Side-by-side comparison · Image, Logo & Design
FLUX vs Ideogram vs Leonardo AI
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: Developers, designers and hands-on marketers who want precise, cheap image generation and editing without a subscription.
Pick it if: Marketers and small business owners who need graphics with words on them, fast.
Pick it if: Creators, small studios and marketers who want a free starting point and a way to keep a consistent style or character.
Ideogram scores highest overall, but FLUX gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | FLUX | Ideogram | Leonardo AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Black Forest Labs' image models: pay per image in the browser or run them free yourself. | Generates images that spell words correctly, so posters and ads come out readable. | Canva-owned image and video generator with free daily tokens and custom style training. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | From $0.041 per image | $20/mo | $12/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | No | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | FLUX | Ideogram | Leonardo AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 4.1Winner | 3.8 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | FLUX | Ideogram | Leonardo AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | No | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | No | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | Yes | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | Yes | No | Yes |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | No | No |
| Learns your brand or style | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | No | No |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 11/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | FLUX | Ideogram | Leonardo AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Open weights Free Developers and hobbyists with a decent graphics card. | Free Free Seeing whether it suits you. | Free Free Trying it and occasional images. |
Playground and APIOur pick From $0.041 per image Anyone who wants the best FLUX models without a subscription. | PlusOur pick $20/mo, or $15/mo billed yearly Most marketers and small businesses. | Essential $12/mo, about $10/mo billed yearly Hobbyists making images most weeks. | |
Self-hosting licence Custom Companies running FLUX on their own servers. | Pro $60/mo, or $42/mo billed yearly Agencies and heavy ad testing. | PremiumOur pick $30/mo, about $24/mo billed yearly Creators and marketers who generate a lot. | |
Team $30/user/mo, or $20/user/mo billed yearly Small teams sharing one bill. | Ultimate $60/mo, about $48/mo billed yearly Heavy daily image and video work. | ||
Enterprise Custom Larger organisations. | Team From $24/seat/mo Small teams sharing a token pool. | ||
API Pay as you go Developers and automations. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Top up $10 to $20 of Playground credits and you will get a couple of hundred standard images. If you already pay for Krea, Magnific or Leonardo, try FLUX there first. Only look at open weights or a self-hosting licence if you have a developer and a reason to run it yourself. | Treat Free as a demo, not a plan, because everything you make is public. Plus covers a normal week of social and ad graphics. Only step up to Pro if you are testing many ad variations a day. | 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. |
Key features
| Attribute | FLUX | Ideogram | Leonardo AI |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | FLUX | Ideogram | Leonardo AI |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | FLUX | Ideogram | Leonardo AI |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, FLUX, Ideogram or Leonardo AI?
Ideogram scores highest overall in our ratings (FLUX 4.0/5, Ideogram 4.1/5 and Leonardo AI 3.8/5). FLUX is best for precise layouts with elements placed where you want and editing one part of a photo and keeping the rest. Ideogram is best for posters and ad creatives and quote and announcement graphics. Leonardo AI is best for game art and illustration in a fixed style and consistent characters across many images.
Which is cheaper, FLUX, Ideogram or Leonardo AI?
FLUX: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at From $0.041 per image. Ideogram: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Leonardo AI: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $12/mo.
Which is easier to use, FLUX, Ideogram or Leonardo AI?
Ideogram rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Marketers and small business owners who need graphics with words on them, fast.
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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