Leonardo AI review: is it worth it?
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Leonardo AI is an AI-powered creative platform that generates production-ready images, textures, and videos from your images and text prompts. Over 18 million creators – including graphic designers, marketers, game developers, and artists – use this platform today. It has fast processing speeds and custom styles to generate impressive images in seconds.
The AI image generation arena has been heating up for the past few years. So, the Cybernews research team and I decided that it was worth reviewing this relatively new AI tool. Over several hours, I tested Leonardo AI, exploring its key features, pricing, and usability. I scrutinized its image generation quality, customization options, and interface to help you decide if it's the right tool for you.
Leonardo AI isn’t restricted to advanced users. It's intuitive and feature-rich enough for both beginners and professionals. Also, with it, you can quickly create character designs, game assets, and concept art, as well as adjust color schemes, styles, and compositions to match the flavor and look of your project.
If you're a beginner, its well-designed and guided workspace helps to easily generate unique artwork in no time. Also, if you're an advanced user, you can tweak several settings for more control over content style and composition.
Below, we’ll explore Leonardo AI’s features and you’ll see what you can expect from its free and paid plans. For even more insight, I’ve compared it with other leading image generators, including DALL·E 2 and Midjourney.
Quick overview of Leonardo AI
Leonardo AI is a multi-purpose generative AI platform that creates high-quality images, textures, and videos from images and text prompts. Here’s my quick overview of the tool.
| Rating: | 4.3 / 5 |
| Brief description: | AI platform for image, texture, and video generation |
| Starting price: | From $12/month (monthly) |
What is Leonardo AI?
Leonardo AI is a creative platform that turns text prompts into high-quality images. It can be used for character design and game assets, marketing visuals, and architectural drawings. Tools like AI Canvas, Realtime Canvas, and Transparent PNG Maker make generation faster and more intuitive.
Leonardo has tons of customization options and lets you train your own AI models for more personalized results. Also, users praise it for being ready “out of the box,” unlike some competitors that have a steep learning curve. So, its interface is simple enough for beginners, while advanced features like consistent character generation and AI video creation are also included for professionals.
Compared to Midjourney and DALL·E – its main competitors – Leonardo AI shines with its faster generation speed, more control over image refinement, and free version with daily tokens. It’s great for artists, game developers, marketers, or content creators. If you’re looking for the best AI image generation, Leonardo AI may be the tool for you.
Pros and cons of Leonardo AI
Leonardo AI has lots of features that make it legitimately practical for creatives. However, there are a few downsides that you should know about. Here are its main pros and cons:
Key features of Leonardo AI
This platform successfully blends speed, customization, and usability for generative AI enthusiasts and creative professionals alike. Here’s my in-depth take on Leonardo AI’s most prominent features.
Image generation
AI Image generation is a primary selling point for Leonardo AI. This platform converts your text prompts to high-quality images or textures in seconds. Furthermore, Leonardo AI’s Phoenix model follows your prompts closely, even when you’re adding text to images. Plus, its Transparent PNG Maker is great for creating background-free visuals without manually having to. You can also use the Motion tool to turn still images into short, dynamic videos.
Customization options
For creatives, fine-tuning work is always part of the process. With Leonardo AI, you can get as creative as you want. Its AI Canvas lets you edit and refine images directly on the platform. Also, Realtime Canvas is perfect for sketching rough shapes and letting Leonardo AI turn them into nuanced, detailed visuals.
If you need consistency across different poses, character reference models maintain facial features and proportions for you. You can also train custom AI models using your own images so that the results match your creative vision, plus apply Elements to tweak style modifiers for even more creative variation.
Speed and efficiency
Leonardo AI really shines when it comes to speed and efficiency. Compared to major rivals like Midjourney and DALL·E, Leonardo generates images faster, and at higher resolution. In fact, paid plans allow multiple generation jobs running simultaneously (up to six with the Maestro Unlimited plan).
If you’re burning through your AI content generation tokens, you’ll need to opt for the Artisan Unlimited and Maestro Unlimited plans (more on that later). All in all, Leonardo AI works for both quick mockups and large-scale projects.
