10 Adobe Firefly Alternatives: Best Generative Fill In 2024?

Why Use An Adobe Firefly Alternative?

Even though Adobe Firefly is one of the top AI image generation tools on the market, there’s a number of reasons creators are looking to use different tools to create images.

Quality

This is perhaps the most common reason creators are looking to move away from Adobe firefly.

Personally, I found options like Midjourney, Leonardo, and Dall-E 3 much better at creating images.

With the addition of Midjourney’s Vary(Region) functionality, there isn’t much reason to choose Firefly when it comes to quality.

Accessibility

To use Adobe Firefly you must first sign up and create an account with Adobe.

Although it’s not a huge hassle, it can put off new users who might just be looking to try out the tool and see if they like it.

Variety

Unlike most of it’s competitors, Adobe Firefly was trained on completely copyright free imagery.

While this is great for users who might be worried about copyright implications, it has resulted in the overall variety of the output to be lacking quite a bit compared to it’s competitors.

There is also quite a heavy content filter on the images produced with Firefly, so prompts requesting images of celebrities and other potentially controversial topics do not work.

What is Adobe Firefly?

Adobe Firefly is a generative AI software tool released in 2023 that can create custom images from a natural language input, alongside a range of other automated image generation features.

Upon launch, Firefly attracted attention for its generative fill functionality which allowed users to insert, modify, and remove items from images with simple text prompts.

Firefly has all the features we’ve come to love from AI image generation tools like text-to-image, image-to-image, 3D model-to-image, image recoloring, and image extension.

Firefly also features text effects which is an excellent feature as most AI generated images struggle with letting and correct spelling.

Adobe has built Firefly with ethical considerations in mind, meaning artists and creators are properly credited if their images were used in the training of the AI.

Firefly was trained from Adobe’s stock library, as well as public domain images meaning no copyright issues for the users, or Adobe. This is a massive selling point for companies looking to avoid legal issues associated with AI image generation.

The addition of Firefly into Photoshop is a game changer for users allowing massive time savings and making the barrier to entry for using Photoshop much, much lower.

Key Features

• Generative Fill: Adobe Firefly introduces generative fill, allowing you to seamlessly insert, remove, or modify items in an image based on text prompts.
• Text Effects: Firefly brings unique and effective generative text effects that enhance the utility of the tool.
• Ethical Considerations: Firefly is designed to ensure appropriate attribution to artists and creators if their images have been used in AI training.

Pricing

• You can use Firefly for FREE in your web browser by creating an account here.
• Firefly also comes with an Adobe Photoshop subscription at $20.99 USD a month and offers a 7-day free trial.

Benefits

• Time Efficiency: With its advanced generative features Firefly can cut down the time needed to complete tasks.
• Boosts Creativity: Like any good AI tool, Firefly helps catalyze creativity by generating unique images that can really spark your creativity.
• Ease of Use: Firefly’s integration into Photoshop has broken down the barrier to entry and made it a more user-friendly tool.
• No Copyright Issues: Firefly ensures users and Adobe are safeguarded against potential copyright infringements.

Drawbacks

• Firefly is still in beta and sometimes generations are unexpected
• Some users found the image generations to be a bit bland compared to other tools

What Are the Best Adobe Firefly Alternatives?

While Firefly is an excellent generative AI tool for images and video, that doesn’t mean it’s the best solution for everyone.

Here are the top 10 Adobe Firefly Alternatives.

• 1. Midjourney
• 2. Leonardo
• 3. Dall-E 3
• 4. Runway Gen-2
• 5. BlueWillow
• 6. Stable Diffusion
• 7. Dreamstudio
• 8. Writesonic
• 9. Canva
• 10. Craiyon

1. Midjourney

Midjourney is the most popular image generation tool available right now – and for good reason.

The image quality from Midjourney is simply incredible. Users who are new to generative AI can expect to be amazed at the art generation capabilities of Midjourney, I know I was.

Midjourney can generate basically anything you can think of whether it be ultra-real stock photos, product logos, cartoon characters, or professional food shots. If you can imagine it, Midjourney can do it!

Another massive benefit of Midjourney is that due to its popularity, there are heaps of online resources to help you craft the best prompts.

