Question: I'm looking for an affordable AI image generation tool that doesn't require a subscription or upfront costs.

DeepMake is an open-source tool that lets you generate high-quality images and videos on your own machine. It's got a lot of features, including text-to-image generation, image upscaling and face/object masking. The Community tier is free, and it's got a Creator tier for $10/month if you need something more powerful and flexible.

ImgGen is another good option, with a free online AI image generator that can generate images up to 4096 x 4096 pixels from text prompts. It's got a collection of photo editing tools, and you don't have to sign up or add watermarks. It's good if you want to create images fast and at high quality.

If you want a pay-as-you-go option, Bashable has a different pricing system where you only pay for the time your computer spends processing, so you don't have to pay for idle time. And your credits don't expire. That means it's cheap and accessible for creating high-quality AI art without a recurring subscription.

If you want a standalone app, DiffusionBee is a free tool that runs offline using Stable Diffusion. It's got a collection of creative AI tools, including an AI canvas for generating and editing images, and your data never leaves your machine.