AI Image Generation Cost Calculator
Enter your monthly image volume and quality tier to instantly compare the cost of DALL-E 3, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Flux, Imagen, Nova Canvas, Ideogram, Leonardo and Adobe Firefly — 10 providers ranked cheapest first, with a subscription-vs-pay-per-image breakeven.
Standard quality, ≈1024×1024 — drafts, thumbnails, social posts
Adobe Firefly
Subscription · Included in Creative Cloud $60/mo
$0.00
per month
$0.00/yr
Estimated cost for 1,000 standard images per month.
| # | Provider | Per image | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adobe Firefly Included in Creative Cloud $60/mo | — | $0.00 |
| 2 | Stability AI Cheapest API | 0.3¢ | $3.00 |
| 3 | Flux (Replicate) Open source model | 0.3¢ | $3.00 |
| 4 | Leonardo.ai API credits | 0.8¢ | $8.00 |
| 5 | OpenAI GPT Image New 2026 | 2.5¢ | $25.00 |
| 6 | Google Imagen Via Vertex AI | 2.5¢ | $25.00 |
| 7 | Amazon Nova Canvas AWS Bedrock | 2.5¢ | $25.00 |
| 8 | Midjourney $10/mo = 30 images, $30/mo = unlimited | — | $33.00 |
| 9 | OpenAI DALL-E 3 1024x1024 | 4¢ | $40.00 |
| 10 | Ideogram Best for text | 5¢ | $50.00 |
Per-image rates in cents. Subscription rows show à-la-carte-equivalent economics; see the breakeven section below for flat-plan savings. Verify on each provider’s pricing page.
Cheapest for 1,000 images / month
At a typical mid-volume workload of 1,000 standard images per month, Adobe Firefly is the cheapest option at $0.00/month ($0.00/year) on a subscription plan. Included in Creative Cloud $60/mo
Subscription vs pay-per-image breakeven
Compare a flat monthly subscription against the cheapest pay-per-image API to see when each model wins.
Cheapest unlimited plan
Midjourney Standard
$30.00/mo
Unlimited generations (subject to fair use).
Cheapest pay-per-image
Stability AI
0.3¢/image
$0.003 per standard image.
Breakeven: ~10,000 images / month. Generate fewer than that and Stability AI (pay-per-image) is cheaper; generate more and the Midjourney Standard subscription ($30.00/mo flat) wins.
How the calculator works
Monthly cost = per-image price × monthly image count. Annual cost is the monthly figure × 12. 4K falls back to each provider’s highest published tier.
Set your monthly volume
Drag the slider (or type) to estimate how many images you generate per month, from 10 up to 10,000.
Pick a quality tier
Choose Standard, HD or 4K. Providers that don’t publish a distinct tier fall back to their closest rate.
Compare every provider
See monthly and annual cost across all providers ranked cheapest-first, plus the subscription breakeven point.
AI image generation pricing per image
Standard on-demand rates in USD per generated image across 9 providers. Last updated July 2026.
| Provider | Standard | HD |
|---|---|---|
OpenAI DALL-E 3 1024x1024 | 4¢ | 8¢ |
OpenAI GPT Image New 2026 | 2.5¢ | 19¢ |
Stability AI Cheapest API | 0.3¢ | 1.4¢ |
Midjourney $10/mo = 30 images, $30/mo = unlimited | 3.3¢ | 3.3¢ |
Google Imagen Via Vertex AI | 2.5¢ | 2.5¢ |
Flux (Replicate) Open source model | 0.3¢ | 5¢ |
Leonardo.ai API credits | 0.8¢ | 2.4¢ |
Amazon Nova Canvas AWS Bedrock | 2.5¢ | 7.5¢ |
Ideogram Best for text | 5¢ | 5¢ |
Adobe Firefly Included in Creative Cloud $60/mo | 0¢ | 0¢ |
Frequently asked questions
How much does DALL-E 3 cost per image?
OpenAI DALL-E 3 charges $0.040 per standard 1024×1024 image and $0.080 per HD 1024×1024 image via the Images API. The newer GPT Image model ranges from about $0.025 to $0.19 per image depending on the quality setting. Multiply the per-image rate by your monthly volume to get your DALL-E bill.
Is Midjourney worth it?
Midjourney is worth it once your monthly volume passes the breakeven point against pay-per-image APIs. The cheapest unlimited plan (Standard, $30/month) beats a cheap API like Flux ($0.003/image) once you generate more than roughly 10,000 images/month, and it beats DALL-E 3 ($0.04/image) at around 750 images/month. Below those volumes, pay-per-image is cheaper; above them, the flat subscription wins.
What is the cheapest AI image generator?
On a pure per-image basis, open-weight models served through APIs are cheapest: Stable Diffusion 3.5 (~$0.003/image) and Flux Schnell (~$0.003/image via Replicate). Among premium hosted models, Leonardo.ai (~$0.008/image) and GPT Image low-quality ($0.025/image) are the lowest rates. Enter your monthly volume above to see which is cheapest for your workload.
How is the monthly AI image cost calculated?
Monthly cost = per-image price × monthly image count. Each provider publishes a rate per generated image (sometimes separate standard and HD rates). The calculator multiplies that rate by the number of images you need, then annualises by multiplying by 12. Subscription plans are shown at their à-la-carte-equivalent rate, with flat-plan economics in the breakeven section.
Do I pay per image or subscribe?
It depends on volume. Pay-per-image APIs (DALL-E 3, Flux, Stable Diffusion, Imagen, Nova Canvas, Ideogram, Leonardo) bill you only for what you generate and win at low volumes. Flat subscriptions (Midjourney $10–$60/month, Adobe Firefly via Creative Cloud) give you a generous or unlimited allowance and win at high, steady volumes. Use the breakeven analysis below to find your crossover point.
Are these prices accurate?
All figures are estimates compiled from publicly available provider pricing as of July 2026 and may lag behind official rate cards. Generative image pricing changes frequently. Use the numbers for planning and comparison, then confirm on the provider’s pricing page before committing.
Start generating with these APIs
Once you’ve picked the cheapest provider for your volume, sign up to grab an API key and start generating.