Midjourney has also recently added its very own generative fill type function known as Vary (Region), and it’s extremely good.\

Check out the image below. I generated it with Midjourney, then added a neck tattoo with the Vary (Region) feature. The quality certainly gives Firefly a run for its money.

Midjourney has all the standard image generation modes like text-to-image, text + image-to-image, image overlaying, and even reverse image prompting which allows you to upload an image and generate a text prompt.

Midjourney is currently available for use within their discord server and has recently launched their Alpha web app, which is accessible by users with more then 5,000 existing Midjourney image generations in Discord.

Given the extremely high-quality images provided by Midjourney, and the recent addition of their own type of generative fill functionality called Vary (Region), It’s still the best Adobe Firefly alternative in 2024.

If you want to learn more, check out my full Midjourney review here.

Key Features

• Image Generation: Midjourney provides a suite of image generation tools including text-to-image, image-to-image, reverse image prompting (describe), and image overlaying functionalities.
• Advanced Control: Midjourney supports a wide array of syntax options allowing you to craft highly customized images to suitable to your needs.
• Generative Fill Alternative: The recent addition of the Vary (Region) function allows you to add and remove items from images with a text prompt.
• Availability: Midjourney is accessible both on desktop platforms and on mobile for Discord users.

Pricing

• Free: Unfortunately Midjourney no longer offers a free subscription due to misuse of the tool.
• Basic Plan: $10/Month for limited generations and 3 concurrent jobs.
• Standard Plan: $30/month for 15 hours of fast generations and 3 concurrent jobs.
• Pro Plan: $60/month for 30 hours of fast generations, 12 concurrent jobs, and stealth generations.
• Mega Plan: $120/month for 60 hours of fast generations, 12 concurrent jobs, and stealth generations.

Benefits:

• Superior Quality: With a focused approach on image generation, Midjourney produces the highest-quality AI images available.
• Online Resources: The popularity of Midjourney has led to a plethora of easily accessible online resources.
• Accessibility: Being available on both desktop and mobile platforms through Discord, Midjourney ensures you can create AI images anytime, anywhere with a web app coming very soon.

Drawbacks

• Some people have ethical concerns with the images Midjourney was trained on
• No free trial

2. Leonardo

Leonardo provides AI image generation with an impressive range of features and capabilities.

Leonardo’s featured models allow you to generate images using a wide range of pre-trained models that can enable faster generated images in your desired styles.

Leonardo supports different types of prompt types for image generation, including text, image prompts, and image-to-image.

You can leverage Leonardo’s Alchemy and Prompt Magic v2 features to create impressive 2D images, like this one. 👇

Once your image generation is complete, Leonardo allows you to refine your creation further with its post-processing features.

Upscaling, unzooming, background removal, and transfer to the Canvas are all options available to you for enhanced control and post processing of your generated images.

Leonardo’s canvas feature fully qualifies it as one of the firefly alternatives. Extend, mask, replace, and erase elements indefinitely and effortlessly, and regenerate specific areas to achieve your desired output.

Alongside it’s ability to generate images, I was quite impressed with Leonardo’s inpaint/outpaint functionality. See below for an example where I removed the glasses from the lady.

Leonardo also features an LLM for automatic prompt generation describing your digital art, which I thought was a neat feature.

The Leonardo AI platform also supports the training of custom AI models with as few as 10 images.

There’s also a Texture Generation tab where you can texture 3D models with a simple text prompt. The Fine-tuned Models tab gives you access to other user-trained models to broaden your creative possibilities.

Leonardo is a comprehensive AI art generator that offers a seamless design process and control over your creations, making it a competitive choice in my list of Firefly alternatives in second place.

Key Features

• Diverse Pre-Trained Models: Leonardo offers a range of pre-trained models that you can experiment with to generate various digital art styles quickly.
• Post-Processing Options: Leonardo offers post-processing features such as upscaling, unzooming, background removal, and transfer to Canvas, allowing you to better refine images.
• Generative Canvas: The Canvas feature offers capabilities similar to Adobe’s generative fill, including extend, mask, replace, and erase options.
• Custom AI Model Training: You can train custom AI models with as few as 10 images, perfect for creating avatars, headshots, or unique models.

