AI tool category
AI image generators: AI tools compared (38)
We checked 38 tools to create images from text, 30 of them with a free tier. The best scored are RunDiffusion, Krea, and Ideogram. Median entry price: $10 per month.
What aI image generators tools are for
AI image generators turn written descriptions into visual proposals. Depending on the tool, you can also work from an existing image, revise selected areas or combine reference images. This category serves people preparing illustrations, visual concepts and communication materials. You describe the subject, framing, colours and setting, then review the output and request changes. For example, illustrating an article about urban gardening might normally involve searching a photo library for a suitable balcony scene. With an image generator, you can describe a planted balcony, compare interpretations and develop the version that fits your layout. Krea supports creating images from text and editing them through instructions. Ideogram can generate visuals containing text. These tools change how you explore an idea, but the resulting image still needs inspection for factual implications, visual consistency and suitability for its intended audience and publishing format.
Example uses:
- You create an illustration of a planted balcony for an article about urban gardening.
- You explore visual directions before writing a creative brief for a designer or illustrator.
- You edit a selected image area to replace an object that distracts from the subject.
- You prepare a visual containing text and check every word before using it publicly.
- You combine authorised reference images to explore a composition for a specific communication project.
Our picks by need
These picks follow simple rules applied to the verified data, with no partnership or affiliate link:
- Best scored : RunDiffusion. 81/100 on our access and transparency grid.
- Cheapest paid option : Krea. First plan at $5 per month.
- To keep data in Europe : InvokeAI. Processing on your device.
- Open source : FLUX. Public code, self-hosting possible depending on the project.
The main tools at a glance
RunDiffusion 81/100
RunDiffusion lets people and teams creating visuals generate images and videos. It also offers image editing and upscaling, cloud execution of ComfyUI and Automatic1111, and team usage tracking. Features: Generate images with multiple models; Create videos from instructions; Edit and upscale images. Entry price: $8.79 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API. Data hosting: United States.
Krea 78/100
Krea helps people create and edit visual content. It generates images from text, edits images through instructions, enlarges images, generates videos, and lets users assemble and export clips. Features: Create images from text; Edit an image with instructions; Enlarge images. Entry price: $5 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API. Data hosting: United States.
Ideogram 75/100
Ideogram creates images from text, including visuals containing text. It serves people who want to edit or extend images, remove backgrounds or maintain a character's appearance across multiple images. Features: Create an image from text; Generate visuals containing text; Maintain a character's appearance across multiple images. Entry price: $15 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser, iPhone and iPad, and API.
Stable Diffusion 75/100
Stable Diffusion produces images from text or existing images through an API. It serves people who want to create images, modify selected areas or enlarge their visuals. Features: Produce images from text; Create a new image from an existing image; Modify selected areas of an image. Entry price: $0.01 pay as you go, with a free tier. Runs on: API. Data hosting: Several regions.
Adobe Firefly 73/100
Adobe Firefly lets people creating visual content generate images, replace or remove elements, and extend photographs. It also supports short video creation, speech generation, and sound effects. Features: Generate images from descriptions; Replace or remove elements from an image; Extend a photograph’s frame. Entry price: $9.99 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API.
FLUX 73/100
FLUX lets people creating visuals generate and edit images using descriptions or instructions. It also supports combining reference images, extending images beyond their frame, and creating videos with sound. Features: Generate images from descriptions; Edit images using instructions; Combine multiple reference images. Entry price: $0.01 pay as you go, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API.
Leonardo.Ai 71/100
Leonardo.Ai lets people creating visuals generate images from descriptions and edit existing images. It also supports image resolution enhancement, video creation from images, and visual model customization. Features: Create images from a description; Edit an existing image; Improve image resolution. Entry price: $12 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser, iPhone and iPad, Android, and API. Data hosting: United States.
Scenario 71/100
Scenario lets people creating visual assets generate images and train models on a style or character. It also supports editing image regions, enlarging visuals, and organizing assets into collections. Features: Create images from descriptions; Train models on a style or character; Edit part of an image. Entry price: $15 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API. Data hosting: United States.
