Free vs Paid AI Image, Video and Music Tools: What the Free Plan Really Allows

On most AI image, video and music tools, the free plan lets you try the tool; paying is what lets you use the result for money. The exceptions run both ways: Runway, Higgsfield, ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok do not tie commercial use to the plan, Udio restricts everyone, and Midjourney has no free plan. Every figure below is from the vendor’s own pages, read on 23 September 2026: a dated snapshot, to re-check before you pay or publish.

Eleven tools, free against paid

Each row summarises the vendor’s own pages, quoted in the sections below. The commercial-use column is what the terms say.

Vendor pages cited below, read at source 23 Sep 2026. Sister pages cover free versus paid AI chat and running AI free on your own machine.

Image tools

Midjourney

Midjourney says “All Midjourney plans are subscriptions”, from $10 to $120 a month, and “No free trial is currently available in Discord or the midjourney.com website.”Midjourney, Comparing Midjourney Plans and Free Trials, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “All Midjourney plans are subscriptions”; “No free trial is currently available in Discord or the midjourney.com website.” Its terms, effective 27 May 2026, say “You own all Assets You create with the Services to the fullest extent possible under applicable law”, with one plan condition: a company “with more than $1,000,000 USD a year in revenue” must be on Pro or Mega. On cheaper plans, “By default, Your Content is publicly viewable and remixable”; Stealth mode is Pro and Mega only.Midjourney, Terms of Service, version effective 27 May 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “You own all Assets You create with the Services to the fullest extent possible under applicable law”; “with more than $1,000,000 USD a year in revenue”; “By default, Your Content is publicly viewable and remixable”.

ChatGPT Images

Free gets “Limited and slower image generation”; Go, the cheapest paid plan, gets “More image creation”. No numbers are published, and the Go price is shown in local currency.OpenAI, ChatGPT Pricing, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Limited and slower image generation”; “More image creation”. Rights do not change with the plan. The terms say “We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output.”OpenAI, Terms of Use, effective 1 Jan 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output.” There is no visible stamp; images carry C2PA metadata and a SynthID watermark.OpenAI Help Center, Provenance signals, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Supported images generated with ChatGPT, Codex, and the OpenAI API include both signals.”

Nano Banana in the Gemini app

Free accounts get Nano Banana 2; paid plans add Nano Banana Pro for redos, and downloads are 2K with a plan “or at 1K without an AI plan”.Google, Generate & edit images with Gemini Apps, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “or at 1K without an AI plan”. Video generation starts at AI Plus, and AI Pro gets “4x higher than standard limits”.Google, Gemini Apps limits & upgrades, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “4x higher than standard limits”. In the US, AI Plus is $4.99 a month and AI Pro $19.99.Google, Google AI subscriptions, United States, read at source 23 Sep 2026: Google AI Plus “$4.99 / month”, Google AI Pro “$19.99 / month”. Google’s terms apply to every plan: “Google won’t claim ownership over that content.”Google, Terms of Service, effective 30 Jul 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Google won’t claim ownership over that content.” A visible watermark can be switched off in settings, except in India, South Korea and Vietnam, where only AI Ultra gets the switch; the invisible SynthID mark stays on everything.Google, Manage watermark settings in Gemini Apps, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “If you are in India, South Korea, or Vietnam, you’ll only see this setting if you have an AI Ultra subscription.” And: “It doesn’t affect SynthID watermarks or Content Credentials for media you create with Gemini Apps.”

Grok Imagine

xAI (its pages now say SpaceXAI) lists images on the free plan and video only on paid ones. SuperGrok is $30 a month; a SuperGrok Lite tier is listed without a price.xAI, Pricing: Compare Grok Plans, read at source 23 Sep 2026: SuperGrok “$30 /month”. Paying does not remove the mark: “Generated images and videos include a Grok watermark to indicate that the content was created with AI. There is no setting to remove the watermark.”xAI, FAQ – Grok Website / Apps, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Generated images and videos include a Grok watermark to indicate that the content was created with AI. There is no setting to remove the watermark.” The terms, updated 11 Sep 2026, say “you retain your ownership rights to the User Content”, which includes output, and ask you to “attribute your generation of the Output to the Service”.xAI, Terms of Service, last updated 11 Sep 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “you retain your ownership rights to the User Content”; “attribute your generation of the Output to the Service”.

