I expected Leonardo AI to beat Elicit. The result was messier.

People line up Elicit and Leonardo AI like they do the same thing. They don't, and the confusion costs people the right tool.

Elicit lives in the research world: a tool that runs literature reviews with citations. It pulls claims out of papers and shows you the source, which is exactly what you want there.

Leonardo AI is a image tool at heart: a concept-art and game-asset generator with presets. It keeps styles consistent and gives you real control over the look, and that's a different job than what Elicit does.

The mistake is forcing one to do the other's work. I watched someone run a image task through Elicit and blame the tool. The tool was fine; the fit was wrong.

Pick by the job, not the logo. Elicit when it's research. Leonardo AI when it's image. I kept the one that removed a step I actually repeat. The other got a bookmark, not a subscription.