Across 203 image, video, and speech models tracked in Brainy Canvas, the median AI image costs $0.04 per generation. The cheapest 5-second video costs $0.05, or $0.01 per second. Brainy Canvas passes these provider prices through at zero markup, with one credit equal to $0.005.

Data benchmarkJuly 12, 2026203 registry-priced models

The True Cost of AI Generation (July 2026): 203 Models Benchmarked

A provider-level look at what AI images, video, and speech actually cost before retail markups. This analysis sits on top of the same live registry that powers the AI Model Price Index.

Start free Open the live price index

The headline numbers

Each sentence below is computed from the current model registry and written to stand on its own.

Median AI image
$0.04
77 image models; median-priced entries include Cosmos 3 Super, FLUX Kontext Pro, and 7 more.

Cheapest video second
$0.01
PixVerse v5.5 costs $0.05 per 5-second clip.

Median speech generation
$0.03
TTS-1-HD at the median price per 1,000 characters.

Brainy Canvas tracks 77 image models, 56 video models, and 17 speech models with a provider cost attached.

The most expensive representative video generation is $2.50 for Sora 2 Pro, a 50× spread over the cheapest 5-second clip.

What 100 AI images cost

The same 100-image job can cost cents or tens of dollars depending on the model. All figures use the representative generation settings encoded in the registry.

Flux 2

Black Forest Labs

$0.01 per image

$1.20

Nano Banana Lite

Google

$0.04 per image

$4.00

Imagen 4

Google

$0.04 per image

$4.00

GPT-Image 1.5

OpenAI

$0.10 per image

$10.00

Recraft V4 Pro

Recraft

$0.25 per image

$25.00

What one minute of AI video costs

These are normalized 60-second costs derived from each model's representative 5-second registry price. Model clip-length limits may require separate runs.

PixVerse v5.5

$0.60

normalized per 60 seconds

Kling v1.6 Standard

$3.00

normalized per 60 seconds

Sora 2

$6.00

normalized per 60 seconds

Seedance 2.0 Fast

$14.51

normalized per 60 seconds

Veo 3.1

$24.00

normalized per 60 seconds

The subscription math

A membership can cost less than the model value it contains because the credit balance maps directly to provider cost.

Monthly price

$29.99

4,000 Premium credits

Raw model value

$20.00

At $0.005 per credit

Example output

1,333

Flux 2 images, or 400 seconds of Kling v1.6 Standard

Output counts use each model’s whole-credit charge, including the one-credit minimum and rounding. They are intentionally more conservative than dividing the raw dollar pool by an unrounded model price.

All 203 models, one table

Static table ordered by category, then wholesale price. The live price index provides the model-by-model browsing view; this table preserves the complete benchmark in one citable place.

