{
    "title": "Leonardo.ai Alternatives 2027: 16 Paid, Free & Open-Source",
    "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/leonardo-ai/",
    "summary": "The best Leonardo.ai alternatives in 2027 are Adobe Firefly (best overall, $9.99/mo), Bing Image Creator (best free plan: 10 Fast-mode creations free) and ComfyUI (best open source, GPL-3.0). Leonardo.ai itself has a free plan. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 11 Nov 2026; 13 more are compared below, including 5 with a free plan and 7 open source.",
    "tool": {
        "name": "Leonardo.ai",
        "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
        "free_plan": "150 daily tokens, expiring after 24 hours",
        "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
        "pricing_url": "https://leonardo.ai/pricing"
    },
    "task": "AI image generator",
    "prices_checked": "2026-11-11",
    "date_modified": "2026-11-13",
    "alternatives": [
        {
            "name": "Adobe Firefly",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$9.99/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Limited daily generations; limits refresh daily",
            "best_for": "Image, video and audio generation in Adobe's ecosystem",
            "difference": "Firefly lists Standard at $9.99 for 2,000 generative credits, adds partner models such as GPT Image, Nano Banana and FLUX beside Adobe's own, and sells per-license team plans.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly/plans.html?locale=en-US",
            "website": "https://firefly.adobe.com",
            "zekai_score": 8.9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/adobe-firefly/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Midjourney",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$10/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Stylised art images from text prompts",
            "difference": "Midjourney sells fast GPU hours rather than credits: Basic lists 3.3 hours a month, Standard 15 hours with unlimited relax-mode images, and video generation arrives from the Pro plan.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.midjourney.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.midjourney.com",
            "zekai_score": 9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/midjourney/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Ideogram",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$15/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Weekly slow credits for eligible signed-in accounts",
            "best_for": "Typography-led images with a low entry plan",
            "difference": "Ideogram's Plus plan lists 1,000 priority credits a month, and Pro adds private generation, batch generation and unlimited character consistency; its Team plan is $20 per user with a two-user minimum.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://ideogram.ai/pricing",
            "website": "https://ideogram.ai",
            "zekai_score": 8.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/ideogram/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Krea AI",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$9/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "100 compute units a day",
            "best_for": "Cheapest paid plan with a daily free tier",
            "difference": "Krea Free refreshes 100 compute units a day with LoRA training and Krea Nodes included, and paid yearly billing drops Basic to $5 a month on the plan card.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.krea.ai/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.krea.ai",
            "zekai_score": 8.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/krea-ai/"
        },
        {
            "name": "ChatGPT (image generation)",
            "type": "Free",
            "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free: limited image creation",
            "best_for": "Images made inside a general chat assistant",
            "difference": "Image creation sits inside the ChatGPT chat, so prompts are refined by conversation, and the pricing page grades it from limited on Free to unlimited and faster on Pro.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://chatgpt.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://chatgpt.com/",
            "zekai_score": 9.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/chatgpt/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Playground",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$15/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "2 downloads a day, 3 monthly credits",
            "best_for": "Design-style image editing with a free tier",
            "difference": "Playground's free tier caps downloads at 2 a day and slows generation at peak hours, while Pro lists $15 a month and $12 a month billed yearly.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://playgroundai.com/design/pricing",
            "website": "https://playground.com",
            "zekai_score": 7.9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/playground/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Recraft",
            "type": "Free",
            "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free plan; images are public and not for commercial use",
            "best_for": "Vector and brand-style image generation",
            "difference": "Recraft's API covers vector generation, inpainting, outpainting and background removal, billed in prepaid API Units, and paid subscription credits reset each cycle without rollover.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.recraft.ai/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.recraft.ai",
            "zekai_score": 9.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/recraft/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Bing Image Creator",
            "type": "Free",
            "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
            "free_plan_limit": "10 free Fast-mode creations; unlimited in Standard mode",
