When you first think of AI, you probably think of a text-based AI chatbot like ChatGPT or Google Gemini . But AI tools are getting a lot more versatile. Even basic AI chatbots now offer a range of media creation tools, including AI image generation.

But what's the best AI image generator? That's exactly what I set out to find.

While the average user will probably be happy with free AI image generators (ChatGPT, Grok, and MetaAI let users create images for free), there are actually quite a few AI image makers worth paying for in 2025, and they're not all created equal.

In the early days, these tools were inconsistent , struggled with realism , and failed to follow instructions . But after only a few years of development, most of those issues have been ironed out — you shouldn't

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