# Image generation APIs

> An image generation API takes a prompt, often with a reference image, and returns a picture. Most bill per image or per megapixel, so size, quality setting and model set the price, from under a cent to about 60 cents for a 4K image. OpenAI, Google, Black Forest Labs, Stability AI and Recraft sell their own models. fal, Replicate, Together and DeepInfra host many labs' models behind one key, sometimes the same model at a different price, so compare both. Then run your own prompts: text in images, edits and style control differ between models far more than price does.

9 tools, in the order they appear in the Digidle Tools directory. This is not a ranking.

- Page: https://digidle.com/best/image-generation-apis/
- All best-of lists: https://digidle.com/best/

## Tools

- [Together AI](https://digidle.com/tools/together-ai/): Serverless API for open models such as gpt-oss, GLM and Kimi, OpenAI-compatible and billed per token, with batch, provisioned throughput, dedicated endpoints, fine-tuning and GPU clusters when you outgrow shared capacity. Image generation models too, such as FLUX.2, GPT Image 2 and Nano Banana Pro, priced per image. Official site: https://www.together.ai. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/together-ai/.
- [DeepInfra](https://digidle.com/tools/deepinfra/): OpenAI-compatible API for open models such as Llama, DeepSeek and Qwen, billed per token with Standard, Priority and Flex tiers. Also open text-to-speech models such as Kokoro, billed per character, open embedding models such as Qwen3-Embedding and bge-m3, FLUX image generation models billed per image, and dedicated GPUs for your own LLMs billed by the minute. Official site: https://deepinfra.com. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/deepinfra/.
- [OpenAI Image Generation](https://digidle.com/tools/openai-image/): OpenAI's image generation API: gpt-image-2, the gpt-image-2.5 Sunburst and Flare models, gpt-image-1.5 and gpt-image-1-mini make and edit images from a prompt and reference images, through the Image API or as a tool in the Responses API. Billed per token on your OpenAI key, with batch at half price. Official site: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/image-generation. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/openai-image/.
- [Gemini Image (Nano Banana)](https://digidle.com/tools/gemini-image/): Google's image generation models on the Gemini API: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), Nano Banana 2 Lite and Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) generate and edit images, with Nano Banana 2 and Pro going up to 4K. Billed per output token, batch at half price. No free tier for the image models. Official site: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/image-generation. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/gemini-image/.
- [Black Forest Labs FLUX API](https://digidle.com/tools/bfl-flux/): Black Forest Labs' own API for its FLUX image generation and editing models: FLUX 3 Image and Klein, FLUX.2 [pro], [max], [flex] and [klein], and FLUX.1 Kontext for edits. Priced per image or per megapixel, the same in the API and the Playground. Some FLUX weights are open, under non-commercial or self-hosting licenses. Official site: https://bfl.ai. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/bfl-flux/.
- [Stability AI API](https://digidle.com/tools/stability-ai/): Stability AI's developer platform for image generation and editing: Stable Image Ultra and Core, Stable Diffusion 3.5 and SDXL, plus edit and upscale tools, billed in credits at $0.01 each with 25 free credits to start. Stable Diffusion 3.5 weights are free under the Community License for businesses under $1M in annual revenue. Official site: https://platform.stability.ai. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/stability-ai/.
- [Recraft API](https://digidle.com/tools/recraft/): Recraft's image generation API for raster and vector images: V4.1, Pro, Flash and Vector models plus V4 styles, with raster edits, vectorization and background removal on the same API. Priced per image from prepaid API units that don't expire. Official site: https://www.recraft.ai/api. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/recraft/.
- [fal](https://digidle.com/tools/fal/): Hosted image generation models from many labs behind one API, including FLUX, Nano Banana, Seedream and Z Image, billed per image or per megapixel from prepaid credits, with no charge for server errors or queue time. Serverless GPUs for your own models too. Official site: https://fal.ai. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/fal/.
- [Replicate](https://digidle.com/tools/replicate/): Run image generation and other models from one API: public models such as FLUX, Ideogram and Recraft are billed per output image or by the second of hardware time, and you can deploy your own models with the open-source Cog. Official site: https://replicate.com. Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/replicate/.

