FLUX by Black Forest Labs vs Ideogram
We give FLUX by Black Forest Labs a 2.0 GPA and Ideogram a 2.8, out of 4.0. Ideogram grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
FLUX by Black Forest Labs
FLUX image and video models, paid per use via API and playground
Ideogram
Image generator for designs with text, plus editing and video apps
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAFLUX by Black Forest LabsFair | 2.8GPAIdeogramGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo subscription, so no monthly plan to set against this category. You prepay credits at $0.01 each: a FLUX 3 image costs $0.048 and a Klein one $0.009, so $10 makes about 200 FLUX 3 images. Light use beats any plan here, heavy use won't. | CPlus is $15 a month on yearly billing ($20 monthly) for 2,400 credits and private images, just past this category's dearer quarter of $14.50. When credits run out, Ideogram's own models keep going in a slower queue, which softens it. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe FLUX.2 [klein] 4B weights are free under Apache 2.0, commercial use included, but only if you can run them on your own hardware. The hosted playground and API have no free credits on record. | C30 credits a week, but only if you sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft, and everything you make is public. The Video app needs a paid plan or bought credits. |
| Features | CFLUX 3 makes images with accurate text and clips up to 20 seconds with sound, and FLUX Tools erase, outpaint and deblur. For a person, though, the listing shows a playground over an API, with no styles, projects or gallery around it. | BSeveral in-house models, masking and inpainting, transparent backgrounds for stickers and icons, custom style models trained on 15 to 100 of your images, a video app and an API. The whole job's covered, with text in images as its thing. |
| Ease of use | CNo app rating on record. The playground needs no code, but you're buying credits, picking models and resolutions and paying per image, which is a developer's way of working. | A4.8 from about 2,700 App Store ratings, the top band. Type the prompt with the words you want on the poster, and go. |
| Platforms and integrations | CA web playground and an API, plus open weights to run on your own machine. No phone app and no integrations in the listing. | BWeb and iPhone, with one API for the image and video models and an MCP server for Claude. No Android or desktop app, and credits can't be bought in the iPhone app. |
| Best for | pay-per-image FLUX models and open weights | images with readable words in them |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: FLUX by Black Forest Labs and Ideogram. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only Ideogram lists an iOS app.
- FLUX by Black Forest Labs is self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| FLUX by Black Forest Labs | Ideogram | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $15 per month for 2,400 credits, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | The FLUX.2 [klein] 4B weights are free to download and run yourself under Apache 2.0, commercial use included. The hosted playground and API need bought credits. | 30 credits a week for accounts that sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft. Everything made on the free plan is public, and the Video app needs a paid plan or bought credits. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Black Forest Labs | Ideogram AI Inc |
| Price read from | bfl.ai | docs.ideogram.ai |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
FLUX by Black Forest Labs
- Developers adding image or video generation to their own product
- Teams that want to self-host and fine-tune an image model
- Occasional users who prefer paying per image over a subscription
Ideogram
- Logos, posters and ads where the words in the image must be readable
- Trying an image generator free with a weekly allowance
- Small teams that want separate credits and central billing
Worth knowing
FLUX by Black Forest Labs
- Hosted use is pay as you go: FLUX 3 Image costs $0.048 per 1K image, Klein $0.009, and FLUX 3 video $0.17 a second at HD.
- There is no subscription for the playground or API, and no published monthly price for any self-hosting license.
- FLUX.2 [klein] 9B, FLUX.2 [dev] and FLUX.1 [dev] weights are non-commercial; running them commercially needs a paid license.
- There is no student discount, and volume discounts on API use are arranged through sales.
Ideogram
- Free credits go only to accounts signed in with Google, Apple or Microsoft, and free-plan images are always public.
- Monthly plan credits do not roll over. Extra credits cost one US cent each and expire 365 days after purchase.
- Partner models, reference images, edits, upscales and video always cost credits, even on plans with a slower unlimited queue.
- Credits cannot be bought inside the iOS app, and custom model training works on desktop only.
Key features
FLUX by Black Forest Labs
- FLUX 3 image and video
- One model family covers images with accurate text rendering and video clips of up to 20 seconds with optional generated speech, effects and ambience.
- Image editing tools
- FLUX.2 models edit images from a prompt, and FLUX Tools add outpainting, object erasing and deblurring.
- Browser playground
- Try the models without code in the playground, which charges the same credit prices as the API.
- API with prepaid credits
- Credits cost $0.01 each, are shared across an organization's projects, do not expire, and can be topped up automatically.
- Open weights
- Models such as FLUX 3 Image Klein and FLUX.2 [klein] can be downloaded from Hugging Face and GitHub and fine-tuned on your own hardware.
Ideogram
- Several image models
- Ideogram 4.5 edits and combines up to five reference images, 4.0 handles very wide formats, and 3.0 keeps style presets, palettes and negative prompts.
- Editing and inpainting
- Mask an area to change it, extend a scene, remove objects or backgrounds, and upscale results.
- Transparent backgrounds
- Dedicated models produce images with no background for stickers, print-on-demand designs, icons and clip art.
- Custom models
- Train a style model on 15 to 100 of your own images. Training needs Pro or Team and a standard run costs 4,000 credits.
- Video app
- Makes short clips from a prompt, from start and end frames, or from uploaded images, video and audio, using models such as Seedance.
- API and MCP server
- One API covers the image and video models, and an MCP server lets AI assistants such as Claude use Ideogram.
Plans
FLUX by Black Forest Labs
FLUX.2 [klein] 4B open weights$0
Download from Hugging Face and host it yourself under Apache 2.0, with free commercial use.
Builder licenseCustom
Self-serve monthly license bought in the dashboard; price not published. 10K images a month, 1 domain, 10 users.
Platform licenseCustom
For products offering FLUX to their own users: 100K images a month on 1 domain, sold through sales.
Professional licenseCustom
For agencies making images for named clients: 100K images a month, first 3 clients included, sold through sales.
EnterpriseCustom
All models and new releases, custom volume, volume discounts and an SLA, with combined API and weights pricing.
Ideogram
Free$0
30 credits a week, all Ideogram image models, and public images only.
Plus$15
per month for 2,400 credits, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Private generation and quality export; after credits run out, Ideogram models keep working in a slower queue.
Pro$42
per month for 7,500 credits, billed annually ($60 billed monthly)
Adds batch generation, a larger queue and custom model training.
Team$20
per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
3,600 credits per member each month, with central billing and admin. Minimum 2 users.
EnterpriseCustom
Terms, credits and features set by agreement, including a prepaid shared credit balance for organizations.
Ways to pay less
FLUX by Black Forest Labs
No public discounts listed.
Ideogram
- Annual discount
Pay less with yearly billing
Yearly billing brings Plus from $20 to $15 a month, Pro from $60 to $42 and Team from $30 to $20 per user.
