A credit is not a price until you divide it. Take the plan price, divide by the credits included, and you have a cost per credit. Multiply that by what the operation costs and you have a number you can compare. The catch is that the operation cost moves too. In DesignerBox the image model you pick changes the cost of an image run, and one eight-second clip costs 40 to 560 credits, depending on the model. The cost is shown before the run.
Two tools quote credits. Neither credit is the same size, and neither tool means the same thing by “an image”.
This covers the conversion, why there is no single cost per image, what raw generation costs at list, what a video clip costs, and the three terms that quietly move your bill.
Key Takeaways
- Convert before you compare. Plan price divided by credits gives a cost per credit. Multiply by the credits that operation costs. Now two quotes are comparable.
- There is no single cost per image. The model sets it, so a cost per image with no model named is not an answer. In DesignerBox the cost of each run is shown before the run.
- On Pro, $35 a month billed monthly for 1,000 credits, a credit is $0.035. Multiply that by the credits a run shows before you start it.
- The video model moves the price a long way. An eight-second clip costs 40 to 560 credits, depending on the model.
- AI video starts on Premium, $75 a month billed monthly for 2,500 credits. Pick the video model deliberately, because it decides how far the same budget goes.
- Raw model list prices are public and low. Seedream 5.0 Lite lists $0.035 an image, FLUX1.1 [pro] $0.04, and Nano Banana 2 $0.067 at 1K, on the vendors’ own API pricing pages (September 2026).
- Three terms move your bill quietly: retries charged as generations, credits that reset each month, and a model switch that sits behind one dropdown.
How do you convert a credit price into a real price?
Two divisions and one multiplication.
- Cost per credit = plan price divided by the credits included.
- Cost per operation = cost per credit multiplied by the credits that operation costs.
Worked on DesignerBox’s published plans, billed monthly:
| Plan | Price, billed monthly | Credits a month | Cost per credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $15 | 500 | $0.030 |
| Pro | $35 | 1,000 | $0.035 |
| Premium | $75 | 2,500 | $0.030 |
| Ultra | $200 | 8,000 | $0.025 |
Note what that shows. The rate is close to flat, and Pro is the worst of the four. You move up a tier for the features and the parallel jobs, not for a better rate. Ultra is the only tier that changes the arithmetic, and it does so by about 17% against Basic.
Annual billing is the real lever. It cuts the rate by half or more, and it grants the same monthly allocation, reset monthly, rather than a yearly lump. One warning: the pricing page opens on the annual view and shows it as a per-month figure, so Basic reads $6 rather than $15. Always check which period a quoted number belongs to, ours included.
Do this before comparing any two tools. Take two made-up tools. Tool A has a $20 plan with 2,000 credits, and one image uses 10 of them, so it charges $0.10 for the image. Tool B has a $20 plan with 200 credits, and one image uses 2 of them, so it charges $0.20. The credit number on its own tells you nothing.
Why there is no single cost per image
Because the model does the work and the models cost different amounts. In DesignerBox the credit price belongs to the model you pick. The word “image” has no price of its own. DesignerBox runs 8 image models, listed on the model list, and each one has its own cost. Every run shows its cost before you start it.
Some operations have a fixed cost. An avatar run returns nine fixed poses for 25 credits.
Two consequences for a budget. Any plan you build has to name the model, because “500 images” costs very different amounts on different models. And the default matters more than the ceiling: Nano Banana Pro is the model that runs unless someone chooses otherwise, so plan around its cost, which the run shows before you start.
What does raw generation cost at list?
Published list prices from the model vendors’ own API pricing pages, accessed September 2026:
| Model | List price | Unit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedream 5.0 Lite | $0.035 | per image | ByteDance, BytePlus ModelArk |
| FLUX1.1 [pro] | $0.04 | per image | Black Forest Labs |
| Nano Banana 2 | $0.067 | per image at 1K | Google, Gemini API |
| Nano Banana Pro | $0.134 | per image at 1K or 2K | Google, Gemini API |
| Kling 2.5 Turbo | $0.042 | per second at 720p, silent | Kuaishou, Kling API |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | $0.05 | per second at 720p, with audio | Google, Gemini API |
| Veo 3.1 | $0.40 | per second at 720p or 1080p, with audio | Google, Gemini API |
Two things follow. Images are cheap at the model layer and have been for a while, so an image price is mostly not about compute. And the spread inside video is the whole story: Veo 3.1 with audio lists close to ten times Kling 2.5 Turbo’s silent 720p rate per second, and that sits behind a dropdown a junior can change.
This is a floor. Treat it as a reference point. Run raw APIs and you also run the retries, the storage, the brand rules, the review pass and the plumbing between models. A platform price above list is buying that layer. Knowing the floor is how you judge whether it is buying anything.
What does a second of video cost?
It depends on the model. At the model layer, the vendor list prices above run from $0.042 to $0.40 a second for the video models listed. In DesignerBox, an eight-second clip costs 40 to 560 credits, depending on the model. AI video starts on the Premium plan, $75 a month billed monthly for 2,500 credits, which is $0.030 a credit. To convert a clip, multiply the credits the run shows by $0.030.
That is a wide spread on the same eight seconds. It is the largest cost decision in video, and it is one choice wide.
Read it as buying power rather than as a warning. The same monthly credits buy many more clips on a lite model than on a premium one, and the model you pick decides it.
The working rule: plan the shots on a storyboard first, test the sequence on a lower-cost model, then spend the premium rate only on the shots that survived. Every run shows its cost before you start it, so you see what a run costs before you run it rather than after. What AI video costs per clip explains video pricing in more detail, and what AI video generation costs covers the wider market rates.
