The lowest paid AI image plans we could check on 2026-10-08 are Adobe Firefly Standard (US$9.99 a month) and DeepAI Pro ($9.99 a month, or $7.50 a month billed yearly), with Midjourney Basic right behind at $10 ($8 a month billed yearly). The cheapest plan is not the cheapest image, though. On the vendors' own numbers, DeepAI Pro works out to about 2 cents per HD image, Runway Standard ($15) to under 5 cents per Gen-4 Image Turbo picture, and on 8frame the $19 Starter plan's 1,000 credits cover 1,000 Pruna p-image pictures at 1 credit each, about 1.9 cents.
The catch: half the plans don't say what an image costs
Four of the eight plans below sell a budget, not an image count, and the plan page doesn't say how much of it one image uses:
- Adobe Firefly Standard: 2,000 generative credits a month plus "Unlimited access to standard image features like Generative Fill", with no credits-per-image figure for text-to-image or partner models.
- Ideogram Plus: 2,400 credits a month; the cost "depends on the model, quality, size and number of outputs".
- Magnific (formerly Freepik) Premium: 240K credits a year, no per-image figure on the plan card.
- Midjourney Basic: 200 minutes of Fast GPU time. Midjourney estimates one image prompt "usually takes about one minute of GPU time" (HD about 1.3), so roughly 200 image prompts a month.
OpenArt does state a number, but as a ceiling: Starter's 4,000 credits are "Up to ~4,000 images", without naming the models that get that rate.
Two more traps sit next to the price. Unused allowance expires: Midjourney's Fast time "will not carry over to the next month", Runway's Standard credits "don't roll over", and Ideogram's "unused monthly credits do not roll over". Use half the plan and each image costs twice as much. Commercial terms differ on the entry tier: Midjourney requires Pro or Mega for a company "making more than $1,000,000 USD in gross revenue per year", and OpenArt lists "Commercial use rights" from Plus up, not on Starter.
Lowest paid plan, compared
Prices exactly as each vendor's page showed them on 2026-10-08. Per-image figures are computed only where the vendor states credits or images per image.
| Tool and plan | Price | What you get | Per image | Commercial use, watermark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly Standard | US$9.99/mo, listed as monthly | 2,000 generative credits a month | Not stated | Firefly-model output "safe for commercial use"; partner models your responsibility; Content Credentials attached |
| DeepAI Pro | $9.99/month; $7.50/month billed annually at $89.99 | 500 HD, 60 Genius, 10 Super Genius 2K images a month | About 2 cents per HD image; extras 1 cent | Not stated |
| Midjourney Basic | $10 a month; $96 a year | 200 minutes Fast GPU time, no Relax mode | Roughly 5 cents per image prompt, by Midjourney's estimate | General Commercial Terms; companies over $1M revenue need Pro or Mega; watermark not stated |
| OpenArt Starter | $14 a seat a month; $13 on annual billing | 4,000 credits, "Up to ~4,000 images" | At most about 0.35 cents; models not named | Commercial rights not listed (from Plus, $34); "Watermark-free" |
| Runway Standard | $15 a month; $12 billed annually | 625 credits a month, no rollover | Gen-4 Image Turbo (2 credits) about 4.8 cents; Gen-4 Image 1080p (8) about 19 cents | "No watermarks"; commercial use not stated on the card |
| Magnific (formerly Freepik) Premium | €16 a month; €12 billed annually (served in euros) | 240K credits a year, "valid for 1 year" | Not stated | "Commercial AI license"; watermark not stated |
| 8frame Starter | $19 a month; $200 a year (12,000 credits) | 1,000 credits a month, roll over while subscribed | Pruna p-image (1 credit) about 1.9 cents; Nano Banana 2 (11) about 21 cents | Commercial use cleared on paid plans; no watermark on any plan |
| Ideogram Plus | $20 a month; $15 a month ($180 a year) | 2,400 credits, then a slower queue "with no limit" on Ideogram models | Not stated | Not stated; images private until published |
Older roundups still list Ideogram Basic at $8. Ideogram's docs say it "no longer sells the Basic plan"; existing subscribers keep it.
Not in the table. Krea's pricing page showed two lineups on repeated loads that day, one starting at a $9 Basic plan and one at Pro ($35 a month, $21 on yearly plans), so its entry plan was unclear. ChatGPT, Canva, Leonardo and Google's AI plans are out because their pricing pages gave us no US price on 2026-10-08; check them directly.
Same model, different price
Several of these tools resell the same models, so per-image prices compare directly. Runway lists Nano Banana Pro at 20 credits per 2K image: about 48 cents on the $15 Standard plan, about 38 cents at the yearly $12. On 8frame it is 21 credits at 1K and 2K (42 at 4K), about 40 cents on the $19 Starter plan. Same model; the plan rate and the expiry rules set what you pay.
Per-image prices on 8frame
From 8frame's pricing code. A credit is about $0.01 at pack rate and $0.019 on Starter. What a credit means across tools: what is a credit in AI tools.
| Model | Credits per image | Images per 1,000 credits |
|---|---|---|
| Pruna p-image | 1 | 1,000 |
| GPT Image 2, low quality | 2 | 500 |
| FLUX.2 [pro] | 5 | 200 |
| Ideogram 4.5 Low | 5 | 200 |
| Seedream 5 Lite | 6 | about 166 |
| Nano Banana 2, 1K | 11 | about 90 |
| Nano Banana Pro | 21 (42 at 4K) | about 47 |
Pruna p-image, added 2026-10-07, is text-to-image only, one image per request. GPT Image 2 opens on high quality (29 credits for a square image); switch to low for 2. Ideogram 4.5 is 9 on Medium, its default, and 30 on High. Every model draws on one credit balance; the full list is in AI image generator price per image. A practical split: ten drafts on p-image plus two finals on Nano Banana Pro come to 52 credits, about $1 on Starter.