Pricing

Leonardo offers 4 pricing tiers:

• Free: Allows 150 fast generations per day – enough to get a feel for Leonardo.
• Apprentice: 8,500 tokens per month with private generations at $10/month.
• Aristan: 25,000 tokens per month with full functionality at $24/month.
• Maestro: 60,000 tokens per month with full functionality and up to 50 models at $48/month.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Art: Leonardo’s wide range of features and capabilities offer control and flexibility to the user.
• Inpaint/Outpaint Functionality: Leonardo’s inpaint/outpaint functionality allows for easy modifications.
• Language Model for Prompts: Automatic prompt generation is possible, adding to the tool’s convenience and efficiency.

Drawbacks

• Leonardo can be overwhelming for new users.

3. Dall-E 3

DALL·E 3 is the third release image generation tool from OpenAI – the same company responsible for ChatGPT.

Compared to the other AI image generation tools Dall-E has taken the minimalist approach with very basic functionality – which is perfect for users looking to make simple generations.

OpenAI have recently integrated this new AI image tool into ChatGPT but to use text-to-image, image-to-image, and outpaint functionality you’ll need to use the Dall-E web app.

Outpaint qualifies Dall-E on the list of Fifefly alternatives and is currently only available in the web app (not ChatGPT).

To get a fell for Dall-E’s outpainting, I took an image of a puppy and used Dall-E to give it a beanie. The results weren’t bad!

The image quality from Dall-E 3 is already significantly better than what we’ve seen in Dall-E 2. Check out the two images below where I used the same prompt in Dall-E 2 and Dall-E 3 to compare to difference.

Another thing I noticed right away with Dall-E 3 was strict restrictions on specific words. For example, I wasn’t able to use the word “Disney” in my prompt, assumably due to fears of copyright issues.

Key Features

• Minimalist Design: DALL·E 3 is built right into ChatGPT which makes it incredibly easy to access and use for GPT Plus users.
• Outpaint Functionality: The Outpaint feature allows you to add or modify elements in an image, similar to Firefly’s generative fill and is only currently available in the web app Dall-E 2.
• Variation: DALL·E 2 provides a unique variation feature, enabling you to generate a range of closely related variations from a given initial image.

Pricing

• Dall-E 2 is a pay-as-you-go type model that offers 10 free image generations when you sign up. From here you get 115 credits (which is 115 image generations) for $15.
• Dall-E 3 is built right into ChatGPT and is $20/month for GPT Plus.

Benefits:

• Quick Start: Easy access and quick to use for existing ChatGPT Plus users.
• Outpaint Feature: DALL·E 2’s Outpaint functionality provides a unique capability that isn’t found in all generative AI tools.

Drawbacks:

• Dall-E’s output just isn’t as good as other generative fill-type tools (yet).

4. Runway Gen-2

Runway’s Gen-2 is an AI art generator that boasts widest range of capabilities of any of the tools I tried.

Note: Some Runway products are still classed as Gen-1. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to all Runway tools as ‘Gen-2’.

Runway has earned the most notoriety for its generative AI video capabilities and features a text-to-video tool which allows you to take existing footage and change the style – the clip below shows what you can do with Runway’s video-to-video feature.

Runway’s AI video features can do more than just video-to-video as well. Frame interpolation, super slow-motion, face blurring, and motion tracking to name a few.

On top of the video features, Runway is capable of all the usual generative image features like text-to-image and its own version of generative fill, as well as subtitle generation and audio clipping.

The biggest drawback of Runway right now is quality. While it offers the most features, the image quality is low compared to other tools that have focused on one area of generative AI only. As always though, The quality is increasing incredibly fast.

This short film below won Best Experimental at the WCIFF, September 2023 for it’s touching take on an engineers love for her dog, it was made entirely with Midjourney and Runway Gen-2!

As you can see it’s still quite obviously AI-generated content, but just like everything else in AI, give this 12 months or less and it will be indistinguishable from real video… New golden age of film anyone?

Given the vast multi-modal functionality plus the Erase/Replace feature, Runway’s art generation capabilities have earned it fourth place as an Adobe Firefly alternative in 2024.

