14 Best AI Art Generators in 2024 (Free & Paid)

In Short
  • AI art generators require you to type in your prompt, which is used to generate an image or "artwork".
  • On the web and desktop, Midjourney, DALL-E 3, Bing Image Creator, Stable Diffusion, Jasper Art and Fotor are some excellent AI text-to-image tools.
  • Meanwhile, for your phone, you can use Lensa AI, Dream, StarryAI, Copilot, etc.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been gaining momentum steadily over the past couple of years. The big new addition to the AI bandwagon is the plethora of AI text-to-art generators that have cropped up online. From more popular art generators like DALL-E to lesser-known ones you might not have heard about, options are plenty.

So, we have curated a long list of best text-to-image generators. If you’re a reader who’s interested in AI art, check out the details for the best AI art generators below and try them out.

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1. Midjourney

Midjourney is a fantastic AI that generates text-to-art on a Discord server and now it has a website as well. Created by a self-funded team, this AI bot has found its bearings since the beta and has gotten massively popular. Midjourney was previously only available on the Discord server as a bot. However, now, they have a dedicated website up as well.

To get started, all you need to do is to either join the Discord server or head over to the official website and feed your text prompts with an easy prefix. Feeding the text puts your request into a queue, and the AI gets on it in a matter of seconds.

The finished output takes a while, as you can see the image getting better in front of you. And honestly, Midjourney is one of the best AI text-to-image generators I have tried till now.

Man-in-Center-

The output images are exceedingly accurate and strikingly beautiful. While you don’t get to choose from an art style, the images do look beautiful nonetheless. You also get to choose from different variations, upscale the image, or have the bot at your disposal to redraw the art with a different text query.

The AI also does a good job at complicated prompts, so can add more elements to your request, and it won’t get confused.

As one would expect, this AI art generator is not free to use. You used to get the first 25 image creations for free, post which you would be hit with a paywall. However, now, due to an increased demand, the free trial and any other free offerings have come to an end. So, you will need to pay a minimum of $8 a month to use the tool.

However, after playing around with Midjourney for some time, I would say the membership fee is worth it. So do give Midjourney a try if you wish to make some cool art for your projects or blog.

PROS CONS
Beautiful and accurate outputs Free image limit quickly runs out
Understands complicated prompts Only available on Discord
Upscaling and alternate output options

Platforms: Discord, Web
Cost: Starts at $8/month billed annually
Try Midjourney

2. Dream Studio (Stable Diffusion)

One of the most popular text-to-art AI generators right now, Stable Diffusion, is an open-source AI art generator that takes text prompts and outputs images in mere seconds. While I tried out the online website that mostly bears all the resource load for you, Stable Diffusion is also available to set up on your own PC, albeit with a heavy load.

Also, if you’ve heard of Dream Studio and have confused it with Stable Diffusion, don’t be since they are essentially the same thing. Dream Studio compiles the Stable Diffusion model and APIs in one place and offers faster AI art generation as opposed to the demo version. Also, it is noteworthy that Dream Studio is a free AI art generator tool that you can use in 2024.

As for how Stable Diffusion works, the algorithm refines the image as it gets closer to the prompt. My experience with Stable Diffusion was mostly a nice one with an overall good output generation. I noticed that the text-to-image AI has its strengths in art-style drawings where the character creation can be flexible. The generator does seem to struggle with specific prompts that make it fizzle out and deliver sub-par images.

However, it is worth noting that the model does have its limitations since it’s still in the early development stages for now. Nonetheless, as you can see from the output images above, the 512 x 512 renders are pretty cool when you consider that they were created by an AI. Give Stable Diffusion a try, and let us know what you think.

PROS CONS
Free to use with limitations Website limited to small image dimensions
Renders images from prompts very quicklyResource heavy on local installation
Accurate outputs that reflect prompts

Platforms: Web and Local Installation
Cost: Free to Use
Try Stable Diffusion | Try Dream Studio (Beta)

3. DALL-E 3

Now, if you are looking for the best Midjourney alternatives instead, there’s nothing that comes close to DALL-E 3. Although you can use ChatGPT-4 for free via a variety of different methods, you will need ChatGPT Plus to use DALL-E 3. However, the good thing is that the toned-down DALL-E 2 is open to use for everyone, provided you sign up for an account.