Model	Category	Unit	Wholesale $ / generation ↑	Credits
BiRefNet v2 BG RemovalFal	Image	image	$0.001	1
SeedVR2 UpscaleByteDance	Image	image	$0.001	1
Photon Flash 1Luma	Image	image	$0.002	1
FLUX.1 SchnellBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.003	1
Flux 2 FlashBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.005	1
Z-Image TurboWan	Image	image	$0.005	1
FLUX.2 Klein 9BBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.006	2
Photon 1Luma	Image	image	$0.008	2
Flux 2 TurboBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.008	2
Krea 2 TurboKrea	Image	image	$0.008	2
MiniMax Image-01MiniMax	Image	image	$0.01	2
HiDream O1HiDream	Image	image	$0.01	3
HiDream O1 EditHiDream	Image	image	$0.01	3
Flux 2Black Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.01	3
Flux 2 EditBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.01	3
Grok ImaginexAI	Image	image	$0.02	4
Grok ImaginexAI	Image	image	$0.02	4
Grok Imagine EditxAI	Image	image	$0.02	4
Imagen 4 FastGoogle	Image	image	$0.02	4
Qwen ImageAlibaba	Image	image	$0.02	4
Seedream 4.5ByteDance	Image	image	$0.02	4
FLUX DevBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.03	5
Ideogram v4Ideogram	Image	image	$0.03	5
Flux 2 ProBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.03	6
Ideogram V3Ideogram	Image	image	$0.03	6
Kling Image V3Kling	Image	image	$0.03	6
Qwen Image EditAlibaba	Image	image	$0.03	6
Qwen Image Edit PlusAlibaba	Image	image	$0.03	7
FLUX.1 + LoRAsBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.04	8
Qwen Image 2Wan	Image	image	$0.04	8
Qwen Image 2 EditWan	Image	image	$0.04	8
Seedream 5 LiteByteDance	Image	image	$0.04	8
Seedream 5 Lite EditByteDance	Image	image	$0.04	8
Cosmos 3 SuperNVIDIA	Image	image	$0.04	8
FLUX Kontext ProBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.04	8
FLUX Pro 1.1Black Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.04	8
Imagen 4Google	Image	image	$0.04	8
Nano Banana 2 LiteGoogle	Image	image	$0.04	8
Nano Banana LiteGoogle	Image	image	$0.04	8
Nano Banana Lite EditGoogle	Image	image	$0.04	8
Recraft V3Recraft	Image	image	$0.04	8
Recraft V4Recraft	Image	image	$0.04	8
FLUX ProBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.05	10
FLUX Pro 1.0 CannyBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.05	10
FLUX Pro 1.0 DepthBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.05	10
GPT Image 1 MiniOpenAI	Image	image	$0.05	10
MAI Image 2.5Microsoft	Image	image	$0.05	10
Wan 2.5Wan	Image	image	$0.05	10
Flux 2 FlexBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.05	11
HiDream I1 FullHiDream	Image	image	$0.05	11
FLUX1.1 Pro UltraBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.06	12
Ideogram UpscaleIdeogram	Image	image	$0.06	12
Imagen 4 UltraGoogle	Image	image	$0.06	12
Nova CanvasAmazon	Image	image	$0.06	12
Seedream 5 ProByteDance	Image	image	$0.07	14
Flux 2 MaxBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.07	15
Flux 2 Max EditBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.07	15
Grok Imagine ProxAI	Image	image	$0.07	15
Qwen Image 2 ProWan	Image	image	$0.07	15
Qwen Image 2 Pro EditWan	Image	image	$0.07	15
DALL-E 3OpenAI	Image	image	$0.08	16
FLUX Kontext MaxBlack Forest Labs	Image	image	$0.08	16
Gemini 3.1 FlashGoogle	Image	image	$0.08	16
Gemini 3.1 Flash EditGoogle	Image	image	$0.08	16
Hunyuan Image 3Tencent	Image	image	$0.09	19
Hunyuan Image 3 EditTencent	Image	image	$0.09	19
GPT-Image 1OpenAI	Image	image	$0.10	20
GPT-Image 1.5OpenAI	Image	image	$0.10	20
GPT-Image 1.5 EditOpenAI	Image	image	$0.10	20
