Plus Is Worth It Once Your Images Must Stay Private
Pick Ideogram Plus the moment anything you generate belongs to a client or an unreleased project. Ideogram’s help pages say everything made on the Free plan is public, and Free users cannot unpublish it. Plus costs $15 a month billed yearly or $20 month to month, with 2,400 credits and private generation, as of November 2026.
For personal experiments, Free is a fair deal. It gives 30 credits a week to accounts that sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft. Credit volume matters less than visibility here, and that is the part most comparisons skip. Confirm current pricing on the official site before subscribing.
The Free Plan Publishes Everything You Make
The Ideogram Share and Publish page is blunt about it. On the Free plan and the legacy Basic plan, every image you generate is public.
There is no switch to hide one later. Only the creator can unpublish an image, and only on a plan that includes private generation. A Free user who tries is shown the plans page instead.
Paid plans flip the default. Plus, Pro, Team and Enterprise keep new images private until you publish them to the community. Unpublishing removes an image from community view but keeps it in your Library.
What 30 Weekly Credits Add Up To
Ideogram’s plan page lists Free at 30 credits a week. Over a year that is 1,560 credits, which averages 130 credits a month.
Plus gives 2,400 credits a month, about 18 times the Free average. The gap is large, but the per-image cost depends on the model, quality, size and number of outputs. Ideogram shows the exact cost on the Generate button and under Settings, then Usage costs, rather than in a public table.
One detail trips people up at sign-up. Accounts created with an email and password get no free credits at all. Only Google, Apple and Microsoft sign-ins receive the weekly 30.
Ideogram Plans and Credits Side by Side
The table uses the Ideogram plans and credits page as of November 2026. Yearly prices are per month on annual billing.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Yearly billing | Credits | Visibility | Extras listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 30 a week, social sign-in only | Always public | Not listed |
| Plus | $20 | $15, or $180 a year | 2,400 a month | Private until published | Quality export, slow queue after credits |
| Pro | $60 | $42, or $504 a year | 7,500 a month | Private until published | Batch Generation, larger queue |
| Team | $30 per user | $20 per user, $240 a year | 3,600 per user a month | Private until published | Central billing, 2-user minimum |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom or shared balance | Private until published | Organization-wide prepaid option |
| Extra credits | 1 cent per credit | Same | $1 to $300 per purchase | Depends on your plan | Expire after 365 days |
Ideogram no longer sells the old Basic plan. Existing Basic subscribers keep 960 credits a month and a slower queue with a daily limit.
The Slow Queue Softens the Plus Ceiling
Running out of credits on Plus does not stop you cold. Plus, Pro and Team can keep generating with Ideogram models in a slower queue with no limit.
The exceptions matter for real projects. Custom models, partner models, generations from a reference image, image edits and upscales all still require credits. If your work leans on editing an existing image, the slow queue will not carry you through the month.
Monthly credits also reset at each renewal and never roll over. A quiet month simply loses what is left.
What the Terms Say About Ownership and Remixing
The Ideogram Terms of Service say the company claims no ownership of your outputs and assigns any rights it does have to you. They also say Ideogram does not restrict commercial use of those outputs.
Two other lines explain why visibility matters. The terms let other users use, modify and remix content you post, except content you keep private. They also warn that outputs may not be unique, since similar prompts can produce similar images.
Commercial risk stays with you. The terms disclaim liability for commercial use and suggest checking any third-party permissions you may need. Our guide on using AI-generated images commercially walks through those checks.
A Client Project Priced Three Ways
Picture a freelancer making social graphics and logo drafts for a client launch. Assume the job needs 1,500 credits in one month, an illustrative figure since per-image costs vary.
| Option | Calculation | Cost | Privacy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plus top-up credits | 1,500 credits x $0.01 | $15.00 | Public, cannot unpublish |
| Plus for one month | One monthly charge | $20.00 | Private until published |
| Plus on yearly billing | $180 a year divided by 12 | $15.00 a month | Private until published |
The top-up route looks cheapest, but Ideogram ties privacy to the plan, not the credit balance. A Free account publishing a client’s unreleased logo drafts is the expensive mistake here. The $5 gap between top-ups and one month of Plus buys confidentiality, which most clients would assume they already had.
