FLUX is the family of image and video models from Black Forest Labs, available through its pay-as-you-go API, as open weights you can host, and inside apps such as Adobe Firefly. FLUX 3 Image, the newest image model, is priced per image by resolution: $0.041 at 768 by 768, $0.048 at 1K, $0.07 at 1.5K, $0.10 at 2K and $0.607 at 4K, with 50% off generations accepted until October 8, 2026. FLUX.2 models are billed per megapixel, from $0.014 for the first megapixel on FLUX.2 klein 4B to $0.07 on FLUX.2 max. There are no subscriptions or seat fees; self-hosting the open models commercially needs a licence.
Reviewed by EdGrows·Updated Oct 2, 2026This analysis is based on documentation, public user reports, and vendor materials — not yet on our own hands-on testing. How we rate
FLUX is less a product than a supply of models. Black Forest Labs, the German lab founded by researchers behind Stable Diffusion, makes FLUX image and video models. It sells them three ways. Developers pay by the image through its API, companies license open weights and run them themselves, and partners put FLUX inside their own apps. Most people who have used FLUX have done so inside another tool.
October 2026 brought the biggest change in a year. FLUX 3 Image, part of the FLUX 3 family BFL first described in July, went on sale through the API on October 1, at half price for the first week.
BFL's pricing page on October 2, 2026, during the FLUX 3 Image launch offer.
| Resolution tier | About | List price per image | Launch price until Oct 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 768 × 768 | 0.6 MP | $0.041 | $0.0205 |
| 1K | 1 MP | $0.048 | $0.024 |
| 1.5K | 2 MP | $0.07 | $0.035 |
| 2K | 4 MP | $0.10 | $0.05 |
| 4K | 16 MP | $0.607 | $0.3035 |
The launch discount applies to generations accepted until 8:00 a.m. Pacific time on October 8, 2026; list prices apply afterwards. Text-to-image and image-to-image cost the same, and reference images and prompts cost nothing extra. Failed generations and outputs withheld by moderation aren't charged. A thousand 1K images cost $48 at list price, which is the number to compare with app subscriptions.
The previous generation stays on sale and covers the range from cheap and fast to high fidelity. Prices are per megapixel, with the first megapixel priced higher and reference images charged at the additional rate:
| Model | First MP | Each additional MP | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLUX.2 klein 4B | $0.014 | $0.001 | Lowest cost, maximum speed |
| FLUX.2 klein 9B | $0.015 | $0.002 | High throughput, real-time apps |
| FLUX.2 pro | $0.03 | $0.015 | Quality and speed for volume work |
| FLUX.2 flex | $0.05 | $0.05 | Pay only for the resolution you generate |
| FLUX.2 max | $0.07 | $0.03 | Highest fidelity, up to 4 MP |
For an app generating thousands of small images, klein at about a cent and a half per image is hard to beat. For production marketing images, max or FLUX 3 Image make more sense.
The price differences add up at volume. Take an online shop generating 20,000 product images a month at about one megapixel each. On FLUX 3 Image at list price that costs about $960 a month; on FLUX.2 pro, about $600; on FLUX.2 klein 9B, about $300. A sensible pattern is to prototype on the newest model and measure how many results you actually keep. Then move routine jobs to the cheapest model whose output passes your review, and keep FLUX 3 Image or FLUX.2 max for hero images.
Resolution is the other lever. A 4K FLUX 3 Image costs about twelve times a 1K one. Generating at 1K or 1.5K and upscaling only the images you'll publish usually saves money.
FLUX is no longer only about stills. FLUX 3 Video arrived in August, followed by 2K and 4K video upscaling. The API also offers outpainting, an eraser and virtual try-on for clothing. In September BFL released FLUX 3 Action, an open-weight world action model for robotics with 7 billion parameters. The lab clearly sees its models as general visual intelligence, not just an image generator.
Some FLUX models are released as open weights, and BFL licenses them for commercial self-hosting. Builder covers the klein models up to 10,000 images a month on one domain. Platform adds FLUX.2 dev to klein 9B, up to 100,000 images. Professional is for agencies working on up to three domains. Enterprise and Synthetic Data licences sit above them, and the Synthetic Data one lets you use outputs as AI training data. Non-commercial use has its own licence. BFL lists ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certifications.
Designers rarely need the API. Adobe Firefly includes Flux models alongside Adobe's own and Google's, with unlimited FLUX.2 Pro generations on some first-year plans. Other image tools, such as Leonardo, offer a menu of third-party models. For a single polished style in a finished app, Midjourney remains the simpler choice, and Ideogram is stronger when an image needs readable text.
FLUX is the right choice for developers building image features into a product and for teams that want per-image costs instead of seats. It also suits companies that need to host models themselves. Everyone else will get FLUX more easily through an app that already includes it.
Through Black Forest Labs, yes, but only per use. The API has no subscription or seat fee: FLUX 3 Image costs from $0.041 to $0.607 per image depending on resolution, and FLUX.2 models are billed per megapixel from $0.014. FLUX models also appear inside apps such as Adobe Firefly, where they draw on that app's credits, and some open-weight models can be run on your own hardware.
Yes. Black Forest Labs sells FLUX through its own API with a pricing calculator, per-image pricing for FLUX 3 Image and per-megapixel pricing for FLUX.2, and charges nothing for failed generations, outputs blocked by moderation or reference images on FLUX 3 Image. Enterprise customers can negotiate volume pricing and SLAs.
FLUX 3 Image is the newer model, released through the API with a launch discount on October 1, 2026 and priced per image by resolution tier up to 4K. FLUX.2 is the previous generation, still offered in several sizes, from the fast klein 4B and 9B to pro, flex and max, billed per megapixel, and partly available as open weights.
Through the API, usage is governed by Black Forest Labs' developer and API service terms. To run the open weights on your own infrastructure for commercial work you need a licence: Builder covers the klein models up to 10,000 images a month, Platform and Professional cover FLUX.2 dev up to 100,000, and Enterprise and Synthetic Data licences are negotiated. Non-commercial use falls under a separate non-commercial licence.
They suit different buyers. Midjourney is a finished app with a monthly plan and a strong house style. FLUX is a set of models for developers and apps, with precise prompt following, per-image API prices and open weights. Designers who want an app should try FLUX inside Firefly or other tools, or stick with Midjourney.
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