Meta AI and Vibes

Meta says “Meta AI will still be free for everyday use”; its Meta One Core and Premium plans add “more media generation with Meta AI”.Meta, Introducing Meta One, 15 Sep 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Meta AI will still be free for everyday use”; “more media generation with Meta AI”. Core is $7.99 a month and Premium $19.99, and Meta notes that pricing “may vary by region, app and account”.Meta, Meta One Subscription Plans, read in a browser 23 Sep 2026: “may vary by region, app and account”. The AI terms say you keep your rights “in and to your Prompts”. They are silent on owning or selling the images and videos, on any plan.Meta, Meta AIs Terms of Service, US version, effective 13 May 2026, read in a browser 23 Sep 2026: “in and to your Prompts”. See also what Meta Vibes is.

Video tools

Runway

Free is “125 one-time credits to explore Runway’s AI tools”; Standard is $15 a month, or $12 billed yearly, and lists “No watermarks”.Runway, Pricing, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “125 one-time credits to explore Runway’s AI tools”; “No watermarks”. Runway’s help centre is plain: “All videos generated on a Free plan feature a Runway watermark.”Runway, Free plan details, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “All videos generated on a Free plan feature a Runway watermark.” The terms, updated 15 Sep 2026, do not split by plan: “the Company does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs.”Runway, Terms of Use, last updated 15 Sep 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “the Company does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs.”

Kling

The free Basic plan shows no monthly credits; Kling “occasionally offers promotional campaigns that grant free Credits”. Standard lists at $10 a month.Kling AI, Membership Plans, read in a browser 23 Sep 2026: “occasionally offers promotional campaigns that grant free Credits”. Free output is not for business: “without our written permission”, the terms bar use of “the Output for any commercial purposes”.Kling AI, Terms of Service, effective 21 Apr 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “without our written permission”; “the Output for any commercial purposes”. Membership lifts both limits: benefits include “Watermark removal”, and “KLING AI members’ use of the Output for commercial purposes is not restricted.”Kling AI, Terms of Paid Service, effective 21 Apr 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Watermark removal”; “KLING AI members’ use of the Output for commercial purposes is not restricted.”

Higgsfield

The watermark follows the account, not the model: “On a free account, every generation carries a Higgsfield watermark. On any paid plan, generations come without a watermark.”Higgsfield, Why is there a watermark, and how do I remove it?, 3 Aug 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “On a free account, every generation carries a Higgsfield watermark. On any paid plan, generations come without a watermark.” Rights do not: the terms say the company “does not claim ownership of any of your Inputs or Outputs, nor does it restrict your commercial use of Outputs.”Higgsfield, Terms of Use, last updated 26 Jul 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “does not claim ownership of any of your Inputs or Outputs, nor does it restrict your commercial use of Outputs.” Basic is $9 a month, billed annually.Higgsfield, Pricing, read in a browser 23 Sep 2026: Basic “$9” “per month, billed annually”.

Music and voice

Suno

Free is “50 credits per day”, with “No commercial rights”. Pro costs $10 a month, or $96 billed yearly.Suno, Pricing, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “50 credits per day”; “No commercial rights”. Since 3 Sep 2026 downloads are capped: “Free: Up to 7 (lifetime) trial downloads”, and “Trial downloads are for personal use only: commercial rights apply to songs downloaded on paid plans.”Suno, An update to our downloads policy and Terms of Service, 10 Aug 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Free: Up to 7 (lifetime) trial downloads”; “Trial downloads are for personal use only: commercial rights apply to songs downloaded on paid plans.” Under the terms, free users may use output only “for your lawful, personal and non-commercial purposes”; for paid users Suno assigns its rights but “makes no representation or warranty to you that any copyright will vest in any Output.”Suno, Terms of Service, effective 3 Sep 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “for your lawful, personal and non-commercial purposes”; “makes no representation or warranty to you that any copyright will vest in any Output.” Details: Suno cheat sheet.

