The best free AI for creating images

• Info

  Microsoft Designer

  MAI-Image

  ★★★★★★★★★★4
  

  Microsoft Designer · MAI-Image

  Microsoft

  Microsoft’s generator, free with a Microsoft account (also available as Bing Image Creator). It now uses Microsoft’s own MAI-Image models instead of the old DALL·E 3: type and get it, in the browser.

  Performance 4 · Free plan 3.5 → 4 stars out of 5

  Capped

  Microsoft only says it is free and that a subscription may be needed "to create more often": no number. Bing Image Creator gives 10 fast creations, then unlimited slower ones. ⚠️ Designer’s FAQ speaks of personal, non-commercial use. No visible watermark.

  Data in USA

  Microsoft servers (USA). Fairly strict content filters; images carry invisible provenance metadata.

  MAI-Image 2.5 Flash · freeMore fast creations (subscription) · paid

  Open Microsoft Designer
• Info

  Flux (local)

  FLUX.2 klein

  ★★★★★★★★★★3.5
  

  Flux (local) · FLUX.2 klein

  Black Forest Labs

  The open models from Black Forest Labs (Germany, the original authors of Stable Diffusion). FLUX.2 [klein] 4B is free, commercial use included: you download it and run it on your own computer, with no account and without your images leaving home.

  Performance 3.5 · Free plan 3.5 → 3.5 stars out of 5

  Effectively unlimited

  On your own computer there is no cap and no watermark, but you need a graphics card with about 13 GB of memory (RTX 3090 or 4070 and up) and some know-how. It is the freest free route, not the easiest. The Pro versions on online services are paid.

  Data in EU

  Black Forest Labs is German. Run locally, your images never leave your computer.

  FLUX.2 klein 4B · freeFLUX.1 schnell · freeFLUX Pro (online) · paid

  Open Flux (local)
• Info

  Leonardo.ai

  Phoenix · Lucid

  ★★★★★★★★★★3.5
  

  Leonardo.ai · Phoenix · Lucid

  Leonardo (Canva)

  A complete, easy platform, now part of Canva: you generate with Leonardo’s models and get retouching and upscaling tools. Every day you receive free tokens that refill on their own.

  Performance 3.5 · Free plan 3.5 → 3.5 stars out of 5

  Capped

  150 tokens a day, which do not accumulate. ⚠️ On the free plan your creations are public and remain Leonardo’s property, with a licence for you to use them: for confidential work you need a paid plan. Leonardo does not specify which models are included.

  Data in USA

  Australian company (Canva group), international servers. Avoid images with personal data.

  Phoenix · freeLucid · freeUnlimited slow generations · paid

  Open Leonardo.ai
• Info

  Gemini (images)

  Nano Banana 2

  ★★★★★★★★★★3.5
  

  Gemini (images) · Nano Banana 2

  Google

  The image generator inside Gemini: describe what you want and you get it, with nothing to install. On the free plan you get Nano Banana 2; the more powerful Nano Banana Pro is for subscribers.

  Performance 4 · Free plan 3 → 3.5 stars out of 5

  Capped

  ⚠️ Google does not publish a number: the limit is based on compute, refills every 5 hours up to a weekly cap, and images weigh more than text. Since 14 August 2026 the visible watermark can be removed in the settings ("Media watermark"); the invisible one (SynthID) always stays.

  Data in USA

  Google servers (USA). With "Activity" on, your content helps improve the models: switch it off in the settings.

  Nano Banana 2 · freeNano Banana Pro · paid

  Open Gemini (images)
• Info

  Krea

  Krea 2

  ★★★★★★★★★★3.5
  

  Krea · Krea 2

  Krea

  A creative tool with real-time preview: it brings its own Krea 2 models and several open models (Flux, Z Image) together in one polished interface.

