Leonardo AI

Leonardo AI started as a generator for game assets and grew into a full creative studio: text-to-image and image-to-image generation, a Canvas editor for inpainting and outpainting, background removal, upscaling and AI video, all in one workspace. Canva acquired Leonardo in July 2024, and it still runs as a standalone product with its own pricing and roadmap, while also appearing inside the Canva editor.

Key facts: You pick from multiple models for the job — photorealistic styles for product shots and portraits, illustration styles for stylised art, and models tuned for readable display text. Realtime Canvas turns sketches into images as you draw, Flow State helps brainstorm concepts quickly, and Elements lets you train reusable looks for a brand, product or character. Users have generated billions of images on the platform since its 2022 launch.

Plans: Free costs $0 with 150 Fast Tokens a day and public generations — enough for light daily work with no card required. Essential is $12/month with 8,500 tokens a month and private generations; Premium is $30/month with 25,000 tokens; Ultimate is $60/month with 60,000 tokens and selected unlimited relaxed generation. Annual billing cuts roughly 20% off paid plans, and API billing is separate from web-app subscriptions.

Best for: YouTubers, Etsy sellers, game developers and hobbyists who want an editing workflow, not just one-shot generations. The token system takes a little learning, and peak artistic quality still trails Midjourney, but for a free, flexible all-rounder with a real canvas, Leonardo is hard to beat.

Pros

• A full creative studio, not a one-shot generator: text-to-image and image-to-image, a Canvas editor for inpainting and outpainting, background removal, upscaling and AI video in one workspace.
• Multiple models for the job, including photorealistic styles for product shots and portraits and models tuned for readable display text.
• Realtime Canvas turns sketches into images as you draw, and Elements lets you train reusable looks for a brand, product or character.
• A genuinely usable free tier with no card required, from a platform that has served billions of generations since its 2022 launch.

Watch out for

• The token system takes a little learning; costs depend on which tokens and features each generation uses.
• Peak artistic quality still trails Midjourney, per the page's own assessment.
• Free generations are public; private generations need a paid plan.
• API billing is separate from web-app subscriptions, so check which one your usage falls under.

Best for

YouTubers, Etsy sellers, game developers and hobbyists who want an editing workflow, not just one-shot generations. Who should skip it: users who want the simplest possible generator and never want to touch a canvas editor.

Pricing

Free costs $0 with 150 Fast Tokens a day and public generations. Essential is $12/month with 8,500 tokens a month and private generations; Premium is $30/month with 25,000 tokens; Ultimate is $60/month with 60,000 tokens and selected unlimited relaxed generation. Annual billing cuts roughly 20% off paid plans, and API billing is separate from web-app subscriptions. Check the official pricing page for current pricing.

FAQs

What can Leonardo AI make? Images from text or other images, edited in a Canvas workspace, plus background removal, upscaling and AI video.

What is Realtime Canvas? A tool that turns sketches into images as you draw.

What are Elements? Reusable trained looks for a brand, product or character, so repeat subjects stay consistent.

Is the free tier really free? Yes, $0 with 150 Fast Tokens a day and public generations, with no card required per the page.

Who owns Leonardo? Canva acquired Leonardo in July 2024; it still runs as a standalone product with its own pricing and roadmap.