The best creative AI tools for designers (2026)

Curious about how you can use AI to enhance your creative process? Wondering which AI tools are set to make waves in 2026? You’re in the right place!

Creative AI tools are software applications that use artificial intelligence to assist designers, artists, and marketers in generating, editing, and refining visual, audio, and written content. According to Envato’s State of AI in Creative Work report, a growing number of creative professionals are now using AI tools to streamline workflows, generate innovative ideas, and improve the creative process. By automating mundane tasks, you can free up more time and energy to focus on the more nuanced and creative aspects of your work.

So let’s take a look at the top AI design tools that you can use to boost your creative practice in 2026.

1. Claude
2. Wordtune
3. Adobe Firefly
4. Envato
5. Prodia
6. Leap AI
7. Pika
8. DreamGen
9. Immersity AI
10. Lindo
11. Murf AI
12. OpusClip
13. Leonardo.ai
14. Lenso.ai
15. Abyssale

Envato: an all-in-one creative AI platform

Envato is an all-in-one creative AI platform for designers, marketers, content creators, and creative teams. It combines AI-powered tools with a huge library of creative assets, helping you move from idea to finished project faster.

With Envato, you can use Envato’s AI image generator to create visual ideas from simple prompts, then access unlimited photos, graphics, templates, fonts, videos, and more to complete your project. This makes it easier to brainstorm, source assets, and produce polished creative work in one place.

For teams and individuals seeking a comprehensive creative AI tool, Envato is a practical choice. It supports the full creative workflow, from idea generation and inspiration to design, content creation, and final production.

How to choose the right creative AI tools for your team

To find the best creative AI tool to boost your team’s creative productivity, you need to know what features and capabilities set the best tools apart.

Here’s what you should consider to find the most effective AI tool for your creative needs:

• Adaptability and learning capabilities. AI creative tools should not only adapt to your specific style and preferences but also learn from your input over time. That way, they become more efficient and intuitive every time you use them.
• Diverse creative options. Look for AI tools that offer a wide range of creative options and features. Whether it’s generating ideas, automating design tasks, or providing suggestions for improvement, the tool should be versatile enough to cater to various aspects of the creative process.
• User-friendly interface. The effectiveness of an AI creative tool is also determined by how easy it is to use. A user-friendly interface that’s intuitive and straightforward can help you create a smoother creative workflow.
• High-quality output. The quality of the output is what matters most. The AI tool should consistently produce high-quality results that meet or exceed your expectations, enabling you to bring your creative visions to life.

12+ top AI tools to increase your creativity in 2026

The fusion of AI and creativity is essential for creativity these days, so here are the top 10 creative AI tools for you to use in 2026.

1. Claude

Brainstorming is an everyday task for any creative, and it can be both exhausting and time-consuming. Claude saves you the trouble by brainstorming ideas, processing information, coaching you through the hurdles, and more.

Claude can transcribe and analyze images such as handwritten notes and photos, saving valuable time when you want to digitize drafts and create on top of them.

As one of the top AI creative tools, Claude is trained to be accurate and safe. Its services are free with some limitations, or you can choose a Pro, Team, or Enterprise plan.

2. Wordtune

Writers are some of the most skeptical groups of creative professionals when it comes to AI. Some AI tools are designed to do all the work for you, but that’s not what you need.

Writers, however, will always appreciate some help in breaking through the infamous writer’s block. That’s where Wordtune comes in!

Like all the best AI creative writing tools, Wordtune helps content creators find better ways of phrasing ideas based on their style and needs. It also works as a proofreader, suggesting alternatives and sources to deliver high-quality work.

The free basic plan offers 10 daily rewrites and 3 monthly summarizations. Advanced, Unlimited, and Business plans are also available.

3. Adobe Firefly

Looking for AI tools for graphic design? Adobe Firefly is a generative AI tool developed by Adobe. It’s designed to transform the creative process by allowing you to rapidly generate and manipulate digital content through text prompts.

As part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, Firefly integrates seamlessly with widely used applications like Photoshop and Illustrator. It provides a suite of AI-powered features such as:

• text-to-image generation
• Generative Fill
• Generative Remove

Firefly is great for tasks like creating marketing materials, product packaging, and custom designs for web and mobile applications.

4. Envato

Envato’s AI image generator is the perfect way to beat creative block and get some inspo for your next project. It combines the benefits of multiple different generative AI models to produce high-quality imagery from simple prompts.

“We tap into some of the best AI image providers and blend it with our own magic to ensure high-quality, unique, and inspiring results,” says Bianca Pellizzari, Envato’s Product Marketing Lead.

Envato’s AI image generator is included with an Envato subscription.

5. Prodia

Prodia is an AI design tool you should try. Its easy-to-use Stable Diffusion API lets creative professionals generate and manipulate images.

With Prodia, you can quickly create high-quality images from text prompts, reducing production costs and time. For artists, designers, and developers seeking to enhance their creative output with AI, Prodia offers an accessible, efficient, and innovative platform. This is a great alternative to the popular AI tool Midjourney.

Discover more photo enhancement AI tools.

6. Leap AI

Leap AI is an AI automation platform that integrates with a wide range of AI models for text, image, and audio tasks. From generating images to converting text to speech, Leap AI can enhance productivity in many different ways. Its no-code approach and customizable workflows make it one of the must-try AI tools for ad creatives.

7. Pika

By using Pika, an AI video generation tool, you can transform simple text or image prompts into engaging videos. This platform, celebrated for its simplicity and effectiveness, is perfect for any creative professional who’s trying to streamline their creative process, such as:

• filmmakers
• content creators
• digital artists

With text-to-video, image-to-video, and video-to-video conversions, Pika offers a user-friendly interface that makes complex video production accessible to anyone!

