Microsoft Designer

Art & Design

6.9~~/10~~

Our score

★ 3.9 Google Play·5M+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-10-06

Screenshots

Home screen under an unleash-your-creativity headline, with Create with AI tiles for Images, Stickers, Wallpapers, Colouring book pages, Greeting cards and Collages

Description prompt box with an arrow button above an Explore ideas grid of AI images, including an older couple reading and a mountain living room

Four sticker examples with their prompts: a pop-art WOW burst, a mushroom in a ramen bowl, a purple I Love You note and a smiling nigiri

Greeting cards screen with a description field and a We're Proud of You card showing a smiling emoji face under a sparkle burst

Wedding invitation for Mario and Amari on dark green with peony and bird artwork, and a colour picker row along the bottom

Wallpapers screen with a prompt for a watercolour splash of pink flowers above the finished pink and purple floral image

About Microsoft Designer

Microsoft Designer is a prompt-first phone app for AI images, stickers, wallpapers, greeting cards, collages and invitations, with a Design from scratch canvas and photo edits such as generative erase and background removal. It is free with a Microsoft account, which brings 5 GB of cloud storage, and Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 a month raises the AI allowance. The catch: Microsoft's pages publish no free-credit number, and Play reviewers describe a small monthly allowance.

App information

DeveloperMicrosoft Corporation

Version1.2604204.7002 (Android) · 1.0.36 (iOS)

Size79 MB (iOS)

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsNo

In-app purchasesYes

Content rating13+

Requires (Android)Android 9+

Requires (iOS)iOS 17.0+

Offline modeNo offline mode listed; designs auto-save to Microsoft cloud storage

Interface languagesAR, CA, HR, CS, DA, NL + 27 more

Store rating (Google Play)3.9 from 8,818 ratings

Installs5M+

Updated by developer2026-10-06

Data checked2026-10-06

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-10-06. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Microsoft Designer Review: Broad AI Toolkit, Opaque Free Credits

$9.99 Personal Plan and the Unpublished Free Allowance

Microsoft's FAQ says Designer is free to use and that a subscription may be required for people who want to create more often. It gives no free number. Play reviewers in 2026 keep citing roughly 15 generations a month, which we could not confirm on an official page. Microsoft's credits table lists image generation as standard usage on Microsoft 365 Personal and Family and extensive use on Premium and Pro, and says credits deduct automatically inside Designer. The App Store lists Personal at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, Family at $12.99 or $129.99, Basic at $1.99 and Premium at $19.99; prices are regional and can change. AI benefits go only to the subscription owner, and Designer is licensed for personal, non-commercial use.

Ten-Photo Collages, Generative Erase and 4K Upscale

The home screen splits into three tabs: Create with AI, Edit with AI and Design from scratch. Under Create sit tiles for Images, Stickers, Wallpapers, Colouring book pages, Greeting cards, Collages and Invitations, per the store screenshots. Microsoft's help says collages take up to 10 uploaded photos, invitations return 1 to 5 options, and a greeting card is an animated card with an AI image and a written message. Enhance prompt rewrites a short prompt into a longer one. Edit with AI covers generative erase, by tapping an object or drawing a mask, plus background removal and blur, and the help page lists upscaling to 4K. Microsoft warns that text inside generated images may contain spelling errors.

One Image Instead of Four, and 1,405 One-Star Play Ratings

Sentiment is polarized: of 8,818 Google Play ratings, 5,371 are five-star and 1,405 are one-star, for 3.9 overall, against 4.5 from 556 App Store ratings. The recurring 2026 complaint on both stores is that an update cut output from three or four images per prompt to a single one, while credits are still spent on every run. Reviewers also describe credits spent with no accept-or-reject step or no image at all, frequent content-guideline warnings on ordinary prompts, slowness and launch crashes. Files count against your Microsoft storage quota, uploads are saved to OneDrive, and Microsoft says Designer has no recycle bin, so a deleted project cannot be recovered. One Play reviewer says deleted files still appear in OneDrive's storage breakdown.

Pros

Generative erase, background removal and blur sit in the Edit with AI tab
Free with a Microsoft account, and neither store listing shows ads
Collages accept up to 10 photos; invitations return 1 to 5 options
Play data safety lists no data shared with third parties
Subscription AI credits are shared with Word, Photos, Paint and Notepad
AI-generated and AI-edited images carry C2PA content credentials metadata

Cons

Free allowance is unpublished; Play reviewers cite about 15 generations a month
Reviewers on both stores report one image per prompt where earlier versions gave three or four
The App Store listing is iPhone only, with no iPad version
Deleted projects cannot be recovered, and designs count toward your Microsoft storage quota

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Verdict

Designer earns 6.9 for breadth: prompt-based images, stickers, collages, generative erase and background tools in one free app with no ads, tied to a Microsoft account. Take it if you already pay for Microsoft 365 and want AI images and quick photo cleanup from the same credits. Skip it if you need a published, predictable allowance, an iPad app, or the multi-image output reviewers say it gave before an early-2026 update, because the free tier is capped and credits are spent on every run.

Core function7.5Images, stickers, collages and generative erase cover a lot, but 2026 reviewers say output dropped to one image per prompt.

Ease of use8.0Three tabs and prompt tiles make starting simple, and Enhance prompt rewrites short prompts, though the App Store version excludes iPad.

Monetisation5.5No ads, but the free allowance is unpublished, reviewers cite roughly 15 monthly generations, and credits are spent on misses.

Performance6.0Play averages 3.9 from 8,818 ratings, and reviewers report slow generations, crashes and the app refusing to open.

Privacy & permissions7.0Play lists no third-party sharing and the App Store shows no tracking; Microsoft collects prompts, and Play says data cannot be deleted.

6.9out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

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Frequently asked questions

Is Microsoft Designer free?

Yes. Microsoft's FAQ says Designer is free with a Microsoft account, and neither store lists ads. A subscription may be required to create more often: image generation counts as standard usage on Microsoft 365 Personal and Family and extensive use on Premium and Pro. The Microsoft pages we read publish no free-credit number, while Play reviewers cite about 15 generations a month. Check the balance inside the app.

Can Microsoft Designer remove objects and backgrounds from photos?

Yes. The store listings describe generative erase for removing unwanted objects, one-step background removal and background blur, and Microsoft's help says you can tap an object to auto-select it or draw a mask by hand. App Store reviewers single out the erase and background tools for praise. Microsoft adds that text inside generated images may contain spelling errors, so check any lettering.

How much is a Microsoft 365 plan for Designer?

The App Store lists Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, Family at $12.99 or $129.99, Basic at $1.99 and Premium at $19.99 a month. Microsoft's credits table covers Personal, Family, Premium and Pro, and says AI benefits go only to the subscription owner. Google Play shows in-app items from $1.99 to $199.99. Prices are regional and can change.

How do I cancel Microsoft Designer or delete my projects?

Designer itself is free, so there is nothing to cancel unless you bought a Microsoft 365 plan, which is managed in the store that billed you. Microsoft says your limits and credits show under Services & subscriptions in your Microsoft account. Projects can be deleted in the app, but Microsoft says there is no recycle bin, so deleted files cannot be recovered, and uploads must be removed from OneDrive.

What are the alternatives to Microsoft Designer?

Canva AI Photo & Video Editor is template-first and gives its free plan 20 AI uses a month. Adobe Express puts Firefly generative AI inside a template editor, with Premium at $9.99 a month. Designer's edge is prompt-first creation under a Microsoft account, with 5 GB of storage and credits shared across Word, Photos and Paint; its weak point is the unpublished free allowance.