Top 10 Open Source AI Image Generators to Use for Free

An open source AI image generator is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to generate images based on the text descriptions provided by the user. It utilizes Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand the context of the text and then uses Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Diffusion, Transformer, or other technologies to create new synthetic images that match the text description.

Being open source means the code, models, and training frameworks are publicly available under licenses that allow people to freely use, change, improve, and redistribute them. This enables collaboration and innovation. Meanwhile, thoughtful governance of these powerful technologies is crucial as they continue rapidly evolving.

No matter whether you are a pro seeking open source code or common users wanting to try AI image generators for free, here's a full list of recent open-source AI image models and algorithms that you can use to create images without any restriction on credits, resolutions, or speed. Additionally, there are tips for enhancing images quality with AI for printing, display, or further editing at the end of the post.

Open Source License

Notice that not all open source licenses are the same. Some, like the MIT License and the Apache License, are very permissive and allow for almost any kind of use, including commercial use and the creation of proprietary software based on the open source code. Others, like the GNU General Public License, require that any derivative works also be released under the same open-source license.

1. PixArt-Alpha

AI art models: PIXART-α

License: GNU Affero General Public License v3.0

Repository: https://github.com/PixArt-alpha/PixArt-alpha

Online demo: https://huggingface.co/spaces/PixArt-alpha/PixArt-alpha

PixArt-Alpha is a Transformer-based T2I diffusion model. Its high-quality image generation is comparable to state-of-the-art generators like Imagen, SDXL, and Midjourney. It can produce high-resolution images up to 1024px with minimal training cost, approaching commercial application standards. Through its exceptional adherence to prompts, T5 Text Encoder, and use of LLaVA captioning, it increasingly attracts creators, designers, and AI fans of all levels.

2. StableStudio

AI art models: SDXL and other Stable Diffusion models

License: MIT License

Repository: https://github.com/Stability-AI/StableStudio

Online demo: None

StableStudio is an open source AI image generation tool that was recently released by Stability AI as the open source community-driven successor to DreamStudio. It allows users to generate AI images through text prompts using Stable Diffusion models for free, and contribute fixes, new features, and models. Unlike DreamStudio which was cloud-based, StableStudio is designed to be installed and run locally for more control and customization. Pre-built binaries are available. Moreover, it removes billing and API key management features.

3. InvokeAI

AI art models: Stable Diffusion models

License: Apache License

Repository: https://github.com/invoke-ai/InvokeAI

Online demo: None

InvokeAI is at the forefront of creative engines for Stable Diffusion models, providing professionals, artists, and enthusiasts with the ability to produce and design visual media using cutting-edge AI-driven technologies. It comes with a user-friendly interface and various features such as image-to-image translation, out-painting, and in-painting. It is easy to set up and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems with GPU cards as low as 4 GB of RAM. Developed by an open-source network of developers, it is available on GitHub. Also, you can buy the commercial version from InvokeAI official website which offers more advanced and customizable models.

4. DALL-E mini

AI art models: DALL-E mini

License: Apache License 2.0

Repository: https://github.com/borisdayma/dalle-mini

Online demo: https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini

DALL-E mini is an open source version of OpenAI's DALL-E to transform texts into photos or illustrations. You have the option to host pre-trained models for text-to-image generation on your own servers, allowing you to use them for personal or commercial purposes. The patterns, clothing, and objects look reasonably in low resolution. However, the model struggles with faces and heads. The designers of DALL-E Mini also offer a paid online service called Craiyon, which utilizes a more advanced and larger version of DALL-E Mini known as DALL-E Mega, and plans to further train this model to deal with faces better.

5. DeepFloyd IF

AI art models: Multiple neural modules, base and super-resolution models, etc.

License: DeepFloyd IF License Agreement

Repository: https://github.com/deep-floyd/IF

Online demo: None

DeepFloyd IF is a powerful text-to-image cascaded pixel diffusion model developed by the Stability AI multimodal AI research lab in April 2023. It was initially seen as an open source version of Google Imagen, available on a non-commercial, research-permissible license for research labs to experiment with advanced text-to-image generation approaches. IF uses multiple neural modules to generate low-resolution samples and then upscale them to 1024px x 1024px in a cascading manner.

6. Openjourney

AI art models: Openjourney, Openjourney v4

License: MIT License

Repository: https://huggingface.co/prompthero/openjourney/tree/main

Online demo: https://prompthero.com/create (Sign in and select Openjourney model)

Openjourney is a fine-tuned text-to-image model created by PromptHero based on Stable Diffusion. The developers said they have trained this model with over 124,000 images created by Midjourney v4. So it can create artwork that resembles the style of Midjourney for free. In Openjourney, users are free to set the final resolution ranging from 128px to 1024px. In addition to online interactive demos, you can download the model checkpoint file and set up a UI for running Stable Diffusion models like AUTOMATIC1111. To get the best outcome, you can experiment with various text prompts and models in it.

