The 20 Best AI Image Generators in 2026 (15 Free)

With an AI image generator, you can create images and graphics of all kinds in just seconds. Whether logos, portrait photos, animal photos, desktop backgrounds, or coloring pages.

The market is growing rapidly, and new providers with ever-improving models are constantly emerging.

The problem is:

There are now several hundred AI image generators on the market. And dozens more are added every month.

But which one is best for creating AI images? And which tool is best suited for which type of image?

In this article, I've thoroughly tested 20 of the most popular AI image generators for you. Not just in terms of image quality, but also usability and features. You'll also find three test images for each image generator so you can compare the image quality yourself.

The best part:

Most of the generators have free trial versions, offer starter credits, or are even completely free.

AI Image Generators Comparison

Tools & Test Results in Detail

Below you'll find the test results for all AI image generators in detail (in order of their results).

I had each tool create the same three images to make the quality of the image generators comparable. All images were created with the same prompts (with minimal adjustments if the generator didn't recognize certain terms).

The results are composed of image quality, usability, feature set, generation time, and price. Image quality has the highest weighting, as a cheap and quickly generated image of poor quality doesn't make anyone happy.

For each image generator, you'll find three example images that I always created with the same prompts (commands) for the best possible comparability.

1. Midjourney

• Price per image: approx. $0.05
• AI Model: Midjourney, Niji

Midjourney is the AI image generator that impressed us with the best image quality in our test. Often by a very large margin compared to other tools.

It also offers many advanced settings, like parameters. These allow you to generate images exactly how you want them.

You can generate images with different aspect ratios (16:9, 2:1, 1:1, etc.) or use "Multi Prompts" to avoid ambiguities in your commands.

Midjourney also allows you to upscale images, create variations of an image, upload an image as a reference (Image-to-Image), describe images, or zoom out of an image (Outpainting). All of this works very well and often better than with other AI image generators.

However, Midjourney has one drawback that should be mentioned:

The operation can be confusing for beginners because it's integrated into the "Discord" chat service and can (currently) only be used within the Discord interface:

However:

First, Midjourney is already working on a solution for this. Second, this is complaining at a high level.

We've spent hundreds of hours at Gradually AI and generated 10,000+ images with Midjourney. And the more intensively we've worked with Midjourney, the more we've realized how good it is and how far ahead it is of other tools in terms of features, settings, and image quality. For this, it's worth accepting the somewhat cumbersome setup.

Midjourney's AI images are often colorful, vibrant, and dynamic. They contain many details, complex textures, and light effects. In short, you're rewarded with a unique image quality that's (sometimes) miles ahead of other image generators.

If I had to describe the style with one adjective, I would say "epic."

2. Artsmart.ai

• Price per image: $0.019
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

Although Artsmart.ai had to concede to Midjourney in image quality and feature set, the AI image generator secured a solid second place in the test:

On one hand, it offers many advanced settings for prompts and various modes, e.g., the "Hyper Realistic" mode to create photorealistic images.

On the other hand, it offers great editing features to adjust or improve your images directly in the app after generation, e.g.:

• Inpaint - (a feature to remove or change parts of an image)
• Face Enhance - (to improve facial distortions)
• Upscaling
• Cropping
• Add text
• Remove background
• PoseCopycat - (to clone a pose from an image)
• PosePerfect - (to adjust a pose by dragging)

ArtSmart.ai also scored significantly better than Midjourney in one category:

It offers a clearer and more intuitive user interface that's also easy to understand for beginners.

Unlike Midjourney, which leaves you alone when writing prompts, with ArtSmart you can assemble your prompts with various modes, presets, camera perspectives, art styles, and artists via dropdown menus, which we really like:

Of course, you have the option to write your prompts without help if you prefer.

The image quality, as you can see in the example images, is very good. While they don't quite match the quality of Midjourney, they usually impress with good lighting, a homogeneous color scheme, and a high level of detail.

At about 5 seconds, Artsmart.ai generated AI images slightly faster than Midjourney in the test.

3. Leonardo.ai

• Price per image: from $0.01
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion, Alchemy

Leonardo.ai is an innovative, creative AI image generator that specializes in the fantasy and gaming areas.

For example, you can generate video game characters, backgrounds, or textures very well with it. But I also find it great for photorealistic images or illustrations.

The tool can be used via the Leonardo dashboard on the website and is free to use:

It impresses with a wide range of features and settings. You can choose between different art styles, train your own models, or use models provided by the community.

