Cheapest AI image generator (2026): plans and API prices in USD and CAD
Sorted by official monthly USD price. The cheapest paid plans that include image generation are Google AI Plus: US$4.99/month (USD) · CA$6.99/month (CAD); ChatGPT Go: US$8/month (USD) · CA$12.99/month (CAD); X Subscription Plus: US$8/month (USD) · No official CAD price. Several providers also have free tiers.
Claude doesn't generate images. Anthropic's docs say Claude "is an image understanding model only. It can interpret and analyze images, but it cannot generate, produce, edit, manipulate, or create images." (Anthropic: Vision)
| Plan | Type | Monthly billing USD · CAD | Annual billing, per month USD · CAD | Credits / limits | Max resolution / length | Commercial use | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Plus Cheapest paid | image+video | US$4.99CA$6.99 | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 200 Flow credits/mo | See Google terms | USD: one.google.com CAD: one.google.com Video gen (Omni Flash), Gemini in Gmail/Vids, 400 GB or 2 TB, family sharing No Gemini 4 Argon checked 2026-10-15 | |
| ChatGPT Go Cheapest paid OpenAI | image | US$8CA$12.99 | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | More images than Free | See OpenAI terms | USD: learn.chatgpt.com CAD: apps.apple.com Voice with video, scheduled tasks, memory with past chats Ads; no advanced reasoning checked 2026-10-15 | |
| X Subscription Plus Cheapest paid xAI | image+video | US$8No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | Grok Imagine included; pooled usage | Up to 15 s video (API spec) | See xAI terms | USD: x.ai Grok Chat/Voice/Imagine/Build, Grok API access, Cursor, X checkmark Base usage checked 2026-10-15 |
| Kling Standard Cheapest paid Kuaishou | image+video | US$8.8No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 660 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$10, first month US$6.99, then US$8.8/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
| Firefly Standard Cheapest paid Adobe | image+video | US$9.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 2,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Basic Cheapest paid Midjourney | image+video | US$10No official CAD price | US$8No official CAD price | 3.3 fast GPU hr/mo; no Relax; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Commercial use allowed; companies >US$1M revenue need Pro or Mega | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Leonardo Essential Cheapest paid Leonardo | image+video | US$12No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See pricing page (prices ex. tax) | Paid users own outputs | USD: leonardo.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Runway Standard Cheapest paid Runway | image+video | US$15CA$19.99 | US$12No official CAD price | 625 credits/mo; Gen-4.5 = 12 credits/sec | See provider terms | USD: runwayml.com CAD: apps.apple.com CAD from Canadian App Store in-app purchase (iOS); Standard yearly CA$199.99/yr checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Firefly Pro Adobe | image+video | US$19.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 4,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Google AI Pro | image+video | US$19.99CA$26.99 | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See plans.csv usage_limits | See Google terms | USD: one.google.com CAD: one.google.com Jules, Antigravity, Gemini in Chrome, YouTube Premium Lite, Home & Health Premium, 5 TB Opaque compute-based limits checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Ideogram Plus Cheapest paid Ideogram | image | US$20No official CAD price | US$15No official CAD price | 2,400 priority credits/mo; pay-as-you-go US$0.01/credit | Commercial use allowed | USD: ideogram.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| ChatGPT Plus OpenAI | image | US$20CA$24.99 | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | Expanded image generation | See OpenAI terms | USD: learn.chatgpt.com CAD: apps.apple.com Codex, ChatGPT Work (all devices), custom GPTs, Sites, Office/Sheets extensions, developer mode Monthly only checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Standard Midjourney | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | US$24No official CAD price | 15 fast GPU hr/mo; unlimited Relax images; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Commercial use allowed; companies >US$1M revenue need Pro or Mega | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Ideogram Team (per user) Ideogram | image | US$30No official CAD price | US$20No official CAD price | 3,600 priority credits/mo; pay-as-you-go US$0.01/credit | Commercial use allowed | USD: ideogram.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Luma Plus Cheapest paid Luma | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | US$25No official CAD price | 10,000 credits/mo (per-model costs on pricing page) | Commercial use | USD: lumalabs.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Leonardo Premium Leonardo | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See pricing page (prices ex. tax) | Paid users own outputs | USD: leonardo.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| X Subscription Premium xAI | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | Grok Imagine included; pooled usage | Up to 15 s video (API spec) | See xAI terms | USD: x.ai Grok Bot, image/video gen, cloud agents, code reviews; mostly ad-free X 3rd-party Cursor models extra checked 2026-10-15 |
| Kling Pro Kuaishou | image+video | US$32.56No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 3,000 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$37, first month US$25.99, then US$32.56/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
