AI Depth Map Generator — 2026 buyer guide
Free Alternative to LeiaPix/Immersity AI, Runway & MiDaS Web Depth Tools
We compared the four biggest AI depth map generators against ToolChamp on seven parameters. Here is the honest version — LeiaPix moved to paid + watermarked + non-commercial after the Immersity AI rebrand, Runway is bundled inside a $12-15/mo credit-based video editor, Hugging Face Spaces is free but queue-throttled with academic-grade UX, and Photoshop's Depth Blur Neural Filter requires a $19.99-22.99/mo Photoshop subscription.
Table of contents7 sections
LeiaPix used to be the free unlimited go-to for AI depth maps. Leia Inc. rebranded it as Immersity AI in 2023, and the unlimited free tier was replaced by watermarked 720p non-commercial-only exports — with raw depth gated behind the parallax-first workflow. Runway buried Extract Depth inside a credit-based editor. Hugging Face Spaces still hosts free demos but queue waits at peak hours are real. The clean-raw-depth-PNG niche has fewer no-signup options than it used to.
Depth-map generation feeds three downstream workflows: ControlNet inputs for Stable Diffusion, Blender displacement maps for 3D, and parallax-photo animations. Most tools optimise for one and hide the others. We rate each on depth accuracy, edge sharpness, output options, speed, free-tier generosity, privacy, and what each tool genuinely gives you for free.
AI Depth Map Generators compared at a glance
All products side-by-side on the same parameters and the same rubric. Detailed breakdowns are below.
| Product | Free tier | Cheapest paid | Raw depth export | 16-bit / float depth | Colored viz | Parallax export | 3D mesh export | Video depth | ControlNet ready | Batch | Signup | File retention | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeiaPix / Immersity AI | Unlimited watermarked, 720p, non-commercial | Image $4.99/mo (500 credits/mo) | Yes; raw depth gating by tier is unclear | Yes (vendor states 16-bit PNG) | Not clearly documented | Yes (3D photo / video formats) | Documentation unclear | Yes (video conversion plan) | Yes (export grayscale PNG manually) | Not clearly documented | Yes | Account-stored; retention unclear | 3.3 / 5 |
| Runway | 125 one-time credits (no renewal) | Standard $12/mo annual ($15/mo monthly) | Yes (video clip depth export) | Not clearly documented | Not documented | No (broader suite has camera-motion VFX, not parallax-export) | No | Yes (Extract Depth specialty) | Manual (export frames + use) | No (depth-specific) | Yes | Stored in Private assets; SOC 2 Type II compliant | 2.9 / 5 |
| Hugging Face Spaces (MiDaS / Depth-Anything) | Unlimited, queue-throttled | N/A — free demos | Yes (PNG download) | Implementation-dependent (most Spaces output 8-bit visualization) | Yes (varies by Space) | No | No (official demos) | Some community video Spaces exist | Yes (directly drops into ControlNet) | No in UI; Yes via Python script | No for many public Spaces | Per-Space implementation; unclear retention | 3.6 / 5 |
| Photoshop Depth Blur Neural Filter | 7-day trial | Photography plan $19.99/mo | Yes (Depth Map As Layer workflow) | Yes (16-bit Photoshop document workflow) | No (manual gradient mapping) | No | No | No | Yes (manual layer export → ControlNet) | Partial via Actions / scripts | Yes | Local desktop unless cloud features used | 3.1 / 5 |
| ToolChamp | Unlimited, no signup, no watermark | N/A — fully free | Yes (PNG) | No (8-bit) | Yes (Viridis) | No | No | No | Yes (PNG → ControlNet) | No | No | Deleted post-job | 3.9 / 5 |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Highlighted row is the free option benchmarked against the paid leaders.
How each depth map generator stacks up
Each product is rated 1–5 stars on seven parameters using the same rubric. Overall score is an unweighted average.
LeiaPix / Immersity AI
The consumer parallax / 3D-photo specialist. Free is unlimited but watermarked, 720p, non-commercial. Vendor docs state 16-bit PNG depth maps — but the raw depth is hidden behind the parallax-first workflow.
Scorecard
Strengths
- Very easy 2D-photo-to-3D-motion workflow for non-technical creators.
