Cheapest image generation APIs
Live image generation API prices in each provider’s own billing unit, cheapest first.
The cheapest image generation API per image is Luma Uni-1 Text to Image at $0.003 (fal.ai), of 52 models priced per image. Prices are the providers’ own billing units; endpoints billed differently are listed separately, never converted with assumptions.
Cheapest per image
Billed per megapixel
| Model | Price per megapixel | Provider | Source and observation |
|---|---|---|---|
| SanaUnattributed (via fal) | $0.001 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Sana SprintUnattributed (via fal) | $0.0025 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX.1 [schnell] (flux / schnell)Black Forest Labs · 2 variants at this price | $0.003 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX 2 FlashBlack Forest Labs | $0.005 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX.2 [klein] 4BBlack Forest Labs | $0.005 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Hidream O1 Image (dev)Unattributed (via fal) | $0.005 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Luma Photon FlashUnattributed (via fal) | $0.005 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Z Image TurboUnattributed (via fal) | $0.005 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX.2 [klein] 9BBlack Forest Labs | $0.006 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Juggernaut Flux LightningRunDiffusion | $0.006 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Sana v1.5 1.6BUnattributed (via fal) | $0.0075 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX 2 TurboBlack Forest Labs | $0.008 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Krea 2 TurboUnattributed (via fal) | $0.008 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Z Image Turbo LoraUnattributed (via fal) | $0.0085 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX.2 [klein] 4B BaseBlack Forest Labs | $0.009 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX.3 KleinBlack Forest Labs | $0.009 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Ernie Image TurboUnattributed (via fal) | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| FLUX.2 [klein] 4B LoRA (lora)Black Forest Labs | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Hidream I1 FastHiDream.ai | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Hidream O1 ImageUnattributed (via fal) | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Krea 2 Text to Image Turbo LoRAUnattributed (via fal) | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Krea 2 Text to Image Turbo StyleUnattributed (via fal) | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Nucleus ImageUnattributed (via fal) | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| PATINA (material)Patina | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
| Sana v1.5 4.8BUnattributed (via fal) | $0.01 | fal | fal2026-10-17 |
Method and caveats
One row per model: its cheapest priced offer in that billing unit. Endpoints that differ only by language or voice at the same price are shown once. Resolution, duration, steps and quality settings change the real cost per output; check the source before use. Most of these prices are resale prices from the source shown (for example fal), not the model developer’s own list price. Missing prices are unknown, not free.