Ideogram vs Leonardo AI: What Private Generation Costs
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Leonardo AI is the lower-cost route to a private-generation control. Its Essential plan costs $12 per month. Ideogram requires Plus at $20 on monthly billing or $15 per month when $180 is paid annually. Both vendors keep the control off their free tiers, so this is a price-and-billing comparison rather than an image-quality verdict.
The Short Answer
- Leonardo.Ai — Leonardo AI reaches the privacy outcome for $12 on its Essential plan, with no annual commitment required.
- Ideogram — Ideogram starts private generation on Plus at $20 monthly, or $15 per month when $180 is billed annually.
What this comparison measures
We compared the cheapest published plan that lets a user keep a new image out of the vendor’s public discovery surface. We did not compare model quality, prompt adherence, editing tools, or credit systems. Ideogram credits and Leonardo tokens are vendor-specific units, so putting those numbers side by side would not establish equivalent output.
Ideogram’s pricing page lists private generation on Plus, Pro, and Team. The same page says all images are published by default, while Plus and Pro subscribers can generate unpublished images and unpublish earlier work. Plus is the first qualifying plan at $20 monthly or $15 per month with $180 billed annually.
Leonardo AI’s pricing table marks Free creations as Public and includes Private Generations on Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. Essential is the first qualifying plan at $12 per month. Leonardo’s privacy help article adds an operational detail: paid access exposes a Private Mode toggle, and generations made with that toggle off are visible in the public feed.
Private Generation for $12 Monthly
1. Leonardo.Ai — Private Generation for $12 Monthly
Leonardo AI has the lower published privacy price and the simpler billing decision in this comparison. Essential costs $12 monthly and receives the same Private Generations checkmark shown for the $30 Premium and $60 Ultimate plans. A user does not need to buy a higher tier only to unlock the visibility control.
The control still has to be used. Leonardo’s help center says Private Mode is available to paid members and that switching it off makes images visible to the public feed. Its commercial-use explanation also separates permission from privacy: Free users may use their images commercially, but their concepts remain publicly viewable for other Leonardo users to copy and remix.
From $12/mo. Free plan: 150 fast tokens/day, 150 token bank, public creations, 1 personal collection.
- Essential — $12/mo
- Premium — $30/mo
- Ultimate — $60/mo
Free-tier privacy Public by default — Leonardo's own pricing table lists free-plan "Creations access" as Public; every paid tier lists it as Private. Leonardo's own help center confirms free-plan images can be used commercially, but they remain publicly viewable and remixable by other users, and Leonardo retains broad rights to reuse publicly shared content — full private ownership requires a paid plan.
Pros
- Commercial use is technically permitted on the free plan
Skip it if
- Free-plan images are public by Leonardo's own pricing table — other users can view and remix them, and you don't get exclusive private ownership until you pay
Private Generation for $20 Monthly
2. Ideogram — Private Generation for $20 Monthly
Ideogram reaches the same visibility outcome on Plus, its first paid plan. The difference is billing: Plus is $20 for a single month, or $15 per month when the user commits to a $180 annual payment. That makes Leonardo AI $8 cheaper for a month-to-month privacy purchase.
Ideogram is unusually direct about the default. Its pricing FAQ says all images are published unless a qualifying subscriber generates them as unpublished. The page also says Ideogram does not claim ownership of generated images and permits their use for any purpose, including commercial use. That permission applies to usage; it does not remove a public image from the community surface.
From $15/mo (annual). Free plan: Weekly slow credits for eligible accounts; the current pricing page says the amount may vary.
- Plus — $20/mo, or $15/mo billed annually
- Pro — $60/mo, or $42/mo billed annually
- Team — $30/mo, or $20/mo billed annually · 2 seats
Free-tier privacy Public by default — Ideogram's pricing page says all images are published by default and lists private generation on Plus, Pro, and Team. The Free plan does not include the control.
Pros
- Ideogram says it does not claim ownership of generated images and permits their use for any purpose, including commercial use
Skip it if
- Images are published by default; private generation requires Plus at $20 monthly or $15 per month with annual billing
The decision in one line
Choose Leonardo AI when the lowest verified monthly cost for a privacy control is the deciding factor. Choose Ideogram only when you prefer its product for reasons outside this comparison and accept either the $20 month-to-month price or a $180 annual commitment. In both products, confirm the visibility setting before entering a confidential prompt.
This head-to-head serves a narrower purchase question than our four-tool private-generation cost comparison. For the prerequisite question, see which free tiers publish generations by default.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ideogram or Leonardo AI cheaper for private image generation?
Leonardo AI is cheaper at the published prices we verified. Its Essential plan includes private generation for $12 per month. Ideogram requires Plus at $20 month to month or $15 per month when $180 is billed annually.
Are free generations private on Ideogram or Leonardo AI?
No. Ideogram says images are published by default and reserves private generation for paid plans. Leonardo AI marks Free creations as Public and includes its Private Mode control only on paid plans.
Does every paid plan include private generation?
The current plan tables put the privacy control on every published paid tier compared here. Leonardo AI includes Private Generations on Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. Ideogram lists private generation on Plus, Pro, and Team.
Can public Ideogram and Leonardo AI images be used commercially?
Both vendors publish commercial-use permission, but visibility remains separate. Ideogram says it does not claim ownership and permits generated images to be used for any purpose. Leonardo AI permits commercial use on Free, while explaining that public images remain viewable and usable by other members.
Did ToolFind AI test the privacy controls inside either product?
No. This is a research-only comparison of current vendor pricing and privacy documentation. We did not create images, inspect account settings, or test whether a private generation leaked into a public feed.
How We Keep This Updated
We re-check each tool's pricing, source documentation, and any firsthand test records used on this page. Every change is logged here. Our full procedure is on the methodology page, and if anything above is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will re-check it.
- 2026-08-27 — First published. Prices, billing terms, privacy controls, and commercial-use statements checked against both vendors' official pricing and help pages.