Moreover, unlike Stable Diffusion, DALL-E 2 gives you 50 credits in the first month that you can use to generate images. Each output equals one credit, and you can purchase more credits once you have exhausted the limit. However, DALL-E 3 is a lot user to use, thanks to its advanced understanding of prompts.

In addition, if you take a look at the above DALL-E 3-generated images, you will see how vibrant, detailed and high-quality they are. This is something that was missing with DALL-E 2, making it a bit annoying to get it right. Not to mention that DALL-E 3 is also faster.

As soon as you enter a prompt, it takes around 15-20 seconds to deliver the results. DALL-E 3 generates two images but, if you are not happy with the generated images, you can ask for more. The AI art generator then instantly gets on top of it and generates you two more. All-in-all, it is one of the best AI text-to-image tools you can use right now.

PROS CONS
Simple and easy to use DALL-E 3 requires ChatGPT Plus
Lifelike output with right prompts
Fast and efficient

Platforms: Web, ChatGPT App
Cost: DALL-E 3 requires ChatGPT Plus (20$/month) | DALL-E 2 offers 50 free Credits in first month and 15 free Credits in the following months; costs $15 for 115 Credits
Try DALL-E 3, DALL-E 2

4. Bing Image Creator (Microsoft Designer)

Talking about DALL-E 3, you can also give the Bing Image Creator a try. This Microsoft AI art generator is a completely free to use tool that you can use to create unlimited AI artworks. However, do note that you get 98 boosts by default. When you run out of these boosts, you can still generate images. However, it will be a tad slower than user.

The best thing about the Bing Image Creator is that you can easily access it via your smartphone as well. While the Bing Image Creator is a standalone website, Microsoft now has dedicated Copilot apps for Android and iOS devices. Copilot uses DALL-E 3 to generate images when you ask it to.

Since it uses DALL-E 3, the images are detailed and very accurate. There is rarely any distortion in the images, unless you fail to enter a detailed prompt. Moreover, it is pretty fast and by default, it generates 4 different variations. Of course, you can ask it to follow up with more variations and it will do so.

Not to mention that you also get to use ChatGPT-4’s power for free with Copilot, making it a formidable AI tool for day-to-day use as well. Being the all-in-one package that it is, this is definitely one of the best AI art generators you can use.

Platforms: Web, Android, iOS
Cost: Free
Try Bing Image Creator (Web); Microsoft Copilot (Android, iOS)

5. Google Bard Image Generator/ImageFX

Very recently, Google gave its Bard AI the ability to generate images as well. This finally allows Bard to butt heads with the likes of ChatGPT Plus. Moreover, it uses Google’s proprietary Imagen 2 model to generate images.

However, it is not just the Bard AI chatbot where you can generate images. Google has also released a standalone image generation tool called ImageFX, to make use of. Although ImageFX is currently limited to the U.S, you can use a VPN to get in.

Google Bard Image Generator (L) and ImageFX (R)

Image generation is a bit more interesting with ImageFX, for it highlights the key words in your prompt with a set of drop-down options. Using these options you can replace such keywords in your prompts, making image generation a lot more fun.

Besides, generation is fast and I really liked how the two tools stayed mostly true to the prompt. Most importantly, the images are of high quality, being generated with a 1536 x 1536 resolution on both these tools. I used them both and here are a couple of my favorite generations that I’d like to share with you:

PROS CONS
Imagen 2 can work wonders with the right promptsImageFX may cause you to feel limited
Completely free to useImageFX is only available in the US right now; requires VPN
ImageFX provides alternative keywords for prompt
Bard AI integration makes things more convenient

Platforms: Web
Cost: Free for now
Try Google Bard Image Generator | Google ImageFX

6. Japser Art

Besides its excellent writing capabilities, Jasper also has quite a capable AI art generator as part of its services. Like its other services, Jasper AI image generator is hosted on the website online and requires one to buy a seat to access it.

