Comparison

Microsoft Designer vs Ideogram AI

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Microsoft Designer

Visually create and edit anything imaginable with AI. Generate unique images from text, design personalized cards and wallpapers, and enhance photos by removing distractions or backgrounds.

Highlights
  • AI image generation
  • Custom sticker creation
  • Generative erase tool
  • Background removal
  • Custom wallpaper design
  • Greeting card creation
  • Photo restyling
Read full description

Unleash your creativity — visually create, design, and edit just about anything you can imagine with AI. Use the power of generative AI to create eye-catching images with your words, craft next-level designs that pop like personalized birthday cards, holiday cards, wallpapers for your phone, and even use AI to edit photos like an expert - removing backgrounds and erasing distractions from photos. Create what you want, when and where you need it. Key capabilities: • Images: Create any image you can imagine. Sci-fi art, surreal scenes, funny images? Dream it, describe it, and create it with AI. Your imagination is limitless! • Stickers: Create something that sticks. Make custom stickers that help you stick out on messaging apps, social, and more. • Edit with AI: make your photos and images picture perfect with AI. o Generative erase: Erase distractions to make objects you don’t want in your image disappear. o Remove background: Say bye-bye to bad backgrounds. Easily remove unwanted image backgrounds in one step. o Blur background: Bring what’s most important into focus. Blur the background of any image to make your subject pop. o Add filters, adjust brightness, resize: Customize to fit your creative vision, including resizing to turn your creations into a square or custom size that fits just right. • Wallpapers/Backgrounds: Put it all on display. Create custom wallpaper or background to fit your current mood, make a statement, or to keep a special occasion front and center on your phone screen. • Greeting cards: Craft the perfect greeting for any occasion. From birthday cards to holiday cards and beyond, create a thoughtful greeting card with personalized messages and images even if you’re at a loss for words. • Restyle image: Transform photos into a work of art—like turning portraits, landscapes, and pet photos into artwork. • Monograms: Make your mark. Add some personal pop to your everyday life or for a special occasion like a wedding with custom crafted monograms that use letters and more to define your mark. • Invitations: Create invitations that wow. Customize your invitations for every occasion and any event like birthdays, weddings, and anything else big or small. • Social posts: Stand out online. Elevate and craft your next social post with Designer to create the perfect image and text to share online. • Icons: Express yourself visually. Create icons to easily communicate your vision and decorate your designs. • Emojis: Express yourself! Have the perfect reaction on hand with custom crafted emojis to fit any mood. • Coloring book pages: Color it in and get in your flow. Create custom coloring book pages to make coloring more exciting. Great for all ages. • Frame image: Turn your photos into a customized framed memory that you can share everywhere. • Collages: Bring your favorite photos, styles, and descriptions together create a custom collage from your favorite memories. • Banners: Create banners for newsletter headers, social profiles, and more to grab attention and stand out. Microsoft Designer is available for free with a Microsoft account. Your Microsoft account provides 5 GB of free cloud storage that you can use to save your designs, files, and photos across your devices. Additional information about terms of use can be found here: https://designer.microsoft.com/consumerTermsOfUse/en-US/consumerTermsOfUse.pdf Download Designer and create something new today!

About

Ideogram AI

Transform text prompts into realistic images, artwork, and sophisticated layouts. Refine your creations with an AI editor to adjust details, extend scenes, or remove backgrounds. Generate custom logos, polished headshots, and face swaps with ease.

Highlights
  • AI image generation from text prompts
  • AI image editing tools
  • Custom logo creation
  • AI-generated headshots
  • AI face swap functionality
  • Curated style presets
Features
Read full description

