The Best AI Image Generators in 2024 (+ Image Examples)

AI image generators help you create professional visuals using nothing more than text prompts. 

I started testing Midjourney and other tools as soon as they rolled out. And I’ve been experimenting with them ever since.

In this guide, I’ll share the 8 best AI image generators for every need and occasion—based on my firsthand use of each tool.

Midjourney

• 🔥 Best for: Those looking for the highest image quality, realistic visuals, and professional use

Midjourney is a powerful AI image generator for creating vibrant images with great textures, colors, and accurate depictions. 

It has one of the most consistent picture finishings, with humans and real-world objects looking more natural than elsewhere. 

Midjourney was even the first AI to (controversially) win an art competition. 

The platform lets you choose different styles, improve image quality, blend images, and adjust settings to customize your results.

But here’s the catch: Midjourney works via Discord—an instant messaging platform. And you need to specify all image requirements (like dimensions and style) directly in the prompt.

Here's what it looks like:

At the same time, you get access to a supportive community where you can learn from others and be inspired.

For example, there's an option to join voice chats to get tips and guidance from other community members.

You can also explore other creators' work and the text prompts they used to create images.

But what Midjourney does best is create hyper-realistic visuals.  It’s one of the top choices if you’re looking for professional-quality images.

For example:

Prompt: <A photo of a young female model wearing a futuristic black-colored outfit with leather and metal elements, Canon EF 35mm, f1. 8, photography high on details, ultra realistic, HD, HDR, 8K, real life --ar 16:9>

The result:

Midjourney also works exceptionally well with advanced requests and detailed text prompts.

I compared it with DreamStudio (another popular AI image generator), and Midjourney produced a better result from the first attempt. Check it out:

The Midjourney prompt:

<Bird’s-eye drone photograph of Manhattan at night, showcasing the city lights, skyscrapers, ultra realistic, HD, HDR, 8K real-life - --ar 16:9>

The DreamStudio prompt:

<Bird’s-eye drone photograph of Manhattan at night, showcasing the city lights, skyscrapers, ultra realistic.>

Style: Photographic

Size: 16:9

The Midjourney result:

The DreamStudio result:

As you can see, Midjourney produced a more highly detailed, photorealistic image than its rival.

DreamStudio’s image is distorted and looks more like an illustration than a photo.

👍 What I like 

• Highly detailed and artistic outputs
• Community inspiration 
• Deep customization 
• Image quality that is hard to beat

 👎 What could be improved

• Midjourney is trickier to use than most of the alternatives
• AI images generated by Midjourney are public by default (although you can change your settings on some of the paid plans)
• There’s no free plan with free credits

🏷️ Price: 

• Midjourney’s Basic Plan starts at $10 per month, which gets users 3.3 hours of graphics processing unit (GPU) time. This is around 200 images.
• To create more images, upgrade to the Standard Plan ($30), Pro Plan ($60), or Mega Plan ($120).

Leonardo AI 

• 🔥 Best for: Professional digital creators, designers, and marketers looking for AI image generation

Leonardo AI is a modern AI image generator for professional designers and marketers who want high-quality visuals.

It combines an art generator, an image editor, and even lets you create one-click AI videos from your image output.

Leonardo AI produces art in various styles, from photorealism to anime and 3D illustrations.

It also offers a range of preset filters that add an effect (read: art style) to your AI art or an uploaded image. 

Here’s an example: I created an image using the Leonardo lightning XL model, the Leonardo lightning preset, and the “lifelike vision” preset.

Here’s the prompt I used: <A futuristic city landscape with skyscrapers, planets visible in the sky, weird shapes and colors.>

Then, with a single click, I was able to change the preset to Anime:

Leonardo also helps you create better images by enhancing your original prompt.

For example, here’s the original prompt I used for another image:

“A hyper-realistic image of a woman wearing a black cyber punk costume.”

And here’s the improved version:

“In a stunningly detailed cyber-punk-themed image, a woman is portrayed with flawless precision. She is clad in a sleek black costume, exuding an aura of technological sophistication. The hyper-realistic image, likely a digital painting, showcases every intricate detail of her futuristic attire, from glowing neon accents to intricate mechanical components. The image quality is exceptional, with vibrant colors and intricate textures bringing the scene to life.”

Here’s the result. It’s very impressive and could definitely compete with Midjourney.

👍 What I like 

• Multipurpose platform use, from image generation and editing to motion
• Extensive features, such as generating multiple image versions and free downloads, even on the free plan
• Easy-to-use interface with built-in features for better prompting 
• High-quality images, with lots of styles and customization options

👎 What could be improved 

• Leonardo is somewhat limited in image editing on the free plan. You also can’t test motion.
• There might be a steep learning curve for complete beginners, especially with advanced features 

🏷️ Price:

• Leonardo AI is has a limited Free version, with 150 token every 15 hours
• The paid plans start at $12 for the Apprentice plan
• Artisan costs $30 and the Maestro plan comes at $60

Adobe Firefly

• 🔥 Best for: Digital creators, designers and marketers working with Adobe Suite products

Adobe has long incorporated AI tools into its apps.