Udio

Free is “10 credits per day and 100 credits per month (no rollovers)”; Standard is $10 a month or $96 billed yearly.Udio, Pricing, read in a browser 23 Sep 2026: “10 credits per day and 100 credits per month (no rollovers)”. Paying does not get a file out: Udio says “downloading of audio, video, and stems has been disabled”.Udio Help Center, Changes associated with the Universal Music Group partnership, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “downloading of audio, video, and stems has been disabled”. The terms, revised 12 Nov 2025, go further on every plan: the company and its licensors “own all right, title and interest in and to the Services and the Output”, and “you may use Output solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes”. Paid subscribers are spared only the duty to credit Udio.Udio, Terms of Service, last revised 12 Nov 2025, read in a browser 23 Sep 2026: “own all right, title and interest in and to the Services and the Output”; “you may use Output solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes”.

ElevenLabs

Free is 10,000 credits a month; Starter, $6 a month, is the first plan listing a “Commercial License”.ElevenLabs, Pricing, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Commercial License”. A free user “may only use the Services for non-commercial purposes”, though the terms leave every user “all rights in and to your Output”.ElevenLabs, Terms of Service, last updated 31 Mar 2026, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “may only use the Services for non-commercial purposes”; “all rights in and to your Output”. Free output published anywhere must credit ElevenLabs in the title, and the paid licence outlasts the plan: “Content generated during a paid subscription can be used commercially, and indefinitely”.ElevenLabs Help, Can I publish the content I generate on the platform?, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “Content generated during a paid subscription can be used commercially, and indefinitely”.

The catch with free

Watermarks. Visible marks sit on free Runway, Kling and Higgsfield output, and on all Grok output. ChatGPT and Gemini add invisible signals on every plan. Cropping is not a fix: xAI says removing its mark “is prohibited under our Acceptable Use Policy”, and Suno users agree not to “remove, alter, obscure or circumvent any fingerprint, watermark or metadata” to hide a track’s origin.xAI, FAQ – Grok Website / Apps, and Suno, Terms of Service, both read at source 23 Sep 2026: “is prohibited under our Acceptable Use Policy”; “remove, alter, obscure or circumvent any fingerprint, watermark or metadata”.

Rights. Where free output may not be used commercially, upgrading later does not clean it: ElevenLabs says content made outside a paid subscription “cannot be used commercially and always requires attribution when shared non-commercially.”ElevenLabs Help, Can I publish the content I generate on the platform?, read at source 23 Sep 2026: “cannot be used commercially and always requires attribution when shared non-commercially.” Every grant above is a contract, not copyright; who owns what you generate explains why a one-shot generation is hard to own under US law on any plan.

Limits. Some free allowances do not refill. Runway’s 125 credits “does not expire, and does not renew or refresh once spent”, and Suno says of its trial downloads that “they are a one-time allowance”.Runway, Free plan details, and Suno, An update to our downloads policy, both read at source 23 Sep 2026: “does not expire, and does not renew or refresh once spent”; “they are a one-time allowance”. To price the paid step, see what generation actually costs.

What this page could not verify

• Free-plan quotas for ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and Meta AI. None publishes a number of images; all describe limits in words.
• Higgsfield’s free allowance. Its pricing page shows no free plan; only its watermark help mentions free accounts.
• Whether Meta AI output is watermarked. Not stated on the pages read here.
• Udio’s older help article, dated 26 Mar 2025, still says “You own the output.” Its terms, revised later, say the opposite; this page follows the terms.
• Prices outside the US. ChatGPT and Google show local-currency prices; dollar figures here are as displayed on 23 Sep 2026.