Leonardo AI gives you 150 free tokens every 24 hours to generate images and try video. For a blogger, a practical one-day project is a finished article cover plus a social media crop. For an illustrator, it might be several versions of the same scene. How far the allowance goes depends on the price shown on the Generate button and how many revisions you need.
Here’s a benchmark. In an October 16, 2026 free-account test, RealTest generated one 1,024 × 1,024 image for 8 tokens using Auto. At that same price, a fresh balance would cover 18 single-image attempts, with 6 tokens left. A different size, model, or setting can change the price. For quick visual ideas, Leonardo’s Flow State tool uses a different rate of one token per image.
What does the Leonardo AI free plan include?
| Feature | What you get for free | What it means for your project |
| Daily allowance | 150 tokens, refreshed every 24 hours | Unused tokens expire. Skipping a day won’t give you 300 tomorrow. |
| Image generation | Auto Image, presets, and basic quality settings | You describe the scene and Leonardo selects the model. |
| Video generation | Auto Video with limited model access | You can try a short motion concept if its quoted cost fits your balance. |
| Privacy | Public creations | Choose a subject you’re comfortable showing before publication. |
| Organization | One personal collection | You can keep the drafts for your current project together. |
| Extra tokens | Token packs require a paid subscription | When your free balance runs out, you can generate again after the reset. |
Leonardo lists the free plan at $0 per month. The pricing page shows which tools each plan includes. To see when your own allowance refreshes, hover over the token counter in the web app.
How many Auto Image generations can you make with 150 tokens?
Divide your remaining balance by the displayed cost of one generation and round down. If you have 90 tokens left and the button shows 20, you can afford four more runs at those settings, with 10 tokens remaining. Check the price again after changing the image dimensions, output count, or other settings.
The table shows how much the answer changes with the price of a single-image run. The 8-token figure comes from the published test. The other two prices are examples for budgeting.
| Cost for one image | Attempts from 150 tokens | Tokens left |
| 8 tokens | 18 | 6 |
| 20 tokens | 7 | 10 |
| 40 tokens | 3 | 30 |
If your deadline is today, leave room for one correction. An image can look convincing in the gallery and still lose its subject when cropped for your website.
How to use Leonardo AI Flow State for a mood board
When you’re still deciding how an image should look, open Flow State from the home page. Enter a short prompt such as “Blue ceramic mug and kraft shipping box on a potter’s worktable.” Compare how the scene looks from overhead and from the side. Leonardo charges one token for each Flow State image that appears. Viewing or downloading an image you already generated costs no extra tokens.
If eight concepts appear, you’ve spent 8 tokens and have 142 left from a fresh allowance. Save the composition you like before changing the prompt or settings, which restarts the stream. More Like This uses tokens to generate more variations, so use it once you know which version deserves another look.
How to create a blog cover and a social post in one day
Suppose you’re publishing “How to Pack a Ceramic Mug for Shipping.” You want a realistic 700 × 400-pixel featured image for your website and a square image for a social post. The following is a project you can try. Its token budget depends on the quote in your account.
1. Describe the photograph you need
Open Image from the Leonardo AI home page, use Auto Image, and choose a landscape format close to your final crop. Start with one image and read the token cost before generating.
Sample prompt
Editorial photograph for a small pottery business. A single blue ceramic mug sits beside an open brown shipping box on a wooden packing table. A folded sheet of honeycomb packing paper lies between them. Side view in soft window light. Group the mug and box near the center-right. Leave the left third of the frame clear for a headline. No lettering or logos.
The detail that does the most work here is where the objects sit. It gives you room for a headline in the wide version and a pair of objects you can keep together in the square crop.
2. Check the first draft at its final size
Preview the result at 700 × 400 before spending tokens on a revision. Look closely at three details.
- Does the subject read clearly? The mug handle should be recognizable, even at thumbnail size.
- Does the scene make physical sense? Look at the box flaps and the point where the mug meets the table.
- Will both crops work? Try a square crop around the mug and box. If it cuts off the handle, decide whether a slightly wider composition would fix it.
If the photograph works and the only issue is empty space, adjust the crop in your image editor. Use another generation only if the scene itself needs to change.
