The most complete, up-to-date comparison of AI image generation models — which model, via which API, at what price, and what it's best at.
Unlike other lists that just dump links, this one answers the question developers actually have: "I need to generate images — which model do I pick, and where do I call it?" Every model is mapped to the APIs that serve it, with real per-image pricing and what it's genuinely good for.
💡 Prices are per standard image (retail API rates verified July 2026) and move fast — always confirm against the provider. 4K/high-res and batch modes change the math (batch often ~50% off).
- awesome-ai-video-models — sister list: compare AI video models by API, price & speed
- Open-Generative-AI — curated hub of open generative-media tools and pipelines
- Awesome-GPT-Image-2-API-Prompts — prompt library for GPT Image
- nano-banana-generator — generate with Google Nano Banana
- ai-headshot-generator — AI headshots pipeline
- Generative-Media-Skills — runtime for generative-media prompts
- ai-creator-academy — free curriculum teaching creators how to monetize the models compared in this list
- Commercial models (closed, API-only)
- Open-source models (self-host or API)
- Image editing & control
- Frameworks & UIs
- Upscaling & restoration
- Benchmarks & leaderboards
- How to choose
- Where to run them (API providers)
- Contributing
| Model | Maker | Best for | APIs | Price / image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nano Banana Pro | 4K, editing, realism | Gemini API, Fal, Replicate, MuAPI | ~$0.20 (4K ~$0.24; batch 2K ~$0.067) | Best true 4K; strong image editing | |
| GPT Image 1.5 | OpenAI | Instruction following, text | OpenAI API, Fal | ~$0.04 | Excellent prompt adherence |
| FLUX.2 [pro] | Black Forest Labs | Cheapest premium, 4MP | Fal, Replicate, BFL API, MuAPI | ~$0.015–0.02 | Best price/quality |
| Seedream 4.5 | ByteDance | Value + quality | Fal, Replicate, MuAPI | ~$0.04 | Strong all-rounder |
| Imagen 4 | Photorealism | Gemini / Vertex AI | ~$0.04 | Google's flagship photoreal | |
| Ideogram v3 | Ideogram | In-image text, typography | Ideogram API, Fal, Replicate | ~$0.07 (Balanced) | Best text-in-image |
| Recraft V3 | Recraft | Design, vector, brand | Fal, Replicate | ~$0.04 | SVG/vector + style control |
| Midjourney v7 | Midjourney | Aesthetic / artistic | Subscription only | Access via web/Discord only |
| Model | Maker | License | Best for | APIs | Self-host VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLUX.2 [dev] | Black Forest Labs | Non-commercial (paid license for commercial) | Top OSS quality, 4MP | Fal, Replicate | ~24GB+ |
| FLUX.1 [schnell] | Black Forest Labs | Apache-2.0 | Fast + free commercial use | Fal, Replicate | ~12GB+ |
| Qwen-Image | Alibaba | Apache-2.0 | Best in-image text (EN/CN) | Fal, Replicate | ~24GB+ (20B) |
| HunyuanImage 3.0 | Tencent | Open (check terms) | Largest OSS model (80B MoE) | self-host | ~40GB+ |
| Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large | Stability AI | Community License (free <$1M rev) | Ecosystem, LoRAs, ControlNet | Fal, Replicate, self-host | ~18GB+ |
| SANA | NVIDIA | Permissive research | Fast, efficient, low-VRAM | self-host | ~12GB |
Modify existing images rather than generate from scratch:
- Nano Banana Pro / FLUX.2 — natural-language image editing (img2img, inpainting, relighting)
- FLUX.1 Kontext — instruction-based editing, character consistency
- ControlNet — structural conditioning (pose, depth, edges, scribble)
- IP-Adapter — image prompting / style + subject transfer
- Inpainting/outpainting — supported natively by FLUX, SD 3.5, and most APIs above
For local generation, training, and workflows:
- ComfyUI — node-based, most powerful for custom pipelines
- AUTOMATIC1111 WebUI — the classic all-in-one UI
- InvokeAI — polished pro/creative UI
- Fooocus — simplest "just works" UI
- Training: kohya_ss, OneTrainer, SimpleTuner (LoRA / fine-tuning)
- Real-ESRGAN — general-purpose upscaling (open source)
- GFPGAN / CodeFormer — face restoration
- chaiNNer — node-based batch processing
- Topaz Photo AI — highest-quality commercial upscale/denoise
Check independent evals before trusting a maker's demo gallery:
- Artificial Analysis Image Arena — Elo-style human-preference leaderboard
- HEIM (Holistic Evaluation of Image Models) — multi-dimension benchmark
- FID / CLIP Score / ImageReward — automated quality & alignment metrics
- Best 4K / editing → Nano Banana Pro
- Best value premium → FLUX.2 [pro] (~$0.015–0.02/image)
- Best text in image → Ideogram v3 or Qwen-Image (open)
- Best instruction following → GPT Image 1.5
- Design / vector / brand → Recraft V3
- Fully open, commercial-safe → FLUX.1 [schnell] or Qwen-Image (both permissive)
- Ecosystem & LoRAs → Stable Diffusion 3.5
Aggregators that expose many of the above behind one API/key:
- MuAPI — unified API across image + video models (Nano Banana, FLUX, Seedream, and more), one key, one billing
- Fal — fast inference, broad model catalog
- Replicate — pay-per-run, large community model catalog
Native APIs (single-vendor): Google Gemini/Vertex (Nano Banana, Imagen), OpenAI (GPT Image), Black Forest Labs (FLUX), Ideogram, Recraft.
PRs welcome. When adding a model, keep the table columns filled — a row without provider + price isn't useful. New models go in the correct table (commercial vs open-source) and stay sorted by relevance.
Maintained alongside awesome-ai-video-models and Open-Generative-AI. Found it useful? ⭐ the repo.