What one AI image actually costs when you pay in credits instead of an API key
cost per ai image with credits
Across the three image models listed here, one image costs $0.03 to $0.53, depending on model, resolution and which credit pack you bought. Seedream 5 Lite is 100 credits ($0.03–$0.07). Nano Banana Pro is 750 credits at 1K, 2K and 4K ($0.25–$0.50). GPT Image 2 is 300/500/800 credits at 1K/2K/4K ($0.10–$0.53). The packs behind those numbers: 30,000 credits for $19.99, 100,000 for $39.99, 300,000 for $99.99.
How this works
Two numbers, one multiplication
Pricing on Doitong is expressed in credits, not in dollars per image. So there are two numbers to hold: the credit cost of a generation, and the dollar cost of a credit, which depends on which pack you bought. The packs: 30,000 credits for $19.99, 100,000 credits for $39.99, 300,000 credits for $99.99. Divide and those work out to roughly $0.67, $0.40 and $0.33 per 1,000 credits. On Seedream 5 Lite that difference is the gap between $0.07 and $0.03 per image — $0.04 off every frame you ever generate, just from pack choice. The model side is a flat integer per generation: Seedream 5 Lite is 100 credits, Seedream 5 Pro is 338 at 1K and 675 at 2K, Nano Banana Pro is 750, GPT Image 2 is 300 at 1K, 500 at 2K and 800 at 4K. Credits × dollars-per-credit gives the price of a generation, and that is what an end user pays without holding a provider API key.
Seedream 5 Pro costs 6.75× Lite and returns fewer pixels at 16:9
Seedream 5 has exactly two tiers, Lite and Pro. Lite ignores the resolution setting and always costs 100 credits. Pro costs 338 at 1K and 675 at 2K — a 337-credit step between its own tiers, and 6.75× Lite at the top. At 2K, Pro carries an area cap of about 4.19 megapixels, and on wide or tall framings that cap bites. At 16:9, Lite outputs 2848×1600 and Pro outputs 2720×1536 — Pro delivers 378,880 fewer pixels (8.31% less). The same holds at 9:16. At 21:9, Lite is 3136×1344 against Pro's 3072×1312: 184,320 fewer pixels (4.37% less). On 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2 and 2:3 the two tiers output identical pixel dimensions. So on those five ratios you are paying 675 credits for the same output size that 100 credits delivers, and on three ratios the more expensive tier delivers a smaller image. One thing to know before planning a budget: Seedream 4.0 and 4.5 cannot be generated. The selectable Seedream generation targets are the Lite and Pro tiers of Seedream 5, so a "5 vs 4.5" comparison is not something you can act on here.
Nano Banana Pro is flat: 1K costs the same as 4K
Nano Banana Pro charges 750 credits for a generation at 1K, at 2K, and at 4K. The figure does not change across those three resolutions. That means picking a lower resolution to save money does nothing here — if you are running this model, request the resolution you actually want. This behaves differently from the other two. GPT Image 2 scales 300 → 500 → 800 across 1K/2K/4K, so dropping a batch from 4K to 1K saves 500 credits per image. Seedream 5 Pro scales from 338 at 1K to 675 at 2K, a 337-credit step. In dollars, a Nano Banana Pro image is $0.50, $0.30 or $0.25 depending on your pack — at any of the three resolutions. Nano Banana Pro also accepts multiple reference images — up to 14 — though treat that as an upper bound rather than a guarantee.
The numbers, in full
| Pack | Price | Approx. cost per 1,000 credits |
|---|---|---|
| 30,000 credits | $19.99 | $0.67 |
| 100,000 credits | $39.99 | $0.40 |
| 300,000 credits | $99.99 | $0.33 |
| Model | Credits | 30k pack | 100k pack | 300k pack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seedream 5 Lite | 100 | $0.07 | $0.04 | $0.03 |
| GPT Image 2 — 1K | 300 | $0.20 | $0.12 | $0.10 |
| Seedream 5 Pro — 1K | 338 | $0.23 | $0.14 | $0.11 |
| GPT Image 2 — 2K | 500 | $0.33 | $0.20 | $0.17 |
| Seedream 5 Pro — 2K | 675 | $0.45 | $0.27 | $0.22 |
| Nano Banana Pro — 1K/2K/4K | 750 | $0.50 | $0.30 | $0.25 |
| GPT Image 2 — 4K | 800 | $0.53 | $0.32 | $0.27 |
| Aspect | Lite | Pro | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | 2048×2048 | 2048×2048 | same |
| 4:3 | 2304×1728 | 2304×1728 | same |
| 3:4 | 1728×2304 | 1728×2304 | same |
| 16:9 | 2848×1600 | 2720×1536 | Pro is 378,880 px smaller (8.31%) |
| 9:16 | 1600×2848 | 1536×2720 | Pro is 378,880 px smaller (8.31%) |
| 3:2 | 2496×1664 | 2496×1664 | same |
| 2:3 | 1664×2496 | 1664×2496 | same |
| 21:9 | 3136×1344 | 3072×1312 | Pro is 184,320 px smaller (4.37%) |
| Aspect ratio | Highest available |
|---|---|
| 1:1 | 2K (4K not available) |
| auto | 1K |
| 5:4, 4:5 | 1K |
| 9:16, 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 3:4, 2:3 | 4K |
Credit packs: 30,000 for $19.99, 100,000 for $39.99, 300,000 for $99.99. Prices above are per generation at each pack rate.
