Ideogram

Ideogram — Text-In-Image Specialist Image Generator (Ideogram Inc., Active, Not Shut Down)

Not shut down.​ Ideogram (ideogram.ai) founded 2023 by ex-Google Brain researchers (CEO Mohammad Norouzi et al.), independent, active 2026-08, no acquire/rebrand/shutdown. Category ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none. Killer differentiator = readable embedded text in generated images​ — Ideogram 4.0 (Jun 2026, 9.3B open weights, commercial license) hits ~90–97% in-image OCR accuracy vs Midjourney ~30–40%, with bounding-box layout control + structured JSON prompting + Magic Fill inpaint + Magic Expand outpaint + Character Reference + Remix + 2K native + transparency; not Midjourney (art-first, text glitches), not Recraft (vector/SVG design-first), not DALL·E/GPT Image (bundled, weaker typography), not FLUX (open-weight photoreal, no hosted typography workflow). 2026 trap: subscription priority credits expire monthly (no rollover), 4.0 burns ~4× credits vs 2a Turbo, free tier = 10 slow credits/week + images permanently public/undeletable, Magic Fill stuck on 2.0/3.0 not 4.0, faces/photorealism trail Midjourney/FLUX, no Android native app, API billed separately ($0.025–$0.10/img) and 5× costlier than subscription at volume, very long strings still glitch.

1. One-line positioning

Ideogram = the “words actually spell right” image model: open ideogram.ai or iOS app → prompt “neon sign saying OPEN 24 HOURS” → pick Ideogram 3.0/4.0 (4.0 open-weight self-hostable) → Magic Prompt expands, bounding box pins text region, JSON for programmatic batches → output 2K PNG with transparency → Magic Fill edit region / Magic Expand uncrop / Remix variants / Character Reference lock a mascot → batch CSV on Pro → same weights via REST API + MCP server for Cursor/Claude Code. Fits ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none (prompt→layout→render→edit→batch→ship). For poster/ad/social/logo/packaging/print-on-demand teams where text must be legible, it’s the only production-grade seat; for painterly art, editorial photoreal, or SVG brand systems, Midjourney/FLUX/Recraft win.

2. Core features

3. Pricing (2026-08, USD — web credits ≠ API)

pricing_type = freemium-credit-subscription-plus-payg-api; starting_price = $0; free_tier = "yes; 10 slow credits/week (~40 imgs), public+undeletable gallery, JPG only, 1 concurrent, Magic Prompt/Remix/styles only, no private gen/Magic Fill/upscale/PNG/char-ref"; pricing_note = "ideogram-inc-independent-active-2026-no-shutdown; sub-priority-credits-expire-monthly-no-rollover-topups-roll-over; 4.0-4x-credit-burn-vs-2a-turbo; plus-20-or-15yr-pro-60-or-42yr-team-30-or-20yr-seat; api-separate-0.025-0.10-img-5x-costlier-than-sub-at-volume; free-images-permanent-public-undeletable; magic-fill-not-on-4.0"

4. Access Type

access_type: web-app-plus-ios-app-plus-rest-api-plus-mcp

access_display: 🌐 ideogram.ai · 📱 iOS app (4.8★, no Android native) · 🔌 REST API (Generate/Remix/Edit/Reframe/ReplaceBG/Inpaint) + MCP server (Cursor/Claude Code) · ComfyUI node · no desktop, no Discord bot, no Figma plugin first-party

5. Reviews (2026)

Praise: only production-grade text-in-image​ (signs/posters/T-shirts/packaging), Magic Prompt lowers prompt skill floor, Character Reference locks mascots across a campaign, 4.0 open weights = auditable + self-hostable, Plus $15/yr cheaper than Midjourney private tier, API+MCP+Cmdfy fits dev pipelines, iOS app solid.

Gripes: priority credits evaporate monthly​ (top-ups only rescue), 4.0 burns 4× credits silently, free images permanent public + can’t delete, Magic Fill not on 4.0 (edit quality regresses if you want 4.0 base), faces/photoreal still behind Midjourney v7/FLUX 2, very long strings typo, no Android app, API 5× pricier than subscription at same volume, slow queue 20 min peak on free.

6. Best for / Not for

7. Competitors