Two free tiers, one scorecard, verdict first. Every number in a comparison is traceable to the same fact base as the main ranking; cells still under verification are marked pending rather than filled.
ChatGPT's official pricing page lists limited free image creation and opt-out model training. Gemini's free terms could not be confirmed on an official page in this review.
Microsoft Copilot's official page says its free tier needs a Microsoft account and that some capabilities have usage limits. The page gives no quota figure, so test it yourself.
On a free image plan, the output can be visible to others, used to train models, or barred from commercial licensing. Two official pages show how this works, and what they leave out.
Free trial, free tier, free credits, and open source are four different things. This guide explains which one an image generator is offering, using official pages where they could be read.
Recraft's pricing page says free-plan images are publicly visible in its community gallery and not for commercial licensing. Ideogram's pricing page could not be read on 2026-10-14.