Image generation has become one of the most popular AI functions in 2025. From art style trends to social media slop, creating unique images from simple text prompts is as common as phishing scams on the internet over the last few years.
So, how are people actually making these creations? Well, AI image generators are a dime a dozen online, with scores of intuitive platforms that make it easy to be an artist with just a few words.
In this guide, we’ll showcase some of the best AI image generators available in 2025, including how much they cost, what they can do, and whether or not a free platform offers enough power to get the job done.
What Is an AI Image Generator?
An AI image generator is defined as a piece of software or technology that uses generative AI technology to create images from text descriptions and natural language prompts.
These tools have become incredibly popular in 2025, with more and more trends arising in which users will change specific images into certain art styles to see how they would look.
However, many image generators are much more powerful than standard social media filters, allowing users to completely customize images with by adding natural language prompts into the query bar.
Best AI Image Generators Reviewed
We got our hands on a variety of top AI image generators to see which one is the best. Here are our top picks for AI image generators, depending on your particular needs as a business, click the links to jump to our in-depth reviews.
- Midjourney – Best Overall Image Generator
- ChatGPT – Best Free AI Image Generator
- Stable Diffusion – Best for Simple Customization
- Nightcafe – Best for Unlimited Image Generation
- Bing Image Creator – Best for Windows Users
- Canva AI – Best for Social Media
- Adobe Firefly – Best for Realistic Generated Images
| Name | Price | Free plan | AI model | Negative prompts | API access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Midjourney | ChatGPT | Stable Diffusion | Nightcafe | Bing Image Creator | Canva AI | Adobe Firefly |
| $8/month | $20/month | $10/month | $3.99/month | N/A | $15/month | $9.99/month |
| | | | | | | |
| Midjourney | GPT-4o/DALL-E 3 | Open source | Stable Diffusion, DALL-E 3, Ideogram, Flux | GPT-4o + DALL-E 3 | Magic Studio | Adobe |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Midjourney – Best Overall Image Generator
- Price: $8 per month
- Free plan: No
Generally considered the best AI image tool, Midjourney was developed by the independent research lab Midjourney, Inc. Critics say this tool generates complex, relatively high-quality imagery, but also requires a little finessing and patience in order to hit on the perfect (often lengthy) prompt.
Still,, Midjourney definitely produces some impressively realistic images, and even better, provides a built-in editing tool that allows you to make changes to the produced image — or an image you have created yourself — directly on the platform.
Tragically, it’s not free, though. Midjourney requires you to pay for a subscription to use any aspect of the platform, which will cost you a minimum of $8 per month. No, there is no free trial either, so you’ll have to pay if you want access to this powerful image generator.
Midjourney’s built-in editing tool makes it easy to alter the images you generate within the platform. Source: Tech.co testing
ChatGPT – Best Free AI Image Generator
- Price: $20 per month
- Free plan: Yes
That’s right, the world’ most popular AI chatbot isn’t just for text. Rather than relying on other services like DALL-E to integrate with the platform, ChatGPT now offers built-in image generation alongside its chat functionality, so you can seamlessly ask it to create any style of image without even having to change the settings.
Even better, ChatGPT offers this service completely free, so you won’t have to pay a dime to generate images. However, there are limits to how many images you can generate. Free users will only be able to create about 3-4 images per hour, which can be pretty limited if you want to use it for business.
With the ChatGPT paid plans, though, you get unlimited image generation. On top of that, the image generation is a lot faster, which is nice because the free image generator for ChatGPT took at least a few minutes for fairly simple images to come up. The cheapest paid plan from ChatGPT costs $20 per month.
Check out our ChatGPT pricing guide to learn more
ChatGPT offers image generation right on the platform, no more integrations needed. Source: Tech.co testing
Stable Diffusion – Best for Simple Customization
- Price: $10 per month
- Free plan: Yes
Stable Diffusion is a great image generator if you’re looking for a bit more control over the images controlled. It allows users to change the art style and aspect ratio of the image with convenient buttons within the platform, and you’ll be able to provide negative prompts alongside your prompts to make sure it doesn’t do what you don’t want it to.
Additionally, Stable Diffusion offers some photo tools beyond simple generation, including an AI image editor, image upscaler, and background remover, so you can turn existing images into your own creations with only a few clicks.
Like other options, Stable Diffusion is free, but there are limits. You’ll only get 10 image generations per day in the form of credits, which you can use on the various tools listed above. For a paid plan with 2000 image generations per month, you’ll have to pay at least $10 per month.
Stable Diffusion offers more built-in customization for your image generations so you don’t have to prompt everything. Source: Tech.co testing
Nightcafe – Best for Unlimited Image Generation
- Price: $3.99 per month
- Free plan: Yes
Nightcafe is another AI image generator that provides a lot of customization for users. You can adjust the aspect ratio, pick specific AI models to use, and even change the “prompt weight,” which will change how much the final image matches the prompt.