- Strong parallax animation output is the headline feature — usable for social posts and "3D photo" videos.
- Vendor documentation specifies 16-bit PNG depth precision — better than many basic 8-bit web demos when raw depth is available.
- Broader Leia ecosystem connects to lightfield / spatial display hardware for users in that workflow.
Honest weaknesses
- Free tier is watermarked, capped at 720p, and non-commercial — a hard regression from the original LeiaPix-era free use.
- Raw depth export is hidden behind the parallax-animation-first UX; depth-only users have to dig through settings.
- Like every monocular depth model, results soften on hair, foliage, glass, mirrors, and unusual close-ups.
- Credit-based pricing makes one-off depth-map use feel disproportionate.
Pricing
Free watermarked 720p; Image $4.99/mo; Video $24.99/mo; Video Pro $49.99/mo
The unlimited-and-free LeiaPix era is gone. The Immersity AI free tier is unlimited but watermarked, capped to 720p, and marked non-commercial. The Image plan at $4.99/mo unlocks 500 conversion credits with monthly expiry. Vendor docs describe depth maps as 16-bit PNG, but the exact gating for raw depth export by tier is not clearly published on the public pricing page.
Capabilities
- Input
- PNG, JPG, JPEG, WebP for images; H.264 / H.265 for video
- Output
- PNG depth maps (vendor docs state 16-bit precision); 3D photo / 3D video parallax exports
- Batch
- Not clearly documented on public pages
- API
- Yes (enterprise SDK references via Leia / Immersity ecosystem)
Modes / specializations
What real users say
"Depth maps must be in PNG format."
"Immersity AI is not giving free exports anymore."
Our verdict
Immersity AI is the right tool when finished 3D-photo parallax animation is the actual goal — that's the product. The depth map is intermediate, not the headline output. It is the wrong tool when you just need a raw depth PNG for ControlNet, Blender displacement, or any external pipeline — the parallax-first UX and watermarked / non-commercial free tier are friction you don't need.
Who it's for: Social creators making "3D photo" parallax videos for Instagram / TikTok, casual users animating family photos, and Leia-ecosystem users with spatial / lightfield workflows.
Runway Extract Depth
Depth tool buried inside Runway's broader video / Gen-4 creative suite. Strong for video / clip-based VFX (displacement, fake camera moves) — overkill for one static photo.
Scorecard
Strengths
- Extract Depth is genuinely useful for video parallax / fake drone moves / displacement workflows.
- Broader Runway suite means users may already have credits for video generation, editing, motion tools — depth is a bonus, not the headline.
- Depth export from a timeline clip beats single-image-only web demos for VFX / video workflows.
- SOC 2 Type II compliance is the strongest formal posture in this comparison.
Honest weaknesses
- Credit pricing is hard to reason about for one-off depth tasks — there's no published per-export cost.
- Depth tool is buried inside a video editor, not presented as a standalone static depth-map generator.
- Support and billing complaints appear in Trustpilot reviews for Runway generally.
- No raw static-image depth-map workflow clearly documented — Extract Depth is clip-based.
Pricing
Free 125 one-time credits; Standard $12/mo annual; Pro $28/mo; Unlimited $76/mo; Enterprise custom
Runway prices everything in compute credits. Free is 125 one-time credits with no renewal; paid plans reset monthly and credits do not roll over. The pricing page does not expose a specific 'cost per depth-map export' for Extract Depth — depth is one feature inside the broader video editor, not a clean standalone SKU.
Capabilities
- Input
- Video clips supported in Runway editor; exact Extract Depth input list varies by clip
- Output
- Video clip depth map export (per-frame) into Private assets
- Batch
- No (depth-specific)
- API
- Yes for Runway platform; no public Extract Depth pricing
Modes / specializations
What real users say
"Choose Depth Map from the Export as dropdown."
"No support. Their audio to add is not working."
Our verdict
Runway is the right tool when depth is one stage in a broader video / VFX workflow — clip displacement, fake camera moves, motion brushing — and you're already paying for the credits. It is the wrong tool for a single static photo depth map: the credit math, video-editor wrapper, and lack of standalone static-image depth pricing make it overkill.
