canva's page does not recommend generating images of celebrities or superheroes, says recognisable characters or brands may be protected by copyright or trademarks, and says you are responsible for checking whether permission is needed for artworks, photos, trademarks and logos.