ChatGPT vs Leonardo.ai vs Midjourney vs Recraft
A side-by-side look at ChatGPT, Leonardo.ai, Midjourney and Recraft for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
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General AI assistant with Images 2.5 stills, an agent for multi-step work, and a Word sidebar
- Price
- Free (ads, US) / Go $8/mo / Plus $20/mo / Pro $100 or $200/mo; Business about $20-25 per user/mo; Enterprise custom
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Writing shot lists, treatments, pitch decks and scripts with file output
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Image and video generation with a canvas, Motion animation and third-party video models
- Price
- See the vendor's pricing page
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Concept art and key-art stills that later become motion tests
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AI image generator for concept art, previs, boards and client-safe stills, with private Stealth mode
- Price
- From $10/mo ($8/mo billed annually); 20% off on annual plans
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Concept art, key art and look development for features and series
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Image and native SVG generation for logos, icons, and brand assets, plus video models in Studio
- Price
- Free (limited credits); Basic $12/mo; Pro $20/mo; Teams $22/seat/mo (monthly billing, annual saves about 20%)
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Title cards, logos and lower-third graphics that must scale without quality loss
The short version
Where they differ
- Midjourney is the only one without public API.
- Midjourney is the only one without free tier.
All 4 offer: text to image, image editing, commercial use.
Feature by feature
ChatGPT vs Leonardo.ai vs Midjourney vs Recraft: capabilities
| ChatGPT | Leonardo.ai | Midjourney | Recraft | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (ads, US) / Go $8/mo / Plus $20/mo / Pro $100 or $200/mo; Business about $20-25 per user/mo; Enterprise custom | See the vendor's pricing page | From $10/mo ($8/mo billed annually); 20% off on annual plans | Free (limited credits); Basic $12/mo; Pro $20/mo; Teams $22/seat/mo (monthly billing, annual saves about 20%) |
| Infinite canvas | No | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Node / flow builder | No | Partial | No | Not confirmed |
| AI agent | Yes | Not confirmed | No | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Not confirmed | No | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| Text to image | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text to video | No | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Image to video | No | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Native audio in video | No | Partial | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Voice / TTS | Partial | Not confirmed | No | No |
| Upscaling | Not confirmed | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Character consistency | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Camera control | Not confirmed | Partial | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Custom training | No | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Third-party models | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MCP server | Partial | Not confirmed | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Desktop / local | Partial | No | No | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Commercial use | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
ChatGPT
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Go | $8monthly |
| Plus | $20monthly |
| Pro (Pro Lite) | $100monthly |
| Pro | $200monthly |
| Business | $20 per user (annual) / $25 (monthly)per seat |
| Enterprise | Customannual |
Leonardo.ai
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| API | Pay as you gousage |
Midjourney
| Basic | $10monthly ($8/mo billed annually) |
|---|---|
| Standard | $30monthly ($24/mo billed annually) |
| Pro | $60monthly ($48/mo billed annually) |
| Mega | $120monthly ($96/mo billed annually) |
Recraft
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Basic | $12 ($10/mo billed yearly)monthly |
| Pro | $20 ($16/mo billed yearly)monthly |
| Teams | $22 per seat ($18/mo billed yearly)per seat per month |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
ChatGPT
Pick it for
- Writing shot lists, treatments, pitch decks and scripts with file output
- Generating look-development stills and poster or title-card mockups with readable text
- Analysing budget, schedule or audience spreadsheets with the Data plugin
Stands out
- Stills with reasoning: the Images 2.x line plans the composition and checks object counts and prompt constraints before drawing, and renders legible text, which helps with posters, title cards and storyboard labels.
- Agent that produces files: ChatGPT Work outputs real .docx, spreadsheet, slide and small web app deliverables from connected apps, not just chat answers.
Watch out
- No video generation after the Sora shutdown; shot generation needs another tool
- Plan limits are dynamic and hard to predict, especially for agent runs
Leonardo.ai
Pick it for
- Concept art and key-art stills that later become motion tests
- Animatic and previz stills turned into 5-second motion clips
- Custom-trained visual styles for a short film or music video look
Stands out
- Canvas-first editing (AI Canvas for inpainting and outpainting, plus a realtime mode) in the same tool as image and video generation
- Several model families under one account, including Leonardo's own Lucid and Motion 2.0 alongside third-party video models such as Kling 3.0 and Veo 3.1
Watch out
- Video is short (about 5 seconds on Motion 2.0) and not built for sequences or dialogue scenes
- Hosted third-party models are removed on short notice, so a workflow that depends on one can break mid-project
Midjourney
Pick it for
- Concept art, key art and look development for features and series
- Storyboard frames and mood boards where the look matters more than shot control
- Client-confidential previs on Pro or Mega using Stealth mode
Stands out
- Stealth mode on Pro and Mega keeps confidential client and NDA work out of the public gallery, which the tools above do not offer on an equal basis.
- Consistent, art-directed default look across prompts with the V8.2 personalization profile, which is trained on your ratings rather than a LoRA you build.
Watch out
- No free trial
- Video is still the 2025 V1 image-to-video model, with no text-to-video or audio
Recraft
Pick it for
- Title cards, logos and lower-third graphics that must scale without quality loss
- Production-design concept boards and set-dressing mockups for a film or series
- Icon and graphic systems for a festival, studio or film brand
Stands out
- Native SVG output from the same prompt box as raster images; most image generators only output PNG or JPEG
- Vector Editor in Studio lets you adjust AI-made SVG paths and colors without a round trip to Illustrator or Figma
Watch out
- Free tier is for personal use only; outputs are public and not licensed for commercial use
- Video is third-party models inside Studio, not Recraft's own model, and is not available through the API
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page, checked against vendor pricing and changelog pages (oldest check: ). Sources are listed on each tool's page.
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