Microsoft Designer

Microsoft Designer is Microsoft's free AI design app. It works in the browser at designer.microsoft.com and as a mobile app for iPhone and Android, and it also shows up inside Copilot in Word and PowerPoint for people with the right subscription. You sign in with a free Microsoft account.

What you can make

The home screen starts with a simple question, "What do you want to design?", and a long list of starting points:

• Create with AI: images, avatars, backgrounds, banners, clip art, collages, colouring book pages, emojis, social posts, greeting cards, invitations, monograms, posters, stickers and wallpapers.
• Edit with AI: generative erase to remove distractions, frame images, remove or blur backgrounds, and restyle a photo.
• Design from scratch: ready-sized canvases for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and X posts and ads, flyers, brochures, postcards, invitations, gift certificates, and headers for Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Word and PowerPoint.

Designer's image prompts can be long and detailed, and the app highlights the parts of a prompt (subject, setting, style, lighting) to help you write better ones.

Is it free?

Yes. Microsoft's FAQ says Designer is free to use, but a subscription may be needed if you want to create more often. AI features run on monthly credits: you get a fresh set each month, and each AI action, such as generating an image, uses one. Microsoft says Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium give the account owner up to four times more credits, shared across AI features in Microsoft apps. Microsoft has also dropped the old "boosts" system, so every image is now created at the fastest available speed. Generative AI features are limited by age requirements that vary by region. Checked October 2026 on Microsoft's Designer FAQ and Microsoft 365 pages.

Who it suits

Anyone already using Microsoft 365, plus students, small businesses and community groups who need quick social graphics, cards or flyers. Professional designers will find it too limited for brand systems or print production.

Pros: genuinely free; ties into Word, PowerPoint and Outlook; good range of ready-sized templates.
Cons: credit limits on AI features; fewer advanced controls than dedicated design tools; some features are English-only in some markets.

Alternatives

Canva is the obvious comparison, with a bigger template library. Kittl suits merch and branding, and Recraft is better for vector graphics.