Lists
The best AI generators for images, video and text (2026)
Ranked AI generators for images, video, text, voice and music, with plan prices checked on each tool's official page and the best pick for each job.
Ordered byRanked within each category (image, video, text, voice and music) and numbered 1 to 14 in page order, by our editorial judgment of breadth, price clarity and fit for the job. In each category, tools whose official page shows no readable price rank below tools that do. No hands-on benchmarks.
- 1
Gemini (Nano Banana)
Google's image generator and photo editor inside Gemini. Image generation and editing are on its Free plan.
- 2
Midjourney
Image-first paid service with four paid plans, from $10/mo (checked 2026-11-02).
- 3
Ideogram
Image tool that says it renders readable text. Paid plans from $15/mo billed annually (checked 2026-11-02).
- 4
ChatGPT (OpenAI's image creation)
Image creation built into the ChatGPT chatbot. Price: see official pricing.
- 5
Adobe Firefly
Adobe's own generator, next to the apps many designers already use. Price: see official pricing.
- 6
Google Veo in Flow and Gemini
Video bundled into Google's AI plans through Flow credits, from AI Plus at $4.99/mo (checked 2026-11-02).
- 7
Runway
Video, images and several models on one credit balance. Paid plans from $15/mo billed monthly (checked 2026-11-02).
- 8
Luma
Creative AI platform for video and images with three paid plans, from $30/mo (checked 2026-11-02).
- 9
Kling
Studio that turns text, images and references into video and images. Price: see official pricing.
- 10
Claude
Anthropic's chat assistant for writing and analysis. Pro is $20/mo billed monthly (checked 2026-11-02).
- 11
Gemini
Google's chat assistant for first drafts and ideas. AI Plus is $4.99/mo (checked 2026-11-02).
- 12
ChatGPT
OpenAI's chat assistant for everyday writing and questions. Price: see official pricing.
- 13
ElevenLabs
Speech, voice cloning, sound effects and music, with a Free plan and Starter at $6/mo (checked 2026-11-02).
- 14
Suno
Makes songs from a text prompt. Pro is $8/mo and includes commercial use rights (checked 2026-11-02).
An AI generator is a tool that creates new images, video, text or audio from a written prompt. It is the “generative AI” part of the technology we explain in What is AI?. This list ranks the best AI generators within each category, so you can pick one for the job in front of you.
Updated 2026-11-02. Prices come from each tool’s own page and are marked “checked 2026-11-02”. Where a page didn’t show a price we could read, we say “see official pricing” and link it.
We didn’t run hands-on benchmarks, so rankings reflect published features, price clarity and fit, and any “best at” claim is attributed to the maker’s own page. Looking for no-cost options? See our guide to the best free AI tools.
Quick picks
| Category | First on our list | Plan price | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Images | Gemini (Nano Banana) | Free plan; AI Plus $4.99/mo (checked 2026-11-02) | Image section |
| Video | Google Veo in Flow and Gemini | Flow credits from AI Plus $4.99/mo; Veo 3.1 on AI Ultra (checked 2026-11-02) | Video section |
| Text | Claude | Free plan; Pro $20/mo billed monthly (checked 2026-11-02) | Text section |
| Voice | ElevenLabs | Free plan; Starter $6/mo (checked 2026-11-02) | Voice and music section |
| Music | Suno | Free plan; Pro $8/mo (checked 2026-11-02) | Voice and music section |
Best AI image generators
An AI image generator turns a text description into a picture, and many can also edit a photo from a written instruction.
1. Gemini (Nano Banana)
Why it’s here: Google’s image generation page describes Nano Banana as Gemini’s image generator and photo editor, with a newer Nano Banana 2.1 model on Google AI plans, and Google’s plan page lists “image generation and editing” on its Free plan. It is first here because its plan prices are listed on one page and image tools come with its Free plan.