Also, if you’re tired of limits on free AI image generators, Nightcafe might be the solution. This platform provides users with an unlimited number of image generations. However, it’s worth noting that after you’ve used up your allotted credits on the free plan, the image quality will be notably reduced and it will take long to generate images.
If you want to ensure your images stay high quality, the paid plans for Nightcafe are pretty affordable, with the least expensive option coming in at only $3.99 per month for 100 credits per month.
Nightcafe provides a lot of advanced editing tools, although some require access to the paid plan. Source: Tech.co testing
Bing Image Creator – Best for Windows Users
- Pricing: N/A
- Free plan: Yes
Microsoft’s AI art generator is Bing Image Creator, a fully free service that you can access without any extra subscriptions. You can even use it on Bing while in Chrome or another non-Edge browser, and it integrates well with Windows and other Microsoft services.
Bing Image Creator does allow you to edit your images, but only with text prompts, so you won’t have access to stand image editing tools. There is a fun feature called Surprise Me, though — similar to the Feeling Lucky feature on Google Search — which provides prompt inspiration to give you an idea of where to start.
Like most free image generators, you’ll still have limitations to what you can create — no sex, violence, or hate speech, for instance. Plus, you’ll eventually run out of “boosts” (aka, credits), which allow for faster image generation, but more available for a fee. Overall, though, Bing remains one of the most accessible and easy to use options for an online image generator.
Bing Image Creator is a bit basic, as are the images it created, but the fact that it’s free could be valuable for those on a budget. Source: Tech.co testing
Canva AI – Best for Social Media
- Price: $15 per month
- Free plan: Yes
The social media design tool Canva is incredibly popular right now — seriously, ask any social media manager you know, and they’ll tell you it’s their favorite software on the planet. It’s not resting on its laurels, though, and it’s launched its own AI tool that is great for creating content for popular social media platforms.
On top of that, Canva is built for editing content, which means you’ll be set up with a wide range of tools to make it look exactly how you want. In fact, the image generator — dubbed Magic Media — immediately puts your generated image into a customizable template, so you can get started on editing right away.
You’ll get the ability to generate 50 images on a free plan. After that, you’ll need to pay for the $15 per month Canva Pro plan. Even then, you’ll be limited to 500 uses per user per month, although this is admittedly more than most users will need.
Canva AI offers a lot of editing tools that can help you get your generated images ready for social media. Source: Tech.co testing
Adobe Firefly – Best for Realistic Generated Images
- Price: $9.99 per month
- Free plan: Yes
Firefly is the Adobe AI image creation tool, trained on millions Adobe Stock images that Adobe has licensing access to, which does give the generated images a certain realism that is hard to replicate with other models. Suffice to say, if you’re looking for realistic images, Adobe Firefly is likely your best bet.
Like Canva, Adobe is a service built for image editing, which means that the image generator is equipped with some serious editing tools that can help you change your creations however you want. From basics like aspect ratio and art style to advanced changes like lighting and composition, Adobe Firefly has it all right there in the platform.
For cost, Adobe Firefly does offer a free plan, which allows for up to 25 images per month. For the paid option, you’ll start at just $9.99 per month for 2,000 generative AI credits. The paid plan also gives you access to AI video generators, so you can take your creations to the next level.
Adobe Firefly provides lots of editing tools, and its images are notably more realistic than many competitors. Source: Tech.co testing
How to Choose the Best AI Image Generator
There are a lot of AI image generators out there to choose from, but it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. After all, they each offer a wide range of different features, and it’s important to consider what’s available before committing.
Here’s some criteria to consider when looking into an AI image generator for your business.
- Limits – All AI image generators have limits on their services to a certain degree, so make sure you have a platform that can handle your particular needs.
- Style – Some image generators only offer specific art styles, so make sure you find one that offers a tool that can generate what you’re looking for.
- Price – The price of AI image generators can get up there, particularly if you need to make a lot of images, so compare your budget to the prices before you sign up.
- Integrations – If you’re using AI image generators to share content, you’ll want to be sure that your platform can integrate with certain platforms for easy posting.
There really are a lot of image generators out there, and the number is only growing, so the most important thing to consider before you make your decision is what you actually want an image generator for. Otherwise, you could spend money on a service you don’t actually need.
Free vs Paid AI Image Generators
If you’re strapped for cash, there are free AI image generators out there that can get the job done. Some require you to set up an account, while others allow you to just get started with a text prompt and go from there.
It’s worth noting, however, that free AI image generators are inherently more limited than their premium counterparts. For one, they often come with fairly strict usage limits, so you won’t be able to generate an unlimited number of images. In fact, some limit you to only one per day.
On top of that, images generated from free platforms are almost always stamped with a watermark, so they don’t exactly look professional. Generally, you can only get non-watermarked images if you pay for the service.
All that to say, there are some serious benefits to paying for an AI image generator instead of using the free plan. If you’re a business that wants to take your video strategy seriously, a paid AI image is the way you should go.
