--- title: "Is there a website that can detect ai images?" url: https://isthereathing.com/a-website-that-can-detect-ai-images/ answer: "partly" summary: "Partly: free sites like Hive and AI or Not give a likelihood, but NewsGuard's May 2026 test found tools both flagged real photos as AI and missed heavily manipulated ones." category: "Photos & images" published: 2026-10-02 updated: 2026-10-02 author: "Jack Stovell" publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited" language: en-GB --- # Is there a website that can detect ai images? **Answer: partly.** Partly: free sites like Hive and AI or Not give a likelihood, but NewsGuard's May 2026 test found tools both flagged real photos as AI and missed heavily manipulated ones. (Source: [NewsGuard: AI image detection audit, 8 May 2026](https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/leading-ai-image-detection-tools-mislead-online-users-often-declaring-authentic-content-fake/)) Partly. Free sites like Hive and AI or Not will give you a likelihood that an image is AI, but NewsGuard's May 2026 test found tools both flagged real photos as AI and missed heavily manipulated ones. Treat whatever comes back as a lead, not a verdict. ## The shortlist ### Hive AI Detector Free web tools and a Chrome extension that check images and video for AI generation, and predict which generator made them. - Link: https://hivemoderation.com/ai-generated-content-detection - Free tier: yes. The Chrome extension is free with no login (Chrome Web Store listing). - Paid from: not checked (not verified: no consumer price published on the pages we read) - Best at: Free checks with no login, by right-click, upload or paste. - The catch: It shows a likelihood only. In NewsGuard's test Hive flagged none of 15 real photos but caught 9 of 15 heavily manipulated ones, and a Hive result was cited online to wrongly call a real video fake. - Platforms: chrome, web, api - Source: [Hive AI Detector: Chrome Web Store listing](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hive-ai-detector/cmeikcgfecnhojcbfapbmpbjgllklcbi) ### AI or Not Upload an image to see whether it is AI or real, with a generator breakdown, plus deepfake checks, mainly sold as an API. - Link: https://aiornot.com/ - Free tier: yes. $5 in free credits to start, including 20 AI image checks. - Paid from: $5 per month (Pro, includes $10 of credits) (checked 2026-10-02; USD; image checks are $0.02 each on the pricing page) - Best at: Naming the likely generator, and catching all 15 heavily manipulated images in NewsGuard's test. - The catch: In that same test it flagged 1 of 15 real photos as AI; its CEO said low image quality can sometimes cause a false positive. Its 98.9% accuracy figure is the vendor's own. - Platforms: web, api - Source: [AI or Not: home page](https://aiornot.com/) ### Sightengine AI image detector A drag-and-drop checker that reports how likely an image is AI-generated and whether faces were manipulated. - Link: https://sightengine.com/detect-ai-generated-images - Free tier: yes. The drag-and-drop checker on the page is free up to a limit, then asks you to sign up free for more free detection credits every month; no credit card required. - Paid from: not checked (not verified: pricing page did not render plans) - Best at: Flagging all 15 real photos as real in NewsGuard's test. - The catch: The same test found it identified only 5 of 15 heavily altered images (33 percent). Its founder said the base model is made for fully AI-generated or heavily edited images. - Platforms: web, api - Source: [Sightengine: AI image detector](https://sightengine.com/detect-ai-generated-images) ### Google SynthID in the Gemini app Upload an image to Gemini and ask "Is this AI-generated?"; Gemini checks for the SynthID watermark. - Link: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/ai-image-verification-gemini-app/ - Free tier: not verified. Google says it is available to everyone in the Gemini app; plan limits not checked. - Paid from: not checked (not verified: Gemini plan pricing not checked) - Best at: Checking images made or edited with Google AI for its SynthID watermark. - The catch: Per Google's post it verifies Google AI images only; checking content from other makers depends on future C2PA support. - Platforms: Gemini app - Source: [Google: AI image verification in the Gemini app](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/ai-image-verification-gemini-app/) ### Content Credentials Verify Drag a file in to inspect its Content Credentials, the signed record of who made it and how it changed. - Link: https://verify.contentauthenticity.org/ - Free tier: not verified. No price or account is mentioned on the Verify page. - Paid from: not checked (no price listed) - Best at: Showing a tamper-evident creation and editing history when the file carries one. - The catch: The page itself says Content Credentials are still rolling out, so an image may have nothing to view. No credentials does not mean an image is real or fake. - Platforms: web - Source: [Content Credentials: Verify](https://verify.contentauthenticity.org/) ## How they compare ### If you want no login Hive AI Detector is the easy one here, because the Chrome extension is free with no login. You can check an image by right-click, upload or paste. It also tries to predict which generator made the image, and it covers video too. What you give up is certainty. It shows a likelihood only. In NewsGuard's test Hive flagged none of 15 real photos, which is good, but it caught only 9 of 15 heavily manipulated ones. So the free, quick option missed a fair few edited images. A Hive result was also cited online to wrongly call a real video fake, which is a reminder not to lean on these scores. ### If you want to know which generator made it AI or Not is the pick here. You upload an image and get a generator breakdown, so you're not just told "AI" but which tool probably made it. It caught all 15 heavily manipulated images in NewsGuard's test, where Hive caught 