In 2023, it introduced its first text-to-image generator: Adobe Firefly.

The AI model is trained on Adobe stock images and has impressive image creation features. 

You can generate images with unique text effects, recolor vector artwork, and integrate other AI-generated elements into your pictures.

However, the quality of images generated by the tool can vary.

That said, its integration with Adobe products elevates the experience and makes it an essential tool for digital designers.

Using the simple interface, you can set the image’s style, ratio, color, tone, lighting, and more.

Here’s the prompt I used:

<Hyper realistic image of a cat with pink fur flying in space>

And here’s the result. Not bad!

I also experimented with creating 3D illustrations. I uploaded a reference image and chose the relevant image styles.

Here’s the prompt:

<Create a 3D illustration with a cat space astronaut in orbit among planets>

Here’s the result:

👍 What I like 

• Intuitive interface, perfect for beginners and pros
• Seamless integration with Adobe Creative Suite
• Adobe Firefly is designed to be safer for commercial use in terms of licensing and legal considerations
• Good image quality and easy customization

👎 What could be improved  

• The AI image quality lags somewhat behind tools like Midjourney
• Adobe Firefly sometimes struggles with complex prompts with too many details 

🏷️ Price:

• The web version offers a free plan with 25 monthly credits. 
• The paid plans start at $4.99/month for 100 credits and images without watermarks.

ContentShake AI 

• 🔥 Best for: Content marketers looking to generate images for their articles and social media content

ContentShake AI is an intelligent writing tool that generates ready-to-rank blog content. 

The best part?

It features an integrated AI image generator you can use without leaving the blog editor.  

Briefly describe the image you want to add, and the tool will generate it for free:

You can add them directly to your article and then publish it to WordPress.

Let’s look at an example. I used this prompt to create another image of a flying cat:

<An image of a black cat with wings flying in the night sky.>

And here’s the result:

👍 What I like 

• AI image generation is integrated into the blog editor, which is perfect for content marketers like myself 
• You can create images at no extra cost on top of your subscription
• Good image quality if you’re looking for visuals to enrich your written content

👎 What could be improved:

• Doesn’t offer image editing
• More suitable for marketers than professional designers

🏷️ Price:

• You can try ContentShake AI for yourself with a 7-day free trial
• The Unlimited plan costs $60/month and offers unlimited generation of SEO-rich content
• AI image generation is included in the price

DALL-E 3

• 🔥 Best for: ChatGPT Plus and Microsoft users looking for basic image generation

DALL-E is a pioneer among picture generators, launched by OpenAI (the team behind ChatGPT) in 2022.

But with the release of other advanced tools like Midjourney, it gradually fell behind. 

That is, until the latest version was released. 

DALL-E 3 is currently available on the ChatGPT Plus plan. 

You can also use it via Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Designer, and Bing Image Creator.

It lets you create all types of images using simple text inputs and automatically optimizes your prompts. 

For example, I created an image with a flying cat using a simple prompt via ChatGPT:

But here’s the actual prompt used by ChatGPT:

You can also easily add changes and create different iterations of your AI image using the chat interface.

For instance, I asked DALL-E to draw wings for our cat. 

It changed the original image, but the result is still close to what I was looking for.

And here’s what it looks like in Microsoft Copilot:

Let’s look at another sample image I generated with DALL-E 3.

This was the prompt: <Create a photo of a ginger cat wearing a red beret sitting next to the Eiffel Tower. You can see people in the background. Image ratio is 3:2, horizontal>

And the result:

Overall, DALL-E 3 consistently delivers high-quality, customized images. 

However, be prepared to add changes and write more prompts, as it might sometimes hallucinate. 

👍 What I like 

• It’s free for all ChatGPT Plus, Enterprise, Perplexity Pro, and Microsoft Copilot users
• The chat interface is easy to use 
• Good image quality for basic requests 

👎 What could be improved  

• DALL-E 3 still falls behind more advanced tools when it comes to realistic images and complex prompts
• You have less control over the image creation process since your AI automatically modifies your prompts
• Can be limiting for advanced professional design use

🏷️ Price:

• DALL-E 3 is included in the ChatGPT and Perplexity’s Pro and Enterprise plans. 
• You can also test it for free using Microsoft Copilo

DreamStudio (Stable Diffusion)

• 🔥 Best for: Simplified, high-quality AI image generation 

DreamStudio by Stability AI uses the Stable Diffusion image generation model.

As an open-source tool, anyone with technical skills can download it and run it on their own computer. 

This also means you can train the model and fine-tune it (adjust the pre-trained model to better fit your data) for specific purposes. 