| Runway Pro Runway | image+video | US$35CA$49.00 | US$28No official CAD price | 2250 credits/mo; Gen-4.5 = 12 credits/sec | See provider terms | USD: runwayml.com CAD: apps.apple.com CAD from Canadian App Store in-app purchase (iOS) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Firefly Pro Plus Adobe | image+video | US$49.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 10,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page); limited-time first-year offer US$34.97/mo (ends Oct 21) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Pro Midjourney | image+video | US$60No official CAD price | US$48No official CAD price | 30 fast GPU hr/mo; unlimited Relax images + SD video Relax; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Required for companies >US$1M revenue | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Ideogram Pro Ideogram | image | US$60No official CAD price | US$42No official CAD price | 7,500 priority credits/mo; pay-as-you-go US$0.01/credit | Commercial use allowed | USD: ideogram.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Leonardo Ultimate Leonardo | image+video | US$60No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See pricing page (prices ex. tax) | Paid users own outputs | USD: leonardo.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Luma Pro Luma | image+video | US$90No official CAD price | US$75No official CAD price | 40,000 credits/mo (per-model costs on pricing page) | Commercial use | USD: lumalabs.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Runway Max Runway | image+video | US$95CA$129.00 | US$76No official CAD price | 9500 credits/mo; Gen-4.5 = 12 credits/sec | See provider terms | USD: runwayml.com CAD: apps.apple.com CAD from Canadian App Store in-app purchase (iOS) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Mega Midjourney | image+video | US$120No official CAD price | US$96No official CAD price | 60 fast GPU hr/mo; unlimited Relax images + SD video Relax; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Required for companies >US$1M revenue | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Kling Premier Kuaishou | image+video | US$181.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 18,000 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$207, first month US$135, then US$181.99/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
| Firefly Premium Adobe | image+video | US$199.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 50,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page); limited-time first-year offer US$139.91/mo (ends Oct 21) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Luma Ultra Luma | image+video | US$300No official CAD price | US$250No official CAD price | 150,000 credits/mo (per-model costs on pricing page) | Commercial use | USD: lumalabs.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Kling Ultra+ Kuaishou | image+video | US$544.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 57,000 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$619, first month US$402, then US$544.99/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
Per-image API prices
| API model | Type | Price (USD; no official CAD price) | Max resolution / length | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nano Banana 2.1 | image | US$0.0336 (1K) / US$0.0504 (2K) / US$0.113 (4K) per image | 4K | ai.google.dev checked 2026-10-15 |
| Nano Banana Pro | image | US$0.134 (1K/2K) / US$0.24 (4K) per image | 4K | ai.google.dev checked 2026-10-15 |
| Nano Banana 2 | image | US$0.067 per 1K image | 1K+ | ai.google.dev checked 2026-10-15 |
| gpt-image-2 / 2.5 OpenAI | image | US$30 per 1M image output tokens; US$8 per 1M input | platform.openai.com checked 2026-10-15 | |
| grok-imagine-image xAI | image | from US$0.02 per image | x.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| FLUX (pay-as-you-go) Black Forest Labs | image | e.g. US$0.048/image at 1K (pricing calculator default); no subscription | bfl.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Stable Image Ultra Stability AI | image | US$0.08 per image (8 credits; 1 credit = US$0.01) | platform.stability.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large Stability AI | image | US$0.065 per image (6.5 credits; 1 credit = US$0.01) | platform.stability.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Stable Image Core Stability AI | image | US$0.03 per image (3 credits; 1 credit = US$0.01) | platform.stability.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Stable Diffusion 3.5 Flash Stability AI | image | US$0.025 per image (2.5 credits; 1 credit = US$0.01) | platform.stability.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| image-01 MiniMax | image | US$0.0035 per image | platform.minimax.io checked 2026-10-15 |
Quality ranking
| Rank on LMArena | Model | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | gpt-image-2.5-sunburst OpenAI | 1425 | ±7 Preliminary |
| 2 | gpt-image-2.5-flare OpenAI | 1398 | ±7 |
| 3 | gpt-image-2 (medium) OpenAI | 1383 | ±4 |
| 4 | grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) xAI | 1334 | ±12 |
| 5 | mai-image-2.6 Microsoft | 1332 | ±5 |
| 6 | gemini-nano-banana-2.1 | 1328 | ±9 |
| 7 | reve-2.1 Reve | 1302 | |
| 8 | grok-imagine-image-2.0 xAI | 1294 | |
| 9 | muse-image Meta | 1274 | |
| 12 | seedream-5.0-pro ByteDance | 1255 | |
| 20 | ideogram-4.0-quality Ideogram | 1205 | |
| 22 | uni-1.1-max Luma | 1189 | |
| 29 | flux-2-max Black Forest Labs | 1162 | |
| 37 | imagen-ultra-4.0 | 1148 | |
| 71 | runway-gen4 Runway | 1024 | |
| 75 | lucid-origin Leonardo | 1013 | |
| 81 | stable-diffusion-v35-large Stability AI | 938 |
Source: LMArena Text-to-Image snapshot 2026-10-07, checked 2026-10-15. Licence: CC-BY-4.0 (lmarena-ai/leaderboard-dataset). Selected rows only; ranks are LMArena's own. Scores are copied, not blended.
USD and CAD are separate official prices; we never convert. See all image & video AI.