How Much Does an AI Image Cost in 2026? Credits by Model
Exact AI image credit costs by model and resolution in 2026, from 2 credits on Seedream 5 Flash to 24 at 4K on Nano Banana Pro, with no subscription needed.
Generating an AI image on VdoBloom costs 2 to 24 credits on the main models, and edits run from 1 credit (Muse Image) to 27 (Riverflow 2.0 Pro at 4K). A Seedream 5 Flash text-to-image is 2 credits, a 1K GPT Image 2 is 3, a flat Nano Banana 2 is 15, and a 4K Nano Banana Pro is 24. The price is set by three things: the model, the resolution, and whether you are generating a new image or editing an existing one.
Updated October 2026.
No subscription is required, and credits do not expire. Purchased one-time packs keep their balance, each price is shown before you generate, and a failed generation is refunded. The rest of this page is the arithmetic behind those numbers.
The short answer and the three cost drivers
Most images cost less than a video clip, which is why image generation is the cheapest way to explore an idea before committing to footage. The three drivers are not equally important.
- The model. This is the biggest lever. Seedream 5 Flash is 2 credits; Nano Banana Pro is 18 at 1K. The gap is a factor of nine for the same nominal job, so choosing the right tier matters more than any other setting.
- The resolution. It matters on models that price by tier. GPT Image 2 runs 3, 5 and 8 credits at 1K, 2K and 4K. Nano Banana 2 is flat at 15 whatever you pick, so on that model resolution is free.
- Generate versus edit. Editing is a separate call on most models. Some are priced differently: Seedream 5 Flash is 2 credits to generate and 4 to edit. A model that does both on one page, such as Seedream 5.0 Pro at 10 or 19, avoids paying twice.
Free versus credits versus subscription, explained plainly
Three words get mixed together, so separate them. A free allowance is credit given at signup: new VdoBloom accounts get 10 free credits with no card, which covers three 1K GPT Image 2 images at 3 credits each. Credits are the unit every generation draws from, whether the balance came from a free allowance or a purchase. A subscription is an optional way to buy a larger balance monthly or yearly; it is not required to generate, and one-time packs never expire.
The practical difference is what happens when you stop. With a plan, an unused allowance is tied to the billing period. With a one-time pack, the balance stays. If your image work is bursty, a pack matches the work better than a monthly commitment. The packs and plans are listed on the pricing page, and the credit model itself is explained in what AI credits are and how they work.
Credits per image by model tier
These are the exact prices from the platform’s credit table. Where a model has resolution tiers, all of them are listed.
| Model | Job | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Seedream 5 Flash | Text-to-image | 2 |
| Seedream 5 Flash | Image-to-image | 4 |
| Nano Banana 2.1 | Generate or edit, 1K / 2K / 4K | 3 / 4 / 6 |
| GPT Image 2 | Text-to-image, 1K / 2K / 4K | 3 / 5 / 8 |
| Qwen Image 2.1 | Text-to-image, 1K / 2K | 3 / 5 |
| Nano Banana | Text-to-image, flat | 6 |
| Seedream 5 Lite | Text-to-image | 6 |
| ImagineArt 1.5 | Text-to-image, 2K | 6 |
| FLUX Kontext Pro | Targeted edit | 7 |
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | Generate or edit, Standard / High | 10 / 19 |
| Nano Banana 2 | Generate or edit, any resolution to 4K | 15 |
| Nano Banana Pro | 1K / 2K / 4K | 18 / 18 / 24 |
Two readings of that table are worth keeping. First, the cheap end is genuinely useful, not a demo: a 2-credit Seedream 5 Flash image is a real image you can look at and judge. Second, the expensive end is not automatically better. A 24-credit 4K Nano Banana Pro image is wasted if the deliverable is a 1080-pixel-wide blog header.
What 1K, 2K and 4K change
Resolution is output size, and output size decides where the image can go. A 1K image is enough for a phone screen, a social post or a thumbnail. 2K covers a wide blog header and most product listings. 4K is for print, a large hero image, or a crop that has to survive being enlarged.
Two model-specific rules can catch you out. On GPT Image 2, a 1:1 image cannot be rendered at 4K at all, so a square needs 2K or a non-square ratio for a large output. On the same model, leaving the aspect ratio on auto generates at 1K regardless of the resolution you requested. If 2K or 4K matters, set an explicit ratio. Nano Banana Pro charges the same 18 credits at 1K and 2K and 24 at 4K, so the 2K tier is the one to default to. Nano Banana 2 does not charge for resolution at all, which makes it the simpler choice when you need 4K and do not want to think about tiers.
Draft on a cheap model, finish on a pro one
The cost that hurts is not the final render. It is the five discarded attempts at the final render’s price. Split the job into a draft stage and a finish stage and the arithmetic changes.
A workable ladder: draft at 1K on Seedream 5 Flash at 2 credits or GPT Image 2 at 3 credits, run several crops, colours and compositions, then take the winner to Seedream 5.0 Pro at 10 or 19 credits, or to Nano Banana Pro at 18 or 24 depending on resolution. Five drafts plus one pro finish costs 20 to 34 credits. Five pro attempts would cost 50 to 120.
Keep the prompt identical between the draft and the finish. If the composition was right at draft and wrong at finish, that is a resolution effect, not a prompt effect, and the fix belongs in the finish settings. For a wider model comparison before you pick, see the best AI image models of 2026.
Never-expiring credits and cost per image you keep
The useful metric is not cost per image generated. It is cost per image you actually keep. A 2-credit draft with a 20 percent keep rate costs 10 credits per keeper. A 10-credit pro render that you keep the first time also costs 10. The cheap model is not automatically the better deal, and the expensive one is not automatically wasteful; the keep rate decides.
That is why iterating on a cheap tier works: it raises the keep rate of the final render without spending the final render’s price on experiments. Our notes on image keep rate cover how to measure it for your own work. One-time packs make the measurement simpler, because the balance does not disappear at the end of a month: the Lite pack is 300 credits for $19.50 one time, which is a fixed budget you can divide before you start. The full list is on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest AI image on VdoBloom?
A Seedream 5 Flash text-to-image at 2 credits. Nano Banana 2.1 and GPT Image 2 both start at 3 credits for a 1K image.
Does a higher resolution always cost more?
No. GPT Image 2 rises from 3 to 5 to 8 credits at 1K, 2K and 4K, and Nano Banana Pro is 18 at 1K and 2K and 24 at 4K. Nano Banana 2 is flat at 15 at any resolution up to 4K.
How many images do I get for free?
New accounts get 10 free credits with no card. That covers five Seedream 5 Flash drafts at 2 credits, or three 1K GPT Image 2 images at 3.
Do credits expire?
No. One-time packs keep their balance, and no subscription is needed. The Lite pack is 300 credits for $19.50 one time.
Should I edit or regenerate?
Edit when most of the frame is already right. FLUX Kontext Pro is 7 credits for a targeted change, and Seedream 5 Flash image-to-image is 4. Regenerate when the composition itself is wrong.
Try the draft ladder in the image generator, then move the keeper to image editing for the final fix. New accounts start with 10 free credits and no card, which is enough to compare a 2-credit draft against a 3-credit one before you choose a finishing model.
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