Ten of the Best AI Image Generators in 2023
Over the last year, AI began to dominate headlines, working its way into our lives in many different ways, from self-driving car tech to search engines, its rise shows no signs of slowing. One area in which it is making a big impact is image creation and photography, but this is not without its issues.
AI image creation has many benefits. It can be a great way to quickly visualize ideas and generate images for content creation, exploring concepts, or simply for having fun making images. It can also be a contentious issue, as recently it was revealed a photographer used an AI-generated image to win the 2023 Sony world photography contest. Thankfully he admitted to it, claiming it was to promote discussion about AI, and refused the award. It has shown that if AI can fool even the most hardened photography judges then it can fool anyone. With things like this taking over the photography world I am left wondering whether people will need photographers for much longer, or is this something that photographers should embrace and adapt to?
Controversy aside, there are many image generators out there now for you to try. An AI text-to-image generator makes use of a machine learning technique called artificial neural networks that can receive input in the form of words entered by the user, which it then processes to generate an image. The entire process takes mere seconds, you type in your request and you can see the results of your input immediately.
With so many options out there now, which AI image generators are any good? Let’s dive in.
For me, Midjourney is one of the best AI image generators in 2023. While a lot of these generators tend to create images with a painterly feel to them, Midjourney is the most photo-realistic. Its users have won fine art awards with this implementation, and the output is so clear you will have a hard time believing your images are not photographs. The only drawback as of now is it is run through a Discord server so you would need an account with them before you can access Midjourney for yourself. Prices for the service start at $8 a month. Some learning is required to use it.
Pros.
+ Photo-realistic output
+ Discord community for help and support
+ 4 images per output
Cons.
- Monthly cost
- Requires knowledge of Discord Bot commands to use
Ever wonder what you would look like dressed as Abraham Lincoln? Or, maybe Henry the 8th? AI Time Machine is the image generator that went super viral on TikTok last year. Upload 10-25 images of yourself and the generator will create realistic portraits of you throughout the ages. You’ll have to wait 30-90 minutes for the results but will be rewarded with high-quality images of yourself from throughout history.
Pros.
+ Generate accurate historical photos of yourself
+ Generous amount of options
+ Free trial
Cons.
- Long wait for images
- If your impatient you can speed things up for $12
Dall-E 2 was created by Open-AI, the company responsible for the Chat-GPT AI system. It has become one of the most popular image generators on the market through its simplicity and ease of use. The system is very intuitive and can create images in moments. Whatever you type Dall-E 2 will create four images in response to your input. One of the best features for me is that the system has image manipulation tools for use on whatever you create so you can further expand your vision.
Pros.
+ Fast
+ Accurate images
+ Ability to edit created images
Cons.
- Limited credits
Microsoft’s Bing image creator is a more advanced version of the Dall-E system. Images from Bing appear to be of higher quality than Dall-E and are free. One of the best parts of Microsoft attempt is that they put everything ‘AI’ in the same place for easy access. All you need is a Microsoft account to use this system, Log in and set Bing chat to creative mode, type what you want and the results are delivered quickly.
Pros.
+ Powered by Dall-E
+ Easy access via Microsoft’s web products
+ Quick and convenient
Cons.
- You’ll need a Microsoft account
- System is still new and in a preview build
Dream by WOMBO is one of the best AI image generators available for your mobile phone. You can create simply and quickly with little input. It also has lots of different design styles to choose from such as realistic, expressionism, comic, abstract, fanatical and more. You can also upload an image for reference. There is also a free desktop version. Subscription costs for this one are $90 for the year or $10 a month for access to all the features.
Pros.
+ Best mobile app for AI generation
+ Edit your images after generation
+ Lots of styles to choose
Cons.
- Subscription to unlock all features
- Only one image per session
Craiyon was formerly called DALL-E mini, although it has no affiliation with the Dall-E systems mentioned above. It was developed by researchers at Google and Hugging Face. Simply type a text description and it will generate 9 different images made from your input text. Unlike DALL-E 2, the outputs from Craiyon lack quality. Not to worry though because you have unlimited prompts, you can continue to tweak the prompt until you get exactly what you're envisioning. The site is also so simple to use, adding to the overall appeal and making this AI generator an entry into this list.
Pros.
+ Free
+ Unlimited images
+ Easy to use
Cons.
- Long wait times
- Images no the best quality
NightCafe is another popular AI image creator. You can create five free images a day, but you will need to earn credits to use NightCafe frequently. This can be earned through community interaction or by purchasing. It has plenty of algorithms and design styles and comes with two types of image creation options.
Text to Image - All you need to do is enter your text and NightCafe will generate an image from your description.
Style Transfer - Upload any image to NightCafe and it will stylize your image to look like famous paintings and more.
Pros.
+ Easy to use
+ Fast image processing
+ High enough quality images for print
+ 5 Free images a day
+ Lots of styles to choose from
Cons.
- Credits required to do any serious work
Late last year Jasper.ai released Jasper Art which has been rapidly gaining in popularity through the first part of this year. This generator is still in the Beta phase but is already creating impressive images within seconds and in many different styles. The system can create four images at once and you can create unlimited images for a $20 a month subscription. It also has a very active development team who are constantly improving the system.
Pros.
+ Create unlimited images
+ Many different styles
+ Create four images at once
Cons.
- $20 a month for full access
This last one is for the more technically-minded artists out there. Stable Diffusion is an open source Image generator that you can download to your desktop computer and create images locally with API’s, seed generators and switchable algorithms. Most AI image generators out there use the Stablefusion method. If you would still like to try this system but are looking for something a little easier the developers have created an online version Called DreamStudio which you can click on above to try. Dreamstudio combined with StableFusion are possibly the most powerful and versatile options around right now for AI image generation. Dreamstudio works on a credit system, you get 100 credits when you sign up which is good for about 500 images. This number becomes less the more configuration options you use.
Pros.
+ Most powerful system right now for AI image generation
+ Many different sliders and options
+ Different algorithm options
Cons.
- Works on a credit system $10 for 1000 credits
So there you have it. I hope this helps you find an AI image creator to suit your needs. Whether you’re looking for something professional or just for entertainment, paid or free, I have included options for pretty much everyone. The jury is still out on whether AI image and content creation will spell the end for photographers in the 21st century. Just for fun, I asked ChatGPT what they thought of AI taking over in this field and its response is below. Thanks for reading!