What three terms quietly change your bill?
Retries charged as generations. This term matters most, and it is easy to miss on a pricing page. If a generation you reject is billed, your real cost per usable asset is the list price multiplied by your attempts per keeper. At three attempts per keeper, a $0.067 Nano Banana 2 image at list is a $0.20 image, and a $0.134 Nano Banana Pro image is a $0.40 image. Ask directly whether rejected outputs are charged.
Credits that reset. A monthly allocation that resets means uneven usage wastes the allowance. A team that produces a campaign in week one and nothing after it pays for a month and uses a week. DesignerBox credit packs are a separate one-time purchase, available with an active paid plan, that expires after 12 months. That is a different mechanic from the monthly allocation, so keep the two apart.
A model switch behind one dropdown. The video spread and the image spread both sit in one model choice. Anyone on the team can change the cost of the next hundred runs. Set the default on purpose, and write down which model a recurring job runs on. In a saved workflow the model is one step, so the job runs on the model you chose.
None of these are hidden in a bad-faith sense. They are not in the headline number, and the headline number is what people compare.
What should you actually compare between tools?
Six questions. The first two are about the sticker price.
- What is the cost per image, converted, and on which model? A cost per image with no model named is not an answer.
- What does a clip cost, by model? Ask for the model, not an average. Video models differ in cost by more than ten times.
- Are rejected generations charged? This sets your real cost per usable asset.
- Do credits reset, and do purchased packs expire?
- What is gated above your tier? In DesignerBox the commercial licence starts at Pro, AI video ads and virtual try-on start at Premium, and team seats, shared brand kits and API access are Ultra only at $200 a month billed monthly. Every tier below Ultra is a single seat.
- What does the price buy beyond generation? In DesignerBox: Assets, the file library, the saved workflows, the brand profile the workflow reads on every run, and the critic steps that score results before your own review. This is where a price above raw list either earns itself or does not.
We publish the conversion method and the plan rates. Every DesignerBox run shows its cost before you start it. A credit price you cannot divide is not a price. There is a pricing decoder for the same reason, and our own plans broken down states what each tier includes. If a tool charges for rejected results, the reject rate decides your real cost.
FAQ
How much does one AI-generated image cost?
At the model layer, the vendors’ own list prices in September 2026 start at $0.035 an image for Seedream 5.0 Lite (BytePlus) and $0.04 for FLUX1.1 [pro] (Black Forest Labs), with Nano Banana 2 at $0.067 at 1K (Gemini API). On a credit platform, divide the plan price by the credits included and multiply by the credits the run costs. On DesignerBox Pro, $35 a month billed monthly for 1,000 credits, a credit is $0.035, and the cost of each run is shown before the run.
How do I compare credit prices between AI tools?
Convert both to a cost per operation, and name the model on each side. Plan price divided by included credits gives a cost per credit, then multiply by what one image or one clip costs in credits on the model you would actually use. Credit counts are not comparable between tools, because no two credits are the same size and no two tools mean the same thing by one image.
Why does AI video cost more per output than an image?
Video cost scales with length, and the video models are far apart in price. In DesignerBox an eight-second clip costs 40 to 560 credits, depending on the model. Picking the model is the budget decision, and the cost is shown before you run it.
Do AI tools charge for failed generations?
Some do, and it is the most important term to check. If rejected outputs are billed, your real cost per usable asset is the list price multiplied by your attempts per keeper. On demanding work that can be three attempts or more for each keeper. Ask explicitly rather than assuming.
Do AI credits roll over month to month?
It depends on the platform, and often on whether they are subscription credits or purchased packs. Monthly allocations commonly reset, which penalises uneven usage. DesignerBox credit packs are one-time purchases, available with an active paid plan, that expire after 12 months. They sit separately from the monthly allocation, which resets.
What is the cheapest way to generate AI images at volume?
Raw model APIs are the floor, from $0.035 to $0.134 an image for the models listed above, and you then own the retries, storage, brand rules and review. On a platform, the lowest-cost route is a lower-cost model for the pass that does not need the premium one: a first look on a lower-cost model, then the finished frame on Nano Banana Pro. Each DesignerBox run shows its cost before you start it. The right comparison is cost per usable asset, including retries.
How many credits do I need per month?
Count results, then name the model for each. Run a small test set on the model you plan to use, and read the cost each run shows before you start it. Multiply by your monthly volume and compare it with the plan allocations: 500 credits on Basic, 1,000 on Pro, 2,500 on Premium and 8,000 on Ultra, each a month. Count video separately: an eight-second clip costs 40 to 560 credits, depending on the model, and AI video starts at Premium.
Sources
- Google, Gemini API pricing for Nano Banana 2, Nano Banana Pro, Veo 3.1 and Veo 3.1 Lite, standard tier (ai.google.dev, accessed September 2026)
- ByteDance, BytePlus ModelArk pricing for Seedream 5.0 Lite (docs.byteplus.com, accessed September 2026)
- Black Forest Labs, FLUX1.1 [pro] documentation (docs.bfl.ai, accessed September 2026)
- Kuaishou, Kling API video pricing (kling.ai, accessed September 2026)
- DesignerBox pricing page (designerbox.ai/pricing), September 2026: plans, credit allocations, credit packs and feature gates
Model list prices verified from each vendor’s own API pricing page as of September 2026. Model pricing changes frequently. Individual results vary.
