What the free tier gets you
What free access realistically covers, the limits that never appear on the pricing page, and how to get a real answer out of a small allocation.
Free tiers here are trials, not plans — enough to answer whether a tool fits, not enough to work with. The limits that matter are commercial rights and upload retention, and neither is advertised.
The standard shape
- A starting credit balance, consumed per generation.
- Watermarks or reduced resolution.
- Queue priority behind paying users.
- Older or smaller models only.
- Restricted commercial rights.
None of this is unreasonable — a generation costs the provider real money, so unlimited free access cannot exist without another revenue source. Treat free as "enough to find out", not "enough to work with".
Video limits are much tighter, for a reason
A single video generation can cost a provider more than a hundred images. Free video allocations are therefore often single digits, at the shortest duration and lowest resolution. Plan accordingly: settle the look using image credits, then spend video runs animating an approved still.
Getting a real answer from a small allocation
- Fix the prompt before spending. Most wasted runs go to vague prompts, not model limits.
- Test your hardest case. An easy prompt succeeds anywhere and proves nothing.
- Change one variable per run so each teaches you something.
- Judge full screen, full resolution. Flicker and artefacts hide in previews.
Two things to read before uploading anything
Commercial rights — several free tiers are personal-use only, and finding out after delivering client work is expensive. Retention and training use — how long uploads are kept and whether they train future models. Both live in the terms rather than on the pricing page, and both matter more than the credit count.
Common questions
How many free credits do you get?
Allocations change often, so check the vendor page rather than any third-party number — including this one.
Can I remove the watermark by upgrading?
Usually only on new generations, not retroactively. Worth checking before building on free output.