Ideogram is image generation that actually renders text and typography correctly, priced at free plan, paid from $8/mo. If it is too expensive, missing a feature or simply not for you, these are the strongest alternatives we have reviewed.
Any of the tools below solves the same problem from a different angle.
Midjourney produces some of the most striking images of any generator, with a distinctive aesthetic, strong style references and an editor for inpainting and outpainting. It runs on the web and Discord; there is no free trial any more. Read the full review →
Stable Diffusion from Stability AI is the open-weight model family behind thousands of apps. Run it locally with tools like ComfyUI or Automatic1111, fine-tune it with LoRAs and control it with ControlNet, or use Stability's hosted API and Stable Assistant. Read the full review →
FLUX is a family of image models from Black Forest Labs, founded by Stable Diffusion's original researchers. FLUX models are prized for photorealism and following complex prompts, and are available as open weights, via API and inside many apps. Read the full review →
Leonardo, now owned by Canva, offers a large catalogue of fine-tuned models, real-time canvas generation, image-to-video, upscaling and the ability to train your own models on a handful of images. It is popular with game studios and marketers. Read the full review →
Firefly is Adobe's family of generative models, trained on licensed content so output is safe for commercial use. It powers Generative Fill in Photoshop, text-to-vector in Illustrator and video generation, and the standalone web app now offers partner models too. Read the full review →
Recraft generates SVG vectors, icons and raster images with precise control over style, colour palette and brand kits. Its models rank highly on quality benchmarks and it exports files designers can actually edit. Read the full review →
Krea is a creative playground that bundles real-time image generation, upscaling and enhancement, video models from several labs and training on your own style. It is a favourite among designers who want to iterate live. Read the full review →
What is NightCafe? NightCafe is a community-oriented AI image generator that gives you access to several underlying models — including Stable Diffusion, FLUX, DALL·E, and Ideogram — through one beginner-friendly interface, rather than building and training a model of its own. Its identity is as much social as technical: alongside the generator, NightCafe runs daily challenges, a voting system, and… Read the full review →
Open-weight image models you can run and fine-tune yourself
Black Forest Labs' models known for realism and prompt adherence