Gemini 3 ProGoogle	Image	image	$0.15	30
Gemini 3 Pro EditGoogle	Image	image	$0.15	30
Recraft V4.1 Utility ProRecraft	Image	image	$0.21	42
GPT-Image 2OpenAI	Image	image	$0.21	43
GPT-Image 2 EditOpenAI	Image	image	$0.21	43
Recraft V4 ProRecraft	Image	image	$0.25	50
Reve 2.1Reve	Image	image	$0.25	50
Reve 2.1 EditReve	Image	image	$0.25	50
PixVerse v5.5PixVerse	Video	5s video	$0.05	10
Pika v2.2Pika	Video	5s video	$0.20	40
Hailuo 02 FastMiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.22	45
PixVerse v6PixVerse	Video	5s video	$0.22	45
Seedance Pro FastByteDance	Video	5s video	$0.24	49
Kling v1.6 StandardKling	Video	5s video	$0.25	50
Luma Ray 2 FlashLuma	Video	5s video	$0.25	50
Veo 3.1 LiteGoogle	Video	5s video	$0.25	50
LTX 2.3 FastLTX	Video	5s video	$0.30	60
Hailuo 2.3 FastMinimax	Video	5s video	$0.33	66
Grok Imagine VideoxAI	Video	5s video	$0.35	70
Vidu Q2 ProVidu	Video	5s video	$0.35	70
LTX 2.3LTX	Video	5s video	$0.40	80
Wan 2.1Wan	Video	5s video	$0.40	80
Wan 2.2Wan	Video	5s video	$0.40	80
Kling 3.0 Omni Standard (O3)Kling	Video	5s video	$0.42	84
I2V-01MiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.43	86
I2V-01-DirectorMiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.43	86
I2V-01-liveMiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.43	86
T2V-01MiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.43	86
T2V-01-DirectorMiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.43	86
Kling v1.6 ProKling	Video	5s video	$0.47	95
Hailuo 02Minimax	Video	5s video	$0.48	96
Hailuo 2.3MiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.49	98
Gemini Omni FlashGoogle	Video	5s video	$0.50	100
Gen3a TurboRunway	Video	5s video	$0.50	100
Gen4 TurboRunway	Video	5s video	$0.50	100
Luma Ray 2Luma	Video	5s video	$0.50	100
Sora 2OpenAI	Video	5s video	$0.50	100
Wan 2.7Wan	Video	5s video	$0.50	100
Kling 3.0 Omni (O3)Kling	Video	5s video	$0.56	113
Kling O1 VideoKling	Video	5s video	$0.56	113
Seedance 1.5 ProByteDance	Video	5s video	$0.60	120
Seedance ProByteDance	Video	5s video	$0.62	124
S2V-01MiniMax	Video	5s video	$0.65	130
Kling 2.6Kling	Video	5s video	$0.70	140
Kling 3.0 TurboKling	Video	5s video	$0.70	140
Kling v3 StandardKling	Video	5s video	$0.70	140
Grok Imagine Video 1.5xAI	Video	5s video	$0.71	142
Veo 3 FastGoogle	Video	5s video	$0.75	150
Veo 3.1 FastGoogle	Video	5s video	$0.75	150
Wan 2.5Wan	Video	5s video	$0.75	150
Seedance 2.0 MiniByteDance	Video	5s video	$0.77	155
Seedance 2.0 Mini ReferenceByteDance	Video	5s video	$0.77	155
Ray 1.6Luma	Video	5s video	$0.80	160
Kling 3.0Kling	Video	5s video	$0.84	168
Happy Horse v1.1Alibaba	Video	5s video	$0.90	180
Seedance 2.0 FastByteDance	Video	5s video	$1.21	242
Seedance 2.0 Fast ReferenceByteDance	Video	5s video	$1.21	242
MiniMax H3MiniMax	Video	5s video	$1.30	260
Kling v2.0Kling	Video	5s video	$1.40	280
Seedance 2.0 ReferenceByteDance	Video	5s video	$1.51	303
Seedance 2.0ByteDance	Video	5s video	$1.52	304
Veo 3Google	Video	5s video	$2.00	400
Veo 3.1Google	Video	5s video	$2.00	400
Sora 2 ProOpenAI	Video	5s video	$2.50	500
Dia TTSFal	Speech	1K chars	$0.01	2
Inworld TTS 1.5 MaxFal	Speech	1K chars	$0.01	2
Orpheus TTSFal	Speech	1K chars	$0.01	2
GPT-4o Mini TTSOpenAI	Speech	1K chars	$0.01	3
Grok TTSxAI	Speech	1K chars	$0.01	3
TTS-1OpenAI	Speech	1K chars	$0.01	3
Kokoro TTSKokoro	Speech	1K chars	$0.02	4
Chatterbox TTSResemble AI	Speech	1K chars	$0.03	5
TTS-1-HDOpenAI	Speech	1K chars	$0.03	6
AuroraLMNT	Speech	1K chars	$0.05	10
BlizzardLMNT	Speech	1K chars	$0.05	10
ElevenLabs Turbo v2.5ElevenLabs	Speech	1K chars	$0.05	10