Turn your imagination into stunning images with Ideogram AI, the AI image app loved by millions of creators worldwide. Whether you're crafting creative designs, professional logos, polished headshots, or marketing assets, Ideogram makes it easy to bring your ideas to life in seconds. Start with a simple text prompt to generate realistic images, bold artwork, and sophisticated layouts. Then refine your results with our AI image editor to adjust details, extend scenes, or remove backgrounds. Need visual consistency? Upload a single photo and create endless variations with striking fidelity. Perfect for storybooks, comics, and ads. Download Ideogram AI today and start creating today for free. Upgrade anytime to unlock more creative capabilities. Why you'll love Ideogram: -Free to Use: Get started with free weekly credits. -AI Image Generator: Generate stunning visuals with beautiful, stylized text and precise composition, bringing new possibilities to graphic design, marketing, and advertising projects. -AI Image Editor: Use generative fill, expand into new aspect ratios, or remove backgrounds in one tap. -Custom Logo Maker: Design unique logos for personal or business projects. -AI Headshot Photos: Turn one photo into polished portraits. -AI Face Swap: Insert your character into any existing image instantly. -Curated Styles: Use style presets to turn basic prompts into sophisticated aesthetics. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Microsoft Designer4 screens
Ideogram AI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Microsoft Designer at 77% against Ideogram AI's 52%. Ideogram AI's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (2.6K vs 552). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Microsoft Designer sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Ideogram AI sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ideogram AI holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 552 and 2.6K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of Microsoft Designer's written reviews are positive against 52% of Ideogram AI's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Microsoft Designer ships an update every 3 weeks, Ideogram AI monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Microsoft Designer versus Ideogram AI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMicrosoft DesignerIdeogram AI
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (552 ratings)4.8 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews — better51.9% of reviews
Number of ratings5522.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#148#104 — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.016.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB36 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperMicrosoft CorporationIdeogram

Customer experience

Microsoft Designer

All ratings552 ratings
Positive87.9%
Neutral4.0%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews362 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral5.8%
Negative17.7%

Ideogram AI

All ratings2,563 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.1%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews185 reviews
Positive51.9%
Neutral7.0%
Negative41.1%

User reviews

Microsoft Designer

From 552 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Seamless integration with Microsoft 365
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🎨 Powerful AI-powered design capabilities
  • 💡 Versatile and creative features
  • 🎉 Fun and enjoyable to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔒 Strict content guidelines
  • 💰 Subscription-based model with limited free usage
  • 📱 Limited functionality on iPad devices

Ideogram AI

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Transforms ideas into stunning visuals
  • 👍 User-friendly interface for all skill levels
  • 💡 Variety of styles to choose from
  • 👍 Frequent updates with new features
  • 👍 Ability to edit and refine images

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Paid version not working as expected
  • 🔒 Difficulty deleting account
  • 🔒 Paid account not accessible through app
  • 🐛 Pasting functionality no longer working
  • 💰 Expensive subscription cost

Bugs and requests

Microsoft Designer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inconsistent performance and loading issues
  • Inability to view or manage past designs on mobile
  • Unexpected content restrictions and rejections

Requested features

4 requests
  • AI-powered video editing capabilities
  • More advanced image editing tools
  • Improved handling of diverse character designs
  • Better organization and navigation of past projects

Ideogram AI

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Not working on iPhones
  • Unable to access page or app
  • Paid desktop account not accessible through app

Requested features

3 requests
  • Pinch-to-zoom on generated images
  • Ability to copy and paste from other sources
  • Restore previous 25 credits per day

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Microsoft Designer

Subscriptions7
  • Microsoft 365 Basic Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Microsoft 365 Personal Monthly1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Microsoft 365 Family Monthly1 Month trial$12.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Microsoft 365 Premium Monthly1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • Microsoft Copilot Pro$20.001 Month
  • Microsoft 365 Personal Yearly1 Month trial$99.991 Year
  • Microsoft 365 Family Yearly1 Month trial$129.991 Year
6 purchases

Ideogram AI

Subscriptions6
  • Basic Monthly$11.991 Month
  • Plus Monthly$28.991 Month
  • Pro Monthly$85.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Basic Annual$119.991 Year
  • Plus Annual$274.991 Year
  • Pro Annual$829.991 Year

Questions

Is Microsoft Designer free?
Microsoft Designer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ideogram AI free?
Ideogram AI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Microsoft Designer or Ideogram AI?
Ideogram AI is rated higher. Microsoft Designer averages 4.5 out of 5 from 552 ratings, while Ideogram AI averages 4.8 from 2.6K ratings.
Do Microsoft Designer or Ideogram AI have ads?
Neither Microsoft Designer nor Ideogram AI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Microsoft Designer or Ideogram AI?
Microsoft Designer ships an update every 3 weeks, and Ideogram AI monthly. Most recently, Microsoft Designer was updated on September 26, 2026 and Ideogram AI on September 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, Microsoft Designer or Ideogram AI?
Microsoft Designer currently peaks at #148 in the App Store charts, and Ideogram AI at #104. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons