10 Best AI Image Generation Tools [Free + Paid]

I tried 15 AI image generation tools, on their free and paid plans and came up with this list of 10 best ranked according to prompt adherence, realistic and artistic styles, text accuracy, consistent characters, use cases for personal and business settings and pricing!

• ImagineArt
• Midjourney
• Imagen 4
• ChatGPT image
• Qwen
• Flux
• Ideogram
• Runway Gen-4 References
• Leonardo
• Stable Diffusion

Best AI Image Generation Tools Comparison

Best AI Image Generation Tools 2025

1. ImagineArt - best AI image generator with 47+ models

ImagineArt is the best [AI image generator] because it offers text to image and image to image, 47+ models, prompt adherence, text rendering, mini-tools like background remover, image upscaling, built-in image editor and custom model training.

ImagineArt creates images in diverse types and styles: you can go full realistic like professional headshots and cinematic images to artistic forms like chibbi, cosmos, hand-drawn, anime, kawaii, watercolor illustrations, product shots and so on.

ImagineArt

For creative professionals, content creators and businesses, ImagineArt works as a complete AI image generation tool because you can design brand identity, presentation visuals, PNGs, images for AI films and wildlife scenes for AI documentaries. Most importantly, you can create professional product photos which makes marketing simpler for retail and ecommerce brands.

The biggest advantage of ImagineArt is its complete creative pipeline from image to video, including short videos, avatars, AI voices and music: the comprehensive workflow within the same interface.

Pros

• AI creative suite
• access to 47+ models including Imagen 4, ChatGPT image, Flux, Qwen etc. in same interface
• a strong alternative to Midjourney for AI art and Imagen 4 Ultra for realism

Cons

• only 50 free tokens everyday

ImagineArt Pricing

ImagineArt gives you 50 free tokens everyday and basic plan starts at $10/month for 1500 credits on a yearly plan.

2. Midjourney - good for AI art and creative imagery

Midjourney is an AI image generator for AI artists and illustrators. It offers creativity and unique, painterly aesthetics with surreal compositions that have made it the go-to for AI art of diverse types: abstract, book covers, whimsical, cosmic, kawaii, Ghibli, anime, mascots, futuristic, pop art, deco and cyberpunk.

Midjourney

It offers excellent use of lighting and composition and is super fast so you can render and iterate in speed.

Pros

• Midjourney has produced some of the most artistic and unique images you see online

Cons

• no free plan or trial
• Limited flexibility for ultra-realistic or business-focused imagery

Midjourney Pricing

Midjourney has no free plans. The Basic plan starts at $10/month (Basic Plan), with higher tiers like Mega Plan going up to $120/month.

Recommended Read: Midjourney alternatives

3. Imagen 4 Ultra: strong text rendering and prompt adherence

Imagen 4 is the top AI image generation tool for strongest prompt adherence and text rendering. It offers best use of color and detail which reflects in the fabric and skin textures.

Imagen 4

For the output quality, if offers cinematic, photorealistic images to line sketches and stylized illustrations. For output type, it’s best for CGI ads, portraits, logos and typography.

Pros

• Imagen 4 is part of a complete AI images to video shots pipeline within the ImagineArt ecosystem
• Release of Nano Banana has further strengthened the complete pre-generation and post-generation cycle.

Cons

• Super expensive for professional and business use compared to other AI image generators
• Limited accessibility outside enterprise or ImagineArt integrations

Imagen 4 Pricing

Imagen 4 Ultra costs $0.06 per image output and Imagen 4 costs $0.04 per image output. You can access Google AI Pro plan which starts at $19.9/month.

4. ChatGPT image: strong and beginner-friendly prompting

ChatGPT Image generation is famous for its prompt adherence and beginner-friendly prompting requirements. Yes, it can follow super basic prompts, which makes it accessible to anyone and specially non-designers using it in the chat ecosystem.

Chatgpt Image

With just a few lines of text, you can create banner ads, carousel creatives, stylized abstract art, realistic imagery, comics, and even multi-shot sequences without heavy technical knowledge.

The biggest strengths of ChatGPT image generation are in-context learning and multi-shot generation.

I was a fan of ChatGPT image when it came inside ImagineArt ecosystem because it was one of the earliest image generation tools that could render texts perfectly. Now, it can follow a strong image-to-image workflow in the ImagineArt ecosystem with which you can create AI influencers, avatars, logos, comics, animated stories and you keep counting.

Pros

• Easy to use for beginners, no steep learning curve
• Reliable for advertising and marketing use cases like banners and carousels

Cons

• Some communities (like Reddit) report anatomical errors in outputs
• Limited advanced editing/customization compared to specialized platforms

ChatGPT Image Pricing

ChatGPT allows 5-10 free images per day with slower rendering speed. ChatGPT Image is bundled within ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) and also included in enterprise-level plans.

5. Qwen: AI image generator with prompt-based AI editing

Qwen is an almost free AI image generation tool for basic chat-based image generation. It is beginner-friendly, renders accurate images and works on super basic prompts too.

I personally tried and tested Qwen for text rendering and photo editing and the results were excellent.

Qwen AI Image Editing

• It creates images with great detail: so advertorials, banner ads, computer-generated imagery, realistic photos, AI art, logos and even wallpapers turn out beautiful.
• Beyond cost-effectiveness, the image editing feature follows context awareness, so you can modify your images directly with prompts.

It’s also surprisingly strong at typography and different font styles like bold, Sans Seriff and brushes, which is why I have put it ahead of so many AI image generation apps that work well on paid tiers.

