Which AI Image Models Keep Your Free-Tier Generations Private?
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If you’re generating images on a free plan, two different questions get conflated: can you use the result commercially, and can anyone else see it first? They’re not the same question, and vendors don’t always answer both. We checked what each vendor’s own pages say.
The Short Answer
- Adobe Firefly — Adobe confirms commercial use on the free plan; IP indemnification is a separate benefit limited to eligible offers and agreements.
- Leonardo.Ai — Leonardo's own pricing table lists free-plan creations as Public — private generation requires a paid plan.
- Ideogram — Ideogram says images are published by default; private generation starts on Plus, while commercial use is permitted even for public output.
- Midjourney — Midjourney has no free tier at all, and even its cheapest paid plan doesn't include private generation — that needs Pro or higher.
- Recraft — Recraft says Free images are public, owned by Recraft, and not licensed for commercial use; privacy starts on Basic.
- Krea — Krea says generations on its $0 Free plan are private and that there is no public feed, with 100 compute units available per day.
| Model | Best for | Paid plans from | Free | Free-tier privacy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly | Commercial Use Confirmed on Free Plan | $9.99/mo | Yes | — |
| Leonardo.Ai | Free Means Public | $12/mo | Yes | Public by default |
| Ideogram | Free Means Public, Too | $15/mo (annual) | Yes | Public by default |
| Midjourney | No Free Plan | $8/mo (annual) | No | No free tier to evaluate |
| Recraft | Free Is Public and Non-Commercial | $10/mo (annual) | Yes | Public by default |
| Krea | Free Generations Stay Private | $5/mo (annual) | Yes | Private by default |
What we checked
For each model, we read the vendor’s own pricing page (and, where it existed, a dedicated FAQ or help-center article) for three things: plan prices under monthly and annual billing, what the free tier includes, and whether generations are private by default or public unless you pay. We did not create an account with any of these tools — everything here comes from what each vendor publishes.
Commercial Use Confirmed on Free Plan
1. Adobe Firefly — Commercial Use Confirmed on Free Plan
Firefly’s free plan gives you limited daily generations with no card required, and — unlike some of the ambiguity we ran into elsewhere — Adobe’s own generative-credits FAQ directly confirms commercial use is permitted on free-plan outputs for released (non-beta) features, the same as paid plans. Adobe documents IP indemnification separately and limits it to eligible offers and customer agreements. We therefore do not describe indemnification as a benefit that comes with every paid Firefly subscription.
Paid plans from $9.99/mo. Free plan: Limited free daily generations across standard and premium features, no card required.
- Standard — $9.99/mo
Free-tier privacy Not confirmed — We could not confirm a structural public/private distinction for the free plan the way Leonardo and Ideogram publish one. Adobe's generative-credits FAQ does confirm commercial use on free outputs. IP indemnification is limited to eligible offers and agreements; it is not a universal benefit of every paid Firefly plan.
Pros
- Commercial use is confirmed on the free plan itself, not held back for paid tiers, per Adobe's own generative-credits FAQ
- No card required to start
Skip it if
- Adobe does not publish a free-versus-paid privacy distinction we could verify; its IP indemnification applies only to eligible offers and agreements
Free Means Public
2. Leonardo.Ai — Free Means Public
Leonardo’s own pricing table is direct about this: the free plan’s row for “Creations access” reads Public, and every paid tier’s reads Private. Leonardo’s help center confirms free-plan images can still be used commercially, but they’re visible to other Leonardo users, who can view and remix them, and Leonardo itself retains broad rights to reuse what’s shared publicly. Full private ownership starts at the Essential plan, $12/mo.
Paid plans 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
Free Means Public, Too
3. Ideogram — Free Means Public, Too
Ideogram’s plan comparison table follows the same shape as Leonardo’s: “Private generations” is unchecked for Free and checked for every paid tier, so free-plan images land in the public Explore feed by default. Its current pricing FAQ separately says Ideogram does not claim ownership of generated images and allows them to be used for any purpose, including commercial use. Public visibility and commercial permission are separate facts: free output can be used, but other people can still see it unless the user upgrades to a plan with private generation.
Paid plans 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
No Free Plan
4. Midjourney — No Free Plan
Midjourney doesn’t give us a free tier to check this question against — its cheapest plan, Basic, is $10/mo. What its own plan-comparison page does make clear is that commercial usage terms are identical across all four tiers, but Stealth Mode (private generation) is gated to the Pro plan ($60/mo) and above. On Basic or Standard, what you generate is public by default, paid or not.
Paid plans from $8/mo (annual). No free plan.
- Basic — $10/mo, or $8/mo billed annually
- Standard — $30/mo, or $24/mo billed annually
- Pro — $60/mo, or $48/mo billed annually
- Mega — $120/mo, or $96/mo billed annually
Free-tier privacy No free tier to evaluate — No free plan at any price. Every paid tier, including the cheapest ($10/mo Basic), carries the same General Commercial Terms — but Stealth Mode (private generations) is a Pro/Mega-only feature, so Basic and Standard generations are public by default.
