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AI Image Generation Pricing

Compare per-image cost across 12+ providers — OpenAI DALL-E 3, Flux Pro, Imagen 4, SDXL, Recraft, Ideogram, Midjourney effective rate.

Pricing data refreshed: 2026-07-09

The AITOT AI Image Generation Pricing calculator compares cost per image across 12 providers — OpenAI DALL-E 3, Black Forest Labs Flux Schnell/Dev/Pro, Google Imagen 4, Stable Diffusion XL, Recraft V3, Ideogram 3.0, Midjourney (subscription effective rate), Adobe Firefly, and Luma Photon.

Flux Schnell at $0.0027/image is the cheapest production-grade option. Flux 1.1 Pro at $0.04 leads on price-quality. Google Imagen 4 at $0.06 has the best text rendering. DALL-E 3 HD at $0.08 is premium-priced for commercial-license clarity. The calculator surfaces all 12 side-by-side.

Toggle image count + quality to see monthly bill at your scale. Commercial-use tier is surfaced per provider — Midjourney requires Pro plan; some providers restrict EU/government use. Pricing refreshed monthly from official docs.

Cheapest

OpenAI · GPT Image 1 mini

Fast / draft · 1024×1024

$20.00

Provider	Model	Quality / size	Per image	Monthly cost
OpenAI	GPT Image 1 mini Token-based: $2.50/M input, $8/M output. Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.002	$20.00
Replicate	SDXL (community) Per-second compute billing; varies by hardware. Verify-pending 2026-07-09: conflicting secondary estimates.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.0025	$25.00
Black Forest Labs	Flux Schnell Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.003	$30.00
Replicate	Flux Schnell (hosted) Verified unchanged 2026-07-09 ($3/1000 images).	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.003	$30.00
OpenAI	GPT Image 2 (low) Token-based: $8/M input, $30/M output. Calculator estimate at 1024². Verified 2026-07-09.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.006	$60.00
Black Forest Labs	FLUX.2 Klein Smallest/cheapest FLUX.2 tier, ~$0.014-0.015/image. Verified 2026-07-09.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.015	$150.00
Google	Imagen 4 Fast Shutting down 2026-08-17; migrate to Gemini 3.1 Flash Image.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.02	$200.00
Black Forest Labs	Flux Dev Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.025	$250.00
Black Forest Labs	FLUX.2 Pro ~$0.03/MP direct via BFL API. Verified 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.03	$300.00
Stability AI	Stable Image Core New flat-rate budget tier. Verified 2026-07-09.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.03	$300.00
Ideogram	Ideogram 3.0 Turbo Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.03	$300.00
Midjourney	Midjourney v7 (effective) $30/mo Standard plan ÷ ~900 fast images (15 fast GPU-hrs × ~60 img/hr). Updated from ~750-image estimate; verified 2026-07-09 via midjourney.com/pricing (subscription-only, no per-image API).	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.033	$330.00
Google	Gemini 2.5 Flash Image "Nano Banana". $30/M output tokens, 1290 tokens/image. Verified 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.039	$390.00
Google	Imagen 4 Shutting down 2026-08-17; migrate to Gemini 3.1 Flash Image.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.04	$400.00
Black Forest Labs	Flux Pro 1.1 Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.04	$400.00
Stability AI	SDXL Verify-pending 2026-07-09: official pricing page no longer lists a flat rate for this legacy endpoint; conflicting secondary estimates.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.04	$400.00
Stability AI	SD3.5 Large Turbo Renamed from "SD3.5 Turbo" to match official naming; price verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	Fast / draft 1024×1024	$0.04	$400.00
Recraft	Recraft V3 Best for text-in-image. Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.04	$400.00
OpenAI	GPT Image 2 (medium) Token-based — varies with prompt detail and reference images. Verified 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.053	$530.00
Google	Imagen 4 Ultra Shutting down 2026-08-17; migrate to Gemini 3.1 Flash Image.	HD / Pro (2K+) 2048×2048	$0.06	$600.00
Black Forest Labs	Flux Pro 1.1 Ultra Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	HD / Pro (2K+) 2048×2048	$0.06	$600.00
Ideogram	Ideogram 4.0 New flagship generation (Default tier). Quality tier $0.10, Turbo tier $0.03. Verified 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.06	$600.00
Stability AI	Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	HD / Pro (2K+) 1024×1024	$0.065	$650.00
Google	Gemini 3.1 Flash Image "Nano Banana 2"; recommended Imagen migration target. $60/M output tokens ≈$0.067 at 1K. Verified 2026-07-09.	Standard (1024) 1024×1024	$0.067	$670.00
Stability AI	Stable Image Ultra New flat-rate premium tier. Verified 2026-07-09.	HD / Pro (2K+) 1536×1536	$0.08	$800.00
Recraft	Recraft V3 SVG Vector output. Verified unchanged 2026-07-09.	HD / Pro (2K+) vector	$0.08	$800.00
Ideogram	Ideogram 3.0 Quality Renamed/repriced from "Ideogram 3.0" ($0.08) to match official Quality tier. Verified 2026-07-09.	HD / Pro (2K+) 1024×1024	$0.09	$900.00
Google	Gemini 3.1 Flash Image (4K) "Nano Banana 2" at max resolution; $60/M output tokens ≈$0.151 at 4K. Verified 2026-07-09.	HD / Pro (2K+) 3840×2160	$0.151	$1,510.00
OpenAI	GPT Image 2 (high) Token-based; edit-heavy workflows can run 2-3× baseline. Verified 2026-07-09.	HD / Pro (2K+) 1024×1024	$0.211	$2,110.00
OpenAI	GPT Image 1.5 (high) Token-based: $8/M input, $32/M output. Verified unchanged 2026-07-09 via developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing.	HD / Pro (2K+) 1024×1024	$0.225	$2,250.00