Who it’s for: anyone who already uses Gemini and wants to create or tweak images without a separate app.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Free $0; AI Plus $4.99/mo; AI Pro $19.99/mo; AI Ultra $99.99/mo or $199.99/mo (US page). Google AI plans
Link: gemini.google
2. Midjourney
Why it’s here: a dedicated image service whose plan comparison lists video on every plan. Its comparison lists four paid plans.
Who it’s for: people who want an image-first paid tool and are happy to pay for fast generation time.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Basic $10/mo or $96/yr; Standard $30/mo or $288/yr; Pro $60/mo or $576/yr; Mega $120/mo or $1,152/yr. Midjourney plans
Link: midjourney.com
3. Ideogram
Why it’s here: Ideogram says its images carry readable text, claiming 95% text rendering accuracy. That is Ideogram’s own figure, and we haven’t verified it.
Who it’s for: people making posters, thumbnails or packaging mock-ups where the words matter.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Plus $15/mo billed annually ($180/yr); Pro $42/mo billed annually ($504/yr). Free accounts get weekly credits, and the amount varies. Ideogram pricing
Link: ideogram.ai
4. ChatGPT (OpenAI’s image creation)
Why it’s here: image creation is built into the chatbot many people already use. OpenAI’s pricing page lists limited image creation on the Free plan and “more complex and accurate image creation” on Plus.
Who it’s for: people who want text and images in one conversation.
Price: see official pricing: chatgpt.com/pricing.
Link: chatgpt.com
5. Adobe Firefly
Why it’s here: it is Adobe’s own generator, so it sits next to the apps many designers already use. On commercial use, Adobe’s generative AI terms offer output indemnification (a promise to defend certain infringement claims over what the tool makes) only to Creative Cloud for teams and enterprise customers on qualifying plans, capped at US$10,000 per output or claim.
Who it’s for: people already working in Adobe apps.
Price: see official pricing: adobe.com/products/firefly/plans.
Link: adobe.com/products/firefly
For developers: FLUX from Black Forest Labs and Stable Diffusion from Stability AI are two options for developers, who use them through an API (a way for other software to call the tool). We don’t list consumer prices for them.
Best AI video generators
An AI video generator creates a short clip from a text prompt or a still image.
6. Google Veo in Flow and Gemini
Why it’s here: video generation is bundled into Google’s AI plans through Flow, Google’s AI creative studio, which runs on credits (a balance you spend on each generation). Google’s plan page lists 200 Flow credits on AI Plus, 1,000 on AI Pro and 10,000 or 25,000 on AI Ultra. The same page says AI Pro includes a limited trial of Veo 3.1 Lite and AI Ultra includes video generation with Veo 3.1, but it names no Veo model for AI Plus (Veo is Google’s video model).
Who it’s for: Gemini subscribers who want video alongside everything else in one plan.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): AI Plus $4.99/mo; AI Pro $19.99/mo; AI Ultra $99.99/mo or $199.99/mo (US page). Google AI plans
Link: gemini.google
7. Runway
Why it’s here: Runway puts video, images and several models on one credit balance. Its pricing page lists Gen-4.5 and Nano Banana Pro among the models, and gives a credit cost for each. In October it also launched App Studio for building no-code creative apps; we covered it in our daily news roundup.
Who it’s for: creators and small teams who want control over video and several models in one place.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Free is a one-time 125 credits. Standard $15/mo billed monthly or $12/mo billed annually; Pro $35/mo billed monthly or $28/mo billed annually; Max $95/mo billed monthly or $76/mo billed annually. Runway pricing
Link: runwayml.com
8. Luma
Why it’s here: Luma calls itself a creative AI platform for video generation and image creation, powered by its Ray models (Luma). Its pricing page lists three paid plans.
Who it’s for: people who want a simple credit plan for video and images.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Plus $30/mo ($300 billed yearly); Pro $90/mo ($900 billed yearly); Ultra $300/mo ($3,000 billed yearly). Luma pricing
Link: lumalabs.ai
9. Kling
Why it’s here: Kling describes itself as a studio that turns text, images and references into video and images (Kling). Runway also lists Kling 4.0 among its models.