In addition, the Canvas mode offers options for editing your previously generated images as well as uploaded images.

The results of the free version are already impressive. No errors are visible at first glance, and both Che Guevara, the Corgis, and the donuts look very good:

Also worth highlighting is Leonardo Alchemy, the paid version of Leonardo.ai. It uses SDXL and generates images in higher resolution, with more details and better contrasts.

The following images were created with Alchemy and show that the better representation of animals or people can be worth the $10 per month:

4. Stability.ai DreamStudio

• Price per image: approx. $0.002
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

DreamStudio is an AI image generator platform from Stability.ai. You can use it to try out the latest Stable Diffusion models live.

For $10, you can buy 1,000 credits, with which you can generate about 5,000 images, which is very affordable.

Unlike many other AI image tools, DreamStudio offers only a few predefined styles or other prompt aids, which is why I wouldn't recommend it for beginners.

There are also only a few integrated features to edit AI images after the fact.

However, it offers the most important settings, such as negative prompts, aspect ratio, number of images, generation steps, the selection of the Stable Diffusion model, and the option to upload your own image as a template (Image-to-Image).

The user interface is clean and minimalist:

The big advantage of DreamStudio is that it always contains the latest Stable Diffusion models like SDXL 1.0.

The image quality of SDXL is very good. The AI images are colorful, high-resolution, and contain fewer image errors than Stability 2.1 and older.

Similar to Midjourney, the background carpet with the Corgis is a bit strange. All in all, SDXL doesn't quite match the quality of Midjourney:

5. DALL·E 3

• Price per image: from $0.00
• AI Model: DALL·E 3

DALL·E 3 is the successor to DALL·E 2. It's an AI image generator and AI model from OpenAI (the developer of ChatGPT) and has been available since October 2023.

You can use DALL·E 3 through three different tools:

1. You can create AI images for free with the Bing Image Creator:

Here you receive 100 credits monthly, which means you can generate up to 400 images.

2. You can use DALL·E 3 within Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat). Similar to the Image Creator, creating AI images here is also free:

3. You can use DALL·E 3 within ChatGPT. Here, however, image generation is not free but requires ChatGPT Plus for $20 per month:

Compared to DALL·E 2, DALL·E 3 offers some notable improvements:

It understands text better and generates more accurate and detailed images.

It can handle different types of text input, from simple sentences to detailed paragraphs. However, DALL·E 3 has a very restrictive content policy. For example, personalities who were still alive in the last 100 years are not depicted:

The quality of the AI images is very good. DALL·E 3 represents an enormous advancement from DALL·E 2. The only drawback is that it's unfortunately not as good for photorealistic AI images.

6. ImageFlash (Neuroflash)

• Price per image: free
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion & DALL-E 3

Neuroflash is one of the most popular AI text generators with strong European language support.

The tool also offers its own image generator called ImageFlash, which you can use within the app:

Neuroflash's AI image generator is easy to use and minimalist. Since the latest update, you can have your prompt improved by AI and select some presets like "Product presentation" or "Realistic photos."

Unfortunately, the option to edit or upscale generated AI images directly in the app is still missing.

The results of the free version are already quite good and more than you can expect. No errors are visible at first glance, and both Che Guevara and the Corgis look very good. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the donuts any better in the free version:

It's also worth noting that from the Pro tier you can select DALL-E 3 for image generation. It generates images in higher resolution, with more details and better contrasts.

7. Ideogram

• Price per image: under $0.01
• AI Model: Ideogram v0.1 and v0.2

Ideogram is currently the best tool for creating images with text, which doesn't work as well with many other AI image generators or only after many attempts.

In my experience, it's very well suited for logos, stickers, posters, T-shirts, and many other images where text display is important.

I found Ideogram easy and clear to use in the test. The Ideogram homepage is somewhat reminiscent of Pinterest. In a gallery, you can see what others have created and get inspired:

The image quality is quite good. I found it unfortunate that I sometimes had to experiment a long time with models v0.1 and v0.2 and various styles (e.g., Graffiti, 3D Render, Poster, Cinematic, or Ukiyo-E) until I got the desired result.

8. Adobe Firefly

• Price per image: from $0.05
• AI Model: Firefly Image Model

Adobe Firefly is Adobe's in-house AI image generator and was introduced in March 2023.

Adobe Firefly uses a self-developed AI model trained on images from Adobe Stock, publicly licensed, and public domain content.