Who it's for: VFX and motion designers, After Effects users wanting video parallax via displacement, and Gen-4 users who already have Runway credits from broader workflows.
Hugging Face Spaces (MiDaS / Depth-Anything)
Free academic web demos from the original research teams — MiDaS, Depth-Anything, Depth-Anything-V2. Best-in-class accuracy and ControlNet compatibility, but bare-bones UX and queue waits.
Scorecard
Strengths
- Free access to academic state-of-the-art models — Depth-Anything-V2 is widely considered the SoTA monocular depth model as of 2024–2025.
- Direct ControlNet / ComfyUI compatibility — grayscale PNG is the canonical preprocessor input for SD depth conditioning.
- Open-source model downloads let advanced users run local batch inference, script video sequences, and choose larger model variants for non-commercial use.
- Best raw accuracy in this comparison when the Space is running properly.
Honest weaknesses
- Public Spaces UX is minimal and can be broken, sleeping, or queued — search results show several runtime-error Spaces at any given time.
- The largest Depth-Anything-V2 variants (Base / Large / Giant) ship under CC-BY-NC-4.0 non-commercial licences — commercial projects can only use the Small variant.
- Monocular depth still fails on glass, mirrors, hair, foliage, and unusual close-up scenes — universal across all depth tools but worth flagging.
- Queue waits during peak hours can stretch a 'few seconds' job into multi-minute waits on community compute.
Pricing
Free public demos (queue-limited); HF Pro / ZeroGPU priority varies; self-host local inference is free of software cost
The model demos themselves are free. Reliability depends on Space status — Hugging Face search results often show some Spaces running, others sleeping, runtime-error, or build-error. For production / batch use, advanced users self-host the models locally or via inference endpoints.
Capabilities
- Input
- Common web image formats accepted by Gradio demos (varies by Space)
- Output
- Usually 8-bit visualization PNG; bit depth depends on Space implementation
- Batch
- No in public UI; Yes via Python script for self-hosted models
- API
- Partial — Spaces can be called programmatically depending on configuration; no formal consumer API for every demo
Modes / specializations
What real users say
"Depth-Anything-V2 is a better model."
"Upload any picture and the app will compute a grayscale depth map."
Our verdict
Hugging Face Spaces is the right tool when you need academic state-of-the-art depth quality, ControlNet compatibility, or batch / video / local-inference workflows — and you can tolerate Gradio UX and occasional queue waits. It is the wrong tool when you need polished consumer UX, predictable uptime, parallax animation export, or a guarantee that the Space will be running when you visit.
Who it's for: Stable Diffusion / ComfyUI users preprocessing depth for ControlNet, researchers benchmarking depth models, technical 3D artists running local Blender displacement workflows, and anyone fine with running Python.
Photoshop Depth Blur Neural Filter
Depth as an intermediate layer in Photoshop's bokeh-blur workflow. 'Depth Map As Layer' exposes the raw depth — with full manual mask / curves / 16-bit editing. Strongest manual refinement workflow, locked behind a $19.99-22.99/mo subscription.
Scorecard
Strengths
- Strongest manual refinement workflow in this comparison — masks, curves, alpha channels, manual painting on the depth layer.
- Professional editing environment integrates depth as one layer among many — combine with Lens Blur, healing, clone stamp.
- Adobe compliance posture is the strongest in this comparison (SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 series).
- 16-bit document workflow supports pro 3D / displacement pipelines where 8-bit banding would matter.
Honest weaknesses
- Expensive subscription if you only need one depth map — $19.99-22.99/mo for a single static-image workflow is overkill.
- Steep learning curve compared with one-click web tools — Photoshop is a professional editor, not a quick depth-map generator.
- 2025 user reports describe broken / hanging depth-map output in some Photoshop 2026 builds — version-specific bugs matter.
- Adobe cancellation friction is well-documented on Trustpilot — read terms before subscribing.
Pricing
7-day trial; Photography plan $19.99/mo; Photoshop standalone $22.99/mo; Teams $37.99/mo
Depth Blur Neural Filter cannot be purchased separately. The Photography plan at $19.99/mo is the cheapest legitimate path; standalone Photoshop is $22.99/mo. Adobe pricing pages vary by region — verify at checkout before subscribing.
