AI image generating tools are booming in popularity among marketers, designers, and content creators.
With the best AI tools for image creation, a simple text prompt can generate a polished image in seconds. Behind the scenes, it’s Generative AI at work, which I’ve explained in easy words in my guide on Types of AI, along with other technologies that power AI.
I wanted to look at them a little differently. Instead of just asking for fun or aesthetic images, I tested the best AI tools for image creation with informative prompts, the kind professionals actually need in their work.
Think of prompts like: “Create a simple 3 items checklist design,” or “Generate an image with 5 quick tips on Topic x in a clean layout.” These aren’t just about pretty visuals, they test whether the tool can handle structure, accuracy, and creativity all at once.
But here’s the real reason behind this experiment:
In real life, especially professionally, AI images often need to serve a purpose, like a graphic in a LinkedIn post, an infographic, an image for a presentation, or a visual in a blog.
The real question is, can these best AI tools for image create ready-to-use professional visuals? Or do they still fall short when it comes to clarity and accuracy?
To find out, I designed a simple experiment.
If you’re short on time and want to cut straight to the results, here are my top picks and key observations based on my experience testing all these AI image generating tools in detail, based on output quality, accuracy, and usability of the images generated by the tools. You can also jump here to see the ratings table directly.
TL;DR– My Top Picks
Here’s a quick summary of the AI image tools online that stood out in my testing and why I liked them:
- Perplexity:
Delivered accurate, ready-to-use images without any text, so you can add your own with full control over placement, font, and style. - Runway, Imagine.art, ChatGPT, Canva AI, and OpenArt:
Also performed well. These AI image creating tools often gave accurate results on the first attempt. AI-generated text may need minor edits, but the base images are solid and easy to adjust. - Freepik, Fotor, and Adobe Firefly:
Generated results that were almost accurate (not spot on) and usable after a few edits, but it took several regenerations to reach that point. - Bonus insight:
AI-generated text on images is often distorted or inaccurate, but it can still serve as helpful design cues, suggesting layout, font, positioning, and color balance while keeping the overall structure intact.
Key Observation on AI Image Tools:
AI text to image tools powered by models like OpenAI and Flux consistently deliver sharp, often photorealistic images on the first try. These models do most of the heavy lifting, immediately making outputs look polished and professional.
Some tools not included in this list use the same models, such as OpenAI, Flux, or Qwen Image, and they generate similar images to other AI image tools built on the same model.
This shows that the AI model behind the tool matters more than the AI tool itself. If the model is strong, the results are usually good, no matter the interface or extra features.
I’d still suggest taking a quick look at the AI image tool breakdowns, as I’ve included the images generated by each tool; this way, you can see the results for yourself.
To understand how I decided my Top Picks, here’s the testing process I followed for all the tools.
How I tested AI Text to Image Tools
Every AI text to image tool was given the same informative prompt (written below), tested under the same conditions, and evaluated on creativity, accuracy, usability, and fairness. This way, the comparison isn’t just about features, it’s about quality and performance.
By the end of this review, you’ll know which are the best text to image AI tools that truly rise to the challenge, what you get in their free plans, and which ones are actually usable and worth your time and money.
Here’s the same prompt that I used across all the best AI tools for image creation:
Create a clean, modern, infographic-style, photo-realistic visual with five separate sections, each showing one grooming tip for men before an interview:
a comb and hair gel for tidy, well-set hair
a beard trimmer for a neatly trimmed beard
a crisp shirt on a hanger for clean, ironed clothes
a pair of polished closed shoes
a confident man standing tall with good posture
Bright, professional, minimal style.
I used the same prompt to test and compare AI video tools based on the quality, creativity and accuracy of the videos they generate. You can see the generated video and tools’ ratings in my Best text to video AI tools blog.
You’re not tied to only this example. You can adapt this prompt style for any topics, like checklists, tips, or items and test it across the best text to image AI tools to see which fits your workflow.
After the tool breakdowns, I’ve shared a universal prompt (plus how to brainstorm visual elements like the 5 tips above). You can jump to it [here].
I tested all 15 best AI tools for image creation using the same prompt.
Now, let’s get into the real part: how each of these AI tools performed. Some of the results honestly surprised me.
15 Best AI Tools for Image Creation
All the images generated from each tool are pasted as-is, without any edits. If any style or model has been selected, it’s mentioned below that image.
