Leonardo AI costs $12/mo.
These cost $0.
6 free alternatives to Leonardo AI, checked for license, recent activity and real adoption. Each one tells you the catch, so you can switch with your eyes open.
Leonardo AI vs Free Alternatives Matrix
Quick side-by-side comparison · $0/mo vs $12/mo
| Alternative | Type | License | Where It Runs | Stars | Head-to-Head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ComfyUI | open source | GPL-3.0 | Local or hosted | ★ 124k | Leonardo AI vs ComfyUI → |
| InvokeAI | open source | Apache-2.0 | Local or hosted | ★ 28k | Leonardo AI vs InvokeAI → |
| SwarmUI | open source | MIT | Self-host | ★ 4.4k | Leonardo AI vs SwarmUI → |
| NodeTool | open source | AGPL-3.0 | Local or hosted | ★ 450 | Leonardo AI vs NodeTool → |
| Draw Things | free | GPL-3.0 | Local or hosted | ★ $0 forever | Leonardo AI vs Draw Things → |
| Easy Diffusion | free | proprietary, free | Local | ★ $0 forever | Leonardo AI vs Easy Diffusion → |
The picks
4 open source · 2 free to use · ranked by fit
- 01
ComfyUI
open sourceGPL-3.0Local or hosted124kaug 2026The canonical local workflow engine, complete with saved graphs, queues and every knob Leonardo hides.
The catch vs Leonardo AIIt has deeper parameter control, but no Leonardo-style hosted asset library, team workspace, polished model-training flow, or instant cloud capacity.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- desktopwebself-hostedone-click install
- install
- Windows or macOS desktop installer, Windows portable archive, or manual Python install on Windows, macOS, or Linux
- setup
- A compatible GPU, enough VRAM and disk for multi-gigabyte models, and a working model/workflow must be chosen before useful output appears
- engines
- Local and downloadable image, video, audio, 3D, and text models including Stable Diffusion/SDXL/SD3.5, FLUX, Wan, LTX-Video, HunyuanVideo, CogVideoX, and Mochi; optional API nodes connect to hosted providers
- your data
- Models, inputs, outputs, and workflow JSON live in the local ComfyUI data tree; generated media can embed workflow and seed metadata, while API nodes transmit selected inputs to their provider
- checked
- 2026-08-10
- 02
InvokeAI
open sourceApache-2.0Local or hosted28kaug 2026Organized boards, rich metadata, masks and reusable workflows for local and API-backed image models.
The catch vs Leonardo AIIt has excellent boards and workflows, but team collaboration, hosted asset sharing, and Leonardo's turnkey training and generation infrastructure are not included.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- desktopwebself-hostedone-click install
- install
- Install through Invoke's launcher on Windows, macOS, or Linux, or deploy the documented Docker setup
- setup
- The launcher is straightforward, but the user still needs a compatible GPU, a large model download, and sometimes a gated-model login or provider API key
- engines
- Local models including Stable Diffusion, SDXL, SD3.5, FLUX, CogView, Z-Image, Krea, Anima, Qwen Image, Ideogram, and segmentation models; selected hosted models such as GPT Image, Gemini/Nano Banana, and Wan use API credentials
- your data
- Models, images, boards, canvas state, prompts, metadata, and a SQLite database live in the local Invoke data directory; API-backed nodes send only the selected prompt and image context to their provider
- checked
- 2026-08-10
- 03
SwarmUI
open sourceMITSelf-host4.4kaug 2026A clean Generate tab, history, grids and the full workflow graph; parameters survive every rerun.
The catch vs Leonardo AIIt saves settings and history, but its asset organization and collaboration are thinner than Leonardo's cloud workspace.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- desktopwebself-hostedone-click install
- install
- Run the Windows installer script, the Linux launch script, or install .NET/Python/Homebrew prerequisites and run launch-macos.sh on macOS; Docker is optional
- setup
- The backend and models still have to be downloaded, and non-Windows installs require command-line prerequisites such as .NET, Python, and Git
- engines
- Uses ComfyUI as its main backend for Stable Diffusion, SDXL, FLUX, Wan, LTX, MiniMax, ACE-Step, and other image/video/audio workflows; an Automatic1111-compatible backend is optional
- your data
- Configuration, users, models, workflows, generated media, and history live in the local SwarmUI installation and configured model/output directories
- checked
- 2026-08-10
- 04
NodeTool
open sourceAGPL-3.0Local or hosted450aug 2026A native workflow app for local and BYOK image models, with projects and results kept on your machine.
