Recraft
Recraft (Generate images, true SVG vectors, icons and brand-consistent designs with an AI model that topped the text-to-image leaderboard) is an AI design tool that generates not just images but true vector graphics (SVGs), icons, illustrations, and brand-consistent designs.
That vector output is its standout feature: it is widely described as the only mainstream AI generator that produces real, editable SVGs, which makes it a favourite for logos, icons, and design assets rather than just art. Its Recraft V3 model topped the Hugging Face text-to-image leaderboard for five straight months, praised especially for rendering long passages of text inside images, and it has since shipped V4 and V4.1 models. Recraft was founded in 2022 and is based in London, created by Anna Veronika Dorogush, who previously built the widely used open-source CatBoost machine-learning library. It raised a 30 million US dollar Series B led by Accel in 2025, with backing from Khosla Ventures and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman.
This page explains what Recraft is, how it works, its pricing and credits, honest reviews, and how it compares with Midjourney.
Overview
What is Recraft?
Recraft is an AI image and design platform built for designers and brands rather than only for making art. Like other generators it turns prompts into images, but its defining capability is producing true vector graphics: scalable SVGs for logos, icons, and illustrations that you can edit and resize without losing quality. It also leads on text rendering, placing long, legible passages of text inside images where most models struggle, and it lets you control exact text placement and keep a consistent brand style using reference images. Around generation sits a full editing suite: AI eraser, inpaint and outpaint, a mockup generator, upscalers, background removal, and style fine-tuning.
Recraft was founded in 2022 in London by Anna Veronika Dorogush, a machine-learning engineer known for creating the open-source CatBoost library. Its Recraft V3 model made headlines in late 2024 by topping the Hugging Face text-to-image leaderboard, and the company raised a 30 million US dollar Series B led by Accel, with Khosla Ventures and Nat Friedman among its backers. It is used by designers, marketers, and developers through both a web app and an API.
Recraft company information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Product | Recraft (AI image and vector design tool) |
| Founder | Anna Veronika Dorogush (creator of CatBoost) |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Funding | ~$42M total; $30M Series B led by Accel (2025) |
| Flagship model | Recraft V3 (topped the text-to-image leaderboard); now V4 / V4.1 |
| Category | AI image generation / vector design |
| Website | recraft.ai |
How Recraft works
You work in the browser (or through the API). Type a prompt and choose whether you want a raster image or a vector, pick a style, and generate. For design work you can set exact text and its placement, upload reference images to keep a consistent brand look, and generate icon sets or illustrations in a matching style. Once you have an image you can refine it with the editing tools, erase or replace areas, extend the canvas, upscale, remove backgrounds, or fine-tune a custom style. Recraft runs on credits, and vector generation costs more than raster, so your spend depends on what you create and how much you iterate.
Key Recraft features
Recraft is a design-first generator. These are the features that set it apart.
- True vector (SVG) output: generate scalable, editable vectors for logos, icons, and illustrations, a rarity among AI generators.
- Best-in-class text rendering: place long, legible passages of text inside images, with control over exact placement.
- Brand style consistency: use reference images and custom styles to keep a consistent look across assets.
- Full editing suite: AI eraser, inpaint and outpaint, mockup generator, upscalers, and background remover.
- Icon and illustration sets: produce matching sets of icons and illustrations in one style.
- API for developers: integrate image and vector generation into your own apps and pipelines.
Recraft pricing
Recraft is freemium and credit-based. The Free plan gives a daily allowance (reviewers cite around 50 credits a day), but with slower generation, all images made public, and no commercial-use rights, so it is for trying the tool rather than real work. Paid plans start with Basic at around 12 US dollars a month (about 10 US dollars a month billed annually) for roughly 1,000 credits a month and commercial rights, with Pro from around 20 US dollars a month and higher tiers above that for heavy users and teams. On the API, raster images cost around 0.035 US dollars each and vector images around 0.08, so vectors are pricier. Prices and credit amounts vary by source and billing period, so confirm the current tiers on recraft.ai before subscribing.
Recraft reviews: pros and cons
Recraft is well regarded, especially by designers, and its V3 model's run at the top of the text-to-image leaderboard gave it real credibility. Reviewers praise the unique true-vector output, the strong text rendering, the brand-style consistency, and the breadth of editing tools, which together make it more of a design workstation than a novelty art generator. The honest caveats: vector exports sometimes produce paths that need manual cleanup in a tool like Illustrator; the free tier is limited, with slow generation, public images, and no commercial rights, so serious use needs a paid plan; and vector generation consumes more credits than raster. A fair summary: Recraft is the standout choice when you need editable vectors, icons, text-in-image, and brand-consistent design assets, and a paid plan is effectively required for professional, commercial work.
