AI art has taken on a whole new life in the past several months, and with a ton of options cropping up, finding a great AI art generator isn’t all that difficult. But just because a bot can create AI art doesn’t mean it’s the best at it. If you want to get some of the best quality AI art alongside some of the best features, a few AI art generators stand out above the rest.
The ethics of making AI art
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about AI art generators without discussing the overall ethics of AI art. The general idea here is that while you can ask AI to make just about anything, you really shouldn’t—or at least, you should always consider what you’re using the AI generator for. That’s because copyright issues and a slew of other ethical concerns continue to haunt the AI art world. You can check out our in-depth piece for a deeper look at the ethics of making and publishing AI art. It’s also important to note that different programs and AI apps have different rules and policies for how you can distribute your AI-generated art. Not all systems will allow you to sell your AI art, so that is something to keep in mind if you’re trying to make a business this way.
While there are a slew of options out there, including some big names, I’ve focused on the five AI art generators that I believe offer the best features and options for users, as well as the best possible prices and results.
Midjourney
Credit: Joshua Hawkins / Midjourney
Often considered the creme de la creme of AI art generation, Midjourney offers users a ton of great features, including the option to randomize prompts, make small changes in between iterations, and even blend other images with its prompts.
The Midjourney user community is also massive, giving you a lot of space to ask questions and learn from others. The downside, though, is that Midjourney relies far too heavily on Discord to get things done. This makes using Midjourney difficult, and the app has a huge learning curve that a lot of people just might not want to put the time in for. Midjourney is moving away from using Discord, but the main app is only available for limited users right now.
Midjourney offers 25 free credits per account and comes with multiple monthly subscriptions ranging from $10 to $120 a month. These plans have different limits for image generation, as well as some additional features like the stealth mode, which is only available in the Pro Plan or higher ($60 or $120, depending on whether you choose the Pro or Mega Plan).
DALL-E 3
Credit: Joshua Hawkins / OpenAI
DALL-E 3 is an AI image generation model created and utilized by ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI. As such, DALL-E 3 is readily available as part of ChatGPT Plus, as well as various resources that utilize GPT 4.0, including Bing’s Image Creator.
DALL-E 3 is extremely versatile, and if you purchase ChatGPT Plus ($20 a month), you get unlimited access to DALL-E 3 within ChatGPT, making it one of the best ways to dive into AI art generation. It’s also a really handy tool for making images, though you lose out on some of the great features that Midjourney offers, like the option to rescale images you’ve already generated.
DALL-E 3 works from prompts you input, similar to how Midjourney does, so it’s relatively easy to start making images—but it can be a bit difficult to master as you’ll really need to perfect your prompts to get the results that you want. Still, if you already have ChatGPT Plus or use Bing Image Creator, you can try DALL-E 3 for yourself to see if it fits your needs.
DreamStudio
Credit: Joshua Hawkins / Stability.ai
The official Stable Diffusion web app, DreamStudio is a welcome option for users who like the images that DALL-E 3 puts out but want something with a few more bells and whistles. You’ll get 25 credits just for signing up, and you can easily purchase 1,000 more credits for just $10. That’s roughly enough credits to generate 1,200 images, depending on how you mess with the settings.
Where DreamStudio shines is in its robust settings menu. The web app is very powerful, giving you access to an assortment of different features, including how many steps the AI takes to generate your images, and whether it iterates on an image it has already generated or starts from scratch.
The free trial gives you a good chance to test out the interface, which is one reason that DreamStudio is such a welcome addition to the AI art generation world.
Night Cafe
Credit: Joshua Hawkins / Night Cafe
If you’re looking for an app with more features and style options, then Night Cafe is a solid one to consider. This app has built up alongside a community of AI art enthusiasts, and there are monthly challenges, a gallery to showcase your work, and even a community Discord server you can join up with if you so choose.
It starts at $6 a month for 100 credits, which is roughly 1,000 images a month, depending on the settings you use, and it allows you to make use of various AI models. That’s really where Night Cafe shines, as you can take advantage of styles and models like DALL-E 2, CLIP-Guided Diffusion, VQGAN-CLIP, and even Stable Diffusion, allowing you to see your prompts in a number of different styles.
