Leonardo AI Review: Can This Platform Truly Enhance Your Creative Workflow?

In July 2024, Canva acquired Leonardo AI for an undisclosed amount exceeding $320 million, promising the same autonomy given to their Affinity acquisition. This significant valuation raised expectations for the Al art generation platform, which operates through its own website with dedicated Intercom support.

Their flagship Phoenix model launched as a foundational model in June 2024, with its complete version 1.0 finally releasing in December 2024. However, the announced improvements showed minimal differences in comparison images, mostly varying in color and style choices rather than meaningful advancements. Phoenix particularly struggles with text generation, falling behind competitors like Flux, Recraft, and Ideogram who continue to innovate and improve their offerings.

Leonardo AI's emphasis on style over substance visualized - beautiful output capabilities overshadowed by limited practical features.

While Leonardo's upscaler stands out as one of the industry's best, its implementation is limited. Available only on their website, not mobile devices, it requires tedious one-by-one file processing with no batch upload option. This restriction significantly impacts workflow efficiency for users working with multiple images.

The platform's development has become notably stagnant, focusing on releasing Low Rank Adaptations (LoRAs) that the community hasn't requested. These specialized AI model adaptations, while potentially useful, have overshadowed necessary improvements to core functionality. This approach has frustrated subscribers, many of whom report considering alternative platforms.

Support infrastructure operates through Discord and Intercom live chat on their website. This system has shown limitations, particularly in handling complex user concerns and maintaining consistent moderation standards. The moderation team has faced criticism for inconsistent enforcement and communication.

Despite earlier promise and frontrunner status in the artificial intelligence art generation space, Leonardo AI has become notably absent from industry discussions. The platform's current trajectory and apparent development slowdown raise concerns about its future direction, especially given its significant acquisition value and Canva's hands-off management approach.