Capabilities
- Input
- Broad Photoshop file support — JPG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, RAW via Camera Raw, HEIC via system support
- Output
- Photoshop layer / channel workflow — export as PNG, TIFF, or PSD with 16-bit document configuration
- Batch
- Partial via Photoshop Actions / scripts; Depth Blur batch reliability varies
- API
- No public Depth Blur Neural Filter API
Modes / specializations
What real users say
"One of the fullest capable photo editing packages."
"Price point is expensive."
Our verdict
Photoshop Depth Blur is the right tool when manual depth refinement matters — paint on the depth layer, fix the AI's mistakes on hair, mask out the background — and you're already a Photoshop subscriber. It is the wrong tool when you just want a raw depth PNG from one photo: $19.99-22.99/mo plus a learning curve is overkill for a single-file workflow.
Who it's for: Photo retouchers, designers, and VFX artists already paying for Photoshop who want manual control over the depth output and 16-bit document precision.
ToolChamp AI Depth Map Generator
Direct raw depth-map PNG download — Grayscale (3D-pipeline standard input) or Viridis (colored visualization), Compare or Depth-only view, HEIC input. Free, no signup, no watermark, no credit math.
Scorecard
Strengths
- Direct raw depth-map PNG download — no parallax-first UX detour, no credit math, no watermarked / 720p / non-commercial gating like Immersity AI free.
- Two output modes (Grayscale + Viridis) cover both the 3D-pipeline standard input format and human-readable visualization.
- Compare and Depth-only result views — drag a slider over the original to see the depth, or view the depth full-frame.
- No signup, no email, no credit card, no daily/monthly cap, no watermark, no upsell modal — strongest zero-friction free workflow in the comparison.
- Files deleted post-job — no account, no retention beyond processing window.
- HEIC / HEIF input — iPhone photos work directly without conversion.
- Several × faster than Hugging Face Spaces during peak hours — Spaces share community compute with queue waits; ToolChamp runs on its own GPU backend.
- Grayscale output drops directly into Stable Diffusion ControlNet depth conditioning, Blender displacement, and AR / parallax tools.
Honest weaknesses
- No 16-bit / 32-bit float depth export — output is 8-bit PNG, which can introduce visible banding in pro 3D pipelines.
- No parallax / 3D-photo animation export — LeiaPix/Immersity specialise here; ToolChamp stops at the depth map.
- No 3D mesh / point cloud export (OBJ / PLY / GLTF) — depth-to-mesh is a separate step.
- No video / sequence depth — single image only, no temporal consistency across frames.
- No manual depth refinement — depth edges on hair, foliage, and glass are as good as the model produces.
- Relative / normalised depth, not metric depth — no camera intrinsics or focal length. Unsuitable for photogrammetric reconstruction.
- Quality depends on the source — strong perspective cues and clean foreground/background separation give the cleanest depth.
Capabilities
- Input
- JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, HEIF (HEIC auto-converted in browser)
- Output
- PNG (8-bit)
- Batch
- Single photo at a time
- API
- No — UI only
Modes / specializations
Our verdict
ToolChamp wins this category at 3.9/5 overall because the simplest workflow wins when raw depth PNG is the actual goal. Hugging Face Spaces matches us on accuracy (5/5 vs our 4/5) and free-tier generosity (5/5 each), but loses on speed (2/5 — queue waits) and UX. LeiaPix/Immersity moved to paid with watermarks. Runway buries depth inside a credit-based video editor. Photoshop is $19.99-22.99/mo. We score 4/5 (not 5/5) on Depth Accuracy because no published independent benchmark validates us against Depth-Anything-V2 Large. Output Options is 3/5 — Grayscale + Viridis PNG covers the common cases, but no 16-bit, no parallax, no mesh. Extras is 2/5 — no API, no batch, no plugin, no video depth.
Who it's for: Anyone with one photo who needs a raw depth-map PNG — for Blender displacement, Stable Diffusion ControlNet conditioning, parallax animation in another tool, or AR / VR prototyping — and doesn't want a subscription, credit math, watermark, or queue wait.
