TL;DR verdict: Pick Recraft if your work ends in logos, icons, illustrations or brand assets you need as editable vectors — it is a design tool first, with genuine SVG output and commercial rights from $10/month billed annually. Pick Leonardo AI if you want a broader creative studio — photoreal images, canvas editing, custom model training and video — metered in tokens from $12/month. Designers shipping brand work should start with Recraft; creators generating lots of varied imagery should start with Leonardo.
Bottom line: Recraft = vectors and brand consistency. Leonardo = volume, models and an all-round studio.
Recraft vs Leonardo AI at a glance
| Feature | Recraft | Leonardo AI | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0 — daily credits, images public and owned by Recraft, no commercial use | $0 — 150 tokens per day, generations public on free | Leonardo (usable free output) |
| Entry paid plan | Basic $12/mo, or $10/mo billed annually — 1,000 credits/mo | Essential $12/mo — 8,500 tokens/mo | Tie on price |
| Mid / top individual plan | Pro from $20/mo ($16 annual) — 2,000 credits, scales to 16,000 | Premium $30/mo — 25,000 tokens; Ultimate $60/mo — 60,000 tokens | Depends on volume |
| Vector (SVG) output | Yes — a core feature, including vector generation and vectorize | No native editable vector workflow | Recraft |
| Custom styles / models | Custom styles and palettes for brand consistency | Custom model / LoRA training on paid plans | Tie — different approaches |
| Video | Via third-party models on Pro | Motion video built into the studio | Leonardo |
| Third-party models | Yes on paid plans (including Flux, GPT Image and others) | Primarily Leonardo’s own models plus partner models | Recraft |
| Best for | Logos, icons, illustrations, mockups, brand teams | Game art, product concepts, photoreal images, high-volume creators | Depends on use case |
Prices checked November 11, 2026 against each vendor’s published pricing. Research-based comparison — no hands-on testing claims.
What the pricing page doesn’t make obvious
Recraft’s free plan has the harshest ownership term in this category: under its terms, images you generate on the free plan belong to Recraft, are publicly visible, and carry no commercial licence at all. It is a demo, not a free tier you can ship client work from — commercial rights start at Basic. Leonardo has its own confusion: in mid-2026 it renamed its plans — Apprentice became Essential, Artisan became Premium and Maestro became Ultimate — at the same $12 / $30 / $60 prices and 8,500 / 25,000 / 60,000 token allowances, so older reviews quoting the old names are describing the same tiers. Paid Leonardo plans also add a Token Bank that rolls unused tokens over up to 3x your monthly allowance, which softens its meter in a way the headline price doesn’t show.
Vectors and brand work vs a full creative studio
Recraft was built for design output: generate an illustration, export a real editable SVG, hold a custom style and palette across a whole brand set, and build mockups without leaving the tool. That design-first focus is why it held its own against a text-rendering specialist in our Ideogram vs Recraft comparison. Leonardo is a generation studio: multiple image models, a canvas editor, upscaling, custom model training and Motion video in one place. Its breadth is the same reason it keeps landing in head-to-heads like Leonardo AI vs Midjourney and Leonardo AI vs Ideogram.
Credits vs tokens: how the meters really feel
Both meters punish guessing. Recraft’s subscription credits reset each billing cycle, and the pricing page doesn’t publish exactly how many credits each model costs — you see the cost in the app — though paid top-up credits never expire. Leonardo’s tokens are simpler to budget at the plan level (a standard image costs a handful of tokens, with upscales and Motion clips costing much more), and the Token Bank rollover means a quiet month can fund a busy one. If predictable brand-asset output matters more than raw generation volume, Recraft’s 1,000-credit Basic plan is easier to plan around; if you generate in bursts, Leonardo’s rollover is the friendlier meter.
Which should you pick?
Pick Recraft if: you produce logos, icons, illustrations or marketing assets, need editable vectors, or need a whole set to look like one brand.
Pick Leonardo AI if: you generate high volumes of varied images, want canvas editing, custom trained models and video in the same subscription.
Skip both if: your main job is accurate text inside images — a text-rendering specialist will serve you better.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Recraft free images commercially?
No. On the free plan your images are owned by Recraft, publicly visible and not licensed for commercial use. Commercial rights start on the Basic plan at $12/month or $10/month billed annually.
Did Leonardo AI change its plan names?
Yes. Apprentice is now Essential ($12/month), Artisan is now Premium ($30/month) and Maestro is now Ultimate ($60/month), with the same token allowances as before.
Which is better for logos?
Recraft. It generates and exports editable vector files and is built around brand styles; Leonardo is a raster image studio without a native vector workflow.
Do unused credits or tokens roll over?
Recraft subscription credits reset each cycle, but paid top-up credits never expire. Leonardo paid plans roll unused tokens into a Token Bank capped at 3x the monthly allowance.