Where Pro Becomes Cheaper Than Topping Up Plus
Heavy months raise a second question. Should you top up Plus at 1 cent per credit, or move to Pro?
On monthly billing, Plus costs $20 for 2,400 credits and Pro costs $60 for 7,500. The $40 gap buys 4,000 top-up credits, so the break-even sits at 6,400 credits a month. Above that, Pro is cheaper.
On yearly billing the gap is $27, Pro at $42 against Plus at $15. That buys 2,700 top-up credits, putting the break-even at 5,100 credits. Pro also adds Batch Generation, which matters if you produce variations in bulk.
| Plan | Monthly price per credit | Yearly price per credit |
|---|---|---|
| Plus | $20 / 2,400 = 0.83 cents | $180 / 28,800 = 0.63 cents |
| Pro | $60 / 7,500 = 0.80 cents | $504 / 90,000 = 0.56 cents |
| Extra credits | 1 cent | 1 cent |
The per-credit numbers are rounded at the last step. They show that top-ups are the priciest credits Ideogram sells, so they suit occasional overflow rather than a regular habit.
Billing Rules That Catch People Out
Ideogram’s terms ask you to cancel at least 5 days before the renewal date to avoid the next charge. After cancelling, you keep access until the end of the period you already paid for.
Payments are non-refundable, with no credit for partly used periods. That makes monthly billing the safer test, since one month of Plus costs $20 against a $180 yearly commitment.
Purchased credits behave differently from plan credits. They are used only after monthly credits run out, they expire 365 days after purchase, and they stay usable if your plan ends. Pay as you go accounts start at $5 to $100, but that option is not open to active subscribers.
Which Ideogram Plan Fits Your Work
If you are learning prompts or making personal art you are happy to share: Free fits. Sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft so you receive the 30 weekly credits.
If any image belongs to a client, an employer or an unannounced product: Plus fits. At $15 a month on yearly billing, it is the cheapest plan that keeps new images private.
If you generate more than about 5,100 credits a month on yearly billing: Pro fits better than Plus with top-ups. It also adds Batch Generation for bulk variations.
If two or more people share a brand workspace: Team fits. It costs $20 per user on yearly billing, gives each member 3,600 credits and keeps billing in one place.
If you need a burst of credits once a year: Plus on monthly billing, then cancel 5 days before renewal. One $20 month beats a year you will not use.
Start Free, but Not With Client Work
Use the Free plan to learn how Ideogram handles text in images, which is its main draw. Our explainer on why AI image generators get text wrong covers what to check in those tests.
Move to Plus before the first paid job, not after. For a cross-tool view of what each image really costs, see our breakdown of the cost of one AI image. Confirm current pricing on the official site, since credit costs change as Ideogram adds models.
FAQ
Are Ideogram free images public?
Yes. Ideogram's Share and Publish help page says that on the Free plan everything you generate is public, and Free users cannot unpublish an image. Plus, Pro, Team and Enterprise keep new images private until you choose to publish them.
How many free credits does Ideogram give?
Free accounts that sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft get 30 credits a week, which averages about 130 credits a month. Accounts created with an email and password get no free credits and have to buy credits or subscribe, as of November 2026.
How much is Ideogram Plus?
Plus costs $20 a month on monthly billing, or $15 a month billed yearly at $180 a year, and includes 2,400 credits a month plus private generation, as of November 2026. Confirm current pricing on the official site before you subscribe.
Can you use Ideogram images commercially on the free plan?
Ideogram's terms say it does not claim ownership of your outputs and does not restrict commercial use. The same terms warn that outputs may not be unique and that you carry the risk of commercial use, so check trademarks and likenesses yourself.
Do unused Ideogram credits roll over?
No. Monthly plan credits reset at each renewal and unused credits do not roll over. Extra credits you buy separately cost one US cent each, last 365 days, and stay usable even after a plan ends.
Sources
- Ideogram Docs: Plans and Credits — checked 2026-11-05
- Ideogram Docs: Buying Extra Credits — checked 2026-11-05
- Ideogram Docs: Share and Publish — checked 2026-11-05
- Ideogram Terms of Service — checked 2026-11-05
Some links may be affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
How this article was made: it was drafted with AI assistance from the official sources listed above, and its figures were checked against those pages on the dates shown. It is not based on personal hands-on testing.
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