            "best_for": "Free text-to-image with no subscription",
            "difference": "Bing Image Creator has no paid tier on its page; guests get a daily creation limit, and signing in unlocks uploads, extra models and watermark settings.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.bing.com/images/create",
            "website": "https://www.bing.com/create",
            "zekai_score": 8.4,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/bing-image-creator/"
        },
        {
            "name": "ComfyUI",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "GPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Node-graph pipelines for any open model",
            "difference": "ComfyUI lets you wire samplers, checkpoints and add-ons together as a node graph on your own machine, with no credits or per-image limits.",
            "website": "https://github.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI",
            "repository": "https://github.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/comfyui/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes; GPL-3.0 means sharing source if you distribute modified versions.",
            "runs_on": "Runs large models on as little as 4 GB VRAM plus 8 GB RAM.",
            "setup": "easy: Desktop app installs it; you still pick and download models.",
            "github_stars": 147000,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-13",
            "last_release": "2026-11-10",
            "zekai_score": 8.1,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/comfyui/"
        },
        {
            "name": "InvokeAI",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Apache-2.0",
            "best_for": "Self-hosted image studio under Apache-2.0",
            "difference": "InvokeAI is Apache-2.0 and publishes per-model minimums, from 4 GB VRAM for SD1.5 up to 24 GB for the largest FLUX.2 and Krea-2 models.",
            "website": "https://invoke.ai",
            "repository": "https://github.com/invoke-ai/InvokeAI",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/invokeai/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes (Apache-2.0).",
            "runs_on": "SDXL needs 8 GB VRAM and 16 GB RAM; runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.",
            "setup": "easy: Download the Invoke launcher; model files are fetched separately and can be large.",
            "github_stars": 29100,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-12",
            "last_release": "2026-11-09",
            "zekai_score": 8.4,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/invokeai/"
        },
        {
            "name": "SD.Next",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Apache-2.0",
            "best_for": "Many GPU types and dozens of models",
            "difference": "SD.Next runs on Nvidia, AMD, Intel Arc, Apple Silicon and CPU-only machines and supports dozens of image and video models from one web interface.",
            "website": "https://github.com/vladmandic/sdnext",
            "repository": "https://github.com/vladmandic/sdnext",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/sd-next/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes (Apache-2.0); each model you load has its own licence.",
            "runs_on": "Nvidia, AMD, Intel Arc, Apple Silicon or CPU-only; the README gives no VRAM minimum.",
            "setup": "moderate: Clone the repo and run webui.sh or webui.bat; its installer manages dependencies.",
            "github_stars": 7400,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2026-10-29",
            "zekai_score": 7.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/sd-next/"
        },
        {
            "name": "SwarmUI",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT",
            "best_for": "Web UI for Stable Diffusion, Flux and video models",
            "difference": "SwarmUI is MIT-licensed and covers image, video and some audio models in one modular web interface; its README labels the current release v0.9.8 Beta.",
            "website": "https://github.com/mcmonkeyprojects/SwarmUI",
            "repository": "https://github.com/mcmonkeyprojects/SwarmUI",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/swarmui/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes for SwarmUI (MIT); each model you load has its own licence.",
            "runs_on": "Windows, Linux or Apple-silicon Mac with .NET and Python 3.11/3.12; no VRAM figure given.",
            "setup": "easy: Run install-windows.bat or install-linux.sh; models download separately.",
            "github_stars": 4800,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-12",
            "last_release": "2026-02-06",
            "zekai_score": 7.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/swarmui/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Stable Diffusion WebUI Forge",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Familiar Stable Diffusion WebUI layout with leaner memory use",
            "difference": "Forge is a platform built on the Stable Diffusion WebUI that aims to speed up inference and optimise resource use, and says it syncs with the original every 90 days.",
            "website": "https://github.com/lllyasviel/stable-diffusion-webui-forge",
            "repository": "https://github.com/lllyasviel/stable-diffusion-webui-forge",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/stable-diffusion-webui-forge/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.",
            "runs_on": "Windows one-click package with CUDA builds; the README lists no VRAM minimum.",
            "setup": "easy: Download the one-click package, extract it, run update.bat then run.bat.",
            "github_stars": 13100,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2025-06-26",
            "last_release": "2024-07-22",
            "zekai_score": 6.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/stable-diffusion-webui-forge/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Fooocus",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "GPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Prompt-first SDXL generation, Midjourney-style",