The detail
GPT Image 2: your aspect ratio decides which tiers exist
GPT Image 2 does not offer 1K/2K/4K everywhere. The ceiling depends on the aspect ratio. 1:1 tops out at 2K — 4K is not available on the square. The auto setting tops out at 1K, and so do 5:4 and 4:5. The ratios that get the full ladder up to 4K are 9:16, 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 3:4 and 2:3. Anything above the ceiling is silently clamped down rather than rejected, so a request for a 4K square returns a 2K square without an error message. Aspect ratios outside the recognised list fall back to auto, which caps at 1K — worth knowing, because you can ask for 4K, pass a ratio that is not on the list, and receive a 1K image. The billing side is honest about this. Price is computed from the same aspect-ratio normalization used to deliver the image, so the tier you are charged for cannot exceed the tier you received. You get downgraded output, not downgraded output at the 4K price.
Reading the table for your actual workload
Two practical readings of the numbers below. If you are iterating — testing prompts, throwing away eight of ten results — Seedream 5 Lite is the cheapest line on this page: 100 credits, $0.03 per frame on the 300,000 pack. Compare that with 750 credits ($0.25) for a Nano Banana Pro frame and 800 credits ($0.27) for GPT Image 2 at 4K. Run the search on the cheap tier, then reproduce the winner on the expensive one. If you are producing finals at volume, pack size is worth attention on its own. Moving from the 30,000 pack to the 300,000 pack takes GPT Image 2 at 4K from $0.53 to $0.27 per image — $0.26 off every frame, and it applies to every model you run from that balance, not just to one job. All figures here assume each image is paid for out of a purchased credit pack.
Questions people ask next
How much is one credit worth in dollars?
It depends on the pack. The 30,000-credit pack at $19.99 works out to roughly $0.67 per 1,000 credits; the 100,000-credit pack at $39.99 to about $0.40 per 1,000; the 300,000-credit pack at $99.99 to about $0.33 per 1,000. The pack you buy sets the effective dollar price of every image generated from that balance — the same 100-credit Seedream 5 Lite frame is $0.07 on the smallest pack and $0.03 on the largest.
Which model gives the cheapest image?
Seedream 5 Lite, at 100 credits per generation — $0.07, $0.04 or $0.03 depending on your pack. That is three to eight times fewer credits than the other image tiers listed here, which run from 300 to 800. Lite is also priced as a single line: the resolution setting is ignored, so 100 credits buys its full size list, including 2848×1600 at 16:9.
Does asking for 4K always cost more?
No. Nano Banana Pro charges a flat 750 credits at 1K, 2K and 4K, so lowering the resolution there changes nothing on the bill. GPT Image 2 does scale — 300 at 1K, 500 at 2K, 800 at 4K, so going from 4K down to 1K saves 500 credits per image. Seedream 5 Pro scales from 338 at 1K to 675 at 2K, while Seedream 5 Lite stays at a flat 100 regardless of what you request.
Why did GPT Image 2 return a 2K image when I asked for 4K?
Because of the aspect ratio. 1:1 caps at 2K, so 4K is not available on the square. The auto setting and 5:4 / 4:5 cap at 1K, and any aspect ratio outside the recognised list is converted to auto, which drops you to 1K. Requests above the ceiling are silently clamped instead of erroring. Billing uses the same normalization as delivery, so you are charged for the tier you actually received, not the one you asked for.
Is Seedream 5 Pro worth 6.75× the price of Lite?
Not in terms of output size. At 2K, Pro carries an area cap that makes it smaller than Lite on wide and tall framings: at 16:9 and 9:16 it returns 378,880 fewer pixels (8.31%), and at 21:9 it returns 184,320 fewer (4.37%). On 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2 and 2:3 the pixel dimensions are identical. So on eight measured ratios, Pro's 675 credits never buy you a larger image than Lite's 100.
Can I generate with Seedream 4.0 or 4.5 to save credits?
No. The selectable Seedream generation targets are two: 5 Lite and 5 Pro. Older version numbers may appear as labels on previously created work, but you cannot generate with them. If you want an inexpensive Seedream frame, that is Lite at 100 credits — $0.03 per image on the 300,000-credit pack, the lowest per-image figure on this page.
Do these prices require an API key or a vendor account?
No. These are the retail credit costs on Doitong itself: you buy a credit pack and generate. The figures here are what an end user pays per finished image — 100 credits for Seedream 5 Lite, 750 for Nano Banana Pro, 300/500/800 for GPT Image 2 at 1K/2K/4K — converted at roughly $0.67, $0.40 or $0.33 per 1,000 credits. Provider-side API rate cards are a different kind of number and are not what is charged here.
How do image costs compare with video?
Video is an order of magnitude heavier. Grok Video is 350 credits for one second at 480p (450 credits per second at 720p). Veo-3.1 Fast is 1,500 credits for 8 seconds with audio — $0.60 on the 100,000-credit pack, about $0.075 per second. Seedance 2.0 is 7,750 credits for a 5-second 720p clip with audio, $3.10 on the same pack, about $0.62 per second — roughly ten Nano Banana Pro images at $0.30 each. Audio is listed as included in the price of Veo-3.1 Fast and Pro, Kling v2.6, Hailuo H3, Seedance 2 Fast and Seedance 2.0. Budget images and video separately; a pack drains far faster on video.
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