Microsoft Designer is Microsoft's free AI design and image generation app, built around Image Creator (formerly Bing Image Creator) and powered by OpenAI's DALL-E image models. It runs on the web and on mobile, and is woven into Copilot and Microsoft 365 rather than existing only as a standalone site.
Who builds it
Microsoft develops and operates Designer, with Image Creator — rebranded from the earlier Bing Image Creator — serving as its generation engine. The underlying model technology comes from Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI: image generation runs on OpenAI's DALL-E models rather than an in-house Microsoft model. Designer is positioned inside Microsoft's broader productivity ecosystem, available as a dedicated app while also surfacing inside Copilot and Microsoft 365 apps, which gives it default reach to anyone already using Microsoft's software.
What it does
At its core, Designer turns text prompts into images through Image Creator's DALL-E-powered generation. Beyond generation, Microsoft documents editing capabilities in Designer, letting users modify images after they are created rather than only generating new ones from scratch. Microsoft has not published detailed specifications on maximum resolution or the range of visual styles Designer supports in the sources behind this profile, so buyers who need those specifics should check current in-app documentation before committing to a workflow.
Pricing
Designer itself carries no subscription fee: Microsoft's own FAQ confirms it is free to use, with no payment required to generate images. Its freemium model is anchored in the wider Microsoft 365 ecosystem rather than a Designer-specific paid tier — additional AI credits and higher limits become available through a Microsoft 365 subscription, which for individuals is priced from $9.99/month according to Microsoft's Copilot pricing page.
Rights and provenance
This is where Designer differs most sharply from paid, business-oriented image tools: Microsoft's own FAQ states that generated images are intended for personal use, not commercial use, under Microsoft's terms. Copyright status is explicitly not settled either — Bing's Image Creator Terms of Use do not give a clear-cut answer on copyright ownership of generated images, so Microsoft's own documentation leaves this as an open question rather than a guarantee. Anyone considering Designer output for commercial or client work should read the current Image Creator Terms of Use directly before relying on it, rather than assuming rights parity with paid competitors that explicitly grant commercial licenses. On transparency, Designer is more concrete: Microsoft applies Content Credentials based on the open C2PA provenance standard to AI-generated images, a labeling mechanism Microsoft rolled out as part of its broader push to mark AI-generated content across Bing and Designer. In practice, that combination — free access via a Microsoft account, DALL-E-powered generation, editing tools, C2PA-based labeling, but personal-use-only rights and unresolved copyright status — makes Designer best suited to everyday, non-commercial design tasks such as social posts, presentations or personal projects, rather than a default choice for commercial creative production.