3. Spend the next attempt on one correction
Suppose the box hides the mug handle. A useful revision instruction is “Move the box slightly behind the mug and turn the handle toward the camera. Keep the lighting and background.” Check the price of the edit or new generation before committing. Leonardo also offers editing and upscaling from the generated image.
4. Budget for the final export
Suppose you explore eight Flow State concepts, then your Generate button quotes 20 tokens for one landscape draft. Here’s how the balance would change. This is an illustrative budget for the mug project.
| Action | Tokens spent | Balance |
| Start the day | 0 | 150 |
| Explore eight Flow State concepts | 8 | 142 |
| Generate one landscape draft at the example price | 20 | 122 |
| Try one revised composition at that same price | 20 | 102 |
| Export a wide and a square crop locally | 0 | 102 |
Should you spend tokens on upscaling? Check the cropped image at its intended display size. If it already looks sharp at 700 × 400, export it. If you also need a larger newsletter banner, preview the upscale cost first. In a separate test, RealTest recorded 5 tokens for a 2× Precise upscale from 512 × 512 to 1,024 × 1,024. Your input size and selected settings matter.
What else can you create in a day?
| Project | A practical target | Where to spend a second attempt |
| YouTube thumbnail | One clear background with space for a title | Make the subject recognizable at phone size. Add the title afterward. |
| Product concept | Two visual directions for a fictional item | Change either the material or the silhouette so you can compare the results. |
| Storyboard | A few rough frames for one scene | Keep the setting fixed and change the camera angle. |
| Short video | One motion study, such as packing paper unfolding | Give the clip one movement and check its token price before generating. |
For video, check the cost before spending your balance on stills. Open Video, choose Auto Video, and enter a short motion prompt. Leonardo shows the price before you run it. Free accounts have limited video access, and Leonardo lists uploading your own image for video and generating a watermark-free clip as paid capabilities. Those details matter if you need to animate a specific product photo for a client.
Can you use free Leonardo AI images commercially?
Yes. Leonardo says free users can use their generated images commercially under a non-exclusive, royalty-free license. Its terms assign ownership of free-plan outputs to Leonardo as between you and the company. Free creations are public, and other users can access and reuse them through features such as remixing.
For the pottery article, that means you can use the generic packing-table illustration on a business blog. An unreleased mug design for a client is a different assignment. If the brief calls for confidentiality, choose a plan that supports private generation and turn on Private Mode before creating the first draft.
Can you delete a generated image on the free plan?
Leonardo’s help center says deleting a generated image or a whole generated set requires a paid subscription. For the mug example, use a fictional design and plain packaging from the start. A client’s name on the box or an unreleased pattern on the mug can reveal the project even if you never download the image.
When is the free plan enough?
Stay on the free plan if your work is public, you can finish within the daily allowance, and Auto gives you a usable result. For an occasional article cover, one well-composed image can fill several placements.
Consider upgrading when you can name the restriction affecting your work. If a client requires private drafts, extra free tokens tomorrow won’t solve that problem. If you produce a week’s graphics in one sitting, a monthly pool may fit your schedule better. Leonardo lists Essential at $12 per month before tax on monthly billing, with 8,500 monthly tokens, manual model selection, and private generation.
Conclusion: Leonardo AI
The Leonardo AI free plan suits a clearly defined job such as a blog cover, a thumbnail, or a visual concept. Start with the dimensions you need and check the cost of one attempt. For the mug article, the day’s work is done when the handle reads at thumbnail size, the headline fits, and both crops work. You can stop there, even with tokens left.
Leonardo AI FAQs
1. Why did my second Leonardo AI image cost more than my first?
Check the image dimensions, number of outputs, reference images, and quality settings. Each can affect the price. Compare the amount on Generate after changing one setting at a time.
2. How can I track what I spent on each image?
Free accounts show the remaining balance, while the detailed Token History is a paid feature. For a one-day project, keep a quick note of the price on Generate, the balance after each run, and which drafts you kept. If two 20-token attempts produce one usable cover, that cover took 40 tokens to make.
3. Where can I find and download a previous image?
Open Library from the Leonardo home page, or return to the image creation feed. Select the generation you want and use its download option. This is handy when yesterday’s draft only needs a different crop.
4. What if my free tokens haven’t reset?
On the web app, hover over your token balance to see the next reset time. If more than 48 hours have passed without a refill, Leonardo advises contacting support through the in-app chat.