How to pick
- Lowest bill: Firefly Standard or DeepAI Pro at $9.99 a month; DeepAI Pro at $89.99 a year.
- Lowest stated per-image price: OpenArt's "up to ~4,000 images" if your model qualifies; otherwise Pruna p-image on 8frame, DeepAI Pro HD images, Runway Gen-4 Image Turbo.
- A company over $1M revenue on Midjourney: budget for Pro ($60 a month), not Basic. See is Midjourney worth it.
- Irregular use: prefer credits that don't reset monthly (Magnific's last a year; 8frame's roll over while subscribed).
- Not paying yet: the best free AI image generators. Animating the result next: AI video generator price per second.
FAQ
What is the cheapest AI image generator?
Among paid plans checked on 2026-10-08, the lowest monthly prices are Adobe Firefly Standard (US$9.99), DeepAI Pro ($9.99, or $7.50 a month yearly) and Midjourney Basic ($10, or $8 yearly). Per image, the lowest stated figures are OpenArt Starter's "up to ~4,000 images" for $14, Pruna p-image on 8frame at about 1.9 cents and DeepAI Pro at about 2 cents per HD image.
Which AI image generator has the lowest paid plan?
Adobe Firefly Standard and DeepAI Pro, both $9.99 a month. Billed yearly, DeepAI Pro is lowest at $7.50 a month, then Midjourney Basic at $8.
What is the most affordable AI image generator?
It depends on volume. For a few images a month, the lowest bill wins. For hundreds, compare the per-image cost the vendor states and whether unused credits expire.
Is the cheapest plan also the cheapest per image?
No. Firefly, Ideogram and Magnific don't state credits per image on their plan pages, and Midjourney sells GPU time. Where vendors do state it, DeepAI Pro is about 2 cents per HD image, Runway's Gen-4 Image Turbo about 4.8 cents, and Midjourney Basic roughly 5 cents per image prompt.
Can I use images from the cheapest plans commercially?
Check the plan, not the brand. Midjourney requires Pro or Mega for companies over $1,000,000 in yearly gross revenue. OpenArt lists commercial use rights from Plus, not Starter. Adobe calls Firefly-model output safe for commercial use and leaves partner-model output to you. On 8frame, commercial use is cleared on paid plans.
Do unused image credits roll over?
Mostly not. Midjourney's Fast time, Runway's Standard credits and Ideogram's monthly credits reset. Magnific's credits are valid for a year, and 8frame's roll over while you stay subscribed.
Sources
- Midjourney plans (Basic $10 a month or $96 a year, Pro $60 or $576, 3.3 hr Fast GPU time, Relax mode from Standard, General Commercial Terms and the $1,000,000 revenue rule; article updated 2026-05-18): docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/27870484040333-Comparing-Midjourney-Plans, checked 2026-10-08 (the page refuses direct fetches; read through Midjourney's help center article feed)
- Midjourney GPU speed ("about one minute of GPU time" per image prompt, HD prompt 1.3 minutes): docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32016412137741-GPU-Speed-Fast-Relax-Turbo, checked 2026-10-08
- Midjourney unused Fast time ("will not carry over to the next month"): docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/27870521824653-Subscription-Fast-Time-Expiration, checked 2026-10-08
- Ideogram plans and credits (Plus $20 a month or $15 a month at $180 a year, 2,400 credits, prices in US dollars before tax, cost depends on model, quality, size and outputs, no rollover, slower queue after credits run out, private images, Basic no longer sold): docs.ideogram.ai/plans-and-billing/available-plans, checked 2026-10-08 (ideogram.ai/pricing refused our fetch)
- Adobe Firefly plans (Standard US$9.99/mo, monthly, 2,000 generative credits, "Unlimited access to standard image features like Generative Fill", commercial-use and partner-model wording, Content Credentials): adobe.com/products/firefly/plans.html, checked 2026-10-08
- DeepAI pricing (Pro $9.99 a month or $7.50 a month billed annually at $89.99, 500 HD / 60 Genius / 10 Super Genius 2K images a month, extra HD images 1 cent each): deepai.org/pricing, checked 2026-10-08
- OpenArt pricing (Starter $14 or $13 a seat a month with the annual discount, 4,000 credits, "Up to ~4,000 images", "Watermark-free", "Commercial use rights" from Plus at $34): openart.ai/pricing, checked 2026-10-08
- Runway pricing (Standard $15 a month or $12 billed annually, 625 credits, Gen-4 Image Turbo 2 credits and Gen-4 Image 1080p 8 credits per image, Nano Banana Pro 2K 20 credits per image, "No watermarks", Standard credits don't roll over): runway.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-08
- Magnific, formerly Freepik (freepik.com/pricing redirects here; Premium €16 a month or €12 billed annually, 240K credits a year valid for 1 year, "Commercial AI license"): magnific.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-08
- Krea pricing (two lineups on repeated loads: Basic $9 and 5,000 units on some, Pro $35 or $21 a month on yearly plans on all): krea.ai/pricing, checked 2026-10-08
- 8frame prices (Pruna p-image, GPT Image 2 by quality and its default, FLUX.2 [pro], Ideogram 4.5 by quality, Seedream 5 Lite, Nano Banana 2 and Pro), plans, credit rollover, watermark and commercial terms: 8frame tool registry cost functions and content fact sheet, read 2026-10-08
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