Check out some examples of generative AI from Pika on their Instagram channel.

You can also take a look at more creative AI tools for video generation.

8. DreamGen

DreamGen stands as an innovative AI story generator that bridges the gap between technology and storytelling. Offering writers an intuitive platform to craft imaginative tales, DreamGen empowers users to bring rich, compelling narratives to life, effortlessly.

Through its user-friendly interface and intelligent prompts, it caters to both seasoned wordsmiths and beginners alike. It’s not just about writing stories with DreamGen; it’s about transforming ideas into connective experiences. DreamGen adapts seamlessly to your style, refining its suggestions the more you write, helping create engaging arcs with ease.

9. Immersity AI

Immersity AI allows you to convert 2D images into stunning 3D animations, videos, and images. By using advanced AI algorithms, it offers a user-friendly platform to help you generate high-quality depth imagery for digital marketing, art, and design projects.

With options for both free and paid plans, Immersity AI caters to a wide range of creative needs. This makes it a unique AI design tool for artists and marketers seeking to add depth and interactivity to their visual presentations.

10. Lindo

With its no-code, user-friendly interface, Lindo is one of the top AI tools for designers. This versatile AI-powered website and landing page builder allows you to quickly create great-looking websites.

It allows for the rapid construction of SEO-optimized websites and automated organic lead generation. This website builder is suitable for freelance businesses and agencies. It offers:

• customizable templates
• content generation
• integration with various third-party tools

11. Murf AI

Murf AI is a text-to-speech platform that generates realistic voiceovers in over 20 languages, with 120+ voice options. It simplifies content creation by providing high-quality audio for eLearning, marketing, and multimedia projects without the need for expensive recording equipment or voice actors.

With features like voice cloning and an intuitive interface, Murf AI enhances productivity and brings a professional touch to digital content. It’s hands down one of the best creative AI tools out there.

12. OpusClip

Want to transform a full-length video into a viral short? Normally it would require a lot of editing, but OpusClip makes the process easy. It automates the editing process, identifying and extracting key moments and adding captions and transitions with just one click.

Ideal for content creators, marketers, and social media managers, OpusClip could save you huge amounts of time with its AI video editing capabilities. It allows for consistent, high-quality content creation across platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.

This free generative AI tool has a free-forever plan with 60 minutes of video processing time refreshed monthly. You can also explore more top AI video editing and generating tools.

13. Leonardo.ai

Leonardo.ai is an advanced image generation and editing tool. You can effortlessly bring your ideas to life and create anything from marketing materials to graphic design assets.

The generative AI tool has an intuitive interface and diverse features, such as 3D texture generation and AI-assisted photography, which distinguish it from other image-generation tools.

14. Lenso.ai

Lenso.ai is a powerful AI-driven tool designed for reverse image search. Whether you’re looking for similar image assets, seeking inspiration, or gathering visual references, lenso makes it easy – just upload an image, and the platform quickly returns visually related or similar results. Beyond creative discovery, Lenso.ai also offers a practical solution for monitoring image usage. It can help detect potential copyright misuse by showing where and how your work may be appearing online.

15. Abyssale

Abyssale is a creative automation platform built to scale visual production. While generative AI excels at creating unique images, Abyssale automates the rollout of entire campaigns, enabling agencies and marketing teams to generate thousands of on-brand variations from HTML5 banners to social assets using a single template.

By connecting designs to data (via Spreadsheets, API, or Integrations), teams can bypass the manual “resize and repeat” loop. It provides the infrastructure to scale content volume while maintaining strict brand consistency, allowing designers to focus on creativity rather than repetitive tasks.

What about the ethics of using AI in creative work?

Ever since the rise of AI, designers, and creatives of all backgrounds have asked the same question: will artificial intelligence help me or replace me? Some have integrated AI into their work, while others have found their way around it with techniques such as collage art.

For starters, the following video addresses the question of design and artificial intelligence:

Using AI tools in the creative industry is like walking a tightrope. On one side, you’ve got the limitless potential of technology that can juggle tasks and spit out ideas incredibly quickly. On the other side, the soul of creativity comes from the human touch, which is something no algorithm can mimic.

Think of AI as a high-tech paintbrush. It can splash colors in ways we never dreamed of, but without the artist’s hand to guide it, it’s just splattering paint. The magic happens when human imagination uses AI to create.

Leaning too heavily on AI is like using a GPS to navigate your own backyard. Sure, it can point you in the right direction, but you’re missing out on the thrill of discovery that comes from exploring on your own two feet. Creative professionals should treat AI as a sidekick, not as a primary tool. It’s there to handle the grunt work and maybe even throw in a surprise twist or two. But at the end of the day, it’s the human touch that adds flavor, depth, and a dash of unpredictability to the mix.

By striking this balance, you can use AI effectively and ethically in your creative work. All in all, if you’re looking to learn how to become more creative, AI tools are sure to help.

Learn more useful AI tips and tricks for creatives and delve into using AI responsibly.

Want to enhance your creativity further? Access unlimited creative assets with Envato

With a subscription to Envato, you gain access to an extensive library of digital assets. You can download unlimited photos, graphics, presentation templates, fonts, and more.

Unlimited creative assets. Access to AI tools.

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Whether you’re an artist seeking rapid idea generation or a designer aiming for efficiency, creative AI tools tailored to your needs are available. Selecting the right one is vital for maximizing creativity and productivity.

Remember, balancing technology with your creative insight is key. Take these tips with you in your next AI project, and let your imagination flow!