Best AI image generators for Mac & iPhone 2026

There are many AI image generators available today, from dedicated options to others integrated within larger apps. This can make selecting the best AI image generator for Mac or iPhone a bit of a challenge, but it all depends on what you want to create and how you want to do it. 

I’ve tried to make the selection process easier by reviewing the best options for both professionals and users who just want to know how to use AI image generator tools.

What are the best AI design apps for Mac and iOS?

Over the last two years, we’ve seen new tools and updates roll out nearly every month. Each claims to be the most powerful, and it can take a bit of time and effort to test different options and consider how they align with your workflow. 

So, what is the best AI image generator? I’ve done the hard part and narrowed down the list to let you go right to the tools that are worth your time

1. Midjourney: Best for creating hyper-realistic images

Midjourney is arguably the best AI design generator for Discord users. It can mimic art style and render hyper-realistic images from text prompts that impress art professionals. 

To use Midjourney, 

1. Register for a Discord account or log in to an existing one. 
2. Visit Midjourney’s website. 
3. Click Join the Beta. 
4. Then, accept the invitation to join its Discord channel.

You can now prompt Midjourney’s AI chatbot with the /imagine command. Once generated, you can refine the image with several fine-tuning features it offers.

If you’re not familiar with Discord, you might need time to learn how to prompt Midjourney to create images. At the moment, Midjourney is moving its AI generator to a dedicated website, but only selected users are invited. 

Price: From $10 monthly

I've been using Setapp's GPT assistants alongside the AI image generators I tested for this article. It's a collection of focused tools that handle specific tasks without the usual AI assistant bloat — helpful when you need quick answers about Mac workflows or file management.

2. Dall-E 3: Generate an image with everyday language.

Developed by OpenAI, Dall-E 3 boasts major improvements from its predecessor, Dall-E 2. Its latest AI image generator can understand prompts more naturally. With closer integration with ChatGPT, the chatbot can improvise your prompt so the AI designer engine can understand it better.

You can expect a more vivid and precise result with Dall-E3. However, you can’t improve the image with editing tools like Dall-E users do. Rather, OpenAI lets you take a more conversational approach by refining the image with prompts. 

Dall-E 3 is available for ChatGPT Plus users for $20 per month, along with GPT-5 and other advanced features. However, you can also use it on Bing CoPilot for free. Just be aware that Dall-E 3 on Bing might not match ChatGPT’s version in terms of image quality. Bing also doesn’t restrict the content that Dall-E-3 can generate, placing the regulation responsibility on its users.

To use Bing Dall-E 3, go to Microsoft Bing Copilot, select Designer from Copilot GPTs, and describe the image you want to create. 

Price: $20 monthly with ChatGPT Plus. Free on Bing Copilot. 

3. Dream Studio: Refine AI artwork flexibly 

Dream Studio is another powerful AI art generator for Mac and iPhone. Unlike Dall-E 3 and MidJourney, you have more control over the artwork you want to create. Whether choosing a style, changing image resolution, or prompting the AI engine, you can do so easily on the panel.

Dream Studio allows you to generate up to 10 images simultaneously. When testing Dream Studio, we were impressed by the AI generator’s ability to handle complex prompts and produce mesmerizing images. We can also edit selected areas of the image by writing simple prompts. 

Price: Free 100 credits for new users. $10 for 1,000 credits thereafter, allowing them to generate approximately 1,098 sets of images with the default setting.  

4. Jasper Art: Perfect for bloggers and marketers

Jasper is a popular AI writing assistant, but it recently introduced a design generator with AI on its platform. Creators, marketers, or writers using the app can create images in seconds by describing them in the prompt. 

In the basic mode, you choose templates from several categories, including food photography, ink art, and news graphics. Then, you write a prompt to create an AI image in the chosen category. 

If you want more flexibility, use Jasper’s free-form mode. This option lets you craft detailed descriptions to generate the image. Moreover, you can choose the style, mood, keywords, and tone to create realistic and relevant images. 

Price: Jasper Pro, which provides access to Jasper Art, starts at $59 per month (billed yearly). 