Recraft links
| Channel | Link |
|---|---|
| Website | recraft.ai |
| API documentation | recraft.ai/docs |
| X (Twitter) | x.com/recraftai |
| instagram.com/recraft.ai |
Recraft vs Midjourney
Recraft and Midjourney are both top AI image generators, but they serve different needs. Midjourney is the benchmark for artistic, photoreal, and stylised image quality, beloved for stunning visuals and mood. Recraft is design-first: its true vector output, strong text rendering, brand-style consistency, and editing tools make it the better fit for logos, icons, UI assets, marketing graphics, and anything you need as a clean, scalable file. Put simply, choose Midjourney when you want the most beautiful image, and Recraft when you want a usable design asset, especially a vector, with text and brand control. For many creative teams the two are complementary rather than either-or. The table sums it up.
Who should use Recraft
Recraft suits graphic designers, brand and marketing teams, product and UI designers, and developers who need editable vectors, icons, illustrations, text-in-image, and brand-consistent assets rather than just pretty pictures. The API also makes it useful for teams generating design assets at scale. It is less ideal if your only goal is the most artistic or photoreal single image (where Midjourney leads), or if you need a free tool for commercial work, since the free tier lacks commercial rights. For AI-assisted design and vector output in 2026, it is one of the strongest and most distinctive tools available.
History
Recraft was founded in 2022 in London, United Kingdom by Anna Veronika Dorogush (Founder & CEO (creator of CatBoost)).
Recraft was founded in 2022 in London by Anna Veronika Dorogush, a machine-learning engineer known for creating the open-source CatBoost gradient-boosting library. The company set out to build an AI image tool aimed at designers rather than only at producing art, with true vector output as a core goal.
In late 2024, its Recraft V3 model topped the Hugging Face text-to-image leaderboard, drawing wide attention for its text rendering and vector generation. In 2025 Recraft raised a 30 million US dollar Series B led by Accel, with backing from Khosla Ventures and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and has since released its V4 and V4.1 models.
Recraft features
Recraft offers the following capabilities:
- True vector (SVG) output. Generate scalable, editable vectors for logos, icons, and illustrations, a rarity among AI generators.
- Best-in-class text rendering. Place long, legible passages of text inside images, with control over exact placement.
- Brand style consistency. Use reference images and custom styles to keep a consistent look across your assets.
- Full editing suite. AI eraser, inpaint and outpaint, mockup generator, upscalers, and background remover.
- Icon and illustration sets. Produce matching sets of icons and illustrations in a single consistent style.
- Developer API. Integrate image and vector generation into your own apps and design pipelines.
Use cases of Recraft
- Create logos and icons (Designers). Generate editable vector logos, icon sets, and illustrations you can resize without quality loss.
- Make marketing graphics with text (Marketers). Produce images with legible, correctly placed text for ads, banners, and social posts.
- Keep brand consistency (Brand teams). Use reference images and custom styles so every asset matches your brand look.
- Design UI and product assets (Product teams). Generate icons, illustrations, and mockups for interfaces and product pages.
- Generate assets at scale (Developers). Use the API to create images and vectors programmatically inside your own apps.
Recraft pricing
Recraft uses a freemium pricing model, starting at Free; Basic from ~$10/mo. The product offers a free version.
| Plan | Price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 /daily credits | A daily allowance (reviewers cite ~50 credits) with slower generation, public images, and no commercial-use rights. For trying the tool, not real work.
|
| Basic | ~$12/mo (~$10 annual) /subscription | About 1,000 credits a month with commercial rights, for individuals doing real design work.
|
| Pro | from ~$20/mo /subscription | More credits and capacity for regular, heavier design use, with higher tiers above for teams.
|
| API (pay-as-you-go) | ~$0.035 raster / $0.08 vector /usage-based | Per-image API pricing for developers integrating generation into their own apps; vector images cost more than raster.
|
Recraft vs Midjourney
The table below contrasts Recraft with Midjourney (www.midjourney.com) on a few key dimensions.
| Dimension | Recraft | Midjourney |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Design assets (vectors, icons, brand) | Artistic and photoreal images |
| Vector / SVG | Yes, true editable SVGs | No (raster only) |
| Text in images | Best-in-class, long text | Limited |
| Editing tools | Full suite (erase, mockup, upscale) | Strong but art-focused |
| Pricing | Free; Basic from ~$10/mo | Paid from ~$10/mo (no true free tier) |
| Best for | Usable, scalable design assets | The most beautiful single image |
Platforms & tech
- Supported platforms: Web browser, API.
- Deployment: cloud, api.