User interface
I liked that this platform is straightforward while retaining so many features. Its interface is well-organized, so newcomers won’t feel overwhelmed. Additionally, tools like Universal Upscaler and Transparent PNG Maker are easy to find. You won’t be wasting time hunting for features with Leonardo AI, and that’s how top AI tools should be designed.
Support and resources
Thankfully, Leonardo AI provides tutorials and webinars that deconstruct everything from the basics to advanced workflows. Also, there’s a huge community of over four million creators on Discord and Facebook for when you need tips, want to share your work, or find inspiration. Paid subscribers get priority support to resolve issues as quickly as possible.
Leonardo AI pricing and plans
Leonardo AI provides you with multiple subscription plans, ranging from free to Team options (and several premium plans in between). Advanced tools are only available on the higher tiers. Here are Leonardo AI’s pricing plans.
| Plan | Features | Price (monthly) | Best for |
| Free | 150 daily fast tokens, 200 canvas actions, public generations, watermarked videos | Free | Beginners and casual users |
| Apprentice | 8,500 fast tokens/month, private generations, train 10 AI models, unlimited canvas actions | $12/month | Individual creators and freelancers |
| Artisan Unlimited | 25,000 fast tokens/month, unlimited relaxed generations, train 20 AI models, generate 3 jobs concurrently | $30/month | Professionals and businesses |
| Maestro Unlimited | 60,000 fast tokens/month, unlimited relaxed image/video generations, train 50 AI models, 6 concurrent jobs | $60/month | Large-scale projects and heavy users |
| Leonardo for Teams | Shared tokens, unlimited collections, priority support, IP security, team collaboration tools | From $24/seat | Creative teams and businesses |
The Leonardo AI free plan is great for newcomers and casual users. The Apprentice plan suits freelancers who need private and faster image generation. For more intensive use, Artisan Unlimited and Maestro Unlimited provide larger token allowances and relaxed generation options. Teams can collaborate efficiently with the Leonardo for Teams plan – with priority support and shared resources.
Leonardo AI: user experience
For the all-important user experience research, I looked into real-world feedback websites like Reddit and Trustpilot. Overall, I found that Leonardo AI is generally liked by users. On Trustpilot, it scored a 4.0 out of 5 based on over 200 reviews.
On Reddit, a user rooted for it as the “underdog” among rivals like Midjourney and DALL·E. In general, feedback remained positive on Reddit, with a few minor complaints.
Additionally, most users praised its accessible design, saying it’s easy to navigate even for beginners. In fact, on Reddit, some preferred Leonardo’s interface over Midjourney’s, explaining that Leonardo AI doesn’t require Discord. Users also noted that Leonardo AI has more fine-tuning features like the AI Canvas.
On Trustpilot, most described the platform as easy to use and praised the quick, detailed visual generations. However, some said that Leonardo AI’s advanced tools are not exactly beginner-friendly (though, this is to be expected).
While digging through the comments, I saw that users highlighted Leonardo AI’s faster image generation when compared to other tools like Midjourney and DALL·E. Importantly, users praised Leonardo AI’s value for money. Some even called it one of the best services for image generation in terms of price-to-performance ratio.
Customer support received consistent praise for its effectiveness. Many users on both platforms mentioned quick resolutions and a helpful support team. On the other hand, some users reported issues with character consistency, saying that – on occasion – the character reference feature couldn’t maintain specific traits despite using the seed function.
Meanwhile, others found the subscription cancellation process more complex than expected (requiring multiple confirmation steps). With that being said, the majority of online users find Leonardo AI to be reliable, versatile, and easy to use. Many prefer it over other platforms for its novelty and overall value.
Leonardo AI usage overview
It’s easy to sign up and use Leonardo AI. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get to the dashboard and start creating with the free tier:
Step 1: Sign up
Visit the Leonardo AI website and create an account. After signing up, you’ll get to the platform’s main dashboard.
Step 2: Create your first project
You’ll see buttons on the left and in the center. Click the “Image Creation” button (for image creation), then enter a prompt to begin.
Step 3: Generate images
In the image generation tab, type a text description of what you want to create. For example, “a large creature looming over a city.” You can use “Classic Mode” or the more advanced “Flow State” – which is still free for now. There’s a “daily limit” on how many images you can generate (visible at the top right corner).
