Image generators turn a text description into illustrations, photos and graphics. For teams, what counts is less the spectacular one-off than whether a result can be reproduced, adjusted and used without legal risk.
Our pick: Adobe Firefly
First choice for professional design work with an approval process, where retouching is the real strength.
What to look for when choosing
- Legal position: how are usage rights governed, and where does the training data come from?
- Control: can you steer the crop, the style and individual elements after the fact?
- Consistency: can characters, products or a brand style stay the same across several images?
- Text in images: lettering remains the biggest weakness of many models.
How we weight these points is set out in our test methodology. The tool overview gives you every category at a glance.
Every tool in this category
1
Adobe Firefly
AdobeLegally clean image AI, sitting where designers already work.
2Stable Diffusion
Stability AI / Open SourceOpen models for your own hardware: maximum control, maximum effort.
3Ideogram
Ideogram AIThe specialist when legible text has to appear in the image.
4Midjourney
MidjourneyThe most beautiful images in this test, with the most idiosyncratic interface.
| # | Tool | Category | Overall score | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Images | from about 9.99 euros per month, included in Creative Cloud plans | Agencies and companies with approval processes | ||
| 2 | Images | Software free, costs come from hardware or hosting | Technically confident users, data protection edge cases, high volumes | ||
| 3 | Images | from about $8 per month | Social media graphics, posters, logo drafts, packaging ideas | ||
| 4 | Images | from about $10 per month | Creatives, agencies, concept imagery and mood boards |
Other categories
AI assistants & chatbotsAll-rounders for research, writing, analysis and everyday questions.AI coding toolsCode completion, refactoring and agents that take on whole tasks.AI translation & writing toolsTools for translation, editing, knowledge management and marketing copy.AI video generators & voice AISpeech synthesis, video clips and avatars for training, advertising and social media.