## At a glance

| Tool | What it is | Models | Price per image | Open weights |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Together AI](https://digidle.com/tools/together-ai/) | Image models on the same Together key as its LLMs. | FLUX.2 [pro], [dev], [flex] and [max], FLUX.1 Kontext, GPT Image 2, Nano Banana Pro, Ideogram, Qwen Image, Seedream and more. | FLUX.2 [dev] $0.0154, FLUX.2 [pro] $0.03, GPT Image 2 $0.053, Nano Banana Pro $0.134, at the lowest resolution. | Some of the models. Together is not. |
| [DeepInfra](https://digidle.com/tools/deepinfra/) | FLUX models on DeepInfra's API, priced per image. | FLUX-2-dev, FLUX-2-pro, FLUX-2-max, FLUX-2-klein 9B and 4B, FLUX-1-dev, FLUX-1-schnell, FLUX-1.1-pro. | At 1024×1024: FLUX-2-dev $0.01, FLUX-2-klein-4b $0.014, FLUX-1.1-pro $0.04, FLUX-2-max $0.07. The open models scale with size and steps. | Some of the models. DeepInfra is not. |
| [OpenAI Image Generation](https://digidle.com/tools/openai-image/) | OpenAI's image models, through the Image API or as a tool in the Responses API, on your OpenAI key. | gpt-image-2, gpt-image-2.5-sunburst, gpt-image-2.5-flare, gpt-image-1.5, gpt-image-1-mini. | gpt-image-2 at 1024×1024: low $0.006, medium $0.053, high $0.211. gpt-image-1-mini low $0.005. Billed per token, $30 per 1M image output tokens on gpt-image-2 and 2.5. Batch half price. | No. |
| [Gemini Image (Nano Banana)](https://digidle.com/tools/gemini-image/) | Google's Nano Banana image models on the Gemini API. Imagen is shut down there. | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), Nano Banana 2 Lite, gemini-nano-banana-2.1, Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image), and Gemini 2.5 Flash Image until March 15, 2027. | Nano Banana 2 about $0.067 at 1K, $0.151 at 4K. Pro $0.134 at 1K or 2K, $0.24 at 4K. Lite and 2.1 about $0.034 at 1K. 2.5 Flash Image $0.039. Batch half price. No free tier. | No. |
| [Black Forest Labs FLUX API](https://digidle.com/tools/bfl-flux/) | Black Forest Labs' own API for FLUX, at the same prices as its Playground. | FLUX 3 Image and Klein, FLUX.2 [pro], [max], [flex] and [klein] 9B and 4B, FLUX.1 Kontext [pro] and [max], FLUX1.1 [pro] and Ultra. | FLUX 3 Image $0.048 at 1K, $0.607 at 4K. FLUX 3 Klein $0.009 at 1K. FLUX.2 [pro] $0.03 for the first megapixel, $0.015 for each one after. Kontext [pro] $0.04. | Some. FLUX.2 [dev] is non-commercial; Klein is licensed through self-hosting plans. |
| [Stability AI API](https://digidle.com/tools/stability-ai/) | Stability AI's developer platform: generate, edit and upscale, billed in credits. | Stable Image Ultra, Stable Image Core, Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large, Large Turbo, Medium and Flash, SDXL. | Credits at $0.01: Ultra 8, SD3.5 Large 6.5, Core 3, SD3.5 Flash 2.5, SDXL from 0.9. 25 free credits to start. | Yes, the SD 3.5 suite and SDXL Turbo, free under the Community License below $1M annual revenue. |
| [Recraft API](https://digidle.com/tools/recraft/) | Raster and vector image generation, with edits, vectorizing and background removal on the same API. | V4.1, V4.1 Pro, V4.1 Flash, V4.1 Vector, V4.1 Pro Vector, V4 Styles. | V4.1 $0.035, Pro $0.21, Flash $0.007, Vector $0.08. Raster edits $0.04, vectorizing and background removal $0.01. Prepaid units don't expire. | No. |
| [fal](https://digidle.com/tools/fal/) | Hosted image models from many labs behind one API, plus serverless GPUs for your own. | FLUX 3 Image, FLUX 2 and FLUX 2 Flash, FLUX.1, Nano Banana, Nano Banana 2 and Pro, Seedream 4.5, Z Image Turbo and more. | Nano Banana 2 $0.08, Seedream 4.5 $0.04. FLUX 3 Image $0.048 and FLUX 2 Flash $0.005 per megapixel. No charge for server errors or queue time. | Some of the models. fal is not. |
| [Replicate](https://digidle.com/tools/replicate/) | Run public models from one API, or deploy your own with Cog. | FLUX1.1 [pro], FLUX [dev] and [schnell], Ideogram v3, Recraft V3, and thousands of community models. | FLUX1.1 [pro] $0.04, FLUX [dev] $0.025, FLUX [schnell] $3 per 1,000, Ideogram v3 Quality $0.09, Recraft V3 $0.04. Other models by the second of GPU time. | Some of the models. Replicate is not. |

Checked 2026-11-02 on vendor pages: [OpenAI pricing](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing), [OpenAI image generation guide](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/image-generation), [Gemini API pricing](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing), [Gemini image generation docs](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/image-generation), [Black Forest Labs pricing](https://docs.bfl.ai/quick_start/pricing), [Stability AI pricing](https://platform.stability.ai/pricing), [Stability AI license](https://stability.ai/license), [Recraft API pricing](https://www.recraft.ai/pricing?tab=api), [fal pricing](https://fal.ai/pricing), [Replicate pricing](https://replicate.com/pricing), [Together AI pricing](https://www.together.ai/pricing), [DeepInfra pricing](https://deepinfra.com/pricing).

## Pick it if

- [OpenAI Image Generation](https://digidle.com/tools/openai-image/): You already call OpenAI and want generation and edits on the same key, from $0.006 an image at low quality.
- [Gemini Image (Nano Banana)](https://digidle.com/tools/gemini-image/): You build on Google, or want to edit images in a conversation with Nano Banana, up to 4K.
- [Black Forest Labs FLUX API](https://digidle.com/tools/bfl-flux/): You want FLUX from the lab that makes it, with the newest models first and the same price as the Playground.
- [Stability AI API](https://digidle.com/tools/stability-ai/): You may later run the model yourself, and the Community License covers a business your size.
- [Recraft API](https://digidle.com/tools/recraft/): You need vector output such as icons and logos, or background removal and vectorizing on the same API.
- [fal](https://digidle.com/tools/fal/): You want to switch between many labs' models on one bill, and pay nothing for failed requests.
- [Replicate](https://digidle.com/tools/replicate/): You want public models and your own Cog-packaged models on one API.
- [Together AI](https://digidle.com/tools/together-ai/): You run open LLMs on Together already and want images on the same bill.
- [DeepInfra](https://digidle.com/tools/deepinfra/): Price per image matters most and FLUX is enough.

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Source: Digidle Tools (https://digidle.com/). Full index: https://digidle.com/llms.txt