BetterPic 68/100
BetterPic lets people seeking professional portraits create them from selfies. It offers clothing and setting choices, checks uploaded photo quality, supports retouching generated portraits and provides high-resolution image downloads. Features: Create professional portraits from selfies; Choose outfits and settings; Check the quality of uploaded photos. Entry price: $35 one-off payment, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser. Data hosting: Several regions.
Hotpot 68/100
Hotpot lets people creating or editing images generate visuals from descriptions and portraits from photos. It also restores damaged photos, colorizes black-and-white pictures, and converts SVG images to PNG or JPG. Features: Create images from descriptions; Generate portraits from a photo; Restore damaged photos. Entry price: $7 one-off payment, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API. Data hosting: United States.
The category in figures
Of the 38 tools in the category, 30 (79%) offer a free tier, 47% have a public API and 6 have a French interface. The median entry price, per month, is $10 (across 18 tools with a published price). 16 disclose where data is hosted, 2 of them in Europe or on device.
All aI image generators tools
Click a header to sort. Data checked on official sites, October 24, 2026.
| Tool | Free | Entry price | API | Data | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RunDiffusion RunDiffusion lets people and teams creating visuals generate images and videos. It also offers image editing and upscaling, cloud execution of ComfyUI | Yes | $8.79 per month | Yes | United States | 81 |
| Krea Krea helps people create and edit visual content. It generates images from text, edits images through instructions, enlarges images, generates videos, | Yes | $5 per month | Yes | United States | 78 |
| Ideogram Ideogram creates images from text, including visuals containing text. It serves people who want to edit or extend images, remove backgrounds or mainta | Yes | $15 per month | Yes | Not disclosed | 75 |
| Stable Diffusion Stable Diffusion produces images from text or existing images through an API. It serves people who want to create images, modify selected areas or enl | Yes | $0.01 pay as you go | Yes | Several regions | 75 |
| Adobe Firefly Adobe Firefly lets people creating visual content generate images, replace or remove elements, and extend photographs. It also supports short video cr | Yes | $9.99 per month | Yes | Not disclosed | 73 |
| FLUX FLUX lets people creating visuals generate and edit images using descriptions or instructions. It also supports combining reference images, extending | Yes | $0.01 pay as you go | Yes | Not disclosed | 73 |
| Leonardo.Ai Leonardo.Ai lets people creating visuals generate images from descriptions and edit existing images. It also supports image resolution enhancement, vi | Yes | $12 per month | Yes | United States | 71 |
| Scenario Scenario lets people creating visual assets generate images and train models on a style or character. It also supports editing image regions, enlargin | Yes | $15 per month | Yes | United States | 71 |
| BetterPic BetterPic lets people seeking professional portraits create them from selfies. It offers clothing and setting choices, checks uploaded photo quality, | Yes | $35 one-off payment | No | Several regions | 68 |
| Hotpot Hotpot lets people creating or editing images generate visuals from descriptions and portraits from photos. It also restores damaged photos, colorizes | Yes | $7 one-off payment | Yes | United States | 68 |
| Civitai Civitai serves users discovering, publishing, and sharing image generation models. The platform lets them create images with community resources, comm | Yes | not published | Yes | Not disclosed | 68 |
| InvokeAI InvokeAI lets people creating images generate visuals from descriptions and edit them on a layered canvas. It also provides a visual editor for buildi | Yes | not published | Yes | On device | 68 |
| Craiyon Craiyon lets people creating visuals generate images from descriptions and retouch photos using written instructions. It also supports background remo | Yes | $120 per year | No | Not disclosed | 66 |
| Magnific AI Magnific AI helps visual content creators generate images from descriptions and edit photos using instructions. It also supports image enlargement, ba | Yes | $14.5 per month | Yes | Not disclosed | 65 |
| APOB AI APOB AI lets users create a virtual character with a consistent appearance and produce images of that character. It also supports image animation, lip | Yes | $72 per year | – | Several regions | 63 |
| Bing Image Creator Bing Image Creator lets people creating or editing visuals generate images from descriptions. It also supports editing uploaded images with instructio | Yes | not published | – | Several regions | 60 |
| getimg.ai getimg.ai lets users create images from descriptions and edit existing images. It also offers background removal, image enlargement, and video generat | No | $15 per month | Yes | Not disclosed | 58 |
