Verdict
Is Leonardo's free daily allowance enough to get started, and when do the paid token plans make sense?
The Free plan gives 150 fast tokens a day with public creations. Essential ($12 a month, monthly view) gives 8,500 tokens a month and private creations; Premium ($30) 25,000; Ultimate ($60) 60,000 with unlimited relaxed image and video generation on select models.
Who should consider it. Consider it if you want a free daily allowance, private creations on a low-cost plan, or an API to build on.
Start here: first steps with Leonardo.Ai
Editorial guidance based on the vendor details we recorded. We have not tested Leonardo.Ai, and we do not describe its screens or settings.
- Who should start with it
- Hobbyists and small teams who want daily free generations and a path to API use.
- Before you create an account
- Pick one real job, for example "Generate images", and prepare invented or non-sensitive input for the first try.
- Read the vendor's data and privacy terms. Our privacy review checklist lists what to look for.
- Commercial-use terms: we have not verified them. Read the vendor's terms for the plan you will use.
- Which plan to start with
- Start on the free plan. The limits we recorded: 150 fast tokens a day; token bank of 150; public creations; basic quality settings; 1 personal collection.
- A first small task
- Try a small version of a real case like this one: A hobbyist using the free daily tokens.
- How to tell whether it helps
- Time the job by hand first. Then record minutes taken, minutes of editing and credits or usage used. Use the trial scorecard.
- Common first-week mistakes
- Spending credits or usage on experiments without noting how much one job used.
- Adding seats before you know the tool works for you, or missing a seat minimum.
- Building a routine on a free limit that resets daily or never, without checking which.
- Putting private or customer data in before reading how the vendor handles it.
- When to consider another tool
- Anyone who needs private work on the free plan: free creations are public.
- Anyone who needs unlimited generation on every model: the unlimited relaxed mode is limited to selected models.
Alternatives: Ideogram, Adobe Firefly. Reasons to switch.
What Leonardo.Ai actually does
- Generates images and video across several models, with presets, quality settings and personal AI models.
- Paid plans make creations private and add simultaneous generations, a larger queue and token top-ups.
- Team plans share a token pool and let teams train AI models using team tokens (Growth).
- A pay-as-you-go API includes remove.bg background-removal APIs and up to 10 concurrent generations.
Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere
Good fits
- A hobbyist using the free daily tokens.
- A small team that wants a shared token pool (Starter at $24 a seat).
Scenarios are illustrative, based on plan limits and documented features.
Consider alternatives if
- Anyone who needs private work on the free plan: free creations are public.
- Anyone who needs unlimited generation on every model: the unlimited relaxed mode is limited to selected models.
Practical workflows
Illustrative: built from documented features, not from testing.
Create a consistent character set
Outcome: A set of images with the same look
- Generate a few images from a prompt on the free daily tokens.
- Pick one style and note the model and settings you used.
- Re-run with variations to keep the look consistent.
- Upgrade to a paid plan if you need the creations to be private.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths Vendor-documented
- A free daily token allowance
- Plan allowances for tokens, models and simultaneous generations are itemised
- Team and API options are priced on the same page
Limitations and cautions Documented limits and editorial guidance
- Free creations are public
- Unlimited relaxed generation covers selected models only
- Relaxed generation may slow at busy times
Hands-on testing
Not tested by us yet, so this page describes what the vendor documents. How testing is recorded.
Pricing
Free
Free plan150 fast tokens a day; token bank of 150; public creations; basic quality settings; 1 personal collection
Free trial
Not statedA trial is separate from a free plan.
Cheapest paid plan
EssentialFrom $12/mo (currency not named), billed monthly
Show all 7 plans and limits
| Plan | Price and billing | Limits and inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Free Free |
| 150 fast tokens a day; token bank of 150; public creations; basic quality settings; 1 personal collection |
| Essential |
| 8,500 fast tokens a month; token bank 25,500; private creations; 10 personal AI models; 2 simultaneous generations |
| Premium |
| 25,000 tokens a month; token bank 75,000; 20 personal AI models; 3 simultaneous generations; unlimited relaxed image generation on select models |
| Ultimate |
| 60,000 tokens a month; token bank 180,000; 50 personal AI models; 6 simultaneous generations; unlimited relaxed image and video generation on select models |
| Team Starter |
| 75,000 shared tokens; 25,000 fast tokens per seat |
| Team Growth |
| 180,000 shared tokens; 60,000 fast tokens per seat; train AI models using team tokens |
| API (pay as you go) | See limits | Pay only for what you use; API credit does not expire; up to 10 concurrent generations |
How usage is counted
- Free: 150 fast tokens a day with a 150-token bank, public creations and 1 personal collection.
