Midjourney
Midjourney is one of the most well-known and popular image generators. This is largely due to the aesthetically pleasing results it tends to generate, despite it not always being accurate to the prompt given.
Midjourney is run through a Discord server.
You have to have both a Discord account and access to the Midjourney server to use Midjourney. It is then controlled using prompts you type into the server itself. This makes Midjourney much less user-friendly than most AI image generators.
This also means that both the prompts you use and the images that are generated are public unless you use direct messaging with the Midjourney account. Note that even when using direct messaging, your images will be publicly posted to your Midjourney profile.
Your generated images can only be hidden if you pay for the Midjourney Pro subscription plan.
However, despite its interface and learning curve, Midjourney remains one of the most powerful image generators. This is largely due to how much control you have over the images that it creates. Midjourney is ideal if you have a specific image in mind.
Price
Midjourney offers subscription plans ranging from $10 to $120 per month, with the Pro plan priced at $60 per month.
How to Cancel Your Midjourney Subscription
Wondering how to cancel your Midjourney subscription? Go to your Account section on Midjourney.com to cancel your Midjourney subscription. You cannot cancel through Discord. Cancellations go into effect at the end of the billing cycle.
DALL-E 3
Dall-E 3, developed by OpenAI, is an AI image generator that crafts unique images from simple text descriptions. Using a model called GPT-4, it transforms sentences into visual depictions that haven’t existed before.
Like many other AI generators, it’s based on the diffusion model, where it starts with a random field of noise and, over time, edits it to match its interpretation of the prompt. DALL-E 3 images tend to be highly detailed and do a good job of accurately representing the prompt given.
DALL-E has an easy-to-use interface that makes it one of the quickest AI image generators to use. It’s a great choice for people who are looking to generate lots of images quickly.
DALL-E’s main downside is its lack of editing tools. Your main option for editing is revising your prompt and generating the image again.
Price
Dalle-E 3 is available through a credit system, as well as a $20 per month subscription.
Envato AI ImageGen
Envato AI ImageGen is the new AI image generator created for Envato subscribers. This is the first release of Envato Labs, the new launching ground for many new AI features that are coming soon.
Some of the main advantages of AI ImageGen are that users can generate images in different styles within their browsers, using simple prompts and without paying additional fees.
Price
Envato AI ImageGen is included with an Envato subscription, which starts at US$16.50 per month and includes millions of creative assets. For more details, check the pricing.
You can also trial the feature with a free Envato account. Sign up to receive 5 free generations when you visit labs.envato.com.
Remember: subscribers will have access to this and more new AI features at no added cost.
Bing’s Image Generator
Bing’s image generator is built into Bing Chat or Image Creator from Designer, another AI tool that helps you create images from words with AI. Bing’s AI image generator runs on DALL-E and so will interpret prompts in a similar way to using DALL-E through ChatGPT.
While Bing uses DALL-E, the same prompt will still be interpreted differently by the two apps.
Bing is ideal when you want quick images on the go—especially if you’re already a Microsoft Edge user as you can simply open up Bing Chat, make your request, and get your image.
Price
Bing’s image generation tools are free to use in both Bing Chat and Image Creation from Designer. It has no credit system or limits on how many images you can generate, making it one of the best free AI image generators.
Stable Diffusion
Stable Diffusion is actually a number of open-source models, with multiple ways to access it. Stable Diffusion is known for its ability to both understand prompts and then generate accurate yet appealing images from those prompts.
As mentioned, Stable Diffusion is available in multiple different ways, making it easy to access and potently very user-friendly. Stability AI’s DreamStudio app is one of the more popular and easy ways to access Stable Diffusion. However, there are also free and even simpler-to-use options like Clipdrop.
One of the more unusual options is downloading the source code yourself and training the model on your own data, creating your own AI image generator.
Because Stable Diffusion is based on open-source code, you’ll see many smaller image generators powered by it, as well as people downloading it for personal use and training.
The method you choose to access Stable Diffusion will ultimately depend on your needs. Quicker options like Clipdrop are for when you’re in a hurry, while DreamStudio gives you more control over your final outcome.
Price
The price of Stable Diffusion depends on how you are accessing it. DreamStudio works on a credit system, while Clipdrop is free but applies a watermark. Being open source makes Stable Diffusion one of the best free AI image generators.
Adobe Firefly
Adobe Firefly is Adobe’s own brand of AI. Adobe Firefly is unique in that it has a typical web app that generates images but is also behind all the AI tools built directly into Adobe products, including Photoshop’s Generative Fill.
This makes Adobe Firefly the ideal AI generator for anyone who already has a Creative Cloud subscription.
Adobe also has a goal of making AI as user-friendly as possible, so Adobe Firefly, and anything powered by it, is very simple and intuitive to use. The Adobe Firefly web app provides an impressive level of control over the final outcome. Also, the Generative Fill tool in Photoshop showcases the control that Adobe Firefly can offer.
Although Adobe Firefly is not as impressive as some other models, it still produces very good results. This is likely a result of Adobe Firefly only being trained on data from Adobe Stock, which is an attempt by Adobe to avoid some of the ethical concerns associated with AI training.
Price
Adobe Firefly operates on a credit-based system. It provides a free plan, which offers 25 credits each month. However, Adobe Firefly is included in both Single App plans and the Creative Cloud All Apps plan, providing 500 and 1,000 credits, respectively.
Controversies You Should Know
After covering the best image-generating AI models, it’s important to touch on some of the ethical concerns surrounding AI. While there are multiple issues to address, I will be focusing on two of the main points of concern: copyright and environmental impact.
Copyright Infringement Allegations
Since their emergence in 2022, AI image generators have faced copyright infringement accusations due to unauthorized data usage during the training process. As a result, these AI models can replicate or imitate existing intellectual property without permission or recognition, directly profiting from their ability to recreate the IP.
This is evident when using certain prompts like “Green Lantern,” where the majority of image generators will predominantly produce the superhero Green Lantern and not a literal lantern that is the color green.
This can only happen if that specific IP is included in the training of the AI.
The concern deepens when AI models can directly mimic the style of independent artists. While artists cannot copyright their style, they do retain the copyright to each individual image produced, and those images were used to train the AI models the AI companies are profiting from.
Copyright issues also extend to AI-generated images, as unaltered AI images cannot possess copyright in the USA as of 2023, placing them in the public domain by default.
Environmental Concerns
The impressive technical advancement of AI comes with a hidden cost: a massive carbon footprint resulting from an energy-intensive process. As the datasets and models used by AI become more complex, the amount of energy required to train and run these models increases exponentially. This increase in energy consumption directly contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases and worsens the problem of climate change.
In addition to excessive carbon emissions, the improper disposal of e-waste and uncontrolled water usage have also become pressing concerns.
Conclusion
And there you have it: the best AI image generators. We delved into the realm of AI image generators, exploring various options and assessing their merits. Regardless of the choice, each AI image generator has its own unique appeal and drawbacks.
However, all image generators are currently embroiled in a host of controversies, including accusations of copyright infringement, environmental concerns, and their unethical use in fabricating counterfeit images.
The realm of AI is a constant balance between technical advancement and ethical turmoil. When wondering what is the best AI image generator, be sure to keep up to date on both aspects to stay informed and decide how best to use these tools.