  Performance 4 · Free plan 3 → 3.5 stars out of 5

  Capped

  100 compute units a day, which refill: for example about 50 images with Krea 2 Turbo, 11 with Krea 2 Medium or 5 with Krea 2 Large. ⚠️ The free plan has no commercial licence (it comes with Basic), and the best outside models (Nano Banana, GPT Image) are excluded.

  Data in USA

  US servers. Fine for creative images, avoid sensitive data.

  Krea 2 (Turbo, Medium, Large) · freeFlux.1 Dev, Z Image · freeNano Banana, GPT Image · paid

  Open Krea
• Info

  Adobe Firefly

  Nano Banana + Firefly

  ★★★★★★★★★★3.5
  

  Adobe Firefly · Nano Banana + Firefly

  Adobe

  Adobe’s AI, inside Photoshop and Express. On the free plan you get daily generations on a selection of models, including Google’s Nano Banana and the Firefly models, for video and audio too.

  Performance 4 · Free plan 2.5 → 3.5 stars out of 5

  Capped

  The free plan offers daily generations that reset every day, on a curated set of models: Adobe does not publish the number (and its FAQ still contains an old paragraph about monthly credits). ⚠️ The copyright safety applies only to the Firefly models: for partner models such as Nano Banana, Adobe does not give the same guarantee.

  Data in USA

  Adobe (USA). Your content is not used to train the models without consent.

  Nano Banana · freeFirefly models (selection) · freeGenerative credits · paid

  Open Adobe Firefly
• Info

  ChatGPT (images)

  Images 2.5

  ★★★★★★★★★★3.5
  

  ChatGPT (images) · Images 2.5

  OpenAI

  Generating images by talking: ask, look and fix it in plain words ("darker", "remove the chair"). Since 8 September 2026 free users get ChatGPT Images 2.5 too, currently first in the human-vote rankings, and excellent at writing text inside images.

  Performance 5 · Free plan 2 → 3.5 stars out of 5

  Capped

  ⚠️ Images are the exception to ChatGPT’s "no cap": text is unlimited, images are not. OpenAI does not publish the number; users report 2-3 images a day over a 24-hour window. Images "with thinking" are paid-only.

  Data in USA

  OpenAI servers (USA). By default your chats can be used for training: you can switch it off in the settings.

  ChatGPT Images 2.5 · freeImages with thinking · paid

  Open ChatGPT (images)
• Info

  Reve

  Reve 2

  ★★★★★★★★★★3.5
  

  Reve · Reve 2

  Reve AI

  A young generator that is already among the best in the human-vote rankings (sixth in September 2026, above Nano Banana 2). A simple interface: type, get, fix.

  Performance 4.5 · Free plan 2 → 3.5 stars out of 5

  Capped

  ⚠️ The free plan exists, but Reve does not publish the number of images: it only says the paid plans give 5 and 100 times as many. Usage rights and watermarks on the free plan are not clearly stated: check before using them for work.

  Data in USA

  Reve AI (USA).

  Reve 2 · freeMore images (Lite, Pro) · paid

  Open Reve
• Info

  Ideogram

  slow queue

  ★★★★★★★★★★3
  

  Ideogram · slow queue

  Ideogram

  The image AI best at writing correct text inside graphics: logos, posters, lettering. Since June 2026 its Ideogram 4.0 is also an open-weights model you can run locally.

  Performance 4 · Free plan 2 → 3 stars out of 5

  Capped

  ⚠️ Weekly credits, and Ideogram does not publish the number ("may vary"); you need to sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft. Slow queue only, one generation at a time; AI editing is paid. On the free plan images are public; commercial use is allowed. Ideogram says nothing about watermarks.

  Data in USA

  US servers. On the free plan every image goes to the public gallery.

  Ideogram (slow queue) · freeIdeogram 4.0 (open weights, local) · freeFast credits and AI editing · paid

  Open Ideogram

The stars are the average of two scores from 1 to 5, with the same rule for every tool: performance (how good it is, from independent tests and rankings) and free plan (how much it lets you do without paying, from the limits the makers publish).