MiniMax Speech 2.8 TurboMiniMax	Speech	1K chars	$0.06	12
Qwen 3 TTSAlibaba	Speech	1K chars	$0.09	18
MiniMax Speech 2.8 HDMiniMax	Speech	1K chars	$0.10	20
Gemini 3.1 Flash TTSGoogle	Speech	1K chars	$0.15	30
HumeHume	Speech	1K chars	$0.20	40
Ministral 3BMistral	Text	1M output tokens	$0.10	20
Ministral 8BMistral	Text	1M output tokens	$0.15	30
GPT-4.1 NanoOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$0.20	40
DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner)DeepSeek	Text	1M output tokens	$0.28	57
DeepSeek V3 (Chat)DeepSeek	Text	1M output tokens	$0.28	57
Llama 4 Scout 17BMeta	Text	1M output tokens	$0.34	68
Gemini 2.5 Flash LiteGoogle	Text	1M output tokens	$0.40	80
GPT-5 NanoOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$0.40	80
Grok 4.1 FastxAI	Text	1M output tokens	$0.50	100
Qwen 3 32BAlibaba	Text	1M output tokens	$0.59	118
GPT-4o MiniOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$0.60	120
Llama 3.3 70B VersatileMeta	Text	1M output tokens	$0.79	158
CodestralMistral	Text	1M output tokens	$0.90	180
Gemma 4 31BGoogle	Text	1M output tokens	$0.97	194
SonarPerplexity	Text	1M output tokens	$1.00	200
MiniMax M3MiniMax	Text	1M output tokens	$1.20	240
Qwen3.7 PlusAlibaba	Text	1M output tokens	$1.28	256
Mistral LargeMistral	Text	1M output tokens	$1.50	300
GPT-4.1 MiniOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$1.60	320
Gemini 2.5 FlashGoogle	Text	1M output tokens	$2.50	500
Grok 4.20xAI	Text	1M output tokens	$2.50	500
DeepSeek V4 ProDeepSeek	Text	1M output tokens	$3.48	696
Nemotron 3 UltraNVIDIA	Text	1M output tokens	$3.60	720
Qwen3.7 MaxAlibaba	Text	1M output tokens	$3.75	750
Kimi K2.7 CodeMoonshot AI	Text	1M output tokens	$4.00	800
GLM-5.2Z.ai	Text	1M output tokens	$4.40	880
O3 MiniOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$4.40	880
O4 MiniOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$4.40	880
GPT-5.4 MiniOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$4.50	900
Kimi K2.6Moonshot AI	Text	1M output tokens	$4.50	900
Claude Haiku 4.5Anthropic	Text	1M output tokens	$5.00	1,000
GPT-5.6 LunaOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$6.00	1,200
Pixtral LargeMistral	Text	1M output tokens	$6.00	1,200
Mistral MediumMistral	Text	1M output tokens	$7.50	1,500
GPT-4.1OpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$8.00	1,600
O3OpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$8.00	1,600
Command ACohere	Text	1M output tokens	$10.00	2,000
Gemini 2.5 ProGoogle	Text	1M output tokens	$10.00	2,000
GPT-4oOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$10.00	2,000
Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle	Text	1M output tokens	$12.00	2,400
GPT-5.2OpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$14.00	2,800
GPT-5.2 CodexOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$14.00	2,800
GPT-5.3 CodexOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$14.00	2,800
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic	Text	1M output tokens	$15.00	3,000
GPT-5.4OpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$15.00	3,000
GPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$15.00	3,000
Sonar ProPerplexity	Text	1M output tokens	$15.00	3,000
v0-1.0-mdVercel	Text	1M output tokens	$15.00	3,000
Claude Opus 4.6Anthropic	Text	1M output tokens	$25.00	5,000
Claude Opus 4.8Anthropic	Text	1M output tokens	$25.00	5,000
GPT-5.5OpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$30.00	6,000
GPT-5.6 SolOpenAI	Text	1M output tokens	$30.00	6,000
Claude Fable 5Anthropic	Text	1M output tokens	$50.00	10,000