The AI art generator has two different methods of using it. You can either begin from scratch by using the Free Form option or try Jasper’s pre-built templates that refine the images for you.

The Free Form option requires a prompt from the user. As with every other generator, the more detailed the prompt, the better the output. Besides that, Jasper also provides fine-tuning as you can choose from moods, mediums, styles, keywords, and even language.

Once done, simply click on Create artwork and it gets to work. To its credit, Jasper outputs images in under a minute which is quite fast.

I tested out a variety of image prompts and styles and Jasper’s art is quite amazing. The AI art generator understands the prompts quite well and gives images based on them. You also get high-definition image variations like Midjourney that you can download straight away.

Since Jasper gives various styles, one can mix and match them with aesthetics to get the image they want. Or if you don’t want to work that hard, choose any of the template options provided and let Jasper do the work for you.

As mentioned above, however, Jasper Art isn’t free. You need to purchase a seat for $20 to freely use it. Fortunately, you get unlimited image generation which is a big plus. Users can, however, also get a 7-day free trial of 200 images to test the service before they get the premium. Get that and check it out.

Pros Cons
Excellent AI art generation No mobile apps available
Provides fine-tuning options
Quick image output
Unlimited image generation

Platforms: Web
Cost: 200 free images in the 7-day free trial | Starts at $39/month billed annually
Try
Jasper Art

7. NightCafe

NightCafe is yet another easy-to-use AI text-to-art generator available online. While working as an image generator that provides variety, NightCafe comes with its own take. This AI art generator provides plenty of customization options when it comes to output.

As a user, you can pick not only the output art style but even the algorithm the AI uses, providing you greater control over your creation. So if you prefer Clip Guided Diffusion over the Stable one, you can pick and choose.

NightCafe comes as a paid service that starts out with five free credits that translate to five AI images. You can create an account and log in to get three more credits. But, you will need to subscribe to NightCafe to get more credits, with the prices starting as low as $0.053 per credit. While that does make the service a bit limited, you can choose a plan that will also make it affordable for you.

The image outputs you get from NightCafe are not half bad and appear lifelike and vivid. As mentioned on the website, using Clip Guided Diffusion ensures the images created by AI follow the laws of physics. This grounds them a bit more to reality. However, that doesn’t mean the AI cannot create a space odyssey image.

NightCafe does consistently well with all types of images but struggles with quality. Thankfully, you can upscale the output images by paying more credits or evolve them by feeding more prompts. I did notice the output creation takes a long time when compared to Stable Diffusion but nothing too major. Overall, I did find the NightCafe AI image generator is a good art creator, except for its credit limit.

PROS CONS
Can choose an AI algorithm Small credit limit
A plethora of art styles to choose from
Can upscale images (paid)

Platforms: Web
Cost: Free 5 Credits/day; 100 Credits for $4.79/month billed every three months
Try NightCafe

8. Fotor

Another excellent AI art generator is Fotor, a web-based tool that outputs images very quickly. Previously, Fotor was completely free to use. However, now you will need to subscribe to either of their two premium plans to use the tool. While the Fotor Pro plan offers a 100 credits per month, the Fotor Pro+ Plus brings 300 credits to the table.

Besides, like other generators, Fotor requires detailed prompts from users. The AI is even capable of generating images from provided images and keeps a gallery of our creations. As you can see, Fotor outputs excellent images that can be used with little to no editing.

For those looking for specific sizes, the AI art generator also provides different aspect ratios for a variety. To maximize creation, Fotor lets users tinker around with other settings including styles, ratios, lighting, and more. While these enhance the output, they can be kept off for basic creations.

In addition, Fotor also allows you to generate up to 6 images at once. By default, this setting is set to generate 2 images, but you can easily change it. Moreover, with the recent launch of Fotor M2, which is an advanced AIGC generation model, you can expect even better accuracy from the platform. Definitely, one of the best premium AI art generators today.

