In just 14 years, Freepik has evolved from a niche search engine for free images to a global leader with over $200 million worth of stock images. Now, the Spanish company is looking to disrupt the graphic design industry dominated by giants like Adobe ( ADBE ) and Figma by betting on AI.
Since the release of the OpenAI image generator DALL-E in 2022, Freepik has become a comprehensive platform for creating and editing visual content, offering powerful AI tools that require little. technical expertise. Its features include creative AI models such as Flux, which creates high-quality images from text commands, and Mystic, which improves resolution and detail. In video, Freepik uses models like Runway for character close-ups, LumaLabs for landscapes, and Mochi V1 for animals, among others. Other tools include sketch-to-image, mockup generators for custom t-shirts, prints, books and an AI-powered presentation builder.
Serving 150 million global users every month, Freepik's AI tools have gained momentum. Its video generator produced 100,000 videos every week after launch, while its photo model generated more than a million photos every day as of late October, according to the company. With more than 771,000 subscriptions priced from $5.75 to $24.50 per month, Freepik's growth follows the creative software market, which is expected to be accessible. $15 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.
The Observer spoke with Freepik founder and CEO Joaquín Cuenca Abela at the Upscale Conference in Málaga, Spain, where the company is headquartered, in late November to discuss the company's AI strategy, its vision of becoming the next design tool, and the future of graphic design in the AI era.
The following discussion is edited for length and clarity.
Viewer: Freepik started as a stock photo website and later became a graphic design tool with AI features. Tell me about Freepik's transformation into an AI-focused company.
Joaquín Cuenca Abela: In the beginning we were a search engine to find free images available on the Internet and we opened that idea. We got a lot of traffic and it became very popular and eventually became a marketplace. But two years ago, productivity AI exploded, and for me, it was Sputnik time. When DALL-E 2 came out, it was like, “Oh shit, this is real.” This is not a demo from the lab. This can have real uses.
We went from zero to hero in two years. We formed a team and started with low-hanging fruit like integrating a text-to-image generator into a web page. At first, it was very bad, but it gave us an answer. We looked at what users wanted, where it failed and how to improve. And we've grown the team, introduced more tests and integrated new AI technologies.
Freepik's vision has always been to help people create their designs quickly. That's our motto. And the thing about AI is that it's greatly expanded the scope of what we can do to help people. In the beginning, there were many use cases that were not possible with a stock image company, such as a unique company logo. But there's a lot you can do with AI to customize graphics for your audience, designs that were previously unattainable.
How do you differentiate yourself from Getty Images or other stock photography platforms that also integrate AI into their systems?
My take on this is that in the beginning, we will all be close, and over time, we will separate more and more.
Legacy players who go into AI get very low quality. They don't have all the text to the picture. They haven't gone through the process of “how do I actually make this work?” They've done the most basic thing you can do, which is to define the image you want. But for it to really work for someone who has an idea of what they want, they don't do that at all; they simply check the box.
If they really want to get into the game, they will make their own AI models. So far, it includes a third-party text-to-image generator. But they don't build this. This is where we think the biggest opportunity is. We don't just look at technology; we see what people need, and then we work backwards. When you start doing that, you realize that the working experience goes beyond the text generator to the image.
Do you expect these AI tools to change the makeup of Freepik users? Who would benefit most from these tools?
Traditionally, we have targeted graphic designers. Now, with new tools, we are reaching other professionals who were not users before, such as photographers and interior designers.
We also find people in marketing, such as social media marketers, who work with videos and images. AI is the new way to create images, and we need to redefine how the entire graphic design industry works.
Do you see Freepik's development shaping the skills graphic designers need? Can Freepik be as important as Photoshop?
Over the years, graphic designers have traditionally done two important things: First, they understand how to visually communicate with clients, often in graphic formats. Second, they have the technical skills to bring those ideas to life, translating the idea into a finished product. Vision is the most important. If we can make delivering that vision ten times more efficient, designers and anyone working with graphics will be much more powerful. They will have more options to offer customers, reach more clients, and be more efficient overall.
What is your long-term vision for Freepik? How do you see yourself in the next two to three years?
We see ourselves as the main interface that people use to create an image.
So no more Getty, no more Unsplash?
Well, no more Adobe, no more Figma.
So the goal is to get to the big boys?
Of course, you don't have to go to Getty or Shutterstock. We don't come with the content but we want the way people create.
Just look at Microsoft. When Microsoft ruled Windows, everyone used it, and it was impossible to switch to another operating system. What happened was that suddenly, Windows became very large [to keep up with evolving needs.] You got a browser, and you got the Internet, and people started to move their applications to the Internet. Suddenly, tools like the APIs needed to run apps weren't tied to Windows—they required a browser. Since browsers have worked on systems like Apple's iOS and Linux, people finally have the freedom to change.
I think this will happen with Adobe. Photoshop is great. Most people [developers] they tried to make one Photoshop classes [a simplified version of Photoshop]but they always lacked certain features. But now, if all you need to create [images] is this small set of AI tools, will you change? Because that is something we can do better than them. So my opinion is that Freepik will provide the interface that people need to create graphics.
