Freepik has unveiled Spaces, its latest creative platform: a node-based collaborative offering that allows teams to create and refine AI assets.
And I have to say, it’s refreshing to see a new product coming out in this space, rather than a series of endless upgrades to the same old AI tools that I’ve seen this year.
I had the chance to see 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 of a platform that was fast, smooth, and easy to get to grips with, even if you’ve never touched something like Freepik Spaces before. So here are five key takeaways that creative professionals should know about the platform before getting 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. LeBlanc told me it was a deliberate decision.
It’s no secret that Spaces is Freepik’s version of the popular graphics app ComfyUI. However, one of the issues he highlighted was ComfyUI’s high hardware requirements, putting it out of reach for those using computers that aren’t equipped with the latest graphics cards.
Freepik’s all-in-one platform removes this barrier and includes a host of leading AI models that can be selected from a drop-down menu inside each node.
2. It is designed to be accessible
Look on it
Another issue LeBlanc mentioned when discussing ComfyUI was how workflow intensive, even intimidating, can be. And that’s something he hopes Spaces will avoid.
He told me it was designed so that everyone from creative professionals to social media interns could pick up and play it, pointing to a nine-minute video tutorial (posted above) and telling me that anyone can watch it and fully understand how to use Spaces. And I would agree with that. Even during the demo, I was confident that I could access the Spaces site on my own and start using it without any additional help.
Overall accessibility is aided by the inclusion of an automatic mode. Instead of trying to determine which is the best AI model to use for your image or video, you can let automatic mode determine the likely best candidate. Likewise, you can use the Wizard node to generate a better prompt to achieve the desired result, rather than doing everything yourself. To me, these tools open up the entire platform, even to those who aren’t obsessed with AI.
3. It’s designed to work like your brain
Comparing it to a mind map, LeBlanc explained that the node-based approach – effectively creating the connecting blocks of the workflow for prompts and AI generation – is a way to visually represent how our brains work. This makes it easier to ideate and create, but also makes it 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 is a visual representation of a sequence of actions taken with AI tools… So far, this [creative] the process was almost invisible. So, Spaces is a visual language for encoding this process in a way you’ll remember.
What I particularly liked here is that you can generate a series of AI assets using different templates with the same prompt. It’s good for creative people, but also for the collaborative side. You can then move forward with the results that match 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 three spaces maximum 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, upload an image and link it to the upscaler – only results in a box prompting you to upgrade. Personally, I think this is a missed opportunity to demonstrate the full potential of the platform. But anyway, even though it’s technically free, to get the most out of Spaces you’ll need to be a Freepik subscriber.
5. It offers a productive workflow
With many AI tools, once you start the build process, you have to stop the tools and wait. This is not the case with Spaces. AI generation happens in the individual node, allowing you and the rest of the team to continue working on other ideas elsewhere on the canvas at the same time.
Likewise, if you make changes upstream (for example, you find a more suitable AI model or the Assistant writes a better prompt) – you can apply those changes to an individual node or to all nodes downstream of it. You don’t have to make a series of tedious edits.
I would still recommend moving all AI assets into a photo editor or video editor to fine-tune the result, but otherwise the promise of an all-in-one platform remains true.
You can consult the Freepik spaces by clicking here.
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