5. PhotosRevive: Best for colorizing classic photos

PhotosRevive is an AI image colorization tool that lets you turn classic black-and-white photos into colorful copies. To do that, import or scan your photo with the app and click Colorize. Then, wait for the AI engine to revive the photo. If you find the colored images slightly off, you can refine the color manually. 

With a Photos extension, you can also add colorful touches to images when browning albums in the Photos app. That’s it — a simple editing workflow that used to take hours on expensive photo editing apps. 

Price: Included with Setapp.

6. Luminar Neo: Effortless, natural image editing

Luminar Neo enhances images as professionals do, except it’s done by AI. With a few clicks, you can replace backgrounds, remove objects, sharpen images, and more. More importantly, its powerful AI engine ensures the images remain natural after editing. 

Despite offering many powerful AI editing features, Luminar Neo has a clear, uncluttered interface. Learning how to use sky replacement, auto resizer, and other AI-powered tools in the app is almost effortless. You can also transform photos with built-in presets to save time. 

Price: Included with Setapp

7. Draw Things: Create images offline with AI 

Draw Things is a Mac and iPhone design generator that works differently from other similar apps. Instead of relying on a server, it uses your iPhone or Mac as the AI engine. That way, you can create images with AI even if you’re not connected to the internet.

With Draw Things, you can download different image generation AI models, including Stable Diffusion and LoRa, to your Apple devices. Then, you describe the image you want, and the AI will create it in seconds. The app also lets you set how many steps the AI engine should take to create the image.

Price: Free, but serves ads

8. Adobe Firefly: Powerful AI image editing for professionals 

Adobe Firefly offers the best AI design generator for new and existing Adobe product users. Firefly is available as a web app and provides powerful AI tools to turn text into realistic photos or artwork, remove objects, recolor images, and more. 

If you want to generate images with AI, choose text-to-image after signing in. Then, describe the image and click Generate. You can also refine your image by setting the style, tone, and other parameters before creating it. 

Besides text-to-image, Firefly also lets users create unique text effects with AI. Apparently, it’s the only AI design generator for Mac that allows you to do so easily. 

Price: Free plan with 25 monthly credits is available. The premium plan with 100 monthly credits starts from $4.99 per month. You use 1 credit for specific AI tasks, such as text-to-image generation. 

9. Dream by Wombo: Best for abstract artworks

Dream is one of the best AI art generators for iPhone users. Rather than generating realistic real-world images, the app creates unique and abstract artwork from descriptive prompts. You can use the dozens of preset styles to express the art differently. 

For example, you can style your artwork with tattoos, retro pop, or dreamland. And each results in a very distinct art form. Then, Dream lets you name your artwork and share it with its art community. 

Price: Free plan available. Subscription starts at $7.99/week or 6;49.99/year. 

How to choose the best AI image generator?

The best way to choose an AI image generator is to consider the type of images you are looking for, your preferred workflow, and the platform (Mac or iPhone).

Here’s a quick overview of the various tools we’ve reviewed:

	Image Generation	Editing	Platform	Price
Midjourney	Yes	Yes	web, Discord	$10/month
Dall-E 3	Yes	Yes	web	$20/month
Dream Studio	Yes	Yes	web	$10/1,000 credits
Jasper Art	Yes	Yes	web	$49/month
PhotosRevive	No	Yes	macOS, iOS	Included in Setapp
Luminar Neo	No	Yes	macOS, Windows	Included in Setapp
Draw Things	Yes	Yes	macOS, iOS	Free (with ads)
Adobe Firefly	Yes	Yes	web	$4.99/month
Dream by Wombo	Yes	No	web, iOS, Android	$7.99/week

Depending on your needs, some AI image tools are better than others. If you want to generate realistic images for marketing or social media, Dall-E 3, Dream Studio, and Adobe Firefly are great choices.

Already a Discord user? Try Midjourney. Meanwhile, both Draw Things and Dream by Wombo are good AI design generators for iPhones. Creators using Jasper to write blogs can elevate their works with Jasper Art.

But if you want to colorize and enhance existing photos, use PhotosRevive and Luminar Neo. Both are available on Setapp, along with other AI-powered apps that simplify your workflow. Try them for 7 days at no cost today.