I found this quite impressive, especially considering that other models are often built on stolen or unauthorized content. Adobe has chosen an ethical approach here that I can only praise.

Since May 23, you can use Adobe Firefly not only in the browser but also in Photoshop, including the "Photoshop Generative Fill" feature.

Adobe Firefly is easy to use. You enter a text command and get four AI images created.

In the right sidebar, you can make some basic settings for aspect ratio, image type, style, exposure, or color.

Firefly's AI images are, in my opinion, good and better than many other tools, but images often look more like stock photos and "too polished." In terms of quality, they are clearly behind Midjourney.

Another criticism is that Firefly is somewhat restrictive with text commands.

For example, if you want to generate an image of a "criminal," Firefly won't give you results. This is because Adobe has blocked certain words to avoid prejudice and stereotypes. I find this commendable but can also be annoying.

9. Stockimg.ai

• Price per image: from $0.01
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

Stockimg.ai is a tool I only recently became aware of. But since then, I've been excited about it.

Stockimg AI can create images, wallpapers, logos, illustrations, posters, and more and has exactly the necessary settings and options that allow creativity to run free while still providing a common thread through image creation.

With one click, you can switch from 3D render to graffiti style, caricatures, or Minecraft artworks and get great results.

If you only display one result, Stockimg generates images in a fairly fast 10 seconds; with 3 or 4 images, it takes correspondingly longer.

10. Supermachine

• Price per image: from $0.01
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

Supermachine doesn't have as many features as Midjourney or ArtSmart.ai. But it has a clear user interface and is easy to use:

What I really like is that there are 39 predefined models with which you can generate images in specific styles. There are models for anime, LinkedIn portraits, logos & icons, coloring books, photorealistic images, or 3D art. There are even two models with which you can imitate the "Midjourney style."

You can specify not only text but also your own images as prompts. In addition, there are various settings for aspect ratio, sampler, image size, or the number of generation steps.

With the default settings, you get your AI image within about 6 seconds, making Supermachine one of the fastest image generators in the test.

Supermachine uses Stable Diffusion 1.4 to 2.1 and SDXL for image generation. The image quality is high, although it doesn't quite match that of ArtSmart.ai or Midjourney (the Che Guevara is overexposed, for example, as you can see in the sample images).

The tool has a distinctive feature that sets it apart from other AI image generators:

It allows the creation of adult content. So you can also create erotic images with it if that's interesting for you.

11. BlueWillow by LimeWire

• Price per image: from $0.01
• AI Model: BlueWillow v4

BlueWillow is an AI image generation model, similar to Stable Diffusion, that can be used in their own generator at LimeWire.

The costs are very manageable, and the large Discord community means you can always rely on help.

BlueWillow v4 can easily be selected via the "Model" menu in "AI Studio" mode. Here you also have the option to select all other common algorithms like Stable Diffusion v2.1, v1.5, XL v1.0, as well as DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3.

The tool is super easy to use and minimalist. You have the option to enter prompts as well as negative prompts, select the size and quality of the image, and determine how many images should be created at once.

The image generation time is a pleasant 10 seconds, and after creation, you can edit the images directly in the editor, which we really like.

The image quality appears good at first glance, but only two instead of three puppies were generated, and not much value was placed on the backgrounds. The donuts and strawberries are also not really convincing when you look at the image in higher resolution:

Of course, you should experiment with prompts and settings until you get the desired result.

12. DALL·E 2

• Price per image: $0.13
• AI Model: DALL·E 2

DALL·E 2 is an AI model from OpenAI. In addition to image generation, it offers outpainting, inpainting, and the creation of variations of an image. It's a further development of DALL·E and has been available since September 2022.

You can use DALL·E 2 not only as an API but also directly via the OpenAI Labs platform:

The platform is easy to use. You can either enter text or upload an image. Unfortunately, unlike most other AI image generators, you can't make any further settings, such as aspect ratio or negative prompt.

Using DALL·E 2 via OpenAI Labs is unfortunately quite expensive. 115 credits for the platform cost $15, which is about $0.13 per image. Here it makes more sense to use the API, with which you pay only $0.02 or less per image.

The quality of the AI images is very good. DALL·E 2 represents an enormous advancement from DALL·E.

DALL·E 2, unlike many other AI image tools, managed to generate the background carpet with the Corgis error-free. All in all, however, it can't match the quality of Midjourney or SDXL.

13. Jasper Art

• Price per image: from $0.01
• AI Model: DALL·E 2

Jasper is currently the most well-known and popular AI text generator on the market.