Pros Cons
Outputs images extremely quickly Not free to use
Beautiful and realistic image generation
No image prompt limit

Platforms: Web
Cost: Plans start at $2.66/month billed annually
Try Fotor

9. PhotoSonic

While many might have not heard about this AI text-to-image generator, it does quite a good job of converting text to art. Based on a credit model, PhotoSonic comes in the form of a website that does the heavy lifting for you.

The AI does accept convoluted long-form prompts, so you can go ahead and tell it to draw just about anything. The AI works on stable diffusion and can generate up to 5 images at one time.

You don’t get a design template option, but you can mix and match styles by adding your own keywords to refine the artwork. Moreover, you can also tap the Enhance Prompt option to allow the AI to create a very detailed prompt off of yours.

A good thing I found about this tool is the ability to choose the output size from options like Square, Horizontal, and Vertical, depending on your needs. I also liked how PhotoSonic does not use a credits system like some of the other text-to-image AI generators on this list. Instead, it takes up the word count of your WriteSonic account.

The free account provides 10,000 words per month for you to use, and per image generation takes up 400 words. So, in total, you can generate 25 images, which is cool. With the premium plans, you get unlimited words. Now, that means unlimited art generations as well!

PROSCONS
Recognizes nuances in text prompts Expensive premium plans
Quick image generation
Free version to make use of
Personalized business plans

Platforms: Web
Cost: Free; Premium plans start from $16/month
Try PhotoSonic

10. Lensa AI

While some of these AI art generators focus specifically on creating fresh images, there are other options too. Lensa AI is a new AI-powered tool that focuses on creating lifelike avatars using pre-provided images. Lensa AI uses the Stable Diffusion deep-learning model to go about the process.

All that app requires are some of your selfies. It then uses the Diffusion model along with the CLIP image database to study the images and generate photos in different art styles.

Source: instagram.com/lensa.ai

Lensa AI primarily works through its app. Users need to upload a variation of selfies that are clear and in line with the app’s guidelines. Once done, Lensa requires a one-time payment for the set of images and it gets to work. Since the app undertakes heavy processing, it does take around half an hour to output the images.

However, the wait is worth it as the final images are extremely well-defined and lifelike. The app takes the image context into account and creates variations and styles based on that. The company also claims that all uploaded images are immediately deleted so the user’s data is also safe.

Lensa AI starts from as low as $7.99 for 50 avatars. For all these reasons and more, Lensa AI makes its way into our list of the best AI art generators.

Pros Cons
Extremely beautiful and lifelike images No subscription model for Magic Avatars
Creates a variety of styles Image generation takes longer
Error-free image creation

Platforms: Android and iOS
Cost: $7.99 for 50 avatars
Try Lensa AI (Android and iOS, Website)

11. StarryAI

Available as an app for Android and iOS, StarryAI is a text-to-art generator that does a good job of AI image creation. I used the iOS app to create artwork and was impressed with its user-friendly interface. The home screen itself houses a text bar at the top, where you enter your prompts to make AI artwork. Once done, wait in queue as your artwork is created, and your phone will light up when done.

The app does provide you 5 free credits, after which you can go pro to buy more credits, starting at $1.99/week for 50 credits and 200 image generations. Besides that, the app is easy to use and lets you store the created images within the app and share them. The level of artwork accuracy itself is quite nice, but it does mess up occasionally.

The AI can easily understand a mixture of prompts. There were times when complicated keywords resulted in confusing images, but the AI is not infallible after all. You can help the AI output images by uploading a photo or giving it something to build upon, another feature that worked well in my testing.

This is one of the best AI art generator apps as it offers a world full of customization options. You can choose from three different types of AI depending on your output needs.

You can even select the Canvas Size, Model, and even the Runtime to give the AI more time to fine-tune your image. However, do remember the latter will use more credits, so keep that in mind when you use this text-to-image generator.

PROS CONS
Plethora of customization options Limited free credits
Choice of AI for image creation
Mostly, good image outputs

Cost: First 5 credits free; Premium Tier starts at 50 credits for $1.99/week
Try StarryAI (Android and iOS, Website)

12. Dream by WOMBO

Remember Wombo? That deepfake app where you can upload selfies and make people sing different tunes? Yes, that Wombo app. Well, the Dream AI text-to-image generator is a creation by the same company and is poised to continue its AI journey. Dream app by Wombo features a beautiful layout that focuses on highlighting its creations. While elegant, I found the design easy to use as well.