You can access the AI image generator for free via the DreamStudio web interface. Here’s what it looks like:

And here’s a sample prompt I gave it:

<A photo of a ginger cat wearing a red beret sitting next to the Eiffel Tower. You can see people in the background.>

I also chose the “Photographic” style and the 3:2 image size.

The result was quite impressive:

You can also try the Stable Assistant, which comes at an extra cost. It has a chatbot interface that lets you create image, video, audio, and even 3D content.

I tested this prompt to create an image: 

<Create a hyper-realistic portrait of a young woman with long blond hair>

And here’s the result:

As you can see, it turned out quite realistic.

👍 What I like 

• Very easy to use
• Fast and responsive and has various customization feature
• The new AI assistant lets you generate multimedia content

👎 What could be improved

• Less suited to complex, professional image needs
• Limited image editing capabilities

 🏷️ Price

• Pay-per-use: starts at about $1.18 for 100 credits
• Stable Assistant prices start at $9/month

Poe AI

• 🔥 Best for: Beginners looking for affordable high quality image generation

Poe is a helpful AI created by Quora. It gives you access to various AI apps and models—including GPT, Claude, and others—for the price of one.

You can use it for text generation, editing, and all sorts of other tasks. This time, I decided to test it for image generation.

Poe lets you access DALL-E 3, Ideogram, Stable Diffusion, FLUX, Playground, and more. 

The best way to use Poe is to practice with different models to see which fits your needs. I gave this prompt:

<Delicious poke with salmon, Canon EF 35mm, f1. 8, photography，intricated details, high on details, ultra realistic, HD, HDR, 8K, real life --ar 16:9>

Here’s the result I got from the FLUX-dev model:

Meanwhile, StableDiffusionXL generated this image from the same prompt:

You can enhance the images using an upscale, animate them, and compare them to other models available. 

I’d encourage everyone starting out with image generation to try out Poe to improve their prompting skills. 

👍 What I like 

• Access to different standard image generation models for the price of one
• Option to create your own AI image bot for specific tasks (e.g., creating avatars)
• It’s easy to use and get started with

👎 What could be improved:

• Limited image editing capabilities
• Less suitable for professional designer needs

🏷️ Price:

• Offers limited free access 
• The Pro plan costs $16.67/mo

Canva

• 🔥 Best for: Generating images for simple digital assets like ads and presentations 

Canva is an amazing tool for those with minimal design experience. 

It lets you create everything from online invitations to digital banners and brochures.

The platform’s AI technology gives layout suggestions, font pairings, and image adjustments.

And you can now generate AI images directly in Canva. 

This makes it perfect if you’re designing several assets and want to generate something quick without leaving the tool.

For example, imagine you want to promote an ice cream shop. I used this prompt to generate an image for our flyer:

<Ice cream with intense, pink, white, and blue colors.>

The tool generated several visuals. I picked one and added text via Canva’s image editor. Here’s the result:

👍 What I like 

• Canva lets you generate AI images directly from its interface 
• Perfect for creating social media visuals, slides, and adds even if you have zero design experience
• Decent image quality that serves the purpose 

👎 What could be improved:

• Doesn’t fit the needs of professional designers
• Limited capabilities when it comes to complex prompts 

🏷️ Price:

• Canva offers a free plan
• The Canva Pro plan costs $14.99/month
• The Canva for Teams plan comes at $29.99/month

Other AI Image Generators You Can Try

Finally, I’ve also created a short list of AI image generators that fit more niche image creation needs. Check it out:

• Semrush’s Instant Banner Generator: A powerful AI image tool that helps you create banners for ads and social media posts, and adjust them to the right design specs.
• Generative AI by Getty Images: A tool that has been trained entirely on Getty AI’s massive database of stock photos. This means you can generate AI images with a standard royalty-free license, ensuring the content is fair to use without the risk of legal action. 
• Ecommerce Booster: An app for Shopify stores with built-in AI features. It audits your images, generates alt texts, improves image quality, and removes image backgrounds in seconds.
• Freepik: A free AI image generator that recently integrated Flux AI and the image enhancer from Mignific.ai. It produces images with enhanced photorealism.

Choose The Best AI Image Generators for Your Needs

The best AI image generators offer various features for creating unique art with just a couple of clicks.

They let anyone—even those without design skills—produce all sorts of images, from illustrations in different art styles to hyper-realistic photos.

Each tool brings unique strengths to the table—whether you’re looking to create complex AI art from scratch or quickly design social media graphics.

I hope my review helped you choose a tool that fits your unique needs. Here’s a quick recap:

• Midjourney: Best for advanced, professional AI image generation
• Leonardo AI: Best for high-quality art generation with simplified customization
• Adobe Firefly: Best for those using Adobe Suite design products
• DALLE-3: Best for users of ChatGPT Plus and Microsoft Copilot looking for basic image generation
• ContentShake AI: Best for marketers needing images for their long-form and social media content