AI image generation API pricing
Cost per image for every major image-generation API — GPT Image 2, Nano Banana & Nano Banana Pro (Gemini), FLUX, Ideogram and Seedream 5.0. Unlike LLMs, image models bill per generated image, scaling with resolution and quality.
Image API pricing — cost per image
Representative price for one standard image, cheapest first. Enter your monthly volume to estimate the bill. Catalog updated 2026-09-13; each model links to its dated official source.
| Model | Provider | Per image | Monthly | Reference | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ideogram 3.0 | Ideogram | $0.030 | — | default quality | Best in-image text rendering and typography |
| Seedream 5.0 Lite | ByteDance / BytePlus | $0.035 | — | output image | Flat output-image price; input images are free |
| Nano Banana | $0.039 | — | 1024² · ~1290 output tokens | Fast, cheap Gemini image model (1290 output tokens × $30/1M) | |
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | ByteDance / BytePlus | $0.045 | — | output ≤2.36MP | Output price; first reference image is free, then $0.003 per additional input image |
| GPT Image 2 | OpenAI | $0.053 | — | 1024² · medium quality | Native multimodal generation + editing, strong instruction following |
| FLUX 2 Proopen | Black Forest Labs | $0.055 | — | ~1MP | Open-weight family (Dev/Schnell self-hostable); strong realism |
| Nano Banana Pro | $0.134 | — | 1K–2K | Google's flagship image model — best text rendering & 4K output |
Per-image prices vary by resolution and quality — see each model below for its tiers. Cheapest row highlighted.
Pricing for each image model
Ideogram 3.0 · Ideogram
Also known as: Ideogram 3, Ideogram, Ideogram API
Best in-image text rendering and typography. From $0.030 per image (default quality).
Seedream 5.0 Lite · ByteDance / BytePlus
Also known as: Seedream 5 Lite, seedream-5-0-lite-260128, ByteDance Seedream
Flat output-image price; input images are free. From $0.035 per image (output image).
Nano Banana · Google
Also known as: Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, Nano Banana, Gemini image, Gemini Flash Image
Fast, cheap Gemini image model (1290 output tokens × $30/1M). From $0.039 per image (1024² · ~1290 output tokens).
Seedream 5.0 Pro · ByteDance / BytePlus
Also known as: Seedream 5, Seedream 5 Pro, Dola Seedream 5.0 Pro, dola-seedream-5-0-pro-260628
Output price; first reference image is free, then $0.003 per additional input image. From $0.045 per image (output ≤2.36MP).
GPT Image 2 · OpenAI
Also known as: ChatGPT Image 2, gpt-image-2, GPT-Image-2, OpenAI image API
Native multimodal generation + editing, strong instruction following. From $0.053 per image (1024² · medium quality).
FLUX 2 Pro · Black Forest Labs
Also known as: FLUX, Flux 2, FLUX.2 Pro, Black Forest Labs FLUX
Open-weight family (Dev/Schnell self-hostable); strong realism. From $0.055 per image (~1MP).
Nano Banana Pro · Google
Also known as: Gemini 3 Pro Image, Nano Banana Pro, Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview, Gemini image
Google's flagship image model — best text rendering & 4K output. From $0.134 per image (1K–2K).
How image generation API pricing works
Image APIs charge per generated image rather than per token. The price depends mostly on resolution (1024² vs 2K vs 4K) and, for OpenAI, a quality setting (low / medium / high). Editing an existing image usually costs the same as generating a new one, and some providers add a small input cost for the source image and prompt.
Google’s Gemini image models (Nano Banana and Nano Banana Pro) technically bill per output token — about 1,290 tokens per image — but it is easiest to think in cost-per-image, which is what the table shows. Open-weight models like FLUX Dev and Schnell can be run on your own GPUs, trading the per-image fee for hosting cost.
To cut an image bill: drop to a lower resolution or quality tier when you can, use a cheaper model (Ideogram, Seedream and Nano Banana are a fraction of GPT Image 2 high-quality), and batch non-urgent jobs where a provider offers a discounted batch endpoint.
Image generation API pricing FAQ
How much does AI image generation cost per image?
Most image APIs bill per generated image, typically $0.030–$0.134 for a standard image, rising with resolution (2K, 4K) and quality. Ideogram 3.0 is currently the cheapest at about $0.030 per image.
What is the cheapest image generation API?
Among the major models, Ideogram 3.0 (Ideogram) is the cheapest at $0.030 per image, with Ideogram 3.0 and Nano Banana close behind. Open-weight FLUX (Dev/Schnell) can be cheaper still if you self-host.
How much does Nano Banana cost?
Nano Banana (Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) costs about $0.039 per image — each image is ~1,290 output tokens billed at $30 per 1M. Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) starts at $0.039 for ≤1K images and rises to $0.134 (2K) and $0.24 (4K).
How much does GPT Image 2 cost?
GPT Image 2 (OpenAI, also called ChatGPT Image 2) is priced by quality at 1024²: about $0.006 low, $0.053 medium and $0.211 high quality per image.
Is image pricing per token or per image?
Both models exist. OpenAI and the open-weight models (FLUX, Ideogram, Seedream) quote a price per image. Google’s Gemini image models bill per output token (~1,290 tokens per image), which works out to a per-image figure — we show the equivalent per-image price for easy comparison.