Flag

We stand with Ukraine and our team members from Ukraine. Here are ways you can help

Get exclusive access to thought-provoking articles, bonus podcast content, and cutting-edge whitepapers. Become a member of the UX Magazine community today!

Home ›› Design ›› I Tested 7 Free AI Image Generators. This One’s My Pick

I Tested 7 Free AI Image Generators. This One’s My Pick

by Zulie Rane
7 min read
Share this post on
Tweet
Share
Post
Share
Email
Print

Save

I have seen untold AI horrors along the journey, so, you’re welcome.

In the dawn of the online AI era, there were tons of free image generator options to create AI-generated images for free. Now, most of us have run out of our free 25 Midjourney credits. It’s harder to find places to make free AI art.

Luckily, I have trawled through many (many!) websites and landed on these seven sites that will let you make just about any AI image. Every AI image generator on this list is:

  • Free (at least you get a certain number of credits to use for free)
  • Web-based
  • Easy to use

I’ll use the same prompt (“cat in a cozy treehouse cafe, reading a book. cinematic style”) for each generative AI tool, so you’ll be able to easily compare each art generator for your needs.

The Best Free Online AI Image Generators

Canva: The best art

Look at this cute lil man! I’d love to be this cat. Credit: Canva AI art generator

I love using Canva* for a lot of my branding needs, so I was excited to see they offer a free online AI image generator.

All you have to do is make an account (for free), write your prompt, and download your image. Then use the image generator to make whatever you need.

Pros:

There are no watermarks or costs for downloading it. It also offers a few suggested image styles. You can easily change the image aspect ratio, though you only get three styles: portrait, landscape, or square.

Cons:

Only three image aspect ratio choices. Also, there’s a cap — as a free user, you’ll only ever get 50 lifetime credits.

Overall:

Great for simple AI art creation. Not a lot of fine-tuning options, though. Also, expensive once you run out of your free generations. Canva Pro costs $14.99 per month to get 500 monthly text-to-image credits.

Join the UX Magazine Community!

Dive into exclusive articles, podcast episodes, whitepapers, and more on the cutting-edge of AI and automation. Stay ahead of the trends reshaping industries.

Become a member

Craiyon: Best for free, for real

These images were free to generate, but at what cost. I dare you to look closely into these cats’ souls. Source: Craiyon

I’ve reviewed Craiyon here. I wasn’t a huge fan back then, but I’ve come around to it a little more now. For one, it’s truly free-free. You get unlimited credits. You also have more fine-tuned control with negative words allowed, so you can guide the art more carefully.

Pros:

Go ham with unlimited tries at your art. If you’re not a huge fan, you can also “upscale” as I did for this fellow. And more fine-tuning control, as I mentioned, with the negative word options.

Cons:

I feel bad saying this, but the art sucked, and I mean that in a spiritual way. The cats I generated gave me the heebie-jeebies. You’ll also have to wait a while if you’re on the free AI art plan — I typically had to wait around a minute.

Overall:

Probably one of the best price-wise, but quality-wise, worst AI art generators. I was interested to see that even if you pay, you don’t get better images according to them.

Source: Craiyon’s pricing page.

DeepAI: Best for quickly getting started

Look at these poor, dark, twisted souls brought into the world through AI. What have I wrought. Via DeepAI

DeepAI is another AI art platform. No need to create a login — just visit the website and start creating.

Pros:

Free, a few fine-tuned control options. Low entry barrier since you don’t need to create a login to start using it, unlike most other image generator choices on this list.

Cons:

Bad, bad art. Like, the quality you’d expect from early 2022 AI art. Funnily enough (and I respected the creator a lot for this, actually) this is referenced in the page itself. If you scroll down a little, you’ll see: “Don’t expect the quality to be photorealistic, however. You would need a really really big AI to do that, and have you priced those lately?”

You can upgrade to the HD model, or get other styles if you’re ready to pay for it. It’s only $5 per 100 API calls, or around 2 cents per image.

Overall:

It’s free — and the quality reflects that.

Freepik: Best all-around

I would pay a very high price for this image to become reality. Side note: what do we think this cat is reading? Looks like vertical text to me. Pretty cool. Source: Freepik

It’s in the name! (Free) AI image generator. You do have to log in, though, unlike DeepAI or Craiyon.

Freepik is my favorite free online AI image generator.

Pros:

It’s free, with a cap. But the cap is extremely generous. You get 40 free AI images per day.

Source: Freepik

This was so cute. I loved this art a lot. And while it’s not fully free, it’s mostly free. You also have a fair few options regarding style — you can select color, lighting, framing choices, and style options too, similar to Canva.

The download doesn’t have a watermark.

Cons:

You do only get 40 images per day. And like Canva, you only get three size options: portrait, square, or landscape.

Overall:

Freepik is the best AI art generator on this list. In terms of pricing, you can upgrade to get a higher resolution for image download or to get more image credits. This costs $24 a month, or $144 annually. This also gets you access to the Freepik suite of products.

Note: I set out to review Wepik, another AI image creator. Turns out Wepik and Freepik are owned by the same people. The only difference is that on Wepik, you only get 40 credits, total, before you have to buy a pack for more. (100 credits for 5 euros.)

Freepik vs Wepik — not much difference to me.

