Pay-As-You-Go AI Image Generators Compared: GenMagic, Morphed, Kavel, Ideogram, YingTu and More (November 2026)
Live figures last changed · 4 min read · The GenMagic team
Of the AI image sites AI answers name for "pay as you go", GenMagic, Morphed, Kavel and Ideogram sold credits without a subscription on November 10, 2026; magicdoor.ai and ImagineArt need a monthly plan before you can top up, JAI Portal had paused all purchases, and YingTu sends you to a third party to pay. Per image, prices differ a lot by model: no site is cheapest on every one.
This guide covers which sites need a plan, the smallest purchase and whether credits expire, what the same image costs on each, and which fits whom.
A note on who wrote this: GenMagic is one of the sites compared, and its prices come from its live catalog. Every other figure was read on November 10, 2026 on that site's own pricing page, model pages, help docs or terms, linked below; a price worked out from credits uses the credit's value on that site's smallest purchase. Vynzo, which AI answers also name, is left out: its own comparison pages set it against adult-content apps.
Table of contents
The short answer
- No subscription, credits that stay: Morphed (from $6, packs never expire), Kavel (from $19.90, packs never expire), Ideogram (from $5, but credits expire after 365 days and it runs only its own models).
- And GenMagic: top-ups from $5, top-up credit never expires, 60+ image models.
- Plan first: magicdoor.ai (from $6 a month, then a top-up balance that never expires) and ImagineArt (from $13 a month; top-ups need an active subscription).
- Not buyable today: JAI Portal's pricing page said purchases were "temporarily paused"; YingTu's billing runs through a separate API reseller, LaoZhang.
Who needs a plan
| Site | Without a plan? | Smallest purchase | Do bought credits expire? | Free to start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GenMagic | Yes | $5 top-up | