Leonardo AI: free tokens, public images and limits
Scoped recheck: 24 October 2026. Official pages, terms and documentation reviewed; no account, generation, upload, installation, appliance, calendar, payment or deletion test. Original publication date retained.
Leonardo AI offers image, video and creative tools. Its Free plan still provides 150 daily tokens and public creations, but the current live plan card says model access is Auto Only. That is not 150 images, private work or selectable access to every advertised model.
What is a token in this service?
A token is a unit deducted when an action uses computing resources. Different models, sizes, settings and reference images can require different amounts. Video can consume more than a simple image task. The token FAQ says the action cost is shown before generation, generally on the button. Read that cost before clicking rather than guessing from another user's results.
How to use it, step by step
- Open leonardo.ai and review the current plan and creation-access settings. Use the official route, not an offer promising unlimited free credits.
- Start with a non-sensitive prompt and a simple scene. Describe the subject, composition and intended style in clear words.
- Choose a model available in your account and read the token cost shown for your selected settings.
- Check the number of output images and any reference-image or editing charges. Do not assume a previous cost still applies.
- Generate only after confirming that the public setting is acceptable. Avoid private portraits, documents and client assets on the free tier.
- Inspect the actual image. Check hands, text, logos and factual details instead of trusting a thumbnail.
- Revise one problem at a time and watch the remaining allowance. Edits, upscales and other actions can use more tokens.
- Download a result you want to keep and review the service terms before using it commercially or in a client project.
Daily allowance and resets
Free users receive 150 daily tokens. Unused free tokens do not accumulate or carry forward. The official FAQ describes a 24-hour reset and suggests checking the token counter for the account's reset time. It is not a guaranteed midnight India reset. When the free allowance is exhausted, wait for its next reset or review a paid plan. Do not buy a top-up expecting the free tier to support it.
Public creations and ownership
The current terms distinguish your Inputs from generated Outputs: you retain ownership of inputs and must have the necessary rights and consent. For free subscribers, output rights vest in Leonardo.Ai as between the parties; pricing grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free commercial-use licence. Paid subscribers receive output/content rights as between the parties, subject to terms and applicable law, but still choose public or private. None of this guarantees a copyright exists in every jurisdiction or clears third-party likenesses and trademarks.
Terms clause 8.6 grants a perpetual, irrevocable public-content licence covering reuse, promotion, commercial purposes and model training. The privacy policy says public/free content can appear in search results and be indexed; deletion may not remove cached, archived or other users’ saved copies. Paid private content is limited to contractual service use and is not used for other purposes, including training, without express written consent. Paying alone does not turn a generation private. Confirm Private Mode before a prompt or reference upload, and do not submit confidential client, school or portrait material merely to test it.
Paid features are not universally unlimited
The monthly tab lists Essential $12, Premium $30 and Ultimate $60 before tax; the yearly tab shows $10, $24 and $48 effective per month, not month-to-month billing. Monthly allowances are 8,500, 25,000 and 60,000 Fast Tokens, with rollover-bank capacities of 25,500, 75,000 and 180,000. Free tokens do not roll over. Top-ups are for eligible paid subscriptions, never expire but require an active subscription to use; the token FAQ excludes Teams from that top-up statement. Check the actual annual total, tax and account rules rather than assuming every plan works alike.
Premium relaxed generation covers supported image models; Ultimate adds supported video models. It starts automatically only after tokens run out, cannot be manually enabled and may slow concurrency/queue priority. The current live pricing card restricts Free model access to Auto Only, while some extracted comparison/FAQ text is broader or lists older third-party exclusions. Use the current model selector and Unlimited badge for your exact plan: no unlimited Flow State or every third-party model was established. Web tokens and separately billed API credits are different balances; a web subscription is not free API use.
Terms updated 19 January 2026 require an account, age 13 or the higher local consent age, and parental/guardian consent or responsible-adult supervision under 18. Subscriptions renew automatically; cancellation through the account takes effect at the end of the subscription period, not an automatic refund. An account inactive for 12 months may be closed with notice and content lost. Privacy policy retention can continue for legal/dispute purposes, and data is stored in the US and processed in Australia/other provider countries. Team or organization administrators may control associated accounts and content. A private mode is not a guarantee of local-only storage or no administrator access.
For creators in Kerala and India
A generated poster can support a school project or a concept draft, but it is not a photograph of a real event. Label illustrative output when readers could mistake it for evidence. Add final Malayalam or English text in a reliable design editor if the generated lettering is wrong. Verify faces, landmarks and uniforms when they are meant to depict real-world details.
India price and privacy checks
Displayed plan prices exclude tax, which may be added at payment. Confirm the monthly or annual option and final rupee total instead of copying a rough conversion. Review both prompt and reference-image access before uploading. A paid private setting is different from a guarantee that sensitive client data may be sent under your organisation's rules.
Frequently asked questions
Do 150 tokens mean 150 images?
No. Cost varies by action and settings.
Do unused free tokens roll over?
No. The free allowance resets and unused tokens expire.
Are free images private?
The checked plan lists public creations.
Can I use outputs commercially?
The vendor describes a free-tier licence, but read current terms and check third-party rights.
Official sources
Checked 6 October 2026. Expanded from an AiCoN short post delivered 6 October 2026. Portal screens and rules can change.
Scoped recheck: live plans and current Auto Only limit · tokens, rollover and relaxed generation · input/output rights, public licences and subscription terms · training, visibility, administrators and retention. Checked 24 October 2026. Published source review only; no account, installation, generation, upload or hardware test.