The catch vs Leonardo AIIt retains local workflows and results, but the user supplies compute and providers and gets no Leonardo-style shared asset catalog or managed training.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- desktopwebself-hostedclione-click install
- install
- Install the macOS .dmg, signed Windows .exe, or Linux AppImage; Docker Compose is available for self-hosting
- setup
- No useful model or provider is bundled: the user must add an API key or download a multi-gigabyte local model, and some local backends add a large Python/Conda environment
- engines
- Local Ollama, llama.cpp/GGUF, MLX, Nunchaku, Hugging Face, and diffusion/media models, plus BYOK providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, FAL, Replicate, KIE, ElevenLabs, and Hugging Face
- your data
- Workflows, projects, assets, files, provider settings, and vector indexes live locally in YAML, SQLite/SQLite-vec, and application storage; optional S3 or Supabase storage is supported, and cloud nodes transmit their inputs
- checked
- 2026-08-10
- 05
Draw Things
freeGPL-3.0Local or hostedLocal models, histories, canvases and retained settings on Apple hardware; no team asset library.
The catch vs Leonardo AIIt keeps models and history locally, but lacks Leonardo's shared team library, browser access, and managed training and compute.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- desktopmobileone-click install
- install
- Install the signed app from Apple's App Store on macOS, iPhone, or iPad
- setup
- Apple hardware is required, and the first model download is large; older devices can be slow or memory-limited
- engines
- Runs supported Stable Diffusion, SDXL, FLUX, and video models locally, including imported checkpoints and LoRAs; optional cloud compute can offload generation
- your data
- Projects, models, history, and generated media live in the app sandbox; on macOS model files are under the app container, while cloud offload sends prompts and media for processing
- checked
- 2026-08-10
- 06
Easy Diffusion
freeproprietary, freeLocalA simpler local queue with custom models and reproducible settings; fewer workflow toys, fewer invoices.
The catch vs Leonardo AIIt is simpler locally, but its gallery, canvas, model management, and collaboration are much less polished than Leonardo's hosted workspace.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- desktopwebself-hostedone-click install
- install
- Run the Windows installer, or extract the Linux/macOS package and start it with ./start.sh
- setup
- Windows may show SmartScreen, macOS/Linux use a terminal launcher, and the first runtime plus model download can consume roughly tens of gigabytes
- engines
- Local diffusion models including Stable Diffusion variants, FLUX, Z-Image, ERNIE, Lumina, Anima, and supported quantized/custom checkpoints
- your data
- Models, settings, prompts, and generated images remain in the local installation and output directories; the app contacts package/model hosts for dependencies and downloads but says it does not send prompts or images for analytics
- checked
- 2026-08-10
Frequently Asked Questions
Direct answers · Leonardo AI open-source replacements
What is the best free alternative to Leonardo AI?+
The top free alternative to Leonardo AI is ComfyUI (open source, GPL-3.0). The canonical local workflow engine, complete with saved graphs, queues and every knob Leonardo hides. Other popular Leonardo AI replacements include InvokeAI, SwarmUI, NodeTool.
Can I self-host a free replacement for Leonardo AI?+
Yes. Of the 6 free alternatives to Leonardo AI, 6 can be self-hosted on your own server or local machine: ComfyUI (GPL-3.0), InvokeAI (Apache-2.0), SwarmUI (MIT), NodeTool (AGPL-3.0), Draw Things (GPL-3.0), Easy Diffusion (proprietary, free).
How much does switching from Leonardo AI to a free alternative save?+
Leonardo AI starts at $12/month per seat ($144/year). Switching a 5-person team to a free alternative like ComfyUI saves $720 per year in software subscription fees.
Should I vibe-code or build my own Leonardo AI clone from scratch?+
Our build verdict for Leonardo AI is NOT REALLY (use a free alternative, save the tokens). A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Leonardo AI, organize local or API-backed image-generation workflows and retain parameters. The hard boundary is proprietary models, hosted gpu capacity, training tools, and asset ecosystem, plus frontier models, compute, and data.
What is the catch when switching from Leonardo AI to ComfyUI?+
It has deeper parameter control, but no Leonardo-style hosted asset library, team workspace, polished model-training flow, or instant cloud capacity.