9. The cost is false alarms. In that same test it flagged 1 of 15 real photos as AI, and its CEO said low image quality can sometimes cause a false positive. It's mainly sold as an API, with deepfake checks alongside the image checker. ### If you want to avoid false alarms on real photos Sightengine is the one for this. It's a drag-and-drop checker that reports how likely an image is AI-generated and whether faces were manipulated, and it flagged all 15 real photos as real in the test. If your main worry is wrongly accusing a genuine picture, that matters. But it identified only 5 of 15 heavily altered images (33 percent). Its founder said the base model is made for fully AI-generated or heavily edited images. The free checker has a limit, after which it asks you to sign up for more free monthly credits; we couldn't confirm a price. ### If the image came from Google AI Upload the image to the Gemini app and ask "Is this AI-generated?" Gemini checks for the SynthID watermark, which covers images made or edited with Google AI. Google says it's available to everyone in the app. The catch is simple: per Google's post it verifies Google AI images only. Checking content from other makers depends on future C2PA support, so it can't vouch for an image from anywhere else. ### If you want an image's editing history Content Credentials Verify lets you drag a file in and inspect the signed record of who made it and how it changed. When a file carries one, that's a tamper-evident history, which is a different kind of evidence from a percentage guess. The page itself says Content Credentials are still rolling out, so plenty of images will have nothing to view. No credentials doesn't mean an image is real or fake. It just means there's nothing to read. ### When paying is worth it Hive's extension is free with no login, and we found no consumer price for Hive. AI or Not starts you off with $5 in free credits, including 20 AI image checks. After that the Pro plan is $5 per month and includes $10 of credits, with image checks at $0.02 each on the pricing page. So paying makes sense if you're checking images regularly. For the occasional one-off, the free credits cover 20 image checks before you'd need to pay. ## What to watch for NewsGuard's May 2026 audit found five tools collectively calling real photos AI 13.33 percent of the time, and one tool 40 percent. So treat a result as a lead, not proof. AI or Not's 98.9% accuracy figure is the vendor's own, and its CEO said low image quality can sometimes cause a false positive. A vendor's own figure is a claim, not an independent test. And remember the Content Credentials point: an empty result there says nothing either way. Also, the audit used 45 images (15 real photos and two edited versions of each), so its figures are one small test, not a ranking. ## How we checked On 2 October 2026 we read the vendor pages listed under sources: the Hive extension's Chrome Web Store listing and Hive's detection page, AI or Not's home and pricing pages, Sightengine's detector page, Google's Gemini announcement, the Content Credentials Verify page and the Content Authenticity Initiative FAQ, plus NewsGuard's published audit. We did not hands-on test any detector. ## If none of these fit Use more than one check. Look for Content Credentials or a SynthID answer, run a second detector, and look for the image's original source. The free checks above can disagree. NewsGuard's audit used 45 images (15 real photos and two edited versions of each), so treat its figures as one small test, not a ranking. ## Related questions - [Is there an app that can detect ai?](https://isthereathing.com/an-app-that-can-detect-ai/) - [Is there a tool that detects ai writing?](https://isthereathing.com/a-tool-that-detects-ai-writing/) - [Is there an ai that can edit photos?](https://isthereathing.com/an-ai-that-can-edit-photos/) ## Sources - [Hive AI Detector: Chrome Web Store listing](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hive-ai-detector/cmeikcgfecnhojcbfapbmpbjgllklcbi) (checked 2026-10-02) - [AI or Not: home page](https://aiornot.com/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [AI or Not: pricing](https://aiornot.com/pricing) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Sightengine: AI image detector](https://sightengine.com/detect-ai-generated-images) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Google: AI image verification in the Gemini app](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/ai-image-verification-gemini-app/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Content Credentials: Verify](https://verify.contentauthenticity.org/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Content Authenticity Initiative: how it works and FAQ](https://contentauthenticity.org/faq) (checked 2026-10-02) - [NewsGuard: AI image detection audit, 8 May 2026](https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/leading-ai-image-detection-tools-mislead-online-users-often-declaring-authentic-content-fake/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Hive: AI-generated content detection](https://hivemoderation.com/ai-generated-content-detection) (checked 2026-10-02) ## Questions people ask ### Can I trust an AI image detector's result? Treat it as a lead, not proof. NewsGuard's May 2026 audit of five tools found them collectively calling real photos AI 13.33 percent of the time, and one tool 40 percent. ### Is there a free AI image detector? Yes. Hive's Chrome extension is free with no login, AI or Not gives $5 in free credits including 20 image checks, and Sightengine has a drag-and-drop checker on its page. ### What if an image has no Content Credentials? Content Credentials are still rolling out, so many images have none. Verify shows information only where it exists. ### Can Gemini tell me if an image is AI? Gemini checks for the SynthID watermark and answers for images made or edited with Google AI. Google says it plans to extend support to more formats and to C2PA credentials.