In ImagineArt, Qwen offers fast rendering speeds and in chat-based ecosystems the rendering times are not fast but decent.

Pros

• Extremely budget-friendly for freelancers, creative professionals and small businesses
• Image generation and editing in one workflow makes Qwen practical for quick projects

Cons

• Still needs better prompts to avoid anatomical and visual errors like size of objects proportional to setting and environment

Qwen Pricing

Qwen is free for casual use within the chat ecosystem. Enterprise with enterprise options available. It remains one of the cheapest ways to experiment with AI-generated imagery.

6. Flux - for model training and AI product shoots

Flux is the best AI image generator tool for realistic and artistic images as well as marketing visuals.

Its generated artwork comes in super handy when you are creating animated series and graphic novels with either static illustrations or in the your image-to-video pipeline.

flux Ultra

It offers decent character consistency, but when I tried creating product photos, it worked wonders. This makes Flux a strong AI image generator for small businesses and marketing teams that want to do creative campaigns on a budget.

I tested Flux with realistic photos and portraits and the results were awesome for professional headshots.

Pros

• Excellent for businesses that need studio-level photography at scale
• Strong model training support for branded outputs and product-specific workflows

Cons

• Less versatile for purely artistic or stylized outputs compared to Midjourney or ImagineArt

Pricing

Starts at $0.04/image which makes $4 for 100 images. Model training cost is separate, starting from $2 for images under 150 steps.

7. Ideogram: for consistent characters and text rendering

Ideogram is one of the best AI image generation tools currently offering consistent characters and accurate text rendering.

It renders perfect artistic and realistic images without any anatomical or geographic errors.

Ideogram Character

With Ideogram, growing brands to creative agencies are creating AI-powered brand identities that include logo, typography styles, brand palettes and color schemes, mascots, consistent brand ambassador characters, headshots and patterns.

Pros

• Reliable choice for marketers who need usable text in images
• Maintains consistent characters across multi-shot stories or ads

Cons

• More limited in photorealistic imagery compared to Imagen 4 or Flux
• Style output still leans toward artistic/cartoonish, not full realism

Pricing

Ideogram is free to try with limited credits, with premium tiers starting at $8–$10/month for higher-resolution generations and commercial usage rights.

8. Runway Gen-4 References: new multi-image referencing

Runway Gen-4 References is Runway’s newest image referencing feature which lets users anchor characters and objects and creates an image based on text prompt.

So, as a user on Runway’s standard plan, I added 3 images and marked a prompt where I basically wanted to show a luxury car in a desert. I took a luxury car image and a simple image of a desert and asked Gen-4 to place the car in the middle of the sandy desert and it did so!

This is a new image referencing system and the new cool images are usable in the video pipeline too.

Users are currently using Gen-4 References to create product images and marketing assets - in bulk.

Pros

• fast rendering speeds
• synced image and video pipeline

Cons

• requires strong prompting knowledge

Runway Gen-4 References Pricing

Runway's subscription tiers start at $15/month.

9. Leonardo: AI Art

Leonardo is an AI image generator for creating stylized AI art, fantasy illustrations, and concept design. It has community-trained models, with which it can design gaming assets, character art, and detailed visual storytelling.

Leonardo AI

It has become a popular choices for professional digital artists who want both quality and variety.

Pros

• Wide range of fine-tuned models created by the community
• Excellent for stylized and fantasy artwork

Cons

• Free account has slow rendering speeds.
• AI art on free account is public: so other users can view, take inspiration and even use it.

Leonardo AI Pricing

Leonardo offers a free plan with 150 fast tokens daily. Paid plans start at $12/month, with higher tiers for professionals who need faster queues and more credits.

10. Stable Diffusion: AI images from custom models

Stable Diffusion is an open-source AI image generation tool for users who want creative control over image generation for professional purposes.

Stable Diffusion

I tried training a model for my specific style of images and it worked well.

Stable Diffusion is also good for artistic images and realistic photographs but portraits and headshots don’t work really well.

Pros

• Complete control with open-source access
• Huge ecosystem of community models, plugins, and workflows

Cons

• Limited features relative to price as compared to ImagineArt and

Stable Diffusion Pricing

Stable Diffusion offers 10 free images per day and paid plans starts at $10/month.

Free AI image generation tools

These AI image generators offer forever free tokens:

• ImagineArt
• Qwen
• ChatGPT image
• Canva

Best AI image generation tools for product photography and model training

• ImagineArt
• Flux
• Qwen
• Gen-4 References

Best AI image generators for text rendering and typography

• Ideogram
• Imagen 4
• Qwen

Best AI Image generators with AI editing features

Here are best AI tools for image editing

• ImagineArt
• Qwen
• Nano Bana
• Canva

AI image generators for artistic images

Here are top AI image generators for creating AI art and stylized images

• Midjourney
• ImagineArt
• Leonardo
• NightCafe

AI image generators for cinematic images

Here are top AI image generators for cinematic images

• Imagen 4 Ultra
• ImagineArt
• Qwen
• Seedream
• Flux

Best AI tools for ghibli style image generation

• ChatGPT Image
• ImagineArt [model Retro Ghibli]

Best AI for Logos

• ImagineArt's AI logo generator
• Looka
• Canva

Found your best AI image generation tools yet?

So this list of top AI image generators concludes here and you must have found an app or two to meet your creative vision and price: but what if you got one AI creative suite that gives you realistic and artistic images, product photos, image editing, strong prompt accuracy with text rendering? Yes, with ImagineArt AI image generator, you can create this and more: PNGs, videos, AI films and documentaries, audio and voiceovers, text to music, short-form and avatar-based talking head content.