FLUX by Black Forest Labs vs Qwen-Image (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Qwen-Image grades higher than FLUX by Black Forest Labs: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
FLUX by Black Forest Labs grades higher on ease of use. Qwen-Image grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
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
Free plan
Which one is for you
Pick FLUX by Black Forest Labs if
- Fits if you make the odd image and would rather pay per picture than monthly
- Works for developers building image or video generation into their own product
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want an app with styles, projects and a gallery, not a playground
- Not for you if you need a known monthly bill, since you pay per image and $0.17 a second for HD video
- Pricey if you make hundreds of FLUX 3 images a month, as every one is charged
- Watch out: FLUX.2 [klein] 9B, FLUX.2 [dev] and FLUX.1 [dev] weights are non-commercial, and license prices aren't published
- Skip it if you want a phone app, integrations or a student discount, as the listing shows none
Pick Qwen-Image if
- Fits if you have a GPU and want to run an image model yourself
- Works for developers who want text drawn inside pictures
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you have no GPU, since local use needs a capable one
- Skip it if you do not code, as the quick start is Python with Diffusers and PyTorch
- Watch out: the README says the official demo is heavily used and points to third-party hosts
- Watch out: the 2.0 model is announced there but its weights are not confirmed as open
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAFLUX by Black Forest LabsFair | 2.2GPAQwen-ImageFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CThe weights are free, but you supply the hardware. Self-hosting needs a capable GPU, so it is not free in the way a download-and-run program is. |
| 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. | BThe weights are free to download under Apache-2.0 with no cap. The cost is your own GPU, and hosted limits were not readable. |
| 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. | CText rendering, image editing and tool support, with 2K output in 2.0. The 2.0 weights are not confirmed as open in the README. |
| 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. | DNo store rating on record. The quick start uses Diffusers and PyTorch, which means Python and a GPU. |
| 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. | BA model rather than an app, with ComfyUI, Hugging Face, ModelScope, Diffusers, vLLM-Omni and SGLang listed. |
| Best for | pay-per-image FLUX models and open weights | open-weights image model for text and editing |
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 Qwen-Image. How we grade
Where they differ
- Qwen-Image is open source, according to its own site.
- FLUX by Black Forest Labs also covers video generation.
In commonFree planWebSelf-hostableImage generation
At a glance
| FLUX by Black Forest Labs | Qwen-Image | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | Not published | Free |
| 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. | The model weights are free to download and run under the Apache-2.0 license; you supply the hardware. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Black Forest Labs | Qwen (QwenLM) |
| Price read from | bfl.ai | github.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
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.
Qwen-Image
- Running the model locally needs a capable GPU and a Python setup; the quick start uses Diffusers and PyTorch.
- Hosted use goes through Qwen Chat; its limits and any paid tiers were not readable, so they are not recorded here.
- The README says demand on the official demo is heavy and points to third-party hosts such as DashScope, WaveSpeed and LibLib.
- The newest 2.0 model is announced in the README; its weights are not confirmed there as open.
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.
Qwen-Image
- Text rendering
- The project describes strong rendering of text inside images, especially Chinese, and newer releases add typography for posters and infographics.
- Image editing
- Separate Qwen-Image-Edit releases cover editing, with multi-image input in the 2511 version.
- Open weights
- Weights for Qwen-Image, Qwen-Image-2512 and the edit models are released on Hugging Face and ModelScope.
- Native 2K output in 2.0
- Qwen-Image-2.0, announced in February 2026, is described as supporting native 2K resolution and 1,000-token instructions.
- Tool support
- The README lists support in ComfyUI, Diffusers, vLLM-Omni, SGLang-Diffusion and LoRA fine-tunes.
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.
Qwen-Image
Open weights$0
Download the weights from Hugging Face or ModelScope and run them yourself; hardware costs are yours.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, FLUX by Black Forest Labs or Qwen-Image?
As of Nov 13, 2026, FLUX by Black Forest Labs publishes no starting price, and Qwen-Image is free.
Which has a free plan, FLUX by Black Forest Labs or Qwen-Image?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both FLUX by Black Forest Labs and Qwen-Image have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.