Side-by-side comparison · Image, Logo & Design
Adobe Express vs Leonardo AI vs Nano Banana
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Small businesses and marketers who want Canva-style design for less, especially anyone who already pays for Adobe.
Pick it if: Creators, small studios and marketers who want a free starting point and a way to keep a consistent style or character.
Pick it if: Marketers, store owners and creators who need realistic images and edits that stay true to the original person or product.
Overview
| Attribute | Adobe Express | Leonardo AI | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Adobe's answer to Canva: templates, quick edits and Firefly AI, cheaper than Canva Pro. | Canva-owned image and video generator with free daily tokens and custom style training. | Google's image model. Describe an edit and it keeps faces and products looking the same. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $9.99/mo | $12/mo | $19.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Adobe Express | Leonardo AI | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.6Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Adobe Express | Leonardo AI | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | – | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | No |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | Yes | Yes | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | No | No |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | No | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 13/ 17 | 11/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Adobe Express | Leonardo AI | Nano Banana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Occasional posts and trying it. | Free Free Trying it and occasional images. | Free (Gemini app and AI Studio) Free Trying it and occasional images. |
PremiumOur pick $9.99/mo One person making marketing content each week. | Essential $12/mo, about $10/mo billed yearly Hobbyists making images most weeks. | Google AI ProOur pick $19.99/mo Marketers and creators making images every week. | |
Teams $7.99/licence/mo, billed yearly Small teams sharing a brand. | PremiumOur pick $30/mo, about $24/mo billed yearly Creators and marketers who generate a lot. | Google AI Ultra From $99.99/mo Heavy daily image and video makers. | |
Enterprise Custom Large organisations on Adobe. | Ultimate $60/mo, about $48/mo billed yearly Heavy daily image and video work. | Gemini API From $0.034 per image Developers and automated workflows. | |
Team From $24/seat/mo Small teams sharing a token pool. | |||
API Pay as you go Developers and automations. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Check whether your Creative Cloud or Firefly plan already includes Express Premium before paying. If not, Premium at $9.99 a month is cheaper than Canva Pro and enough for one person. Teams is good value for two or more people who need locked brand templates. | Use Free to learn it, but remember everything you make is public. Premium is the plan to buy if you generate often, because relaxed mode means you never hit a hard stop on Leonardo's own image models. Essential is too tight once you touch video or partner models. | Start free in the Gemini app to see if it suits your work. If you make images most weeks, Google AI Pro is the one to buy because it unlocks Nano Banana Pro and comes with Gemini, video credits and storage. Developers should use Nano Banana 2 on the API and save Pro for hero images. |
Key features
| Attribute | Adobe Express | Leonardo AI | Nano Banana |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Adobe Express | Leonardo AI | Nano Banana |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Adobe Express | Leonardo AI | Nano Banana |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Adobe Express, Leonardo AI or Nano Banana?
Nano Banana scores highest overall in our ratings (Adobe Express 4.0/5, Leonardo AI 3.8/5 and Nano Banana 4.6/5). Adobe Express is best for social posts and flyers from templates and adobe and Creative Cloud users. Leonardo AI is best for game art and illustration in a fixed style and consistent characters across many images. Nano Banana is best for editing photos by describing the change and product shots and lifestyle scenes.
Which is cheaper, Adobe Express, Leonardo AI or Nano Banana?
Adobe Express: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $9.99/mo. Leonardo AI: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $12/mo. Nano Banana: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $19.99/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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