Type « Leonardo AI » in a search engine and you will quickly come across a question that comes back everywhere, up to Reddit: is it a scam? The short answer is no. Leonardo has belonged to Canva since 2024, the company is perfectly identified, and the generator is one of the best in the market.
Except that this question of reliability hides another, much more concrete, than almost none. review Don't pose. On Leonardo's free plan, all your images are public. Not only visible: reusable by other users. And you can't disable this option without paying.
📌 Essentials
- Leonardo is legitimate, bought by Canva in July 2024, and still operated as an independent product.
- Free of charge gives 150 chips a day, which is generous compared to competition.
- But your free creations are publicpaid to the community gallery, without the possibility of making them private.
- Commercial use is permitted, including free, which remains rare. But you don't have any exclusivity.
- Private starts at 12 $ per month, Essential formula, included if you already pay Canva Business.
Is Leonardo AI reliable?
Let us address the question of the front, since it is she who brings most people here. Leonardo.Ai is an Australian company founded in 2022, bought by Canva in July 2024 in an operation mixing cash and shares. The service has not been absorbed into Canva: it continues to run as an autonomous product, with its own formulas and token system.
Nothing diopaque, so, and no reason to talk d The suspicions that cross online mainly come from two misunderstandings. The first is the token system, the consumption of which surprises when you discover that a generation in high quality costs much more than a standard generation. The second, more serious, relates precisely to this public status of free creations, which many discover afterwards.
So the real question is not « can I trust Leonardo? »but « Have I read what I accept using the free version ».
What Leonardo can do
Leonardo has overtaken its original ground. Where he was only one generator Today, it covers four fields combined under the same subscription: image, video, design and animation. This is what the platform summarizes by its promise of a single subscription for all surfaces, from the web to mobile applications.
In concrete terms, it means that you generate a visual, that you live up to it, and that you decline it without changing it.tool No account. The presets, available on all formulas including free, allow you to set a style without writing a quick elaborate, which greatly lowers the walk for a beginner. A programming interface is also proposed for developers who want to integrate generation into their own product.
This versatility is his real argument against tools more specialized. It has a counterpart: each function consumes chips at a different rate, and that's where many users get lost.
The free plan: generous but public
Let's start with what's really good. Free account granted 150 quick chips per day, renewed every 24 hours. It is much more comfortable than most competitors, which limit to a few daily images. You have access to models, presets, and you can produce a volume of serious tests without going out a cent.
It is in this grid that the decisive point is hidden, on a line that is rarely read. Face to « Creations access », the Free plan displays Public. The three paying formulas show Private. One line, but it changes everything.
⚠️ Attention: on the free plan, each image generated is part of the community gallery. Other users can see it, retrieve it and use it. This setting cannot be disabled without switching to a paid formula.
What « public » means legally
The term seems trivial, it is not. Leonardo Help Centre details two distinct consequences.
- Leonardo retains extensive rights to these images. Society and its successors retain a global and perpetual right to use, copy, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, sub-license and distribute them.
- Other users get a license on it. A global, non-exclusive, free license allows them to access and use these public content via the service functions.
In other words, a free image does not belong to you. You can exploit it, including commercially, but someone else can exploit it as well. For a wallpaper or a test, it doesn't matter. For a logo, book cover or brand visual, it is disqualifying.
On the other hand, from the first paid formula, private generations leave you full ownership and intellectual property rights in your images. The shift between the two diets is therefore played at 12 $ per month.
How the token system works
It's the second point that feeds the sham accusations, and it's mainly due to a misunderstanding. There is no fixed cost per image. Leonardo indicates each function and model has its own tariff, depending on the complexity and computing power mobilized. A simple image does not cost the same as an enlargement, background deletion or animated sequence.
The right reflex is simple: the cost appears on the button before starting the generation. Take the habit of looking at it, especially when you increase the size, the number of images or add a reference image, three settings that make the note climb.
Two meters coexist, and their articulation deserves to be understood.
- Fast chips constitute your endowment, renewed monthly on the billing date. They are always consumed first.
- The deferral bank collects unused monthly tokens up to three months of staffing. It is only requested once the quick chips are exhausted.
⚠️ Attention: This deferral applies only to subscribers. On the free plan, the 150 daily chips do not cumulate : what you do not consume in the day is lost and do not switch to the next day.
This asymmetry explains much of the frustrated returns. A free user who hoped to accumulate his chips over a week to launch a big project discovers that he leaves 150 each morning. It's not a deception, but it's not put forward either.
