Leonardo AI generates images from text prompts and fine-tunes outputs using its own models, competing directly with Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. The core appeal is its tiered pricing model: a free tier lets you generate up to 150 images monthly, while paid plans start around $10–$30/month for higher daily limits and API access. The catch is real—the free tier is genuinely limited, and API rate limits can choke workflows at scale, making it frustrating for teams running high-volume batch jobs. It's strongest for one-off social posts and product mockups rather than production pipelines.