| Deep Dream Generator Deep Dream Generator lets people creating visuals generate images from descriptions and transform photos into other styles. It also retouches images, | Yes | $3.99 one-off payment | – | Several regions | 58 |
| Dezgo Dezgo lets image creators generate pictures from text or transform existing images while adjusting generation settings. It also creates videos from te | Yes | $0 pay as you go | Yes | Not disclosed | 58 |
| Skybox AI Skybox AI serves people creating scenery and visual environments. It generates 360-degree panoramas, changes their style, creates variants, and suppor | Yes | $20 per month | Yes | Not disclosed | 58 |
| ImagineArt ImagineArt lets content creators generate images from text, create professional portraits, and retouch photos. It also supports making videos from ima | Yes | not published | Yes | Not disclosed | 58 |
| DiffusionBee DiffusionBee is an open-source macOS tool for people creating and editing images. It generates images from prompts, adds or removes objects, increases | Yes | not published | – | On device | 58 |
| Artbreeder Artbreeder lets people creating images blend visuals, adjust portrait features, and turn collages into illustrations. Users can also generate images f | Yes | $7.49 per month | – | Not disclosed | 55 |
| iColoring iColoring lets people creating coloring pages turn a photo or text into a coloring drawing. It also supports colorizing drawings and producing multipl | Yes | $95.88 per year | – | Not disclosed | 53 |
| Affogato Affogato serves people creating images, characters, or product visuals. Available on the web and through an API, it generates, edits, and animates ima | Yes | $24 per month | Yes | Not disclosed | 48 |
| Human Generator Human Generator lets image creators generate fictional full-body people and customize their appearance. They can choose age, body type, clothing, pose | Yes | $199 per year | – | Not disclosed | 48 |
| Photo AI Studio Photo AI Studio lets people create professional portraits from a selfie, try clothing on an image, and edit or restore photos. Developers can integrat | Yes | not published | Yes | Not disclosed | 48 |
| starryai starryai lets people creating visuals generate images from descriptions and edit them with instructions. It also increases image resolution, removes b | Yes | not published | – | Several regions | 48 |
| Midjourney Midjourney lets people creating visuals generate images from descriptions and produce variations. It also supports replacing selected image areas, com | No | $10 per month | No | Not disclosed | 46 |
| The Multiverse AI The Multiverse AI creates professional portraits from selfies for individuals and teams. It offers multiple outfits and backgrounds, changes details t | No | $29.99 one-off payment | – | Several regions | 43 |
| SDXL Turbo SDXL Turbo creates images from descriptions for people producing visual content. It generates multiple image variations, enlarges images, and allows u | Yes | $5 per month | No | Not disclosed | 38 |
| Photo AI Photo AI lets people creating visuals generate portraits from selfies, edit images using instructions, and animate photos into videos. It also support | Yes | $99 per year | No | Not disclosed | 38 |
| PlantTattoosAI PlantTattoosAI lets people planning botanical tattoos choose a plant and tattoo style, focus on a leaf or flower, and customize designs with written i | Yes | $19 pay as you go | – | Not disclosed | 38 |
| Headpix Headpix lets people seeking professional portraits create them from selfies. It offers multiple portrait styles, variations in outfits and backgrounds | No | $29 one-off payment | – | United States | 33 |
| Pet Booth Pet Booth lets cat and dog owners create portraits and realistic images of their pets. A model is trained on their pet’s photos, with ten themes selec | No | $9.99 one-off payment | – | United States | 33 |
| AISelfi.es AISelfi.es creates professional portraits for people supplying selfies. It builds a personal model to preserve their appearance, offers choices of sty | No | $29 one-off payment | – | Not disclosed | 28 |
| Black Headshots AI Black Headshots AI creates professional portraits from selfies for people with Black skin tones. Users can choose clothing and background styles or de | No | $19 one-off payment | – | Not disclosed | 23 |
| PhotoGuru AI PhotoGuru AI lets people preparing professional or social profiles create portraits from selfies. It changes clothing, lighting, and backgrounds, eval | No | $9.99 one-off payment | – | Not disclosed | 18 |
Also useful
These tools belong to another category but also cover this need:
- Gemini Gemini is a chatbot for people who want to ask questions, draft documents, or work on code. It also creates im
- ChatGPT ChatGPT helps people write texts, search for information, and analyze files and tables. It also supports image
- Luma Dream Machine Luma Dream Machine lets people creating videos generate sequences from descriptions or animate images. They ca
