Leonardo.Ai alternativeElyum, pay only for keeps
Leonardo.Ai charges Fast Tokens when you generate; Elyum returns a free preview and only bills the takes you KEEP.
Leonardo.Ai is a Canva-owned (acquired 2024) generative media platform for images and video. It is good at style-consistent image generation, character consistency, and canvas/editing tools for creators and small studios. First-party models include Lucid Origin, Phoenix, FLUX, and Motion. Leonardo.Ai's AI video models overview also lists a licensed third-party roster that grew through 2025-2026: Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0 Turbo, Wan 2.6/2.7/3.0, Seedance 2.0/2.5, MiniMax H3. Small studios stay for that roster.
The friction is token math, then refunds. Leonardo.Ai's pricing page lists Essential at $12/mo (8,500 Fast Tokens + 25,500 rollover bank), Premium at $30/mo (25,000 + 75,000), Ultimate at $60/mo (60,000 + 180,000). Veo, Kling, and Sora always consume tokens at full rate, even on Ultimate. eesel AI's 2026 pricing breakdown says one 8-second Veo 3 clip can equal 300+ basic first-party image generations. A Trustpilot reviewer wrote that token pricing is confusing once Seedance and Kling are factored in. Support says failed-job tokens should restore, but not necessarily instantly. An Adobe Community report describes an ~800-credit loss on a video that did not generate.
Elyum runs one studio and one credit balance (1 credit = $0.01). Plans are Free (up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card), Plus $9/mo, Pro $29/mo, and Ultra $69/mo. Every render comes back as a free preview, called a take. KEEP it and that is the only moment credits move. KILL it and the refund is automatic. Failed generations are never charged. Paid plans kill freely; Free allows one kill a month. Kept takes download at full quality, no watermark, commercial use included. On the Veo 3.1 page, an 8s 720p take is 168 credits ($1.68).
Skip this page if the product you want is Leonardo.Ai's canvas, first-party Relaxed mode, or Team Starter at $72/mo (three seats, shared workspace). Elyum has no timeline editor, no stock footage, no avatars, no mobile app, no team seats, and no community feed.
Why people switch from Leonardo.Ai
- Credits move only on KEEP
Every Elyum render returns as a free preview, and credits are charged only when you KEEP a take (KILL refunds the rest automatically). Leonardo.Ai support states tokens are deducted on generate and restoration is not necessarily instantaneous.
- Listed rates, not token guesswork
1 credit is $0.01, and per-second prices are listed on pages such as the Seedance 2.5 page. Leonardo.Ai Fast Token plans have no published cents-per-token figure, and Veo, Kling, and Sora always consume tokens even on the $60/mo Ultimate plan.
- Failed jobs are not a support ticket
Elyum never charges a failed generation. Leonardo.Ai users have reported tokens gone on failed video, including an Adobe Community case of an ~800-credit loss, with refunds requested by emailing [email protected] plus the generation ID and timestamp.
- Free output is not public by default
Elyum Free is up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card; kept takes have no watermark and include commercial use. Leonardo.Ai's free tier is 150 tokens/day with no rollover, a watermark on web-app generations, public-by-default output, and a broad license for Leonardo.Ai to reproduce and display the work.
- Same video models, plus MCP
Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0, Wan 3.0, Gemini Omni Flash, Kling 3.0, Veo 3.1, and MiniMax H3 sit on both sides, and Elyum also runs from Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor via the MCP docs and a REST API. Leonardo.Ai bills that developer path as a separate dollar API, distinct from Fast Token plans.
Where Leonardo.Ai still wins
- Relaxed mode on first-party models
Premium ($30/mo) and Ultimate ($60/mo) include Relaxed, token-free generation on selected first-party models (Lucid Origin, Phoenix, FLUX, Motion). Elyum's Pro and Ultra fair-use unlimited images do not replace that first-party stack or Motion.
- Canvas and character consistency
Leonardo.Ai is built for style-consistent images, character consistency, and canvas/editing. Elyum is a multi-model studio with no timeline editor and no canvas of its own.
- Team seats and shared workspaces
Team Starter is $72/mo for a three-seat minimum ($24/seat) and 75,000 shared tokens; Team Growth is $144/mo. Elyum has no team seats.
- Rollover banks and support replies
Paid Leonardo.Ai plans include a rollover bank (Essential: 8,500/mo plus a 25,500 bank), so unused monthly tokens are not fully lost. Trustpilot reviewers frequently praise fast, helpful support responses.
