The internet’s latest craze is without a doubt the AI revolution that is happening before our very eyes. You can’t go anywhere on the Internet without catching a glimpse of AI art reflecting on our pop culture, an AI-generated goofy voice lines in a manner of gamers-politicians or a yet another AI article written by ChatGPT on your favorite blog (this article is 100% human made, we promise). If we put aside all the OpenAI-related topics and just look at the art perspective of all things Artificial Intelligence, there’s a plethora of new art generators with different algorithms and different results. Every major tech company seems to be dabbling in AI, even the big art-related companies like Adobe and Shutterstock, who you would think to be strong opponents of AI implementation. But what is the best one? Are there free AI art generators? All the following we will be reviewing in this week’s blog post.
What are the AI art generators?
AI art generators are online tools using machine learning to create art based on user input, for example some keywords, image samples and prompts. There are countless AI art generators available and some are work-in-progress, with different feature-lists and including different styles. While the technology is a bit raw and has some rough edges, especially when it comes to creating animated art, but the possibilities of AI art generation are truly limitless, capable of creating anything that comes to your mind – should it be something specific and precise or something vague and odd.
How do AI art generators work?
AI art apps and websites generate a digital piece of art upon the user’s request. These services use machine learning to recognize and learn visual data and art styles of different periods to create a digital piece of art based on the input.
What are the best AI art generators?
We’ve compiled a short list of the most popular AI art generators we’ve personally tested. Each one of them has its unique style and, of course, none of them are perfect, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s yet to come in the world of digital art. I will also provide what some of these generators can produce. The prompt was very simple and a bit strange, but here’s what AI art generators see the legendary League of Legend brothers “Yasuo and Yone in Ukrainian costumes” like. Here’s a look at our top picks:
- Midjourney
You all know it, and you all love it. Midjourney is an AI art generator operating as a Discord bot where you input whatever your prompt is and you receive the results in a message. It is a great pick for those who want realistic photolike images and the quality is among the best if not best. However, it is pretty tricky as you need a Discord account to operate it.
Even though it is now in open beta, it is being used by millions of users thanks to its simplicity and affordability. While previously providing users with free trial, Midjourney closed this option due to high demand and abuse of it. As of now, the basic subscription plan costs starting from $8-10 per month, racking up to $48-60 for Professional plan. - DALL-E 2
Named after the great Spaniard, this AI art generator shook the world with the amount of content produced and shared on social media. Being ran by AI giants OpenAI, the biggest advantage of DALL-E is that it’s (relatively) free, unlike Midjourney. You get 50 credits free of charge for the first month and 15 a month after, which is not too shabby. In case you need extra credits, you can buy them. Being the pioneer of AI art, DALL-E can be swapped with Bing Image Creator, as it is also powered by OpenAI’s technology. Overall, DALL-E is a great tool for creating 4 variations of every prompt you give it, with different styles and capabilities to replace a specific part in the image that you don’t like. - Dream by WOMBO
Google Play named this AI art generator the best overall app in 2022, which is crazy, considering the stiff competition. This is a great alternative if you want to generate a few pictures on your smartphone. Aside from iOS and Android app, there is a limited desktop version of the mobile app that you can upgrade starting from $7.50 if you opt in for an annual plan, while monthly plan is $9.99.
Dream, a bit unexpected but OK - Jasper Art
Jasper is a popular AI tool among copywriters (never used it, I swear), while Jasper Art is also a good choice for generating images. Jasper Art is extremely to use and very flexible, and it also has a great guide on how to create prompts for your images. You can use it to create original images without plagiarizing anyone. You can try Jasper Art with a free trial available on their website. - Stablecog
This might be my favorite one due to a number of reasons. First, it uses Stable Diffusion to generate AI art and the results are impressive. Second, it is open-source and easy to use, with a very intuitive interface. You can create photorealistic images and beautiful illustrations using this generator. By the way, Stablecog used to be free for all, but since this model isn’t really sustainable for a small company, they’ve switched the pricing policy and now subscriptions start from $10 a month. But hey, they still give some credits to generate a few images for free. Sad.
