Comparison guide

AI image generators compared

Text-to-image and editing tools. Compare free allowances, commercial-use terms and API access.

Criterion	Midjourney	Stable Diffusion (Stability AI)	Runway	Ideogram	Recraft
Provider	Midjourney, Inc.	Stability AI	Runway AI, Inc.	—	—
What it is for	Subscription image generator known for stylised, high-detail artwork, with short image-to-video animation.	Stability AI's open-weight image models, also available through a credit-based API.	AI video studio offering Runway's Gen-4.5 plus partner models, with a pay-per-credit developer API.	An AI image generator with unusually reliable text rendering, plus editing, upscaling and short video generation.	An AI image and vector design platform aimed at designers, with custom styles and editable SVG output.
Latest confirmed model	Midjourney V8.2 Jul 24, 2026	Stable Diffusion 3.5 (image); Stable Audio 3.0 (audio, May 2026) May 20, 2026	Gen-4.5 Dec 1, 2025	—	—
Main capabilities	Text-to-image (V8 family) Edit model Image-to-video (Depends on plan) Relax mode (Depends on plan) Stealth mode (Depends on plan)	Stable Diffusion 3.5 suite Stable Image Ultra / Core API Editing, upscaling and control APIs Stable Audio 3.0 Stable Fast 3D	Gen-4.5 video Gen-4 / Gen-4 Turbo and Gen-4 Image Partner models (Depends on plan) Audio tools (Depends on plan) Agentic creative collaborator and Runway MCP (Depends on plan)	Text-to-image generation with models tuned for legible text in images Logo, poster and transparent-background tools Precise Edit, Remix, inpainting and Studio layers Upscale, background removal and object removal Short video generation from text, frames or reference media Batch generation from a spreadsheet (up to 500 prompts)	Text-to-image generation with a style library Vector (SVG) generation and vectorisation Custom styles created from your own reference images Mockups, background removal, upscaling, erasing and inpainting REST API covering image and vector generation, editing and batch jobs
Free plan	No	Yes Organisations or individuals under $1M annual revenue	Yes 125 one-time credits (no expiry); 5GB storage	Yes	Yes
Cheapest paid plan	Basic: $10/mo $8/mo billed annually $96 billed yearly	No monthly list price	Standard: $15/mo $12/mo billed annually	Pricing not verified	Pricing not verified
API access	No	Yes · docs (opens in a new tab)	Yes · docs (opens in a new tab)	Yes	Yes
Learning curve	Beginner-friendly	Technical	Some experience helps	—	—
Last verified	Oct 19, 2026	Oct 19, 2026	Oct 19, 2026	Oct 18, 2026	Oct 18, 2026

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How to choose

Commercial work: read each tool's licence terms for the plan you are on.
Text inside images, vectors or photo-editing are different strengths — match the tool to the job.

Also in this group

FLUX (Black Forest Labs)

Black Forest Labs' FLUX image models, available through an API, a playground, and open-weight licences you can self-host.

Adobe Firefly

Adobe's generative AI studio for images, video, audio and vectors, combining Adobe's own models with partner models.

Pika

An AI creative platform for generating and editing short videos, images and audio from prompts.

Canva AI (Magic Studio)

Online design platform with built-in AI tools for generating, editing and resizing designs.

Google Flow

Google's AI creative studio for video and images, powered by Gemini Omni Flash and Veo, included with Google AI plans.

Leonardo.Ai

Image and video generation platform with its own models (Phoenix, Lucid Origin) and third-party models.

Replicate

Run and deploy open-source and custom AI models through an API, paying per second of hardware or per output.

The table shows up to five entries in the directory's editorial order, not a ranking. Every value links back to a record with sources and a last-verified date.