            "difference": "Fooocus is built only on Stable Diffusion XL and its README says it is in limited long-term support: bug fixes only, with no newer model architectures planned.",
            "website": "https://github.com/lllyasviel/Fooocus",
            "repository": "https://github.com/lllyasviel/Fooocus",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/fooocus/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes for the code (GPL-3.0); check each downloaded model's own licence.",
            "runs_on": "4 GB Nvidia VRAM and 8 GB RAM minimum; CPU-only needs 32 GB RAM.",
            "setup": "easy: Windows: unzip and run run.bat; first run downloads the SDXL models.",
            "github_stars": 53900,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2025-09-02",
            "last_release": "2024-08-12",
            "zekai_score": 7.1,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/fooocus/"
        },
        {
            "name": "FLUX.1 open weights",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Apache-2.0",
            "best_for": "Open FLUX.1 weights from the model's makers",
            "difference": "FLUX.1 [schnell] weights are Apache-2.0, but [dev], Fill, Canny, Depth, Redux, Kontext and Krea [dev] weights carry a non-commercial licence unless you buy one from Black Forest Labs.",
            "website": "https://bfl.ai",
            "repository": "https://github.com/black-forest-labs/flux",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/flux-1-open-weights/",
            "commercial_use": "Code and [schnell] weights: yes. [dev] weights: non-commercial unless you license them.",
            "runs_on": "Python 3.10 environment; the README gives no VRAM figure; TensorRT setup is optional.",
            "setup": "hard: Clone, build a Python 3.10 venv, pip install, then fetch weights from Hugging Face.",
            "github_stars": 26100,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2025-07-31",
            "zekai_score": 5.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/flux-1-open-weights/"
        },
        {
            "name": "HiDream-I1",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT",
            "best_for": "MIT-licensed image model with three speed tiers",
            "difference": "HiDream-I1 releases code and model weights under MIT in Full (50 steps), Dev (28) and Fast (16) variants, but needs a separately licensed Llama 3.1 text encoder.",
            "website": "https://github.com/HiDream-ai/HiDream-I1",
            "repository": "https://github.com/HiDream-ai/HiDream-I1",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/hidream-i1/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes (MIT); the Llama 3.1 text encoder it downloads has its own licence.",
            "runs_on": "CUDA 12.4 and Flash Attention recommended; the README gives no VRAM figure.",
            "setup": "hard: Manual install, Flash Attention, and a gated Llama 3.1 download from Hugging Face.",
            "github_stars": 2500,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "last_commit": "2025-07-16",
            "zekai_score": 5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/hidream-i1/"
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "What is the best alternative to Leonardo.ai in 2027?",
            "a": "Adobe Firefly is the best overall Leonardo.ai alternative on this page ($9.99/mo). For no cost, Bing Image Creator has a free plan (10 free Fast-mode creations; unlimited in Standard mode). To self-host, ComfyUI is open source (GPL-3.0)."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a free version of Leonardo.ai?",
            "a": "Yes. Leonardo.ai has a free plan: 150 daily tokens, expiring after 24 hours. Paid plans start at Free plan; paid price not published, checked on 11 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to Leonardo.ai?",
            "a": "Yes. ComfyUI, InvokeAI, SD.Next, SwarmUI, Stable Diffusion WebUI Forge, Fooocus, FLUX.1 open weights, HiDream-I1 are open source and free to self-host. Adobe Firefly, Ideogram, Krea AI, ChatGPT (image generation), Playground, Recraft, Bing Image Creator have a free plan with limits, shown in the table."
        },
        {
            "q": "How much do Leonardo.ai alternatives cost for a team of 5?",
            "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 11 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Krea AI $45/mo, Adobe Firefly $49.95/mo, Midjourney $50/mo. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which is better, Adobe Firefly or Leonardo.ai?",
            "a": "Firefly lists Standard at $9.99 for 2,000 generative credits, adds partner models such as GPT Image, Nano Banana and FLUX beside Adobe's own, and sells per-license team plans. Choose Adobe Firefly if you want credit plans tied to Adobe accounts, team licences per seat and Adobe's own Firefly models. Stay with Leonardo.ai if you prefer a daily free token allowance and a rollover bank for unused monthly tokens."
        },
        {
            "q": "Why are people leaving Leonardo.ai?",
            "a": "The documented reasons are: Leonardo's token rollover article (July 2026) lists banked tokens for Essential, Premium and Ultimate plans only; free users cannot use the Rollover Bank, and unused bank tokens are cancelled when a subscription is cancelled (28 Jul 2026). Each is sourced in the section above."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is better than Leonardo.ai?",
            "a": "It depends on the job. Midjourney suits stylised art, Ideogram and Recraft suit typography and vector work, Adobe Firefly suits Adobe workflows, and ComfyUI suits local control. Leonardo stays the pick for a broad model list with video and 3D."
        }
    ],
    "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.",
    "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/leonardo-ai/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted."
}