Stablecog - GetIMG
GetIMG is also one of my favorite AI art generators thanks to its huge AI model base, and lots of options to modify your creation. GetIMG has a pretty intuitive user interface and a great selection of presets for various styles of art. What differentiates this AI art generator is the ability to scale and resize your creation the way you want. You can also edit a generated image with a prompt just to change a specific bit you don’t like, which is great. Basic subscription starts from $12/mo per 3000 images.
GetIMG - Nightcafe
Nightcafe is one of the best known AI art generators on the market right now, and it operates on credits system. It has a plethora of features, including the biggest number of available algorithms, such as Stable Diffusion, DALL-E 2, CLIP-Guided Diffusion, VQGAN+CLIP and Neural Style. With Nightcafe you can create a variety of AI images: from photorealistic art to something abstract. Nightcafe provides you with a bunch of credits for free to test the app, before asking you to buy some credits.
Nightcafe - Bing Image Creator
Well, if you like DALL-E, you’ll like Bing Image Creator by Microsoft. Even though it is powered by DALL-E, it is still limited in functionality and does not provide as many features of output as some of the above-mentioned AI art generators. It is in beta, but unlike many other AI art generators mentioned here, Bing Image Creator is completely free. Considering the amount of resources and attention Microsoft dedicate to AI, the Bing Image Creator is going to be significantly improved.
What is the best AI art generator?
It depends on your needs and resources. If you want the best experience and prepared to spend some money on a subscription, then you can try the well-tested Midjourney. If you don’t want to pay for monthly subscription, you can try GetIMG, Nightcafe or DALL-E 2 and buy some credits. However, you can always rely on Microsoft to deliver you with a free AI art experience on the Bing Image Creator.
Why is AI art bad?
It’s not bad, per se, it’s just different from what we’ve known as the word ‘art’ implies. Many artists refuse to call it art because it is artificial, therefore something that is inherently fake in their eyes. Also, many artists are angry with the fact that their work has been used to train AI generators, so there’s a question of plagiarism. Plus, many feel threatened by the AI wave, since their livelihood is now in jeopardy. Hell, even I’m a good year away from losing the gig, with the speed AI is moving.
Can you sell AI generated art?
Can I sell AI generated art? Many users find themselves asking that question. It is natural to think that way, since we always want to find new ways to profit. Generally, yes, you can sell AI-generated art, but ONLY if the AI art generator service permits commercial use. You should read carefully the terms and conditions of the service beforehand. Make sure that their license permits to sell your work. Also, be careful with using copyrighted materials, and avoid using any trademarks, logos or likelihood if you don’t want to end up getting sued. So, can you sell AI art? Yes, you can, but only if the generator permits you to do so.
How to sell AI art?
You can sell your AI-generated art on different stock websites that allow these kinds of transactions. If your artwork is not breaking copyright, you can sell it on Etsy, Redbubble, Saatchi Art, Society6 and Artstation.
Conclusion
We hope this article was helpful and you can find the best AI art generator for your taste! We at ZoogVPN provide the safest way of browsing, streaming and downloading in these strange times. If you want to unblock some services unavailable in your location or just simply want to protect your personal information from bad actors and hackers, you can rely on us. ZoogVPN is the best affordable VPN on the market, providing the two-click solution to Internet censorship. Oh, by the way, we also provide a 100% free VPN service for your device, with no nonsense credits system and free trials. Just a free VPN with five different locations around the world
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- Arsène MaliceArsène is a Kyiv-based staff writer for ZoogVPN, covering everything tech-related from VPN news and social media trends to cybersport events and geek culture. He’s written for several music magazines, and crypto and tech-oriented websites. He tries to keep his finger on the media’s pulse with varying success. You can catch him djing, playing volleyball, and rage-quitting a ranked game in League of Legends.