Leonardo AI
Selected Model/Preset – Phoenix 1.0
Leonardo nailed both creativity and accuracy. It perfectly understood the prompt, adding realistic details like an office setup and an interview scene, which no tool has done in the list. Apart from a minor extra detail (two pairs of shoes), the image looked professional and ready to use.
With a generous free plan and easy usability, it’s a reliable tool that truly “gets” your vision.
Free plan: 150 tokens/day • Each prompt generates 4 images (24 tokens) • No watermarks
ImagineArt
Style: 3d render
I was pleasantly surprised by how well Imagine.art performed. All elements from my prompt showed up correctly. The very first attempt produced a clean, visually strong, and fully usable image. Minor text issues appeared, but they were easy to fix and didn’t interfere with the visual.
Free plan: 2 prompts every 12 hours • 4 images per prompt (8 total)
DeepAI
Style: urban fashion generator
DeepAI was a bit of a hit or miss for me. The results looked okay from afar but lacked that clean, polished finish, and it took a few regenerations to get a usable image. It also completely skipped one element (the comb), which threw off the accuracy.
I’d say it’s fine if you don’t mind tweaking and sharpening details yourself, but it’s not ideal for quick, ready-to-use visuals.
Free plan: 12 images/day • 100+ styles • No watermarks
Runway
Excellent results, I have used it multiple times, and the images came out sharp and clean, closely following my prompt every time in the first attempt itself. The layout was accurate, the elements were well-placed, and the text looked neat and well-placed, even if AI-generated.
Only minor AI-generated text edits were needed, which are expected, and the images were easily ready to use. One of the smoothest AI tools for creating images.
Free plan: One-time 125 credits (doesn’t renew) • Each image costs 5 credits (25 images)
Canva AI
Canva AI delivered exactly what I expected, which was neat, sharp, and ready-to-use visuals. It felt ideal for creators who want professional results quickly. It skipped the beard trimmer but cleverly added a well-groomed man, and I just removed some inaccurate text. Other than that, the image was good to go.
Free plan: 20 lifetime credits • 1 credit gives 4 images • No watermarks
Freepik
Style: photo
Freepik gave me neat, aesthetic images with clean layouts and a polished black-and-white style. I liked how it added text blocks automatically, which made the images feel more professional. It took a few regenerations to get this above version that fully matched my prompt, but once it clicked, the images were ready to use with only text edits.
Free plan: 20 credits/day • 1 credit per image • Choose 1–4 images per prompt • No watermark
Fotor
Style: photography 4 (default)
Fotor took a few tries to get a usable image. The final result had all elements, though a hanger ended up with the beard trimmer; small quirks like that made it feel less realistic compared to other tools. It’s usable, but I wouldn’t rely on it for polished visuals straight away, as I got this image after 4-5 attempts, and still it’s not spot-on.
Free plan: 6 credits/lifetime • 1 credit per image
Adobe Firefly
Style: photo mode
This image above has all the elements and is almost ready to use, but this image came out after a few regenerations, not that easily. I chose the photo mode for the image; you can choose between photo or art mode, and also adjust the visual intensity of the image as per your liking.
Overall, Adobe Firefly can generate good images with informative prompts, though you may need a few regenerations to get there.
Free plan: 10 credits/month • 1 credit per prompt • 4 images per prompt (40 images/month)
OpenArt
Model: Flux Kontext
My first attempt produced a clean, professional-looking image that matched my prompt perfectly, all elements in place and text neat. Other models I tried were also fairly consistent. It followed instructions closely and gave accurate results. You can edit or adjust the text part, and use it as-is.
Free plan: 40 trial credits on signup (valid 7 days, non-renewable) • Credit cost depends on the model
ChatGPT
Images from ChatGPT are mostly clear, well-structured, and visually neat. Most elements appear correctly, and text is usually accurate, even if AI-generated.
Outputs default to square/portrait, so specifying landscape or other dimensions in the prompt is helpful. The images are very usable right away, with only optional tweaks like text styling or fonts needed.
Free plan: No fixed daily cap • Limits vary with server demand (2–5+ images per hour)
My personal tip:
I often use a specialized GPT called “Photorealistic Images and Videos” in the GPTs sidebar to create highly realistic images. It’s my little secret for professional-quality visuals and has made designing blog covers and webpage images much faster and easier.
Perplexity
The images were crisp, sharp, and exactly matched my prompt, nothing extra, nothing missing. Outputs are square/portrait by default, so specifying landscape or other dimensions is useful.