- Prodia Prodia provides image generation through an API and video creation from text or images. It serves users who al
- Runway Runway creates videos from text, animates images and modifies videos through instructions. It serves people wh
- Higgsfield Higgsfield helps people generate video scenes and reference images. Users can define camera movements, keep a
- Creative Fabrica Creative Fabrica lets people making graphic designs generate images from descriptions and compose visuals. It
- PrismPoster PrismPoster lets people creating multimedia content generate videos from photos or text, edit images, and comp
- Recraft Recraft is for people creating illustrations, images, and editable vector drawings. It also converts images in
- fal fal lets users generate images, videos, and audio content through its platform. It also provides API access to
- Fotor Fotor lets users edit photos, improve sharpness and resolution, and remove backgrounds or objects. It also res
- Pollinations Pollinations lets developers generate images, text, and audio using multiple models through a shared API. It a
Choosing well and avoiding pitfalls
Use the same brief and your own reference material when comparing tools. Assess instruction following, detail consistency and how easily you can correct an unwanted element. Test French prompts and embedded French text if those are part of your work. Check export formats, available resolution, transparency support and compatibility with your design software. Review the terms covering generated images and uploaded references, including how those files are handled. Finally, examine how generation, variations and editing are billed. A useful workflow should also let you keep enough history to understand how an approved image was produced.
A persuasive image can still contain impossible objects, inconsistent hands or incorrect lettering. Inspect details at the size you intend to publish. Reference files may include protected material or identifiable people, so use authorised sources and check the service’s terms for your intended use. Avoid presenting a generated scene as documentary evidence. When producing a series, review continuity between images: characters, objects, lighting and proportions can change even when the prompts appear closely related.
To compare with the cost of using an AI model directly, see the API price calculator.
Free or paid?
Free plans generally help you test prompts, explore styles and assess whether the output suits your work. Limits may affect generation access, exports or editing features. Paying can be useful for regular production, suitable output files or additional control over revisions. Check technical restrictions and usage rights separately, since access to a feature does not explain every permitted use.
Tools in the category with a free tier: RunDiffusion, Krea, Ideogram, Stable Diffusion, Adobe Firefly, FLUX, Leonardo.Ai, and Scenario.
For which jobs?
The profiles that use these tools most, based on the use cases documented by publishers: graphic designers, marketers, social media managers, video creators, online retailers, and developers.
Related categories
Learn more
Frequently asked questions
What is the best tool to create images from text?
On our access and transparency grid, RunDiffusion (81/100), Krea (78/100), and Ideogram (75/100) come first. Test two of them on your own examples: output quality depends a lot on your case.
Are there free tools?
Yes, 30 of 38 tools have a free tier, often limited in volume: RunDiffusion, Krea, Ideogram, and Stable Diffusion.
What should I include in an image prompt?
Describe the subject, setting, framing and intended purpose. Add constraints that matter to the final layout, such as space for a heading or a particular colour palette. Review the result before adding further instructions. Addressing a visible problem directly is often more useful than continually expanding the original description.
Can I use a generated image in commercial materials?
Check the service’s terms and the origin of any reference material you upload. Commercial permission from a provider does not automatically resolve issues involving recognisable people, trademarks or existing works. Inspect the final image and retain useful records of the inputs and creation process for your project.
Will words inside the generated image be accurate?
Accuracy varies with the tool, language and requested composition. Even tools that support embedded text can produce incorrect letters, missing accents or unintended words. Proofread the image itself. If the wording must remain editable or accessible, plan a layout where you can add text separately in a design application.
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Neutrality. No affiliate links. No vendor pays to be reviewed, rated or ranked. Reviews are directed by François Chollet, neutral and factual, and every data point is dated and sourced. How we score