Tariffs 2026: the four formulas
The prices below are those of monthly billing, excluding taxes. Leonardo announces up to 20% discount in annual payment. Column « carried forward » corresponds to the ceiling of the token bank described above.
| Formula | Monthly price | Fast chips | Report (ceiling) | Access to creations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 $ | 150 per day | No deferral | Public |
| Essential | 12 $ | 8,500 per month | 25 500 | Private |
| Premium | 30 $ | 25,000 per month | 75 000 | Private |
| Ultimate | 60 $ | 60,000 per month | 180 000 | Private |
💡 Tip: Essential formula is included in Canva Business. If your company already pays this subscription, you have access to private generations without any additional expenses. Check it before you sign up separately.
For individual use, Essential is sufficient in the vast majority of cases: 8,500 monthly tokens represent a comfortable volume of production, and it is above all the private passage that justifies the expenditure. Premium and Ultimate only defend themselves if you produce in series, agency or catalogue.
Commercial use: what Leonardo really allows
On this ground, Leonardo is more flexible than several competitors, and this deserves to be stressed. Commercial use is permitted on all forms, including free. You can sell a product visual with the free plan without breaking the conditions.
This is a notable difference with what is practiced elsewhere. On the music side generated, for example, commercial rights are reserved for subscribers and are not even retroactive, as we detail in our review on Suno. Leonardo does not lay this barrier.
The grade is exclusivity, not authorization. You have the right to exploit your free image, but you cannot prevent others from doing so. Summary in one sentence: free gives you the right to use, the fee gives you the right to use Exclusive.
| What you can do | Free plan | Paid plans |
|---|---|---|
| Use the image commercially | Yes | Yes |
| Keep the image private | No | Yes |
| Holding full ownership | No | Yes, in private generation |
| Preventing third-party reuse | No | Yes |
| Daily volume | 150 chips a day | Up to 60,000 per month |
Leonardo in the face of others generators
Leonardo is distinguished by its functional scope: image, video, design and animation in the same interface, with a single token currency. Few competitors cover so much ground.
If you are looking for the same creative suite logic with a free quota renewed every day, Krea AI plays in the same category and deserves comparison. For pure aesthetic quality, Midday remains above, but without any free version. And if respect for the prompt and the generation of text in the image matter to you, our review on Flow details an efficient open source alternative.
For an overview of the sector and criteria of choice, our guide on on generators image AI compares the main options and their actual conditions of use.
Our verdict on Leonardo AI
| Leonardo suits you if | Go your way if |
|---|---|
| You want to test massively without paying | Your visuals must remain confidential |
| Looking for image, video and design combined | You create a logo or brand identity |
| You already pay Canva Business | You want exclusivity without spending anything |
| 12 $ per month for the private one suits you | You aim at the aesthetic summit above all |
🎯 Verdict
Leonardo is an excellent generator, and it is perfectly reliable in the sense that it hears those who speak daracque. The free plan is even one of the most generous in the market to learn and experiment. But you have to see it for what it is: a public playground, not a private workshop. As soon as your production has a commercial or personal value, the switch to 12 $ per month is not a rise in the range, it is the price of confidentiality.
A last reflex, valid far beyond Leonardo. Before you invest in a tool generative, always look for the line that talks about property and visibility, not just the one that displays the price. It is almost always there that the real difference between two formulas is found.
Frequently asked questions about Leonardo AI
Is Leonardo AI reliable?
Yes. Leonardo.Ai is an Australian company founded in 2022 and acquired by Canva in July 2024. It continues to operate the service as an independent product. The suspicions of swindle that we cross online come mainly from the token system and the public status of free creations, not from the legitimacy of society.
Is Leonardo AI free?
Yes, with 150 quick chips renewed every day and a reserve of 150 chips. This is one of the most generous free offers in the sector. In return, all images generated are public and paid to the community gallery.
Are my Leonardo images really public for free?
Yes, and this setting cannot be disabled without subscription. Other users have a global, non-exclusive, free license to access and use these content via the service's functions. Leonardo, on the other hand, retains extensive and perpetual rights in these images.
Can we sell the images created with Leonardo AI?
Yes, commercial use is allowed on all forms, including free. The difference concerns exclusivity: an image generated free of charge being public, other people can also use it. For exclusive use, you must generate in private mode, from the Essential formula.
How much does Leonardo AI cost?
Four formulas: Free to 0 $, Essential to 12 $ per month, Premium to 30 $ and Ultimate at 60 $, excluding taxes in monthly invoicing, with up to 20% discount in annual payment. Essential is included in the Canva Business subscription.
Does Leonardo AI belong to Canva?
Yes, Canva announced the buyback in July 2024. However, Leonardo has not been merged into the Canva subscriptions: he retains his own formulas and his own token system, while being included in Canva Business at Essential level.
