How do Leonardo AI tokens work?
Tokens are Leonardo AI's spending currency for every generation. Free users get 150 tokens per day that reset every 24 hours and never roll over. Paid plans grant a monthly bucket (8,500 to 60,000 tokens) that resets on your signup anniversary and banks unused tokens up to 3 months. Each action shows its token cost before you click.
Why — the first-principles explanation
Running an AI image model costs real money — every generation fires up expensive graphics chips (GPUs) in a data center for a few seconds. Leonardo can't let users generate infinitely for free, so it meters usage with tokens, an internal currency. You spend tokens; Leonardo pays the electricity and hardware bill. This is the same logic behind arcade tokens or a prepaid phone plan: the token hides the messy per-second cost behind a simple number you can budget against.
The cost of any action scales with how hard it is for the computer. A tiny image on a fast model is cheap; a large, high-detail image, an upscale, or a video costs many more tokens because it uses more GPU time. That's why Leonardo shows the exact price on the generate button itself before you commit — bigger jobs, bigger numbers.
The free and paid buckets behave differently on purpose. Free tokens (150/day) reset daily and vanish if unused, which nudges casual users to either come back tomorrow or upgrade. Paid tokens arrive monthly and, crucially, unused ones flow into a Rollover Bank (up to three months' worth), so a subscriber who takes a slow week doesn't lose value. Paid users can also buy top-up packs that never expire while the subscription is active, and Premium/Ultimate tiers get unlimited slow 'Relaxed Generations' at zero token cost on Leonardo's own models — a pressure-release valve for heavy users.
An example that makes it click
Imagine an arcade. Every morning the arcade hands free visitors 150 game tokens, but they're stamped 'use today' — leftovers get swept up at closing time. If you buy a membership instead, you get a big monthly pile of tokens, and whatever you don't spend gets saved in your personal locker (the Rollover Bank) for up to three months.
Every machine has a price sign: the little claw game costs a few tokens, but the giant racing simulator (a big image or a video) costs a lot more, and the sign lights up before you press start. Members who empty their pile can still play the older, slower machines for free — they just wait a bit longer in line.
How to do it
- Check your token balance in the top bar or the credits panel — it shows Fast tokens, Rollover Bank, and Top-up tokens separately.
- Before generating, read the number on the Generate button; that is the exact token cost for your current settings.
- Lower cost by using a faster model, generating fewer images at once, or reducing image size.
- On a paid plan, let unused tokens bank automatically (up to 3 months) or buy a top-up pack if you run dry mid-project.
- On Premium/Ultimate, switch to Relaxed Generations to keep creating for free once your fast tokens run out.
Key facts
- Free plan: 150 tokens per day, reset every 24 hours, no rollover — unused tokens expire (as of 2026-07).
- Paid plans grant monthly tokens: Essential 8,500, Premium 25,000, Ultimate 60,000.
- Paid unused tokens accumulate in a Rollover Bank up to 3 months' worth.
- Paid token allowance resets on the subscription's anniversary date, not the 1st of the month.
- Top-up token packs never expire while the subscription stays active.
- Premium and Ultimate include unlimited slower 'Relaxed Generations' at no token cost on first-party models.
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Tokens are how Leonardo AI charges you for each creation. Here's the simple version. Running an image model costs the company real GPU time, so instead of billing you by the second, they give you tokens to spend. On the free plan, you get 150 tokens every day — but they reset each morning and don't roll over, so use them or lose them. On paid plans, you get a monthly pile, from 8,500 up to 60,000 tokens, and here's the nice part: whatever you don't use banks itself for up to three months. Every action shows its price right on the generate button — a small fast image is cheap, a big detailed image or a video costs a lot more. Run out of paid tokens? You can buy top-up packs that never expire, or on Premium and Ultimate, switch to slower Relaxed mode and keep going for free. That's the whole system.
What authoritative sources say
People also ask
Do Leonardo tokens roll over?
Free tokens do not — they reset daily and expire. Paid tokens do: unused amounts bank in a Rollover Bank for up to three months.
How much does one image cost in tokens?
It varies by model, image size, and number of images. The exact cost appears on the Generate button before you click, so there are no surprises.
What happens when I run out of tokens?
Free users wait for the next daily reset. Paid users can buy top-up packs, use banked rollover tokens, or (on Premium/Ultimate) switch to free Relaxed Generations.
Do top-up tokens expire?
No — purchased top-up tokens never expire as long as your subscription stays active.