While Dream does have a premium tier, starting at $9.99, you have more than enough art style variety to create free artwork from scratch. Simply enter the text prompt and choose an art style.

You get literally dozens of different art styles to choose from, and if the premium tier is active, even more. To allow the AI to get a jump start, you can even select an input image to give it a reference point.

I loved the output images because they had a lot of art style variety. Bonus points to Dream for including a Ghibli art style, even though its output was not up to the mark. All other output images otherwise were extremely lifelike and vivid, as you can see yourself.

Another bonus here is the beautiful real-time transformation feature, which lets you see the image creation on your phone. This works for all kinds of images, so feel free to experiment either on the app or on the equally useful website.

PROS CONS
Beautiful app design Too many details distort the output sometimes
Ghibli art style for anime lovers
Real-time output creation looks amazing

Platforms: Web, Android, iOS
Cost: Free to use; Premium Tier starts at $9.99
Try Dream by WOMBO (Android and iOS, Website)

13. Imagine

Finally, we have Imagine Art AI, which is available across multiple platforms as well. Moreover, there is also a dedicated Windows app, if you are looking for it. Talking about the good, it comes with a pretty simple interface that allows you to generate AI art instantly. It is pretty snappy too, generating artworks in seconds.

Most importantly, there are several customization options available. You can choose the model, style, and aspect ratio of your text-to-image generation. Now, Additionally, there is an Advanced Settings panel as well that allows you to add a negative prompt as well. This allows you to let the AI model know what you are not looking for.

If you take a look at the AI generations, you will see how decently accurate and detailed it is. It stays true to the prompt without adding any unnecessary elements that don’t adhere to it. On the free app version, you will have to watch a whole lot of ads to make use of the tool. That can be pretty annoying, but given the results, it’s surely worth it.

PROS CONS
Free to use on all platformsToo many ads
Very fastCan produce distorted results at times
Accurate output

Platforms: Web, Windows, Android, iOS
Cost: Free; Premium Tier starts at $7/week
Try Imagine AI (Android, iOS, Website)

14. Craiyon

Craiyon is the rebranded version of DALL.E mini, that now exists as a website for you to make use of. Now, Craiyon’s design is as simple as it gets. You simply need to enter a text prompt into the barebones website and wait for the art output. You don’t get to choose from an art style, and the images take up to a minute to generate.

Thankfully, there are no credits or limits here, and the ads are mostly unobtrusive despite the fact that it is a free AI art generator tool. When it comes to the artwork, the outputs are decent. While I understand that AI does run into problems, Craiyon lacks the comprehension other text-to-art AI services support. Moreover, the generated images are of the 256×256 resolution, although you can upscale them for free to 1024×1024 resolution.

The images sometimes seem distorted and don’t reflect the accuracy and finesse its competitors had. You can make it a bit better by being more specific, but it’s about the same. But, I do like how the platform provides prompt suggestions as well, and that gives you an insight into how to go about it. Craiyon is a good overall AI text-to-art tool but needs some catching up in 2024.

PROSCONS
Free to use with no credit systemOutput images are usually distorted
Very easy to useNo dedicated mobile app
Super lightweight
Upscale images for free

Platforms: Web
Cost: Free to use
Try Craiyon

So yeah, we hope you have hours of fun creating gorgeous artwork with these best AI text-to-image generators. You can also take a look at Meta AI’s new Imagine text-t0-image generator as well. However, since it is not available in a lot of regions right now, I did not include it specifically on this list. It works similarly to the other ones mentioned on this list, so you won’t have a tough time using it either.

Meanwhile, if you are on the lookout for text-to-video AI tools instead, check out the interlinked guide. Already, there are so many examples of AI in your everyday life. Now, with these tools adding to that list, things are going to get all the more fun for you. With that being said, what do you think about these AI art generators? Let us know your opinion in the comments below!

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