A list that rated AI design tools in 2021 predates DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Adobe Firefly, and by October 2026 two of the era's best-known names have changed again: OpenAI shut down the DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 models in its API on May 12, 2026, and Adobe now ships Firefly Image Model 5. A rating is only as reliable as its date, its method, and the honesty of its reviews, and since October 21, 2024, a U.S. Federal Trade Commission rule has prohibited fake reviews and testimonials, including those written with AI.
Key takeaways
- OpenAI introduced the first DALL-E in January 2021, but DALL-E 2 (April 6, 2022), Stable Diffusion (August 22, 2022), and Adobe Firefly (March 21, 2023) came later.
- A 2021 ranking says nothing about the tools people now associate with AI design, and several of those have already been replaced: OpenAI retired the DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 models in its API on May 12, 2026.
- A score without a stated method, date, and reviewer type is an opinion, not a measurement.
- The FTC's rule on consumer reviews, 16 CFR Part 465, took effect on October 21, 2024. On December 22, 2025, the agency began enforcement by sending warning letters to companies.
- No claim in this article ranks one product above another; none could be verified from a neutral source.
What a 2021 rating could and could not cover
In early 2021, AI in design mostly meant assistive features inside established software, such as automatic selection, retouching, and layout suggestions, along with research prototypes. Image generation from a text prompt had just reached public attention: OpenAI described the first DALL-E on January 5, 2021, as a 12 billion parameter model trained to produce images from text captions. It was a research announcement rather than a product that designers could open and use.
The table lists the dated releases that a list written in 2021 could not have included. The dates come from the developers' own announcements, which is the appropriate source for a release date and the wrong source for a quality judgment.
| Date | Event | Why it matters for a 2021 list |
|---|---|---|
| January 5, 2021 | OpenAI introduces the original DALL-E | Research preview only, so no tool to rate |
| April 6, 2022 | OpenAI announces DALL-E 2 | First wide wave of attention to prompt-based design, with access limited at the start |
| August 22, 2022 | Stability AI releases Stable Diffusion publicly | Model released under the Creative ML OpenRAIL-M license, needing about 6.9 GB of graphics memory, according to the release post |
| March 21, 2023 | Adobe unveils Firefly in beta | Generative features arrive inside mainstream design applications |
Whatever a 2021 list filed under AI was a different kind of product from what the phrase means now. The list may have been accurate when written; its age is the problem.
What changed between 2021 and October 2026
OpenAI posted a deprecation reminder on April 9, 2026, saying DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 would be shut down on May 12, 2026, and pointing developers to its newer gpt-image models. Anyone reading a 2021 or 2022 ranking that places DALL-E near the top is therefore reading about models that can no longer be called through the API. The post named gpt-image-1.5 and gpt-image-1-mini as the replacements at that time; OpenAI's deprecation page lists later retirements of its own image models, so model names in any ranking go stale within months.
Adobe announced Firefly Image Model 5 on October 28, 2025, at Adobe MAX, as a public beta. The company describes it as producing output at native 4 megapixel resolution, and it powers the Prompt to Edit feature. The same announcement lists partner models inside Firefly, among them Google's Imagen 4, Black Forest Labs' Flux 1.1, Ideogram 3.0, and OpenAI's GPT Image. A 2021 list rated single tools. Adobe's current product is a front end for several models, which makes a one-line score even harder to interpret.
On the review side, the FTC sent its first batch of warning letters under the rule on December 22, 2025. Its business blog says the letters concern fake reviews and incentives offered for positive or five-star reviews, and it states civil penalties of up to USD 53,088 per violation. As of October 2026 this article found no completed court action under the rule in the sources it checked.
What a rating measures, and what it hides
A single star score or a rank order collapses several questions into one number. Reviewers may have rated ease of use, output quality, price, support, or simply their own satisfaction after a short trial. A tool that suits a solo illustrator can fail a team that needs shared libraries, and a score cannot show which of those two readers it describes.
Three details usually decide whether a rating deserves any weight. The first is who produced the score: an independent test, a publisher with affiliate income, an aggregate of user reviews, or the vendor itself. The second is the date of the last review, since software features and prices change several times a year. The third is the sample, meaning how many reviewers there were and whether they were verified customers. A list that states none of these cannot be checked, and an unchecked claim should not be repeated.
What the FTC rule on reviews covers
On August 14, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced a final rule on fake reviews and testimonials. According to the announcement, it prohibits creating, selling, or buying fake or false reviews, including AI-generated ones, when the business knew or should have known they were fake. It also bars paying for reviews of a set sentiment, undisclosed insider reviews, review-suppression tactics such as groundless legal threats, and the purchase of fake social media followers or views.
The agency's questions and answers page says the rule took effect on October 21, 2024, and that it authorizes courts to impose civil penalties for knowing violations. The same page notes limits. Listing reviews with five-star entries first is not covered by the rule, although it could still violate the FTC Act if it makes negative reviews hard to find, and sorting by helpfulness is not suppression. The rule is a U.S. regulation; readers in Canada face different consumer protection law, which this article does not cover.
A checklist for reading any AI tool ranking
- Is the publication date visible, and does the list name versions of the tools it rates?
- Does the page say how scores were produced and who produced them?
- Does the publisher earn commission when a reader clicks through to a product?
- Are the tools compared on the same tasks, or does each have its own criteria?
- Do the claims about features match the vendor's current documentation?
- Does the license for generated images, and the vendor's statement on training data, appear in the vendor's own terms rather than only on the ranking page?
This article gives general information. It does not recommend or rank any product, and decisions about commercial use of generated images belong with a qualified adviser familiar with the current terms of each tool.
FAQ
Are 2021 AI design rankings still useful?
Only as a record of what was on offer at the time. Features, pricing, and the underlying models have changed, so a current decision needs current documentation.
Did text-to-image tools exist in 2021?
As research, yes. OpenAI described DALL-E in January 2021, but the widely used products followed in 2022 and 2023.
Does the FTC rule apply to AI-generated reviews?
Yes, according to the FTC's announcement, which names AI-generated fake reviews among the prohibited practices when the business knew or should have known they were fake.
Can a five-star average be trusted?
Not without context. The number of reviews, how they were collected, whether incentives were offered, and how recent they are all change what the average means.
Related reading
- Designing test questions with AI
- A profile of the Deloitte AI Institute
- AI in banking
- AI for dashboard design
More in AI Tools and Industry.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- A warning letter (or ten) for businesses: comply with the FTC's Consumer Review Rule, Federal Trade Commission, December 22, 2025
- Deprecation Reminder: DALL-E will be shut down on May 12, 2026, OpenAI Developer Community, April 9, 2026
- Adobe Firefly Delivers AI Audio, Video and Imaging Innovations, Adobe, October 28, 2025
- Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials, Federal Trade Commission, August 14, 2024
- Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers, Federal Trade Commission, 2026
- Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, 2024
- DALL-E: Creating images from text, OpenAI, January 5, 2021
- DALL-E 2 announcement, OpenAI, April 6, 2022
- Stable Diffusion public release, Stability AI, August 2022
- Adobe Unveils Firefly, a Family of new Creative Generative AI, Adobe press release, March 21, 2023