Key Features

• Erase/Replace: Runway’s Erase/Replace feature has similar functionality to Adobe’s generative fill.
• Video Capabilities: Runway’s Gen-2 is known for its generative AI video features, including text-to-video, video-to-video, frame interpolation, super slow motion, face blurring, and motion tracking.
• Multi-Modal Tools: Gen-2 also supports digital art tasks such as text-to-image, image expansion, color grading, 3D textures, and many more.
• User-Friendly Web App: Runway Gen-2 is designed as a simple and intuitive web app making it simple to get started.

Pricing

• Free: Runway Gen-2 offers 125 free credits for image and video generation when you make an account. The credits are enough to do a fair few generations and test if you like the product.
• Standard: The standard subscription offers 625 credits per month which is enough for most users for $12/month.
• Pro: The pro plan offers 2250 credits and full Runway functionality at $28/month billed yearly.

Benefits

• Vast Features: Runway Gen-2 outperforms many competitors in terms of breadth of functionality and capability to generate images.
• Leader in AI Video Tools: Runway Gen-2 leads the industry with its unique generative AI video tools.
• Cost Efficiency: With the inclusion of various generative tools under one subscription, Runway provides a cost-effective solution for users needing a range of functionalities.

Drawbacks

• The AI video still has a ways to go before they’re at the high standard of other generative tools
• Image-to-image feature lacks quality

5. BlueWillow

BlueWillow is an AI image generation tool that allows you to create digital art within minutes of signing up.

Key features include prompt-based generation, image-to-image, outpainting (zoom out), and negative prompting – which is handy for removing features or styles from your images.

BlueWillow offers a user-friendly interface built right into Discord, and their forthcoming web app is something I’ll be keeping an eye on.

Interestingly, BlueWillow were recently bought out by LimeWire.

BlueWillow offers a generous free trial so you can get a feel for the tool before committing to a monthly or yearly plan.

BlueWillow recently surpassed 2 million users and they even have a podcast “The AI Edge” which you can listen to on their Discord!

Key Features

• Prompt-Based Generation: BlueWillow’s intuitive prompt system allows you to create logos, graphics, digital artwork, or photo-realistic scenes with simple text input.
• Quick Results: Generate up to four images within a minute of signing up to the BlueWillow Discord.
• Zoom Out Feature: Explore broader contexts with the ‘outpainting’ feature that enables zooming out generated images.
• Negative Prompting: This unique feature allows the removal of specific styles or features, offering greater control over the final generation.

Pricing

BlueWillow offers 3 pricing tiers and a generous free option.

• FREE: Basic offering generates up to 10 prompts per day, supported by ads, with a queue limit of 5 simultaneous requests.
• Willower: Generate up to 50 prompts per day with a queue limit of 5 simultaneous requests for $5 per month.
• Blue Angel: The most popular tier generates up to 100 prompts per day with a queue limit of 10 simultaneous requests. Also gains you access to live event chats, premium generation channels, and our VIP contest/newsletter for $10/month!
• Sapphire: Grants you up to 200 prompts per day, a queue limit of 10 simultaneous requests, and includes all the perks of the Blue Angel tier for $20/month.

Benefits

• Great Alternative: Recently surpassing 2 million users, BlueWillow offers compelling features as a direct competitor to Adobe Firefly at a competitive price.
• Community Engagement: With a dedicated team and a user-friendly Discord community, users can access reliable support and secure solutions.
• Free Access: BlueWillow has a generous free plan that allows you to get a feel for the product before committing.

Drawbacks

• BlueWillow lacks private generation so if the channel is busy it can be fiddly to track your images down.

6. Stable Diffusion

Stable Diffusion is a generative AI image generator from Stability AI that can generate anything you want (yes that includes adult content or gore if that’s what you’re about).

Stable Diffusion is an open-source program that you download and run locally on your machine, so if you hate getting technical this isn’t the solution for you.

If you can handle some of the technical aspects of installation then Stable Diffusion offers the most functionality out of all the tools listed here.

I could go down the rabbit hole explaining everything Stable Diffusion can do but it’s a bit much for this article.

This is a good video I found that outlines some of the functionality, as well as how to install and run Stable Diffusion in the cloud.