When I tested this image generator out, the quality and options were all the same. Just use Freepik for more free daily credits, instead of paying for AI image packs.

Picsart: for image editors who use Picsart already

If you peer too closely at this cat’s face, it will steal your soul. Source: PicsArt’s AI art generator.

Another AI image option. You’ll need to create a login to use this AI art generator.

Pros:

What I liked about this AI image generator is that it integrates with a lot of other image editing tools. Once you generate your image, you can edit it, slap filters on crop, saturate, and all the rest.

Cons:

The art style was horrible. I hated the cats. Many of the features were also paywalled, at $15 a month or $84 annually.

Overall:

It was OK. Not the best, not the worst. I’d say if you’re already a regular Picsart user, then its AI art generator is just good enough to just keep using it with the tool.

I also noted that on Picsart, any AI images you create are up for grabs for anyone else to use, too:

“Note: AI-generated images are #FreeToEdit, which allows other Picsart users to Remix, edit, and duplicate them.”

I think legally, this is the case for ALL AI images — there’s no copyright on them unless you then go on to modify them yourself in a significant way. I personally download a lot of images from Midjourney that other users created for free, though I do credit the user.

Playground AI: For more professional designers

Her little face 😭 I love this one big time (even if one of the cat’s arms is twice the size of the other). Source: Playground AI’s AI image generator.

I almost wasn’t going to review this AI image generator, since it was a little less easy to use. But I liked the art enough to include this AI generator.

Pros:

You get 1000 credits per day. That’s a lot compared to the other AI image generator choices here! You also have a ton of control — you can select between four different AI image generator models. You can also add negative words.

Cons:

I personally found it a little overwhelming compared to others. But if you’re a designer, this AI image generator is probably the best choice.

Overall:

This AI image generator has the most design potential. I also love the virtually unlimited cap and customization options.

Final thoughts

AI image generation is fun for some, and business for others. I myself need image generation for my blog post images. This blog post has an AI-generated image as the header image. Others need it for product photos, or realistic images that they don’t have the budget to hire for.

AI-generated art is a good way to fulfill business needs on a budget. The only difficulty is wading through all the garbage or paywalled options to find a good AI picture generator.

All these AI art choices are right for someone. Depending on what kind of AI art you want, and why you’re looking for an AI image generator, you’ll find one on this list.

This article was originally published on Zulie’s blog.

post authorZulie Rane

Zulie Rane
Zulie Rane is a freelance writer, entrepreneur, and cat mom. She has helped 100s of writers get started on their blogging journey.

Tweet
Share
Post
Share
Email
Print
Ideas In Brief
  • The article provides an overview of seven free online AI image generators, each with its own unique features and benefits, offering options for users seeking AI-generated images for various purposes.

Related Articles

Consistency in UI/UX builds trust and efficiency — without it, users feel lost. Learn how top brands maintain it and how AI can help.

Article by Rodolpho Henrique
Consistency in UI/UX Design: The Key to User Satisfaction
  • The article examines the role of consistency in UI/UX design for user trust and efficiency.
  • It showcases visual, functional, and interaction consistency in creating seamless experiences.
  • The piece warns about the negative effects of inconsistency, including confusion and frustration.
  • It promotes the use of AI and design systems to ensure consistency across digital platforms.
Share:Consistency in UI/UX Design: The Key to User Satisfaction
4 min read

If Mobile-First thinking has revolutionized the UX Design industry, AI-First is promising to be an even more spectacular kick in the pants.

Article by Greg Nudelman
The Rise of AI-First Products
  • The article explores how AI-powered operating systems are changing user interactions.
  • It covers AI-driven personalization, automation, and adaptive interfaces.
  • The piece discusses challenges like privacy, over-reliance on AI, and user control.
  • It highlights opportunities to design more intuitive and human-centered AI experiences.
Share:The Rise of AI-First Products
11 min read

AI is reshaping UX, and Figma may be sinking. As AI-driven systems minimize UI, traditional design roles must evolve — or risk becoming obsolete. Are you ready to adapt?

Article by Greg Nudelman
AI Is Flipping UX Upside Down: How to Keep Your UX Job, and Why Figma is a Titanic (It’s not for the Reasons You Think)
  • The article explores the fundamental shift in UX as AI-first systems minimize the role of UI, rendering traditional design tools like Figma increasingly obsolete.
  • It introduces the “Iceberg UX Model,” illustrating how modern AI-driven interfaces prioritize functionality and automation over visual design.
  • The piece argues that UX professionals must shift their focus from UI aesthetics to AI-driven user experience, emphasizing use case validation, AI model integration, and data-informed decision-making.
  • It warns that designers who remain fixated on pixel-perfect layouts risk becoming obsolete, urging them to adapt by engaging in AI-driven UX strategies.
Share:AI Is Flipping UX Upside Down: How to Keep Your UX Job, and Why Figma is a Titanic (It’s not for the Reasons You Think)
7 min read

Join the UX Magazine community!

Stay informed with exclusive content on the intersection of UX, AI agents, and agentic automation—essential reading for future-focused professionals.

Hello!

You're officially a member of the UX Magazine Community.
We're excited to have you with us!

Thank you!

To begin viewing member content, please verify your email.

Tell us about you. Enroll in the course.

    This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Check our privacy policy and