- Essential: 8,500 tokens a month, 10 personal AI models, 2 simultaneous generations. Premium: 25,000 tokens, 20 models, 3 simultaneous generations. Ultimate: 60,000 tokens, 50 models, 6 simultaneous generations.
- Unlimited relaxed generation applies to selected models only (the page names models such as Lucid Origin, Phoenix 1.0 and Motion 2.0) and may be slowed at busy times.
- Pricing model
- Credits, Per seat or user
- Currency
- Shown as "$"; the vendor's page does not name the currency
- Commercial use
- Not verified
- API
- Yes · A pay-as-you-go API plan is listed, with a custom API plan for higher volume.
- Pricing checked
- 21 Oct 2026 · Vendor pricing page (opens in a new tab)
- Prices are shown ex. tax in the Monthly view. A Yearly view says "up to 20% off", but the figures it showed were not clearly lower, so no annual prices are listed.
Prices are shown as each vendor lists them. Where a vendor shows only a "$" sign, its page does not name the currency, and vendors may show a local currency or regional price. Confirm on the vendor's page before buying.
Alternatives
Ideogram
Reason to consider it: Credit costs per image are published for each model, with plans from $20 a month ($15 annually).
- Free access: Ideogram is "free options not stated"; Leonardo.Ai is "free plan".
- Paid prices are in different, unnamed or not comparable currencies, so they are not compared here.
- Platforms documented for Ideogram but not for Leonardo.Ai: ios.
Adobe Firefly
Reason to consider it: US-dollar plans from $9.99 a month with video and audio included and stated commercial terms for Firefly models.
- API: Adobe Firefly not verified; Leonardo.Ai documented.
- Paid prices are in different, unnamed or not comparable currencies, so they are not compared here.
- Platforms documented for Adobe Firefly but not for Leonardo.Ai: ios, android.
- Commercial-use terms are recorded for Adobe Firefly only.
Recraft
Reason to consider it: Spells out that paid plans grant ownership and commercial rights, and has an API for image and vector generation.
- Commercial-use terms are recorded for Recraft only.
Frequently asked questions
Does Leonardo.Ai have a free plan?
Yes. The free plan lists: 150 fast tokens a day; token bank of 150; public creations; basic quality settings; 1 personal collection.
How much does Leonardo.Ai cost?
The lowest-priced paid plan is Essential: from $12/mo (currency not named), billed monthly. Annual-billing prices are shown per month but are paid yearly. Pricing was checked 21 Oct 2026.
Does Leonardo.Ai have an API?
Yes. A pay-as-you-go API plan is listed, with a custom API plan for higher volume.
Can I use Leonardo.Ai output commercially?
We have not verified the commercial-use terms. That is a gap in our research, not a statement about the product. Read the vendor's terms before publishing output commercially.
Keep comparing
Sources and update history
| Source | What it covered | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Leonardo.Ai pricing page (opens in a new tab) | Plans, prices (Monthly view), tokens, team plans, API | 21 Oct 2026 |
Not yet verified
These are gaps in our research, not claims about the product.
- Annual prices (the yearly view shows slightly different figures that we could not interpret)
- Commercial-use terms by plan (summarised from a vendor help article, not read in full)
- Currency code
Research note
- Vendor-documented: prices, plan limits, features and terms are taken from the sources above on the dates shown.
- Editorial interpretation: the verdict, good fits, tradeoffs and workflows are our reading of those facts. None of it comes from testing the tool.
- Unverified: anything listed under "Not yet verified" is a gap in our research, not a claim about the product.
Update history
- 20 Oct 2026 · Added a sourced product overview; paid prices and hands-on performance remain unverified.
- 21 Oct 2026 · Re-researched from the vendor's official pages: pricing, limits, platform and API details.
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