Text to Image: how to choose a tool
Short answer General advice
Decide first what the picture is for and who may see it: on a hosted generator the free plan can make your images public and may not license them for work. Then choose by the file you need (readable lettering or an editable vector) and by how free use is counted, and try your own prompt.
First, separate the job
General adviceMaking a new picture from a description is one job. Editing a photo you already have, taking out an object or turning the picture into video are other jobs, and a tool that offers them beside generation is not shown to do them well. This page covers only starting from text.
Questions to decide
Tools under each question come from our dated records of official pages, not tests.
Should the pictures stay private?
- Why it matters
- On a hosted generator your prompt and the result go to the provider's servers, and a free plan may also place them in an open gallery that anyone can browse and copy. For an unreleased product, client work or pictures of real people, find out who can see a result and which plan changes that.
- How to check on the official page
- Search the help pages and the plans page for the words public, private and gallery, and note which plan turns privacy on. Then make one picture on the free plan and look for it anywhere you did not choose. A tool that runs on your own device is a different case, but read its privacy statement too.
According to our records · checked
Ideogram · Website
Everything made on the free plan is public, and private generation needs the Plus plan or a higher one.
Source: docs.ideogram.ai/plans-and-billing/available-plans.md and docs.ideogram.ai/help/frequently-asked-questions.md ·
Draw Things · Desktop
The page says images are generated locally and offline on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and calls the app free and offline on all devices.
Source: drawthings.ai/ ·
Will the pictures be used in paid work?
- Why it matters
- Permission for commercial use often depends on the plan a picture was made on rather than on the tool itself. A free plan can be meant for trying only, and a paid plan does not cover every use by itself, such as a logo that must not resemble an existing mark.
- How to check on the official page
- On the plans page and in the terms, find the wording on commercial use, whether it differs between the free and paid plans, and who keeps the rights to public images. Save the address of the page you read and the date with your project files.
According to our records · checked
Recraft · Website
The pricing page says free-plan output is not licensed for commercial use, while paid plans grant full ownership and commercial rights.
Source: www.recraft.ai/pricing ·
Krea · Website
The pages say paid-plan generations are licensed for commercial use and free-plan images are not.
Source: www.krea.ai/pricing and www.krea.ai/features/ai-image-generator ·
Do you need readable lettering or an editable vector?
- Why it matters
- Generated lettering has to be checked letter by letter, and a picture made of pixels cannot be edited shape by shape the way a vector can. A poster with a slogan or a logo asks for different strengths than a scene does. Know which of the two you need before comparing tools.
- How to check on the official page
- On the tool's page, see whether lettering or vector export is named at all and which file types the free plan hands out. Make one image with a short phrase in it and one simple icon, then open the files in the program you will really use.
According to our records · checked
Ideogram · Website
Aimed at posters, covers and social graphics where the wording goes in quotes in the prompt and can be corrected word by word in the Studio editor; the free plan downloads a JPEG and other formats need a paid plan, except that anyone can download images with a transparent background as a small PNG.
Source: docs.ideogram.ai/quick-start-guide.md ·
Recraft · Website
Makes editable SVG vectors from text, for logos, icons and illustrations to open in Figma, Framer or Illustrator, and converts an existing PNG, JPG or WebP file to SVG.
Source: www.recraft.ai/ai-vector-generator ·
How is free use counted?
- Why it matters
- Free use is counted in daily tokens, weekly credits or a monthly allowance, and what one picture costs can vary widely with the model and settings. An allowance that looks large may cover a few pictures, and the unused part can expire.
- How to check on the official page
- On the plans page, find the unit, the period, whether unused units carry over and the cost shown before you press generate. Make one picture with the settings you would really use and see what it took from the allowance.
According to our records · checked
Krea · Website
The free plan gives a daily allowance of compute units that covers a few images; monthly units differ by plan, and some models sit behind higher plans.
Source: www.krea.ai/pricing ·
Leonardo.Ai · Website
Free users get a daily token allowance, which is enough to explore; tokens expire, there is no bulk download, and free users face a stricter content filter.
Source: intercom.help/leonardo-ai/en/articles/8942360-how-to-generate-images-with-leonardo-ai and intercom.help/leonardo-ai/en/articles/7051613-frequently-asked-questions ·
Limits
According to our records · checked
Ideogram: Weekly free credits go only to accounts opened with Google, Apple or Microsoft; an account made with email and password gets none. The help pages do not say whether commercial use is allowed and point to the Terms of Service.
Source: docs.ideogram.ai/plans-and-billing/available-plans.md and docs.ideogram.ai/help/frequently-asked-questions.md ·
Leonardo.Ai: The interface and support are English only. Free users' generations are public, other users can copy and remix them, and Leonardo may use public images to improve and promote the service.
Source: intercom.help/leonardo-ai/en/articles/8044029-private-public-images and intercom.help/leonardo-ai/en/articles/7051613-frequently-asked-questions ·
Recraft: The official pages do not guarantee the originality or trademark clearance of the output; for a logo, run the trademark search yourself.
Source: www.recraft.ai/pricing and www.recraft.ai/ai-vector-generator ·
Krea: The pricing page counts Free per day and the paid plans per month, and its commercial-license answer names the paid plans and does not mention Free. On the monthly Pro and Max plans (and on Basic where the page shows it) unused units do not roll over; for Business and Enterprise its rollover and billing answers disagree.
Source: www.krea.ai/ and www.krea.ai/pricing ·
A first try
General advice- Write one prompt for your real task, include the words you need in the picture if there are any, and use it unchanged in every tool.
- Try it on the free plan of two tools whose answers above fit you, and note what each one shows about who can see the result.
- Open every file at full size, read any lettering letter by letter, check the file type you received and what the allowance dropped by, and read the commercial-use wording before you use anything for work.
If nothing fits
General adviceEvery recorded text-to-image tool is on the need page with its conditions. If the picture already exists and needs repair, enlarging, an object taken out or a new background, the related pages below cover those jobs.
Compare documented features
This comparison is based on published official documentation. It is not a hands-on test or a quality ranking. Unknown features are not treated as verified.
- Yes
- No
- Not verified
| App name | Where will you use it? | Free output | No account needed | No watermark | Works offline | Batch processing | Content language | Good to know / Sources and review date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdCreative.ai | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| AI Magicx | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| DeviantArt DreamUp | Website | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Dzine | Website | Yes | No | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Lovart | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Midjourney | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Luma | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Bing Image Creator | Website | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Deep Dream Generator | Website | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Draw Things | Desktop | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Requires desktop installation. The App Store lists this app with an age rating of 18+ (checked 13 October 2026). Check the store listing before you install. Sources and review date
|
| getimg.ai | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Yes | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Google Flow | Website | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Hailuo AI | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Krea | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| PicLumen | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Hotpot.ai | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| ImagineArt | Website | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Kling AI | Website | Yes | Not verified | No | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| OpenArt | Website | Yes | No | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Playground | Website | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| starryai | Website | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Vheer | Website | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Vidu | Website | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Pikzels | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| CapCut | Website · Text to image | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Microsoft Designer | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Adobe Firefly | Website · Image and video generation | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Picsart | Website · Text to image | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Recraft | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Ideogram | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Leonardo.Ai | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| ArtCraft | Website | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
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| Dreamina | Website · Text to image | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Sources and review date
|
| Google Pics | Website | No | No | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Turkish | Sources and review date
|
Notes that apply to several tools
- Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.
- Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another.
- Check AI answers against their sources. Review account permissions and data settings before sharing private files or connections.
- High-resolution output and advanced tools may require a different plan.
- AI-generated details may differ from the original image.
- Available features may vary by device and access method.