Leonardo.Ai vs Elyum, side by side
| What matters | Leonardo.Ai | Elyum |
|---|---|---|
| Starting paid price | Essential $12/mo (8,500 Fast Tokens + 25,500 rollover bank) | Plus $9/mo; Free is up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card |
| Free tier | 150 tokens/day, no rollover; public by default; watermark; non-exclusive; Leonardo.Ai may reuse/display | up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card; one kill/month; kept takes clean, commercial use |
| Failed or bad render | Tokens deducted on generate; restore not necessarily instant; email [email protected] with ID and timestamp | Failed generation never charged; KILL is a full refund (one kill/month on Free) |
| Watermark on paid plans | No | No watermark on kept takes |
| Shared video models | Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0, Wan 3.0, Gemini Omni Flash, Kling 3.0, Veo 3.1, MiniMax H3 offered; per-gen tokens Not published | Same seven, with listed per-second rates on each model page |
| Commercial use | Free: public, non-exclusive, royalty-free commercial license. Paid: private generations, full IP | Commercial use included on kept takes |
| API and agent access | Separate API credits, bearer token, billed in dollars, not Fast Tokens | MCP (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) and REST API on one credit balance |
| Relaxed generation | Premium/Ultimate: token-free on first-party only; Veo, Kling, Sora always tokened | Pro $29/mo and Ultra $69/mo: fair-use unlimited on selected image models |
| Team seats | Team Starter $72/mo (min 3 seats, 75,000 tokens); Team Growth $144/mo | No team seats |
| Canvas and first-party tools | Canvas/editing, character consistency; Lucid Origin, Phoenix, FLUX, Motion | No timeline editor, stock footage, avatars, mobile app, or community feed |
Leonardo.Ai facts from its own pricing and help pages plus independent reviews, verified 2026-09-07 (sources at the end). Elyum numbers are computed from the live rate card.
What it actually costs
Leonardo.Ai's pricing page lists Essential at $12/mo (8,500 Fast Tokens + 25,500-token rollover bank), Premium at $30/mo (25,000 + 75,000 bank), and Ultimate at $60/mo (60,000 + 180,000 bank). Team Starter is $72/mo (75,000 shared tokens, three-seat minimum). Relaxed generation on Premium and Ultimate is token-free on first-party models only. Veo 3, Kling, and Sora always consume tokens at full rate. Official top-up prices are Not published in the sources used for this page (automated fetches of leonardo.ai/pricing returned HTTP 403).
Elyum pricing is Free (up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them)), Plus $9/mo, Pro $29/mo, and Ultra $69/mo, with 1 credit = $0.01 and optional top-ups. Pro and Ultra include fair-use unlimited image generation on selected image models. Worked keep on Wan 3.0: a 5s 720p take is 25 credits ($0.25) if you KEEP it, and nothing if you KILL it. Two kept takes of that shot render as 2 × 25 credits = 50 credits ($0.50). Leonardo.Ai does not publish a per-second dollar rate for Wan 3.0 in the research behind this page.
| Leonardo.Ai plan | Monthly | Yearly (per month) | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 150 tokens/day, no rollover · watermarked |
| Essential | $12 | n/a | 8,500 fast tokens/month + 25,500-token rollover bank |
| Premium | $30 | n/a | 25,000 fast tokens/month + 75,000-token rollover bank |
| Ultimate | $60 | n/a | 60,000 fast tokens/month + 180,000-token rollover bank |
| Team Starter | $72 | n/a | 75,000 shared tokens, minimum 3 seats ($24/seat) |
| Team Growth | $144 | n/a | 180,000 shared tokens, minimum 3 seats ($48/seat) |
| Elyum Plus / Pro / Ultra | $9 / $29 / $69 | n/a | One balance, all 50+ models, previews free |
Same models, priced on Elyum
Models Leonardo.Ai also offers, with Elyum's live price for the shortest common take. Each one has a head-to-head page.
What the models look like on Elyum
Why generate with Elyum?
- Pay only for what you keep. Kill a take and every credit comes back.
- 50+ video, image and audio models on one balance.
- Rates about 20% under comparable platforms, and the cut is already in the price.
- Kept files download clean and full quality, no watermark, commercial use included.
- Works from the studio, or from Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor via MCP.
- Free plan, our algorithm may grant you 150 credits, no card required.
Moving from Leonardo.Ai
- Download anything you still own from Leonardo.Ai. Paid plans have private generations and full IP; free-tier work is public and non-exclusive, so copy it off the site if you need it.
- Create a free Elyum account (up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card) and open the models list to find Seedance, Wan, Kling, Veo, Gemini Omni Flash, or MiniMax H3.
- Run a preview first. KEEP the take you want (credits charge then). KILL the rest for an automatic full refund. Paid plans kill freely; Free meters kills at one a month.
- If you used Leonardo.Ai's separate dollar-billed API, point those jobs at Elyum's MCP server or REST API so they share the same credit balance as the web studio.
- For a model-level price split, read Leonardo.Ai vs Elyum for Wan 3.0 before you move a production prompt.
Frequently asked questions
Is Elyum cheaper than Leonardo.Ai?
Does Elyum have the same models as Leonardo.Ai?
What happens to a bad render on Elyum vs Leonardo.Ai?
Can I use Leonardo.Ai and Elyum together?
Does Leonardo.Ai watermark free generations?
Does Elyum have unlimited image generation?
Is Leonardo.Ai's API included in the web plans?
- Leonardo.Ai Pricing (search-engine summary; direct fetch returned HTTP 403) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Leonardo.AI pricing 2026: plans, tokens, and the real cost — eesel AI (accessed 2026-09-07)
- AI Video Generation Models: What to Use & When — Leonardo.Ai (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Veo 3 AI Video Generator – Try Now — Leonardo.Ai (accessed 2026-09-07)
- video not generated and credits gone — Adobe Community bug report (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Leonardo.Ai Reviews — Trustpilot (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Leonardo.Ai API getting-started docs (authentication and separate API billing) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Can You Use AI-Generated Images Commercially? — Leonardo.Ai (accessed 2026-09-07)
Other alternatives people compare
Create everything. Keep the best.
The models you use on Leonardo.Ai, plus the ones it doesn't have, on one balance. Every render is a free preview.