Pros
- Commercial usage rights are identical across all four tiers — you don't need the most expensive plan to use images commercially, only if your company makes over $1M/year in gross revenue
Skip it if
- No free tier at all to try before paying
- Private generation (Stealth Mode) requires the Pro plan ($60/mo) or higher — Basic and Standard users' generations are public
Free Is Public and Non-Commercial
5. Recraft — Free Is Public and Non-Commercial
Recraft’s current pricing page states the boundary directly: Free images are public in its community gallery and are not licensed for commercial use. Basic is the first paid plan and includes private generations, ownership, and commercial rights at $12 monthly or $10 per month with annual billing.
The timing matters. Recraft’s ownership FAQ says an image’s privacy and ownership are set when it is generated. Upgrading later does not make earlier Free images private, while images created during a paid subscription remain private after cancellation.
Paid plans from $10/mo (annual). Free plan: Limited free credits, up to 3 generations per style per day, public images, and no commercial use.
- Basic — $12/mo, or $10/mo billed annually · 1 seat
- Pro — $20/mo, or $16/mo billed annually · 1 seat
- Teams (per seat) — $22/mo, or $18/mo billed annually
Free-tier privacy Public by default — Recraft's pricing page says all Free-plan images are public and not licensed for commercial use. Basic is the first paid plan and includes commercial rights and private generations. Images created during a paid subscription remain private after cancellation.
Pros
- Private generation and commercial rights start on Basic at $12 monthly or $10 per month with annual billing
Skip it if
- Free-plan images are public, owned by Recraft, and not licensed for commercial use
Free Generations Stay Private
6. Krea — Free Generations Stay Private
Krea is the exception in this comparison. Its current pricing page lists a $0 Free plan with 100 compute units per day and no credit card, and its official 2026 Leonardo AI comparison says Free-plan generations stay in the user’s account and that Krea has no public feed.
That is a vendor-documented result, not a ToolFind AI hands-on test. We did not create an image or try to discover it from another account. The $0 path is a privacy result rather than a claim of feature parity with paid plans.
Paid plans from $5/mo (annual). Free plan: 100 compute units per day, no credit card required.
- Basic — $9/mo, or $5/mo billed annually
- Pro — $35/mo, or $21/mo billed annually
- Max — $105/mo, or $63/mo billed annually
Free-tier privacy Private by default — Krea's official 2026 Leonardo AI comparison says Free-plan generations stay in the user's account and there is no public feed. This is vendor-documented rather than independently tested.
Pros
- Krea documents a $0 privacy path: the Free plan's generations are private and there is no public feed
Skip it if
- The Free plan is limited to 100 compute units per day
More in this category
This review asks whether free-tier generations stay private; its companion asks the follow-on question — what the cheapest plan that actually turns privacy on costs, where Midjourney’s answer is six times its own entry price. Both live in the AI image models category. The same “what does the cheap tier actually let you walk away with” question drives our other categories too — for SEO tools it’s whether report export is bundled or an add-on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are free-plan AI image generations public by default?
For three of the six models we checked, yes. Leonardo.Ai and Ideogram mark private generations as paid-only, while Recraft says Free images are public in its community gallery. Krea says its Free generations are private with no public feed. Adobe Firefly remains unconfirmed; Midjourney has no free plan to evaluate.
Can you use free-plan AI images commercially?
It varies, and the fine print matters more than the headline. Adobe Firefly's own FAQ confirms commercial use on the free plan; IP indemnification is a separate benefit limited to eligible offers and agreements. Leonardo AI also allows commercial use while free images remain public. Ideogram says it does not claim ownership of generated images and permits their use for any purpose, including commercial use.
Why does Midjourney have no free plan?
We don't know their reasoning — only that their own plan comparison page lists four paid tiers starting at $10/mo with no free option, unlike four of the other tools we checked here.
What does 'private generation' actually protect against?
Based on how Leonardo, Ideogram, and Recraft describe it, a public generation is visible to other users in a community feed and may be viewed or remixed. Visibility and ownership are separate: Recraft also retains ownership of Free images, while the other vendors publish different terms.
Which of these tools has the strongest commercial-use guarantee?
Adobe Firefly, Leonardo AI, and Ideogram each publish direct commercial-use language, but the terms are not identical. Adobe separates commercial permission from IP indemnification, which is limited to eligible offers and agreements. Leonardo allows commercial use while free images remain public. Ideogram says it does not claim ownership and allows generated images to be used for any purpose. None of those statements answers Firefly's still-unconfirmed free-tier privacy structure.
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.
- 2026-10-29 — Rechecked Krea's current pricing and replaced the earlier privacy citation with its current official comparison page.
- 2026-10-19 — Added Krea after its current pricing page confirmed the Free allowance and its official guide documented private generations with no public feed.
- 2026-10-05 — Added Recraft after verifying that Free images are public and that privacy starts on the first paid plan.
- 2026-08-27 — Corrected Ideogram's commercial-use entry and narrowed Adobe's IP-indemnification wording to the eligible offers and agreements its current documentation actually covers.
- 2026-08-05 — First published. Pricing and privacy-tier details read from each vendor's own pricing or documentation page on this date.