Which free depth map generator should you pick?
Common situations and the product that actually fits them.
You want a finished 3D-photo parallax animation (not raw depth)
LeiaPix / Immersity AI
Parallax animation is the headline feature. Free is unlimited but watermarked, 720p, non-commercial; Image plan $4.99/mo unlocks 500 credits.
You work in video / VFX and need clip-based depth (displacement, fake camera moves)
Runway Extract Depth
The only tool in this comparison with documented timeline-clip depth export. Standard plan $12/mo annual gives 625 monthly credits across the broader Gen-4 suite.
You need academic state-of-the-art depth quality for ControlNet preprocessing or local batch scripts
Hugging Face Spaces (Depth-Anything-V2)
Free public demos from the original research teams. Direct ControlNet compatibility. Self-host the model locally for unlimited batch / video / pro use. Tolerate queue waits or broken Spaces during peak hours.
You already pay for Photoshop and want manual depth refinement
Photoshop Depth Blur Neural Filter
Depth Map As Layer workflow puts the depth on a Photoshop layer with full mask / curves / 16-bit document editing. $19.99/mo Photography plan or $22.99/mo standalone.
You want a raw depth PNG for ControlNet, Blender, or AR — and don't want to subscribe
ToolChamp
Free, no signup, no watermark, no credit math. Direct PNG download in Grayscale (3D-pipeline standard) or Viridis (colored visualization). Simplest workflow that exists in 2026.
You're allergic to credit math and watermarks
ToolChamp
LeiaPix watermarks free output. Runway prices in credits. Photoshop is a subscription. Hugging Face is free but Spaces can be broken / queued. ToolChamp is the only zero-friction raw-depth workflow in this comparison.
Frequently asked questions about ai depth map generators
Quick answers to questions that come up before, during, and after picking a tool.
Is there a genuinely free alternative to LeiaPix/Immersity AI, Runway, and MiDaS web tools?
Why does ToolChamp win this category at 3.9/5?
Why does ToolChamp output 8-bit PNG instead of 16-bit?
Can I use the ToolChamp depth output directly with Stable Diffusion ControlNet?
Why isn't there a parallax / 3D-photo animation export?
Does ToolChamp work on iPhone HEIC photos?
What's the difference between 'relative' and 'metric' depth?
How to generate a depth map for free in ToolChamp
Free in-browser AI monocular depth estimation with Grayscale and Viridis output — no signup, no watermark.
Step 1
Upload a photo
Drag JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, or HEIF up to 10 MB and 4096 px. Depth runs on the GPU backend.
Step 2
Pick output type
Grayscale (standard 3D-pipeline input — drops into ControlNet depth or Blender displacement). Viridis (perceptually uniform visualization).
Step 3
Inspect + download PNG
Compare side-by-side or view depth-only full-frame, then download the depth PNG. Files are deleted server-side post-job.
The honest summary
There is no single best AI depth map generator for every situation. LeiaPix/Immersity AI wins when finished parallax animation is the goal. Runway wins for video / clip-based VFX inside a broader creative suite. Hugging Face Spaces wins on raw academic accuracy and ControlNet preprocessing when you can tolerate queue waits. Photoshop wins for manual depth refinement and 16-bit document workflows.
But for the most common case — a person with one photo who wants a raw depth-map PNG for Blender, ControlNet, AR, or just to see what the depth looks like — ToolChamp wins at 3.9/5 because the simplest workflow wins when raw depth is the actual goal. We sacrifice 16-bit precision (use Photoshop), parallax export (use LeiaPix), video depth (use Runway), and academic state-of-the-art accuracy on the largest variants (use Hugging Face Spaces) to keep the core workflow free, unlimited per session, and frictionless.
If parallax animation is what you actually want, pay for Immersity AI. If video depth matters, pay for Runway. If you can run Python, Hugging Face Spaces + self-hosted Depth-Anything-V2 gives you the best raw accuracy for free. If you already own Photoshop, the Depth Map As Layer workflow is unmatched for manual refinement. If you have one photo to convert to depth today, you do not need a subscription. Pick the tool that matches the workflow — and remember that the zero-friction PNG download is what sets ToolChamp apart.
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