Everything appeared correctly on the very first attempt, making it highly accurate and reliable. The images were ready to use immediately, with only optional edits like adding text if needed.
Free plan: 5 images/week
Prome AI
Model: Qwen image (default)
The images had a good layout, with elements and text placed nicely. Accuracy isn’t perfect, at least for the first time, even after 4-5 regenerations, some elements were either missing or mixed up. The image shown above is the most accurate I could get. It’s workable, but I wouldn’t call the outputs fully ready-to-use.
Free plan: 7 coins/month • Each prompt generates 3 images by default (1.8 coins each) • No watermark.
Krea.ai
It took 3-4 attempts to get an image that closely matched my prompt; the one above is the best among all I generated. Most elements appeared, but many outputs were messy or distorted and needed editing. Not ideal for quick, ready-to-use visuals; it’s inconsistent and requires extra time to regenerate and fix.
Free plan: 7 prompts/day (credits don’t actually refresh daily) • No watermarks
Magic Hour
Magic Hour, clearly, didn’t perform well. The images were blurry, faces distorted, and a huge watermark covered parts of the visual, including text. The image shown above is the closest I could get after multiple attempts; the outputs consistently remained unusable, and editing wouldn’t make them practical.
Honestly, it’s not worth the effort compared to the other AI image tools in this list.
Kling AI
Style: Photography
For my infographic-style prompt, Kling AI consistently missed key elements. But as you can see, the image quality is so realistic and clear, but for my experiment with the informative-style prompt, it did not generate an accurate image after many reattempts.
I’ve shared all four screenshots to show how far off they were.
That said, Kling AI works well for simpler, single-concept prompts like “people in an office” or “a party scene,” giving clear, decent-quality images. So, while it failed for detailed visuals, it can be quite useful for basic concepts.
Free plan: 166 credits/month • 1 credit per image
After testing all the AI text to image tools in detail, it’s clear which ones consistently delivered accurate, professional, and usable images, and which ones missed the mark by a small or huge margin.
Here are my overall ratings for the best AI tools for image creation.
Overall Rating Table: AI Text to Image Tools
These ratings reflect each tool’s overall balance of accuracy, usability, and image quality, as tested with the same informative-style prompt for the test.
AI Image Tools | Ratings |
Perplexity | |
Runway | |
ImagineArt | |
Leonardo AI | |
OpenArt | |
ChatGPT | |
Canva AI | |
Freepik | |
Adobe Firefly | |
Fotor | |
Prome AI | |
Krea.ai | |
Deep AI | |
Kling AI | |
Magic Hour |
If you want to try creating similar professional, informational-style images yourself using AI text to image tools, I’ve also put together a universal prompt template you can reuse for any topic where you want an image with multiple elements, such as checklists, tips, or steps.
Universal Prompt Template
“Create a clean, modern (style, e.g., infographic-style/poster-style/photo-realistic/flat illustration) visual with (number) separate sections, each showing one (item/tip/step/idea) for (topic/purpose):
(object or action for point 1)
(object or action for point 2)
(object or action for point 3)
And so on.
Bright, (tone, e.g., professional/friendly/educational), (artistic, minimal, popping colors, flashy) style.”
Tip: If you’re not sure what visual elements to use for your points (tips, steps, items), just ask tools like ChatGPT using the prompt:
Prompt:
“I have these points: (list your points/checklist items/steps/tips) Suggest clear, visual ways to represent each point in an image prompt for an AI image generation tool.”
Take the ideas it gives you, then plug them into the universal template above.
Wrapping Up: 15 Best AI Tools for Image Creation
AI image generation is evolving fast, but not all AI image tools are created equal. Some still struggle with structure and clarity, while others are ready to deliver professional, usable visuals right out of the box.
From my testing, Perplexity, Runway, Imagine.art, ChatGPT, and OpenArt were the best text to image AI tools that clearly stood out as reliable options.
If you’re looking to create graphics for LinkedIn, blog posts, or presentations, or for other professional uses, these platforms consistently perform the best.
Ultimately, the best AI tools for image creation are the ones that don’t just make something look pretty; they give you usable, accurate, and high-quality visuals that save time in your workflow.
About the Author
AI marketing strategist & founder of The Digital Flock, specializing in AI tools, AI SEO, and content automation. She applies AI in real marketing workflows and documents the results through strategies, tutorials, and case studies to help marketers use AI practically.