Key Features

• Open Source: Stable Diffusion is a free, open-source platform, providing you with full transparency and the freedom to modify the program to fit your needs.
• Local or Cloud Operation: This tool can be run locally on your PC, or in the cloud.
• Advanced Functionality: Stable Diffusion offers a broad range of features, providing you with a comprehensive toolkit for image generation.
• Custom Model Training: Stable Diffusion allows you to train your own models.

Pricing

• Stable Diffusion is FREE when run locally on your PC.

Benefits

• Unrestricted Content Generation: Stable Diffusion doesn’t limit the type of content that can be generated, giving you full creative freedom.
• Variety of Functions: The tool offers a range of unique features, giving you diverse possibilities for your creations.
• Free: Stable Diffusion is free if run locally.

Drawbacks

• It’s quite technical to set up and work with
• Requires a decent GPU if you’re running it locally

7. Dreamstudio

Dreamstudio is a generative AI image generator from Stability AI that can produce high-quality images right there in your browser.

Dreamstudio has been trained on billions of images and allows for text-to-image, image-to-image, and some other basic features like negative prompting (telling it what you don’t want to see in the output).

It also has an edit feature where you can easily modify the style of an image based on some preset models, as well as a basic generative fill feature.

Key Features

• Variety of Tools: Dreamstudio provides an array of features such as text-to-image, image-to-image transformations, and generative fill/remove.
• Browser-Based: Dreamstudio operates as a browser application, allowing you to create and edit images directly in their web browser.
• Negative Prompting: Dreamstudio supports negative prompting, which allows you to specify elements you don’t want to appear in the generated image.

Pricing

• Dreamstudio offers a pay-as-you-go model at $10 per 1000 credits (about 5000 generations). You also get 10 free credits when you sign up.

Benefits

• Balanced Functionality and Quality: Dreamstudio offers a balanced blend of features and quality, making it an ideal choice for casual users who need high-quality image generation tools without an overwhelming number of options.
• Generative Fill and Remove: Dreamstudio brings its own take on the generative fill and remove features, allowing another level of image manipulation.
• Ease of Access: Being a browser-based application, Dreamstudio offers the convenience of access from any device with an internet connection and a web browser.

Drawbacks

• Some images and feature generations are lacking in quality, eyes and hands in particular

8. Writesonic

Writesonic is best known for creating SEO-optimized and plagiarism-free content, but you might not have known it has an AI image generator that’s just as powerful!

Turn imagination into beautiful art in seconds with Writesonic’s AI Art Generator.

Writesonic is super easy to use, just enter your text prompt and let the AI generate unique images, illustrations, and photo-realistic art.

Writesonic’s AI can do anything from abstract paintings to pop culture portraits. Imagination is the only limit!

Writesonic’s AI art maker produces royalty-free art you can use across platforms – social media, blogs, ads, and more.

Forget sifting through expensive stock photos that don’t fit. AI art creation is personalized, on-demand, and affordable. Get the perfect image for pennies without licensing hurdles.

A massive added bonus of using Writesonic’s AI art generator is that you’ll get access to the whole range of Writesonic tools. Including tools for SEO, article summaries, and social media marketing!

Key Features

• AI Art Generation: Writesonic’s AI turns text prompts into unique images, illustrations, and photo-realistic art.
• Versatility: From abstract paintings to pop culture portraits, Writesonic’s AI can generate anything you can think to ask it to.
• Royalty-Free Art: The AI produces art that can be used across platforms without licensing concerns.
• Comprehensive Tools: Users get access to Writesonic’s full range of tools, including SEO and social media marketing utilities.

Pricing

Writesonic has a pricing scheme to suit everyone:

• Free: Gives you enough credits to try out the tool and get a feel for it before you commit.
• Unlimited: Unlimited access to GPT3.5-powered AI and the Writesonic AI image generator for $16/month.
• Business: Highly flexible plan starting from $12.67 for GPT4 access and fill access to the image generator.
• Enterprise: Contact Writesonic sales for enterprise plans.

Benefits

• Ease of Use: Writesonic is user-friendly, allowing quick and efficient art creation.
• Affordability: It offers personalized and on-demand art at a fraction of the cost of traditional stock photos.
• Quality: The AI’s capabilities rival leading alternatives, making it the best Adobe Firefly alternative in 2024.