With Jasper Art, the tool has also allowed AI image creation for some time.

At $20 per month, Jasper Art is unfortunately quite expensive, but you can create unlimited AI images. If you also want to use Jasper to generate text, it may be worth using the "Boss Mode" plan, as the image generator is already included.

Jasper Art is easy to use and has a clear, modern user interface. You can enter both a text prompt and choose an image as a template:

I really like the "Enhance prompt" feature, which adds more details to your prompts.

Additionally, you can enter a mood, medium (e.g., oil painting), artist (e.g., Salvador Dalí), style, and keyword via selection menus below the prompt input, which is useful for beginners. Optionally, you can generate your images based on templates in the "Templates" tab.

The output quality of Jasper Art is rather average. The carpet in the Corgi image failed, the Ché Guevara image has distracting reflections, and the donuts look very artificial:

14. Canva Create

• Price per image: from $0.01
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

Canva Create is a collective term for a series of new features that Canva introduced in March 2023.

In addition to a drawing function, an AI text generator, and a translator, a text-to-image generator is also among the new features:

The text-to-image generator is easy to use and offers an intuitive user interface.

You can not only enter a prompt but also choose from 19 predefined styles, such as colored pencil, retrowave, concept art, anime, crayon, or watercolors. Additionally, you can choose between square, landscape, and portrait for the aspect ratio.

The image quality of Canva's text-to-image generator is good, but not breathtaking. With Ché Guevara, it's unclear whether the headgear is hair or a hat. The paws and background with the Corgis failed. The donuts look angular and simply not appetizing:

15. Craiyon

• Price per image: $0.00
• AI Model: DALL·E mini

Craiyon was developed as a lighter version of OpenAI's DALL·E and was originally called "DALL·E mini."

The image generator is free to use with some limitations and without registration. In the free version, ads are displayed, generation is slower, and images contain watermarks. Additionally, all generated images are public.

The Pro version, which removes all mentioned limitations, is available from $5 per month.

Using Craiyon is simple and intuitive. In addition to entering a prompt, Craiyon allows you to draw an image as a template, specify negative words, and select whether the image is art, a drawing, or a photo:

The quality of the Craiyon image generator is in the upper mid-range:

With Ché Guevara, the hairstyle, eye area, and color scheme failed. The Corgi image is well done, apart from the eye area. Let's not even talk about the donuts.

16. Photosonic

• Price per image: from $0.10
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

Writesonic is one of the currently best AI text generators. With Photosonic, the tool offers an integrated text-to-image generator, similar to Neuroflash and Jasper.

Unlike Jasper, Photosonic costs no monthly extra fee but can be paid with the credits available in your monthly Writesonic subscription.

The user interface is simple and clear:

Unfortunately, the text-to-image generator offers hardly any additional features or settings:

You can only set the number of generated AI images (2, 3, or 4) and choose between three output formats (512 x 512, 768 x 512, 512 x 768 pixels). There are no predefined styles, upscaling, or post-processing tools.

The quality of the generated AI images is rather average. Ché Guevara is okay, although the shading on the face and background aren't quite right. The carpet with the Corgis has a strange pattern and one of the dogs has a botched paw. The donuts are too misshapen and the entire image is a failure:

17. Nightcafé

• Price per image: $0.004
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion, DALL·E 2

Nightcafé is not only an AI image generator but also an active Discord community with about 80,000 members.

What's special about Nightcafé is that it's the only image generator tool offering a large selection of different AI models for image generation:

• Stable Diffusion (v1.5, v2.1, and SDXL)
• DALL·E 2
• VQGAN+CLIP (for more artistic AI images)
• CLIP-Guided Diffusion (offers more control over image composition)
• Style Transfer (to transfer art styles from one image to another)

Nightcafé is very user-friendly. The interface is clear and yet offers many settings (you can switch to "Advanced mode" to make detailed settings for your AI images):

In the free version, you can generate five image credits per day. You have to claim these credits fresh each day (you get an email about this every day).

We don't like the free version as much because ads are displayed everywhere. If you use the tool regularly, it's worth using the Pro version. With the smallest package for $5.99 per month, you get 100 credits, with which you can generate about 1,200 AI images per month.

The output quality of Nightcafé is unfortunately only average, which surprised us. Because I used different AI models for image generation and selected the best AI images from them.