Integrations
Recraft integrates with 3 third-party tools:
Awards & recognition
- Topped the text-to-image leaderboard — Recraft V3, released in late 2024, ranked first on the Hugging Face text-to-image leaderboard for five consecutive months, with an independent ELO of 1172, establishing Recraft as a leading design-focused AI image model.
See also
- Midjourney — The benchmark for artistic and photoreal AI image quality, though raster-only with no vector output.
- Ideogram — Another generator known for strong text rendering in images, a close competitor on that feature.
- Adobe Firefly — Adobe's commercially-safe generator, integrated with Creative Cloud design tools.
References
- "Recraft official website". recraft.ai.
- "Recraft". Wikipedia.
- "Recraft V3 takes top spot in benchmarks". The Decoder.
- "Recraft AI pricing guide 2026". eesel AI.
External links
Frequently asked questions
- What is Recraft?
- Recraft is an AI design tool that generates images and, uniquely, true vector graphics (SVGs), icons, illustrations, and brand-consistent designs. Its vector output is its standout feature, widely described as the only mainstream AI generator to produce real, editable SVGs. Its Recraft V3 model topped the Hugging Face text-to-image leaderboard for five months, especially for rendering text inside images. Recraft was founded in 2022 in London by Anna Veronika Dorogush, creator of the open-source CatBoost library.
- How much does Recraft cost?
- Recraft is freemium and credit-based. The Free plan gives a daily allowance (reviewers cite around 50 credits) but with slower generation, public images, and no commercial rights. Paid plans start with Basic around 12 US dollars a month (about 10 billed annually) for roughly 1,000 credits and commercial rights, with Pro from around 20 US dollars a month and higher tiers for teams. The API charges about 0.035 US dollars per raster image and 0.08 per vector. Prices vary by source and billing, so check recraft.ai.
- Is Recraft free?
- Recraft has a free plan, but it is limited and not suitable for professional work. Free users get a daily credit allowance (around 50), slower generation, and all generated images are made public, with no commercial-use rights. That makes the free tier good for trying the tool and experimenting, but to use your images commercially, generate privately, and get faster output, you need a paid plan starting with Basic at around 10 to 12 US dollars a month.
- Can Recraft really generate vector (SVG) files?
- Yes, and it is Recraft's biggest differentiator. It generates true vector graphics, scalable SVGs for logos, icons, and illustrations that you can resize and edit without losing quality, which most AI image generators cannot do (they output raster images only). The one caveat reviewers note is that complex vector exports sometimes produce paths that need manual cleanup in a tool like Illustrator, but for icons and simpler designs the vector output is a major advantage for designers.
- Recraft vs Midjourney: which is better?
- They are built for different goals. Midjourney is the benchmark for artistic, photoreal, and stylised image quality, best when you want the most beautiful image. Recraft is design-first: its true vector output, strong text rendering, brand-style consistency, and editing tools make it better for logos, icons, UI assets, and marketing graphics you need as clean, scalable files. Choose Midjourney for stunning art and Recraft for usable design assets, especially vectors. Many creative teams use both, as they complement each other.
- What is Recraft V3?
- Recraft V3 is the model, released in late 2024, that put Recraft on the map by ranking first on the Hugging Face text-to-image leaderboard for five consecutive months, with an independent ELO score of 1172. Its headline strengths are rendering long passages of legible text inside images, precise text and layout placement, and brand-style control, alongside vector generation. Recraft has since released newer V4 and V4.1 models that build on V3, but V3 is what established its reputation.
- Does Recraft have an API?
- Yes. Recraft offers a developer API so you can generate images and vectors programmatically inside your own apps and design pipelines. API pricing is per image, cited at around 0.035 US dollars for a raster image and 0.08 for a vector image, so vectors cost more. The API makes Recraft useful for teams and products that need to produce design assets at scale, not just for individual designers working in the web app.
- Who owns Recraft?
- Recraft is a private company founded in 2022 and based in London. Its founder is Anna Veronika Dorogush, a machine-learning engineer best known for creating the open-source CatBoost gradient-boosting library. Recraft raised a 30 million US dollar Series B led by Accel in 2025, with backing from Khosla Ventures and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, bringing its reported total funding to around 42 million US dollars.
- What are the best Recraft alternatives?
- For artistic and photoreal images, Midjourney is the main alternative, and Ideogram is a close competitor on text rendering in images. For a commercially-safe generator integrated with design software, Adobe Firefly works well within Creative Cloud. However, if you specifically need true vector (SVG) output, icons, and brand-consistent design assets, Recraft remains fairly unique, so the alternatives are stronger for raster art than for Recraft's core vector and design use case.