Leonardo AI review

Leonardo AI is a generative platform for images and video, built for creators rather than developers first, though a Developer API is bolted on for teams who want to build the generation engine into their own products.

The pitch covers the full production chain: generate visuals from prompts or custom-trained models tuned to a specific look, animate static images into short video for social or product use, edit images and video while keeping characters and composition intact, and upscale resolution for print or high-res display.

Access to multiple named models is part of the draw. The pricing page lists Seedream, Nano Banana Pro, and Flux.2 Pro among more than 80 models available on paid tiers, versus "Auto model access only" on the free plan. Leonardo has been owned by Canva since 2024, which one Reddit thread pegs at a $320 million acquisition, though the companies are reportedly still run separately.

The model selection is the headline strength. Paid plans get access to 80+ models including Flux.2 Pro and Nano Banana Pro, and a commenter on r/leonardoai who has tried competing tools argues Leonardo simply has the best models available among the Stable Diffusion-based services.

Other points in its favor, per the pricing page and Reddit threads:

• A genuine free tier with 150 fast tokens per day and daily refresh, which a commenter on r/leonardoai called "solid" compared to rivals like Freepik and OpenArt.
• A Developer API with pay-as-you-go pricing, no commitments, automatic top-ups, and API credit that the pricing page says doesn't expire.
• Token banking on paid plans (up to 180,000 banked tokens on Ultimate) so unused monthly allowances carry forward rather than vanishing.
• Team plans with shared token pools and per-seat pricing ($24-$48/seat) for small groups that need centralized billing.
• Unlimited relaxed generation on select models starting at the Premium tier, which can offset the fast-token caps for patient users.

Users on Reddit describe real friction with recent changes. One r/leonardoai thread titled "What happened to Leonardo Ai?" collected reports of a UI overhaul that stripped features from Legacy Mode, including the ability to add models to styles in advanced settings and what one commenter called "the best existing upscaler, Legacy Cinematic." The same commenter argued Leonardo is losing ground to Freepik and Magnific as a result.

On pricing mechanics: the free plan limits output to public creations only and Auto model access, meaning no choice of named models without upgrading. The Essential plan at $12/month caps simultaneous generations at just 2, and even Ultimate at $60/month tops out at 6. The billing page shows a Pay Yearly/Pay Monthly toggle advertising up to 20% off annually, but only one set of prices is published in the text, so which mode those numbers reflect isn't confirmed.

Canva's 2024 acquisition also unsettled some users. One Reddit thread reacting to the news included complaints about a logo change and uncertainty over long-term direction, with a commenter predicting free Flux model access would get rolled back.

Leonardo AI's free plan gives 150 fast tokens per day, but locks you to the Auto model and public-only creations. That's fine for testing prompts, not for client work.

Paid plans start at Essential ($12/month), which unlocks private creations and 80+ models with 8,500 fast tokens monthly. Premium jumps to $30/month for 25,000 tokens and unlimited relaxed generation on select models. Ultimate at $60/month adds video to that unlimited-relaxed-generation allowance and bumps simultaneous generations to six.

Team plans price per seat: Starter runs $72/month ($24/seat) and Growth $144/month ($48/seat), both built around shared token pools rather than per-user caps.

The billing toggle advertises up to 20% off annual pricing, but the pricing page only lists one set of numbers in its text, so we can't confirm whether the figures above are monthly or discounted annual rates. Token top-up packs don't expire, but the pricing page notes they require an active subscription to use.

Leonardo AI doesn't publish a data export policy on its pricing page, so what happens to your generated images, trained models, or collections if you cancel isn't clear from the published material. That's worth asking support before committing a production workflow to it.

Lock-in shows up in the token system: top-up packs never expire, but the pricing page specifies they only work with an active subscription, which nudges long-term users toward staying rather than banking credits and leaving.

For teams, Growth-tier model training draws from shared team tokens, meaning custom models built there are tied to the team's subscription status, not an individual seat.

On the way out, the Developer API is the more portable option: Pay As You Go credits don't expire and there's no commitment, which suits teams building generation into their own product and wanting an exit ramp separate from the consumer subscription tiers.