# What AI image tools cost

Real published prices from vendor pages, with the date each was checked, and how the pricing models compare.

Updated 2026-11-13. Also on the [web page](https://aiimagegen.fyi/guides/what-ai-image-tools-cost).

AI image tools bill in four ways: a flat subscription, prepaid credits, per-image API charges, or free open weights you run yourself. This page collects published prices so you can compare like with like. Every figure was read on the vendor's own page on 2026-11-13. Prices change; check the vendor before you pay.

## Flat subscriptions

Subscription tools charge a monthly or yearly fee for a bundle of credits, exports or generations.

| Vendor | Plan | Published price | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Photoroom | Pro | $12.99/month or $89.99/year, 8,000 credits and 1,000 exports | 2026-11-13 |
| Photoroom | Business | $34.99/month or $249.99/year, 25,000 credits and 3,000 exports | 2026-11-13 |
| Krea | Individual Basic to Max | $9, $35 and $105 per month | 2026-11-13 |
| Krea | Business | $200 per month | 2026-11-13 |
| Freepik (Magnific) | Premium | $14.50/month billed annually ($20 monthly) | 2026-11-13 |
| Freepik (Magnific) | Unlimited plan | $33.75/month billed annually ($45 monthly) | 2026-11-13 |
| Freepik (Magnific) | Pro for professionals | $82.50/month billed annually ($110 monthly) | 2026-11-13 |

Sources: [Photoroom pricing](https://www.photoroom.com/pricing), [Krea pricing](https://www.krea.ai/pricing) and [Freepik pricing](https://freepik.com/pricing), all accessed 2026-11-13. Freepik's page shows the annual-billing price first and the monthly price second; the table names both.

## Per-image and credit APIs

API pricing is the most granular. Two examples, both read on 2026-11-13:

- **Stability AI.** The pricing page states 1 credit equals $0.01 and new accounts get 25 free credits. It lists per-service credit prices: Stable Image Ultra at 8 credits per generation (about $0.08), Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large at 6.5 credits, the Creative Upscaler at 60 credits and the Fast Upscaler at 2 credits. Source: [Stability AI API pricing](https://platform.stability.ai/pricing).
- **Black Forest Labs.** The pricing page lists per-image prices such as FLUX.1 [pro] at $0.05 per image, FLUX.1 [dev] at $0.025 per image, FLUX.1 Kontext [pro] at $0.04 per image and FLUX.1 Fill [pro] inpainting at $0.05 per image. Newer FLUX 3 and FLUX.2 models bill per megapixel instead. Source: [Black Forest Labs pricing](https://www.blackforestlabs.ai/pricing).

## Token-priced image models

OpenAI bills its image models per token, not per image, so it does not fit the per-image tables above. OpenAI lists image-model prices on its API pricing page. Token pricing is harder to predict than per-image pricing; estimate with your real prompts before you commit. Source: [OpenAI API pricing](https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing).

## Free and open weights

Running an open model costs hardware and time, not a subscription. FLUX.1-schnell is published under the Apache-2.0 licence on its Hugging Face model card (read 2026-11-13). Upscayl is a free, open-source desktop upscaler; its site says "Download once, forever yours" (read 2026-11-13). These options suit privacy, offline work and high volume, but you manage the setup.

## How to compare honestly

1. Convert every plan to cost per finished image. Include retries; a plan that needs three attempts per keeper triples its effective price.
2. Check what happens at your volume. A $12.99 plan with 8,000 credits is cheap until you pass the cap.
3. Read the commercial-use terms for the specific plan, not the brand. See our guide on [commercial use and copyright](/guides/commercial-use-and-copyright-for-ai-images).
4. Confirm the price on the vendor's page on the day you buy. This page is a snapshot from 2026-11-13.

## Sources

All sources below were fetched and checked on 2026-11-13.

- [Photoroom pricing](https://www.photoroom.com/pricing), accessed 2026-11-13.
- [Krea pricing](https://www.krea.ai/pricing), accessed 2026-11-13.
- [Freepik pricing](https://freepik.com/pricing), accessed 2026-11-13.
- [Stability AI API pricing](https://platform.stability.ai/pricing), accessed 2026-11-13.
- [Black Forest Labs pricing](https://www.blackforestlabs.ai/pricing), accessed 2026-11-13.
- [OpenAI API pricing](https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing), accessed 2026-11-13.
- [FLUX.1-schnell model card](https://huggingface.co/black-forest-labs/FLUX.1-schnell), accessed 2026-11-13.
- [Upscayl](https://upscayl.org), accessed 2026-11-13.

## Sources

- [blackforestlabs.ai](https://www.blackforestlabs.ai/pricing)
- [platform.stability.ai](https://platform.stability.ai/pricing)
- [platform.openai.com](https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing)
- [photoroom.com](https://www.photoroom.com/pricing)
- [krea.ai](https://www.krea.ai/pricing)
- [freepik.com](https://freepik.com/pricing)

## Questions

### Is the cheapest plan the cheapest way to work?

Not always. Watch for credit limits, resolution caps and commercial-use terms. A plan that forces many retries or blocks your use case costs more than a fitting plan.