Midjourney V7 is the gold standard. V7 brought major improvements in photorealism, character consistency, and prompt following. If you need the highest quality output for commercial work, nothing else comes close.
It runs through Discord, which is clunky but works. A web interface is now available for subscribers.
Pricing: $10/month (basic), $30/month (standard, unlimited relaxed generations). No free tier.
DALL-E 3 is built into ChatGPT, making it the most accessible image generator. You can describe an image in natural language, ask ChatGPT to refine it conversationally, and iterate fast. Not the highest quality, but the fastest workflow for non-designers.
Pricing: Free tier includes limited image generations. ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) gives more.
Leonardo.Ai gives you 150 free tokens daily — enough for 30–70 images. It offers advanced controls like sketch-to-image, motion effects, and style presets. Unusually, commercial use is allowed on the free plan, making it the best value in AI image generation.
Getting readable text inside an AI image has been nearly impossible — until Ideogram. It's genuinely good at spelling inside images, making it the go-to for social media thumbnails, poster designs, and any visual that needs text. The free tier is functional for light use.
It depends on the tool. Midjourney allows commercial use on paid plans. Leonardo.Ai allows it even on the free plan. Always check the specific tool's terms before using AI images in commercial work.
Leonardo.Ai and Ideogram both have free tiers with no card required. See our full free AI tools guide for a complete breakdown.
DALL-E 3 inside ChatGPT — you just describe what you want in plain English. No learning curve. See our beginners guide for more easy starting points.