7. Waifu Diffusion

AI art models: waifu-diffusion (based on Stable Diffusion)

License: CreativeML OpenRAIL License

Repository: https://github.com/harubaru/waifu-diffusion/

Online demo: None

Waifu Diffusion is a powerful text-to-image model that creates impressive anime images based on text descriptions. It has had a significant impact on the anime community and is highly regarded as one of the best AI art tools in the industry. It leverages AI technology to produce a diverse range of images capturing specific traits, scenes, and emotions. The model can also learn from user feedback and fine-tune its generation processes, resulting in more accurate and impressive images. Artists, anime enthusiasts, researchers, or anyone interested in AIGC can explore endless possibilities in this tool.

8. VQGAN+CLIP

AI art algorithms: VQGAN (Vector Quantized Generative Adversarial Networks), CLIP (Contrastive Language-Image Pre-Training)

License: MIT License

Repository: https://github.com/CompVis/taming-transformers; https://github.com/openai/CLIP

Online demo: None

Different from other text-to-image AI models, VQGAN and CLIP are two separate machine learning algorithms. They were combined and published on Google Colab by AI-generated art enthusiasts Ryan Murdock and Katherine Crowson. VQGAN creates images that resemble others, while CLIP determines how well a prompt matches an image. This led to a viral trend of people using the technique to create and share their own impressive artworks on social media platforms.

9. Pixray

AI art algorithms: VQGAN, CLIP

License: MIT License

Repository: https://github.com/pixray/pixray

Online demo: https://replicate.com/pixray/text2image

Pixray is an image generation system that uses advanced techniques to create images from text prompts. It has various features, including the ability to input text prompts, choose from different render engines (called drawers) such as clipdraw, line_sketch, and pixel, and adjust settings for formatting. The output section displays the generated images along with a time indicator that shows the time taken for image generation. To fully utilize Pixray's capabilities, users can explore additional resources such as GitHub, demo notebooks, the Discord community, and documentation.

10. Kandinsky 2.2

AI art models: Latent Diffusion U-Net

License: Apache License 2.0

Repository: https://github.com/ai-forever/Kandinsky-2

Online demo: https://replicate.com/ai-forever/kandinsky-2

Kandinsky is an open source AI artwork generator evolving for years. The recent v2.2 improves upon Kandinsky 2.1 with a new image encoder, CLIP-ViT-G, and ControlNet support, resulting in more accurate and visually appealing outputs and enabling text-guided image manipulation. Previously, models were trained on low-res images. Now it can create 1024x1024 pixel images and supports more aspect ratios.

How to Enhance AI-Generated Images

Existing open source AI image generators can create compelling images but are often constrained by resolution limits. The maximum of image resolution of most open source AI art creators is 1024px x 1024px or 2048px x 2048px. Moreover, running these AI models also demands powerful, expensive GPU hardware.

To address these limitations, you can use VideoProc Converter AI, an AI-powered image upscaling software that can enlarge and enhance images up to 10K resolution (10000px x 10000px). It leverages the state-of-the-art AI Super Resolution model to add realistic details and textures when enlarging low-res images, photos, and artworks from Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, etc.

Unlike running complex AI image models that put strain on your GPU and CPU, VideoProc Converter AI is optimized to efficiently upscale images with a user-friendly interface. It works even on moderate laptop and desktop hardware for hassle-free high-resolution AI image enhancement.

Step 1. Launch VideoProc Converter AI. Click "Super Resolution" on its main interface. Then drag and drop images generated by AI to it.

Step 2. Select the image type, "Anime" or "Reality". It helps apply a proper upscaling model.

Step 3. Choose the scale, "2x", "3x", or "4x". You can right-click on the image file at the bottom to apply the upscaling settings to the rest. Or go on tweaking separately.

Step 4. Click the "RUN" to export.

FAQs about Open Source AI Image Generators

Are AI-generated images copyright free?

AI-generated artwork is not copyrighted or attributed to a person, but the existing artwork used to train the generator algorithms is often owned or attributed to real human artists and creators. Therefore, the ownership and attribution of the original artwork used to train the AI algorithm must be considered when using AI-generated images.

How to run an open source AI image generator on your computer?

There are multiple ways to run open source AI image generators. For instance, try online interactive demos, incorporate advanced AI capabilities into certain apps via APIs, run the source code with online programming tools like Google Colab, or get Python and Git installed to run a generative AI model file from GitHub or HuggingFace.

Can an open source license be revoked?

No, once an open source license has been applied to a particular version of software or code, it cannot be revoked for that version. However, for future versions, the license can be changed. This means that if you are using open source AI image generator models or algorithms for commercial purposes, it is important to check the latest license status to ensure that you are complying with the terms of the license.

Additional resources:

[1] Stable Diffusion Models: A Beginner's Guide
[2] Revolutionizing Open Source Licenses with AI Restricted MIT License
[3] Who owns AI art? - The Verge