Drawbacks

• While still advanced, the AI is still restricted by user prompts and might not fully capture your imagination or creativity.

9. Canva

Canva is best known as a leading graphic design platform, empowering creators of all skill levels to easily design stunning visual content.

With the recent addition of their AI image generator, Canva now offers users new ways to enhance creativity in their designs through AI.

Canva’s AI image generator allows you to describe an image through text prompts or by uploading an image. It then generates creative visuals based on your description.

The image quality from Canva’s AI generator is quite impressive, transforming text prompts into stylish images. As a graphic design tool, the ability to seamlessly integrate AI-generated images into your designs is a major plus.

See the example below of a whimsical fox character I generated with Canva’s AI, which could easily be incorporated into a fun poster or social media post.

Whimsical cartoon fox character holding a heart – Generated by Canva’s AI

While not as advanced as tools focused solely on generative AI, Canva’s integration directly within its design editor makes it effortless to leverage AI in your creative process.

Canva’s AI image generator also allows you to make simple edits like cropping and applying filters. And you can save your generated images to use again or share with others.

For Canva users, the AI image generator is a great new asset to enhance visuals and unlock new creative possibilities. It makes AI image generation accessible even for those with no design experience.

As a free addition within the Canva ecosystem, the AI image generator offers strong value. And I expect its capabilities will rapidly improve over time as Canva continues refining its AI.

Key Features

• Easy Access: Seamlessly generate AI images within Canva’s design editor. No need to export/import files.
• Design Focus: Canva’s core strength in graphic design carries over, allowing quick refinement and integration of AI images.
• Generative Capabilities: Text-to-image and image-to-image generation.
• Basic Image Editing: Crop, resize, apply filters.
• Share & Save: Download your AI images or save them to your Canva library.

10. Craiyon

Formerly known as DALL-E Mini, Craiyon exploded in popularity as a free and accessible AI image generator.

While not on the same level as premium tools, Craiyon can generate some impressively creative images from text prompts. It’s a great entry point for anyone to start playing around with AI art generation.

For example, see the fun pirate ship scene I created simply by describing it in text:

A pirate ship sailing through stormy seas at night – Generated by Craiyon

The image quality is decent, with some fuzziness in fine details. But overall, Craiyon can interpret text prompts into cohesive images with colorful and stylized results.

It supports text-to-image generation, allowing you to describe a scene or concept. You can generate variations on a theme by rephrasing and resubmitting prompts.

There are some limitations, like a lack of image-to-image capabilities. And Craiyon won’t produce highly photorealistic or commercial quality images.

But its accessibility and ease of use make Craiyon a great sandbox for new creators to experiment with AI art on their own terms. It’s simple to get started crafting unique images within minutes.

Craiyon also offers helpful features like searching examples other users have created and browsing by categories like “landscapes” or “food”. This can provide inspiration to spark your imagination when dreaming up what to generate.

As a free tool, Craiyon delivers strong value. It makes AI art generation open to anyone with creative ideas and some text writing skills.

Key Features

• Free to Use: No subscription required to generate AI images.
• Text-to-Image: Describe a scene or concept with text and Craiyon will generate related visuals.
• Creative Stylization: Generates colorful, stylized images rather than photorealism.
• Beginner Friendly: Simple UX and helpful features make it easy for new users.

Who Should Use Adobe Firefly Alternatives?

Generative AI image and video tools can be used by creatives looking to come up with ideas and spark creativity, businesses looking to save time and money on image or logo generation, Freelancers looking to sell their creations, researchers looking to quickly and easily visualize concepts for their audience, teachers can use them to create custom learning materials, entertainers can create realistic environments and characters, the possibilities are endless.

The best part about these tools is how easily accessible and user-friendly most of them are. With just a few clicks of your mouse, you can be using cutting-edge technology and seriously level up your productivity and creativity.

Wrapping Up

Adobe Firefly has recently brought more attention to the generative AI space with its high-quality generative fill feature.

As you can see in the examples I provided in this article, the tools each have unique strengths and weaknesses that can compete with Firefly.

Midjourney is my choice for the best Firefly alternative due to the extremely high quality outputs and versatility of it’s Vary(region) functionality. Runway was a close second.