AI Image API Cost Calculator

Compare AI image API prices per image and find the self-host break-even

AI Image API · Cost CalculatorPrices verified 1 juillet 2026

Images per month

Resolution

Quality tier

Cheapest for 10,000 images/mo

SDXL · fal.ai

$23.00/mo ($0.0023/image)

AI image API models ranked by projected monthly cost at 10,000 images per month, 1024×1024 (1 MP).
Model	Provider	$/image	$/month
SDXL	fal.ai	$0.0023	$23.00
FLUX schnell	Replicate	$0.003	$30.00
GPT Image 2 (low)	OpenAI	$0.006	$60.00
Z-Image Turbo(affiliate)	getimg.ai	$0.015	$150
Imagen 4 Fast	Google	$0.02	$200
FLUX Dev	Replicate	$0.025	$250
FLUX schnell	fal.ai	$0.025	$250
FLUX.2 [pro]	BFL direct	$0.03	$300
FLUX.2 [pro]	fal.ai	$0.03	$300
Seedream(affiliate)	getimg.ai	$0.032	$320
FLUX 1.1 Pro	Replicate	$0.04	$400
Imagen 4 Ultra	Google	$0.054	$540
Nano Banana 2 (Flash)(affiliate)	getimg.ai	$0.067	$670
Ideogram V3 Quality	Replicate	$0.09	$900
Nano Banana Pro	Google	$0.134	$1,340
GPT Image 2 (high)	OpenAI	$0.211	$2,110

Self-host break-evenInclude engineering labor

At 10,000 images/mo, it’s a toss-up against a quality API like FLUX.2 [pro] ($0.03/image). Self-hosting beats it on raw compute (break-even ~6,634/mo), but the engineering time usually erases the savings until ~14,967/mo.

◆ = tinytiny.tools has a referral link for this provider. Prices verified 1 juillet 2026 and normalized to a 1024×1024 standard-quality image; per-megapixel and per-token models are scaled by output area (≈4× at 2K, ≈8× at 4K — an estimate, since per-token models bill by size tier). Self-host break-even compares a flat-rate ~$199/mo GPU (one server tops out near ~170k images/mo) against a quality-matched API. This space changes monthly — confirm current pricing on each vendor’s page before you commit.

Read the full guide: Best AI Image API in 2026 →

Common questions

How does this calculator estimate cost per image?: Every model is normalized to one standard 1024×1024 (1 MP) image. Flat per-image prices are used as-is; per-megapixel and per-token prices are scaled by output area when you raise the resolution. Monthly cost is that per-image price × your volume, and the table re-sorts to surface the cheapest option for your exact inputs.
Why is the self-host break-even measured against FLUX.2 [pro]?: Self-hosting an open-weight model (FLUX.2 [dev], SDXL) is a quality play — you do it to avoid paying for a production-grade API, not to beat a near-free budget one. So break-even is measured against a fixed, quality-matched reference (FLUX.2 [pro] at ~$0.03/image): ~6,600 images/mo against a ~$199/mo GPU on raw compute, or ~15,000 once you price the engineering time to run the stack.
What does changing the resolution setting do?: It rescales the size-dependent billing models. Per-megapixel and per-token prices grow with output area — about 4× at 2K and 8× at 4K — while flat per-image pricing is unchanged. Per-token rows are an estimate at higher resolutions, since those providers bill by discrete size tier rather than continuous megapixels.
How current are these prices, and how are they updated?: Prices were verified on 2026-07-01 against each vendor's pricing page and normalized to a 1024×1024 image. They're refreshed monthly from a single source of truth, so this tool and the accompanying guide always agree — but this space moves fast, so confirm current pricing on the vendor's page before committing.

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Model

Provider

$/image

$/month

SDXL

fal.ai

$0.0023

$23.00

FLUX schnell

Replicate

$0.003

$30.00

GPT Image 2 (low)

OpenAI

$0.006

$60.00

Z-Image Turbo

getimg.ai

$0.015

$150

Imagen 4 Fast

Google

$0.02

$200

FLUX Dev

Replicate

$0.025

$250

FLUX schnell

fal.ai

$0.025

$250

FLUX.2 [pro]

BFL direct

$0.03

$300

FLUX.2 [pro]

fal.ai

$0.03

$300

Seedream

getimg.ai

$0.032

$320

FLUX 1.1 Pro

Replicate

$0.04

$400

Imagen 4 Ultra

Google

$0.054

$540

Nano Banana 2 (Flash)

getimg.ai

$0.067

$670

Ideogram V3 Quality

Replicate

$0.09

$900

Nano Banana Pro

Google

$0.134

$1,340

GPT Image 2 (high)

OpenAI

$0.211

$2,110

Common questions

How does this calculator estimate cost per image?

Every model is normalized to one standard 1024×1024 (1 MP) image. Flat per-image prices are used as-is; per-megapixel and per-token prices are scaled by output area when you raise the resolution. Monthly cost is that per-image price × your volume, and the table re-sorts to surface the cheapest option for your exact inputs.

Why is the self-host break-even measured against FLUX.2 [pro]?

Self-hosting an open-weight model (FLUX.2 [dev], SDXL) is a quality play — you do it to avoid paying for a production-grade API, not to beat a near-free budget one. So break-even is measured against a fixed, quality-matched reference (FLUX.2 [pro] at ~$0.03/image): ~6,600 images/mo against a ~$199/mo GPU on raw compute, or ~15,000 once you price the engineering time to run the stack.

What does changing the resolution setting do?

It rescales the size-dependent billing models. Per-megapixel and per-token prices grow with output area — about 4× at 2K and 8× at 4K — while flat per-image pricing is unchanged. Per-token rows are an estimate at higher resolutions, since those providers bill by discrete size tier rather than continuous megapixels.

How current are these prices, and how are they updated?

Prices were verified on 2026-07-01 against each vendor's pricing page and normalized to a 1024×1024 image. They're refreshed monthly from a single source of truth, so this tool and the accompanying guide always agree — but this space moves fast, so confirm current pricing on the vendor's page before committing.