Recraft vs Leonardo AI: What Private Generation Costs
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Recraft and Leonardo AI tie at $12 per month for access to private image generation. Both put the privacy control on their first paid personal plan, so neither requires a premium tier just to keep a new image out of a public gallery. Recraft also publishes Basic at $10 per month when $120 is billed annually. Leonardo AI’s public pricing page did not expose an exact annual Essential price in our check. This is a research-only comparison of published plan rules, not an image-quality or in-product test.
The Short Answer
- Recraft — Recraft includes private generations on Basic for $12 monthly, or $10 per month when $120 is billed annually.
- Leonardo.Ai — Leonardo AI also includes private generations on its first paid plan, Essential at $12 monthly, without requiring a higher tier.
What this comparison measures
We compared the cheapest published plan that gives a user control over whether a new image is public. That is narrower than comparing model quality, credit efficiency, ownership terms, or commercial-use rights. Those details matter, but they do not change the qualifying privacy price unless the vendor gates privacy on a different plan.
Recraft’s current pricing page says Free images are public and not licensed for commercial use. The same page puts commercial rights and private generations on Basic at $12 monthly or $10 per month with annual billing. Recraft’s ownership FAQ adds that privacy is fixed at the time an image is generated: upgrading later does not make earlier Free images private.
Leonardo AI’s current pricing table marks Free creations as Public and gives Essential, Premium, and Ultimate access to private generations. Its privacy documentation explains that paid members must turn Private Mode on. Paying unlocks the setting; it does not make every generation private regardless of the toggle.
Private Generation for $12 Monthly
1. Recraft — Private Generation for $12 Monthly
Recraft reaches the privacy outcome on Basic, its first paid plan. Basic costs $12 on monthly billing and includes private generations, commercial rights, and image ownership. The annual option lowers the displayed monthly equivalent to $10 and charges $120 for the year.
The Free-to-Basic boundary is unusually consequential. Free images are public in Recraft’s community gallery, owned by Recraft, and unavailable for commercial use. Those conditions are set when the image is created. Recraft says a later upgrade does not retroactively transfer ownership or privacy to Free-plan work, 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
The Same $12 Monthly Privacy Price
2. Leonardo.Ai — The Same $12 Monthly Privacy Price
Leonardo AI also reaches the privacy outcome on its first paid plan. Essential costs $12 per month, and the current plan table lists private creations on Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. There is no need to move up to the $30 Premium or $60 Ultimate tier solely to unlock Private Mode.
The workflow still requires attention. Leonardo AI’s help center says Private Mode is available only to paid members, and images generated while the toggle is off are visible to the public feed. Essential buys the ability to keep an image private, but the user must enable that setting before generating confidential work.
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
The billing term changes only one published result
On month-to-month billing, there is no price winner: both vendors charge $12 for the first plan that can keep new generations private. Recraft publishes a lower annual path at $10 per month, billed as $120 for the year. We could not retrieve an exact annual Essential amount from Leonardo AI’s public pricing table, so that side of the annual comparison remains blank rather than inferred.
The safe decision rule is therefore narrow. Choose either tool on monthly privacy cost, then decide based on product needs outside this article. If annual prepayment is acceptable and only published numbers count, Recraft is the only one of the two with a verified $120 yearly total in this check. That is a pricing-evidence distinction, not a claim that its images are better.
For the wider market range, see what private AI image generation costs across the tools we can verify. The companion free-tier privacy comparison separates public visibility from commercial permission, which the two vendors handle differently.
Leonardo AI documents the post-downgrade rights rule in its official FAQ.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Recraft or Leonardo AI cheaper for private image generation?
They tie at $12 on month-to-month billing. Recraft also publishes an annual Basic rate of $10 per month, billed as $120 for the year. Leonardo AI's public pricing page did not expose an exact annual Essential price in our 2026-10-05 check, so we do not publish one.
Are Recraft Free images private?
No. Recraft's pricing page says Free-plan images are public in its community gallery and are not licensed for commercial use. Private generations, ownership, and commercial rights begin with Basic, which costs $12 monthly or $10 per month with annual billing.
Are Leonardo AI Free images private?
No. Leonardo AI's pricing table marks Free creations as Public. Private Mode is available on every paid personal plan, beginning with Essential at $12 monthly. Paid access unlocks the control, but the user still needs to turn Private Mode on for a generation to remain private.
Do private images stay private after canceling Recraft or Leonardo AI?
Both vendors document continued protection for work created privately while paid. Recraft says paid-plan images remain private and under the user's ownership after cancellation. Leonardo AI says rights to images generated privately as a paid subscriber do not change after switching back to Free.
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.
- 2026-10-05 — First published. Prices and private-generation rules rechecked against both vendors' official pricing and privacy documentation.