Ché Guevara has a strangely folded cloak (or coat?), the Corgis look slightly deformed, and the background carpet isn't even a carpet. The tray of donuts looks good at first glance, but the closer you look, the more you notice small errors:

18. Runway

• Price per image: about $0.096
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

Runway is one of the big names in the AI field and has developed into one of the market leaders in image and video over the past 4 years.

With its Gen-1 and Gen-2 models, it has set new standards in AI video generation.

In addition to its research work, Runway offers a platform with 30+ different AI tools, including not only an AI image generator and an AI video generator, but also numerous AI image editing tools, e.g., for animating 2D images, background removal, inpainting, and outpainting.

Runway's text-to-image generator is easy to use and offers not only basic settings for aspect ratio, resolution, and the number of output AI images, but also advanced settings like prompt weight, medium, or various art styles on request:

Runway uses Stable Diffusion for generation. Unfortunately, the quality of the AI images fell short of our expectations and can't match the best image generator tools in the test.

The colors and shading in the Ché Guevara image aren't optimal. With the Corgis, there are errors in the ears and paws, and the donuts are deformed:

19. ArtSpace.ai

• Price per image: from $0.01
• AI Model: self-developed

ArtSpace.ai is an AI image generator based on a self-developed AI model, not on Stable Diffusion or DALL·E 2 like most other tools.

As input for your AI images, you can use your own drawing, an image, or a text prompt.

ArtSpace.ai is user-friendly and has a clear user interface:

Although the tool was able to create realistic and creative AI images in our test and largely followed the specifications from the prompts, the quality of the AI images is overall rather disappointing.

The furniture in the room where the Ché Guevara image hangs looks strange. Ché Guevara himself has a distorted face. The fur and carpet in the Corgi image are completely unsuccessful. The donuts image is okay, if somewhat boring:

20. Mindverse

• Price per image: from $4
• AI Model: Stable Diffusion

Mindverse is an AI text generator and all-in-one tool that offers research, brainstorming, image creation, text generation, and analysis with artificial intelligence. It has particularly strong European language support.

With Mindverse, you can create product descriptions, reviews, blog posts, emails, ad copy, and much more in just a few seconds.

It also offers an AI image generator, which you can find in the app under the "Images" menu item:

The tool is easy to use and minimalist. You have the option to select an image model, an image description (the prompt), the aspect ratio, and optionally the style.

Unfortunately, image generation took a very long 30 seconds. Additionally, Mindverse was the only AI image generator that refused to output not one but two AI images because they allegedly contained inappropriate content.

I experimented for a while but unfortunately didn't achieve satisfactory results with our inputs, which was quite frustrating.

The image quality is quite good, provided you get a result:

What Exactly is an AI Image Generator?

An AI image generator (also called "AI Art Generator") is an online tool or software that creates images using artificial intelligence.

You can provide either text, an image, or both as input for your desired AI image (called "Text-to-Image" and "Image-to-Image").

The quality of today's AI image generators is now impressively good. The technology has made enormous progress within the last two years.

The tools produce increasingly realistic and detailed images. Some AI images are now so good that they're almost indistinguishable from real photos.

I generated the following image with AI and didn't edit it afterward:

AI graphics or drawings are now also of extremely high quality, as you can see from the following example:

Of course, the tools aren't perfect. They still sometimes make mistakes or produce unwanted effects, such as:

1. Strange extremities on humans and animals (e.g., too long, too short, missing, or extra fingers, toes, arms, legs, paws, etc.)
2. Too smooth and perfect skin
3. Strange architecture (e.g., misshapen windows)
4. Gibberish text/labels
5. Double or missing elements
6. Unnatural lighting or incorrect shading

If you look closely at the two example images, you might notice the first, second, and fifth effects.

Personally, I'm happy to accept such errors. Through AI image generators, we save a lot of time and money at Gradually AI. It replaces stock photo and image databases for us and sometimes even the graphic designer.

Conclusion: Which AI Image Generator Should You Choose?

The best AI image generator for you depends on your specific needs:

• For best quality: Midjourney ($10-60/month)
• For free use: Leonardo.ai (150 images/month) or DALL-E 3 via Bing (400 images/month)
• For ease of use: DALL-E 3 via ChatGPT ($20/month)
• For text in images: Ideogram (free tier available)
• For privacy/local use: Stable Diffusion (free, runs locally)
• For German users: Neuroflash (GDPR-compliant, German company)

In 2025, there's no single "best" AI image generator – the choice depends on your use case, budget, and technical requirements. I recommend trying the free tiers of multiple tools to find the one that works best for your specific needs.