How image generation API pricing actually works
No image API sells an honest per-picture price: every request settles as metered usage legs, and the account's pricing policy applies to that exact official total. The unit worth budgeting is cost per accepted asset, including retries and rejected outputs.
·
GPT Image token rates
GPT Image 2, GPT Image 2.5 Flare and GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst use the same OpenAI Images endpoints, key and prepaid balance. Flare is the faster everyday option; Sunburst targets more precise edits. Compare the models on your own accepted outputs. All three use the same published token rates.
Official rates per 1M tokens are $5 for text input, $8 for image input and $30 for image output. Cached text and image input cost $1.25 and $2 per 1M respectively. Regular B2C accounts pay 50% of the official total; B2B uses negotiated rates. These are token rates, not fixed prices per image.
See also: GPT Image 2 API cost and 50% B2C savings
Generate and edit with one key
Send a Bearer key to POST /v1/images/generations on router.apitoken.sale. Choose gpt-image-2, gpt-image-2.5-flare or gpt-image-2.5-sunburst. The default response contains PNG bytes as data[0].b64_json; decode, validate and store them yourself.
curl https://router.apitoken.sale/v1/images/generations \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $APITOKEN_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"gpt-image-2.5-flare","prompt":"A studio photo of a ceramic mug","n":1,"quality":"low","size":"auto"}'POST /v1/images/edits accepts one to five PNG, JPEG or WebP reference files, each up to 50 MB, as image or image[]. Use the same model IDs as generation. The multipart mask field is ignored; use the Responses image_generation tool for region inpainting. Check geometry, labels and product identity before accepting an edit.
Size controls steer proportions, not exact pixel dimensions. Higher quality values do not guarantee a higher native quality tier. The dedicated Images endpoints return base64 data; jpeg/webp output is a local conversion from the native PNG. Read the model guide before relying on a control.
Budget from measured token usage
| Usage per 1M tokens | Official | Regular B2C · 50% off |
|---|---|---|
| Text input | $5 | $2.50 |
| Cached text input | $1.25 | $0.625 |
| Image input | $8 | $4 |
| Cached image input | $2 | $1 |
| Image output | $30 | $15 |
For example, an edit with 900 fresh text-input tokens, 1,200 fresh image-input tokens and 4,000 image-output tokens costs $0.1341 officially, or $0.06705 at the regular B2C rate. These token counts are an example, not a promise for each picture. Use the final usage and matching request charge for your own measurements.
For a catalog or batch, divide all settled charges by the number of accepted assets. Include paid outputs that failed review. GPT Image has no free countTokens estimator: measure a small funded sample and set a spending limit before starting the queue.
Account class decides what the same usage costs
| Account class | Pricing rule |
|---|---|
| Regular B2C | Global 50% discount on the exact official total, then any more-specific valid rule |
| B2B | Only its negotiated provider/model policy |
| OpenKeys | Official 1:1 pricing; no B2C discount |
| Service | Meter-only; no customer charge |
Charges draw down a prepaid balance rather than an invoice. Top-ups accept any whole-dollar amount by bank card or cryptocurrency, and the balance never expires.
A discount changes the payable amount, not model availability. Always discover the model with the same key before building a budget or publishing an availability claim.
Budget a campaign you can defend
- 01Choose a GPT Image model and a small set of representative prompts and references.
- 02Set a spending limit and use n=1, quality=low and size=auto for the sample.
- 03Record final usage and the charge for every request, including rejected results.
- 04Divide settled charges by accepted images and use that measured cost for the batch budget.
Frequently asked questions
Should failed images be included in the budget?
Yes. If a request delivered output and settled usage, its charge is part of acquisition cost even when the asset fails your quality check. Divide total settled spend by accepted assets — that ratio, not the rate card, is what a campaign actually costs.
Where do I verify the final image charge?
Use terminal provider usage together with the matching dashboard ledger entry for that request ID. Do not infer money from PNG file size, pixel dimensions or partial output — none of them is the billing formula.
Can I test image generation pricing without spending money?
Start with one reference and n=1, quality=low, size=auto. Check the returned dimensions and final usage before increasing the workload.
Is there a free GPT Image token estimator?
No. Read the published token rates, set a key spending limit, then measure a small paid sample. Final usage determines the charge.
Create an account, top up your balance, and generate an API key to use supported Claude, GPT and Gemini models.