Prices for default resolution per provider. Some models charge per generation step or token — quoted rates are average steady-state per final image.

What this calculator does

12 providers compared

DALL-E 3, Flux 1.1 family, Imagen 4, SDXL, Recraft, Ideogram, Midjourney, Firefly, Luma Photon.

Quality / size toggle

See cost difference for HD vs SD, 1024² vs 2048². DALL-E 3 HD is 2× SD.

Monthly + per-image

Both per-image cost and total monthly bill at your generation volume.

Commercial-use surfaced

Each provider's commercial-use tier shown — important for production work.

Text rendering quality

Imagen 4 + Ideogram 3.0 lead on text rendering. Tool flags this in details.

Refreshed monthly

All 12 providers updated on the 1st from official pricing docs.

Quick comparison

Cost per 1024×1024 image (2026 list price)

Provider	Per Image	Per 1k	Best For
Flux Schnell	$0.0027	$2.70	Cheap dev iteration
SDXL (Replicate)	$0.0035	$3.50	Customizable
Ideogram 3.0	$0.04	$40	Text rendering
Flux 1.1 Pro	$0.04	$40	Best quality / price
Recraft V3	$0.04	$40	Vector + brand consistency
Google Imagen 4	$0.06	$60	Photorealism + text
DALL-E 3 HD	$0.08	$80	OpenAI ecosystem

Midjourney effective rate ~$0.020 on $30/mo Pro plan (200 fast generations).

How to use this calculator

Find the cheapest AI image generator for your use case across 12 providers.

1
Set images per month
Your expected monthly generation volume. The calculator scales per-image cost to monthly bill.
2
Pick quality tier
Standard for drafts, HD for final. DALL-E 3 HD doubles cost; Flux Pro vs Schnell is 15×.
3
Filter by commercial-use
If you sell the output, filter out providers with restricted commercial tiers.
4
Compare and pick
Sort by monthly cost or by quality tier. Save scenarios for budgeting.

Why use this calculator

✓12 providers refreshed monthly
✓Commercial-use tier surfaced
✓Quality + size variation modeled
✓Text rendering quality flagged
✓Free tier limits surfaced
✓No login required

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cheapest AI image generator in 2026?+

For commercial use: Flux Schnell at $0.0027 per image is the cheapest. SDXL on Replicate at $0.0035 and Recraft Flux at $0.04 follow. OpenAI DALL-E 3 HD at $0.080 and Midjourney effective rate at $0.020 (subscription / 200 fast/month) are mid-tier.

How much does Flux Pro vs DALL-E 3 vs Imagen 4 cost per image?+

Flux 1.1 Pro: $0.04 per image. DALL-E 3 HD: $0.08 per image. Google Imagen 4: $0.06 per 1024×1024. Recraft V3: $0.04. For quality at production scale, Flux 1.1 Pro is the best price-quality balance. Imagen 4 has the best text rendering.

How does image size affect AI generation cost?+

DALL-E 3: HD costs 2× SD ($0.08 vs $0.04). Flux: 1024×1024 base, 2048×2048 doubles cost. SDXL: scales with steps × resolution. Use 1024×1024 as the default — quality difference at 2K is minimal for most use cases.

Can I use AI-generated images commercially in 2026?+

Yes for most providers (DALL-E 3, Imagen 4, Flux Pro, SDXL, Recraft, Ideogram). Midjourney requires Pro plan ($30/mo+). Always check provider TOS — some restrict EU/government use, some require attribution at lower tiers. The calculator surfaces commercial-use tier in details.

How many images can I generate for $100?+

At Flux Schnell ($0.0027): ~37,000 images. SDXL on Replicate: ~28,500. Flux 1.1 Pro: 2,500. DALL-E 3 HD: 1,250. Midjourney via subscription: 2,500 fast images on $30 plan ($120/year). Plug your provider mix into the calculator.

Which AI image model has the best text rendering in 2026?+

Google Imagen 4 leads on text rendering quality (legible captions, signage, UI mockups). Ideogram 3.0 is a close second and cheaper at $0.04. Flux 1.1 Pro is third. DALL-E 3 and SDXL frequently produce garbled text — avoid for text-heavy designs.