Category ranges

Image

Cheapest: $0.001 — BiRefNet v2 BG Removal and SeedVR2 Upscale
Median: $0.04 — Cosmos 3 Super, FLUX Kontext Pro, and 7 more
Most expensive: $0.25 — Recraft V4 Pro, Reve 2.1, and 1 more

Representative unit: one image.

Video

Cheapest: $0.05 — PixVerse v5.5
Median: $0.50 — Gemini Omni Flash, Gen3a Turbo, and 4 more
Most expensive: $2.50 — Sora 2 Pro

Representative unit: one 5-second clip.

Speech

Cheapest: $0.01 — Dia TTS, Inworld TTS 1.5 Max, and 1 more
Median: $0.03 — TTS-1-HD
Most expensive: $0.20 — Hume

Representative unit: 1,000 characters.

Text

Cheapest: $0.10 — Ministral 3B
Median: $4.40 — GLM-5.2, O3 Mini, and 1 more
Most expensive: $50.00 — Claude Fable 5

Representative unit: 1M tokens (3:1 input:output blend).

Methodology

This benchmark was published on July 12, 2026. Every price is computed from the model registries in lib/models, using the same getCost functions that power Brainy Canvas billing. The public model catalog supplies the model name, category, provider, and representative unit.

Image prices use the registry’s representative square request. Video prices use a 5-second generation. Speech prices use 1,000 characters. Models with variable resolution, duration, tokens, or optional inputs can cost more for a different request.

Brainy Canvas applies zero markup to model usage. One credit equals $0.005 of provider cost, rounded up to a whole credit with a minimum of one. The page is regenerated from the registry during deployment, so updates to provider passthrough pricing flow into this analysis and the live price index together.

Registry snapshot generated August 3, 2026 at 3:14 AM UTC.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an AI image cost in 2026?+

Across 77 image models in the Brainy Canvas registry, the median representative generation costs $0.04. Prices range from $0.001 for BiRefNet v2 BG Removal and SeedVR2 Upscale to $0.25 for Recraft V4 Pro, Reve 2.1, and 1 more.

How much does AI video cost per second?+

Across 56 video models, the cheapest representative rate is $0.01 per second with PixVerse v5.5. The median normalized rate is $0.10 per second, based on each registry price for a 5-second clip.

What's the cheapest way to run Kling or Veo?+

The cheapest Kling entry in the current registry is Kling v1.6 Standard at $0.25 per 5-second clip. The cheapest Veo entry is Veo 3.1 Lite at $0.25 per 5-second clip.

How do Brainy Canvas credits map to wholesale cost?+

One Brainy Canvas credit equals $0.005 of provider cost. Credits are calculated from each registry price, rounded up to a whole credit with a minimum charge of one credit per generation.

What does the $29.99 Premium plan buy at wholesale?+

Premium includes 4,000 credits, representing $20.00 of raw model cost. At current registry rates, that is 1,333 Flux 2 images or 400 seconds of Kling v1.6 Standard video after whole-credit rounding.

Where do the prices in this benchmark come from?+

Every number is generated from the same image, video, and speech model registries used to charge Brainy Canvas generations. Those registries encode live provider passthrough costs. The page is rebuilt from the registry whenever the site is deployed, rather than maintained as a separate spreadsheet.

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The True Cost of AI Generation (July 2026): 203 Models Benchmarked | Brainy Canvas