Step 4: Customize and refine
You will see generated images pop up. Fine-tune your style with “More Like This”, or click on the three stars by the “Generate” button to improve or edit your prompt. You can adjust settings on the left, including “Lighting,” “Vibe,” and image dimensions.
Step 5: Enhance and finalize
Click on the image you want. Here, you can “Upscale” (enlarge and enhance resolution), generate similar images, generate “Motion,” “Edit in Canvas,” “Remove Background,” or “Use as Image Guidance.”
Step 6: Download or exportWhen satisfied, click “Download” to save the image to your device. Alternatively, export your visuals directly to other platforms or use them within Leonardo AI’s ecosystem.
Note: To upgrade, go to your account page and click the purple “Upgrade” button in the top left corner. That will lead you to the next page where you can select a plan and subscribe to monthly or annual billing.
Leonardo AI compared with other tools
Leonardo AI is an excellent choice for image generation, but other platforms might work better for some of your projects. When looking for the best AI for generating images, it all depends on your budget, preferred style, and desired features. Consider my popular alternatives list.
1. Midjourney
Midjourney is known for its stunning, realistic visuals. Today’s advanced digital artists and designers love it. The problem is, that you need Discord to use it – which many users dislike. Also, there’s no free plan. And, Midjourney has a steeper learning curve than the Leonardo image generator.
Midjourney’s pricing starts at $10/month for 3.3 hours of fast GPU time, but the $60/month Pro plan offers unlimited relaxed mode – like Leonardo's Artisan and Maestro plans ($30 - $60/month).
2. DALL·E
DALL·E 3 – OpenAI’s latest image generation platform – is fantastic at creating imaginative visuals and unraveling your most complex text prompts. Then again, it’s slower than Leonardo AI and lacks advanced options like Leonardo AI’s character references and AI Canvas. You can test its limited model with ChatGPT free. ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) unlocks DALL·E 3, full features, and priority usage.
3. Deep Dream Generator
Deep Dream Generator is different. It’s great for abstract and artistic styles and experimental projects. However, it lacks some realism and the “wow” factor compared to the others. Pricing starts at $9/month, but the $99/month Ultra plan is more expensive than Leonardo’s $60/month Maestro Unlimited plan – which gets you faster generation and premium features.
Other AI tools you might be interested in:
Final word on Leonardo AI review
Leonardo AI is a fast, easy-to-use platform for generating high-quality images, and other media. It’s got an intuitive interface and premium tools like AI Canvas and Realtime Canvas. Beginners and pros alike enjoy this platform which has been out for just about two years.
Compared to its main rivals – Midjourney and DALL·E – it generates content faster and has myriad customization options from the get-go (without Discord). It also has one of the most generous free tiers of any AI content generator on the market.
Albeit, Leonardo.AI is not perfect. Some users report character consistency issues, occasional spelling mistakes, and a learning curve with the more advanced features. That said, most users still praise its speed, customization, and value for money, and even prefer it over its rivals. The “likability” factor is there too.
I believe that Leonardo AI is one of the best AI image generator tools, and is a must-try if you need quick, customizable visuals. It doesn’t matter if you’re experimenting as a beginner or working on production-ready assets as a pro, Leonardo AI is definitely worth checking out.
FAQ
Who owns the images and AI art generated with Leonardo?
For the free tier, images are public and the community has access to them. On a paid plan, you own the full rights to the generated content (this is ideal for commercial use).
Is Leonardo AI a safe site?
Yes, Leonardo AI is a legitimate and safe website. This platform uses secure payment processors, protects your user data, and maintains industry-standard security measures.
Is Leonardo AI completely free?
Yes, Leonardo AI has a free tier, but it has limitations. You only get 150 free daily tokens with the free tier and basic features. Advanced tools and higher generation limits require a paid subscription. However, if you are looking to use a good AI image generator for free, Leonardo will do the job just fine.
How do I cancel my Leonardo AI subscription?
Click “Tokens” in the top left of your Account page, select “Manage Subscription,” then click “Cancel Your Subscription.” Your plan stays active until the next renewal date, and unused tokens expire after cancellation.
How do I sign up for a trial account?
Just visit Leonardo AI’s website, create an account with your email, or log in, and you’ll automatically start with the free plan.
