Freepik has unveiled Spaces, its latest creative platform – a node-based collaboration offering that lets teams create and refine AI assets
And I have to say, it’s refreshing to see a new product release in this space, rather than a series of endless upgrades to the same old AI tools I’ve seen this year.
I got a chance to check out a hands-on demo of Spaces at the company’s Upscale event in Malaga with Martin LeBlanc, Freepik’s Chief Experience Officer, who showed me how it works and what it can do.
My first impression was a platform that’s fast, fluid and easy to pick up, even if you’ve never touched anything like Freepik Spaces before – so here are five key takeaways creative professionals should know about the platform before they get started.
1. It’s a cloud-based infinite canvas
Spaces works in your browser – and that means anyone can use it on any laptop or PC. This, LeBlanc told me, was a purposeful decision.
It’s no secret that Spaces is Freepik’s take on the popular GUI app ComfyUI. However, one of the problems he highlighted was ComfyUI’s heavy hardware requirements, which put it out of reach for those using computers not equipped with the latest graphics cards.
Freepik’s all-in-one platform removes that barrier and includes a host of top AI models that can be selected from a drop-down menu inside each node.
2. It is designed to be accessible
Look at
Another issue LeBlanc mentioned when discussing ComfyUI was how intensive and even intimidating the workflows can be. And that’s something he hopes Spaces avoids.
He told me that it’s designed for anyone from creative professionals to the social media intern to pick up and play, pointing to a nine-minute video tutorial (posted above) and telling me that anyone can watch this and get a good understanding of how to use Spaces. And I agree. Even during the demo, I was confident that I could go to the Spaces website on my own and start using it without further help.
The overall accessibility is helped by the inclusion of an auto mode. Instead of trying to figure out which is the best AI model to use for your photo or video, you can let auto mode determine the likely best candidate. Similarly, you can use the Assistant node to generate a better prompt to get the result you want instead of doing it all yourself. To me, these tools open up the whole platform even to those who aren’t AI obsessives.
3. It’s designed to work the way your brain works
Likening it to a mind map, LeBlanc explained that the node-based approach — effectively building workflow connection blocks for prompts and AI generation — is a way to visually represent the way our brains work. This makes it easy to devise and create, but also easier for others to follow and collaborate.
And it’s an idea echoed by Freepik CEO and co-founder Joaquín Cuenca, who told me: “Spaces are a visual representation of a sequence of actions performed with AI tools… Until now, this [creative] the process has been almost invisible. So Spaces is a visual language to code that process in a way that you can remember.”
What I particularly liked here is that you can generate a variety of AI assets using different models against the same prompt. It’s good for creatives, but also on the collaborative side. You can then move forward with the results that fit the vision.
4. It’s free to use (sort of)
You can use Freepik Spaces without paying anything. But there are the usual limitations imposed on free users. In this case, you are limited to up to three rooms and you will only have access to the same AI tools that you can use in the free plan. And that doesn’t include AI generators.
In my experience, trying to do anything meaningful on the platform – for example uploading an image and linking it to the upscaler – only results in a box telling you to upgrade. Personally, I think it’s a missed opportunity to demonstrate the platform’s full potential. But either way, while it’s technically free, you’ll want to be a Freepik subscriber to get the most out of Spaces.
5. It provides a productive workflow
With a lot of AI tools, once you start the generation process, you have to put tools down and wait. This is not the case with Spaces. AI generation happens in the individual node, letting you and the rest of the team continue to work on other ideas elsewhere on the canvas at the same time.
Likewise, if you make changes upstream – e.g. you find a more appropriate AI model, or Assistant writes a better prompt – you can apply those changes to an individual node or to all nodes downstream of it. You don’t need to make a series of time-consuming changes.
I’d still recommend moving all AI assets to a photo editor or video editor to refine the output, but otherwise the promise of an all-in-one platform holds true.
You can check out Freepik Spaces by clicking here.
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