Who it’s for: people who want a video-first tool from a dedicated maker.
Price: see official pricing: klingai.com/global.
Link: klingai.com
Not available: Sora. OpenAI says the Sora web and app experiences were discontinued on April 26, 2026, and the Sora API on September 24, 2026. OpenAI’s Sora page says “as of April 26, 2026, the Sora product is no longer available”, so we don’t rank it.
Best AI text generators
AI text generators are the chat assistants most people already know. We keep this section short because we compare them in full in ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs Grok: AI assistants compared. The order below follows this list’s rule, which puts tools with a readable price first, so it differs from the order in that comparison.
10. Claude
Why it’s here: Anthropic’s pricing page lists web search, file creation, code running and memory across conversations on its Free plan.
Who it’s for: writing and analysis.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Free $0; Pro $20/mo billed monthly or $17/mo billed annually; Max $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo. Claude pricing
Link: claude.com
11. Gemini
Why it’s here: Google says Gemini can help you get to a first draft and fine-tune your ideas.
Who it’s for: people who already use Google’s AI plans.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Free $0; AI Plus $4.99/mo; AI Pro $19.99/mo. Google AI plans
Link: gemini.google
12. ChatGPT
Why it’s here: OpenAI’s pricing page lists unlimited text chats on its Free plan, subject to abuse guardrails.
Who it’s for: general writing, drafting and everyday questions.
Price: see official pricing: chatgpt.com/pricing.
Link: chatgpt.com
If you publish AI-written text, detectors can flag it, and they can also be wrong. See our GPTZero review for what that means in practice.
Best AI voice and music generators
Two tools cover speech and songs: an AI voice generator reads text aloud in a chosen voice, and an AI music generator writes songs from a prompt.
13. ElevenLabs
Why it’s here: it covers speech, voice cloning (a synthetic copy of a voice), sound effects and music. ElevenLabs describes 17,500+ voices in 90+ languages, and its pricing page says the commercial license (permission to use the audio in paid work) starts at Starter.
Who it’s for: creators, educators and small businesses who need narration or voiceovers.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Free $0 (10k credits/mo); Starter $6/mo; Creator $22/mo; Pro $99/mo, billed monthly. ElevenLabs pricing
Link: elevenlabs.io
14. Suno
Why it’s here: it makes songs from a text prompt. Its pricing page says the Free plan has no commercial rights and Pro includes commercial use rights.
Who it’s for: hobbyists and creators who want original music.
Price (checked 2026-11-02): Free $0; Pro $8/mo; Premier $24/mo, billed monthly. Suno pricing
Link: suno.com
How we checked prices and picked these
We only use prices from the maker’s own page, and we leave out sale banners and promo prices. “Checked 2026-11-02” is the date we recorded each price, and where a page didn’t show a price we could read, we link to it instead of guessing. Within each category we ranked tools by how much they do, how clear the pricing is and how well they suit the job, without hands-on benchmarks.
A tool whose official page shows no readable price ranks below tools in the same category that do, so no tool wins on value without a confirmed price. This page has no affiliate links.
FAQ
Which AI generator is best for video?
It depends on what you need. Google’s plans bundle video with Gemini, while Runway puts several models on one credit balance, per its pricing page. Google Veo is first on our list because its plan prices are clear and it comes with Gemini, not because of a head-to-head test.
Can I use AI-generated images commercially?
It depends on the tool and the plan, so read each maker’s terms. Adobe, for example, limits its output indemnification (its promise to defend certain infringement claims) to Creative Cloud for teams and enterprise customers on qualifying plans (Adobe terms). ElevenLabs and Suno both tie commercial rights to paid plans, per their pricing pages.
Is Sora still available?
No. OpenAI says the Sora app and web experiences closed on April 26, 2026, and the API on September 24, 2026.