Disclosure: we make Brainy, the app ranked first here. Everything we say about the other apps comes from their own App Store pages, and we say plainly where they beat us. Prices and ratings are from the US App Store on 8 October 2026.
These apps answer questions and also make pictures from a sentence. Some add video, files or voice. The big names are made by the companies that build the models; the others put someone else's models in a simpler package.
The ranking
- Brainy: best small all-in-one for chat, images and homework scans.
- ChatGPT: best overall assistant, with image generation built in.
- Google Gemini: best for images, and video on paid plans.
- Grok: best for video with sound.
- ChatOn: best for several chat models plus images.
- Genie: best for image editing and PDFs.
- Meta AI: best free option.
Why Brainy is #1
- Three tools students and everyday users reach for, in one small app: AI chat, images from text, and a camera scanner for text and math problems.
- Images come from Google's Nano Banana model (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image), the same family Gemini uses.
- Free to try, chat and images, with daily limits.
- Not tied to one big company's ecosystem or social network.
The seven apps at a glance
| Images | Video | Also does | How it charges (US) | Rating (US) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Brainy (ours) | Yes (Nano Banana) | No | Camera scanner for text and math | Free to try; $6.99/week or $89.99/year | Few ratings |
| 2. ChatGPT | Yes | Not on its page | Voice, photo upload | Free; Go $8, Plus $19.99, Pro from $100 | 4.8 · 11,079,400 |
| 3. Google Gemini | Yes (Nano Banana 2) | Paid plans | Gemini Live voice, files | Free; AI Plus $4.99, AI Pro $19.99 | 4.7 · 2,321,604 |
| 4. Grok | Yes | Yes, with sound | Web and X search, files, voice | Free; SuperGrok Lite $10, SuperGrok $30 | 4.9 · 1,487,413 |
| 5. ChatOn | Yes | From photos | Several chat models, web, PDFs | Weekly from $6.99; yearly $39.99 to $59.99 | 4.7 · 286,441 |
| 6. Genie | Yes, plus editing | Not on its page | Web and Deep Search, PDFs, voice | Weekly $5.99 or $7.99; yearly $39.99 | 4.7 · 201,891 |
| 7. Meta AI | Yes | No (only as input) | PDFs, voice, research reports | Free, no in-app purchases listed | 4.7 · 268,932 |
“Not on its page” means the App Store page does not mention it, not that the app cannot do it. Prices are the in-app purchases the App Store shows. Ratings are from Apple's public lookup API on 8 October 2026.
1. Brainy: small, and does the three things
Brainy is a chat, an image generator and a camera scanner in one app. Chat answers come from DeepSeek. Images are made with Google's Nano Banana model (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image): describe a picture, an illustration or a design and Brainy draws it. The scanner reads a math problem, a formula or a page of text into the chat, so you can ask for an explanation without typing it. The interface is in English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean.
You can try chat and images for free, with daily limits. The subscription costs $6.99 a week or $89.99 a year in the US.
Where others beat it: Brainy chats with one model, DeepSeek, while ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok use their own frontier models and ChatOn lets you pick. It makes no video (Gemini, Grok and ChatOn do), does not read PDFs, and has no voice mode. Its yearly plan costs more than Genie's or ChatOn's, and it has far fewer ratings than any app here.
2. ChatGPT: the reference
OpenAI's own app. It is the strongest general assistant on this list, makes images inside the chat, takes photos and voice, and has a free tier. Paid plans go from Go at $8 to Plus at $19.99 a month. Its page does not mention video. Choose it if you want one assistant that does most things well.
3. Google Gemini: images, and video if you pay
Google's app makes images with Nano Banana 2, talks with you in Gemini Live and reads files. Its page says video generation is on paid plans; AI Plus starts at $4.99 a month and AI Pro is $19.99, with Google storage included.
4. Grok: video with sound
xAI's app makes images and, with Grok Imagine, videos with sound, and it searches both the web and X. It has a free tier; SuperGrok Lite is $10 and SuperGrok $30 a month.
5. ChatOn: several models, plus pictures
ChatOn lets you chat with models from several companies (GPT-5, Gemini 3.5, Claude Sonnet 5, Sonar), make images and turn photos into short videos. It sells mostly weekly plans. Its privacy label reads “Data Used to Track You”.
6. Genie: images you can edit
Genie's page describes image generation and editing alongside chat with web search, PDF reading and voice. It does not name its models. Yearly plans start at $39.99.
7. Meta AI: free
Meta's app makes images, reads PDFs and talks by voice, with no in-app purchases listed. It does not generate video. Handy if you already use Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp.
How to choose
- Chat, images and homework scans in one small app: Brainy.
- The best all-round assistant: ChatGPT.
- Video: Grok, or Gemini on a paid plan. For video made from your own photos, an app built for it, such as our Dora, gives you more control.
- Several chat models: ChatOn, or the apps in our multi-model chat ranking.
- Free: Meta AI, or the free tiers of ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok.
Questions people ask
What is the best AI app for chat and images on iPhone?
For the strongest assistant, ChatGPT. For a small app that chats, makes images from text with Google's Nano Banana model and scans homework with the camera, Brainy (ours). For video too, Grok or Gemini on a paid plan.
Which AI app makes images for free?
ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and Meta AI all have free tiers that make images, with limits. Brainy lets you try images for free with a daily limit.
Can these apps make videos?
Grok (with sound), Gemini on paid plans and ChatOn (from photos) say so on their pages. Brainy, Genie, ChatGPT and Meta AI do not mention video generation.
What is Nano Banana?
Google's image model, Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, nicknamed Nano Banana; Gemini now uses Nano Banana 2. Brainy uses Nano Banana to make its images.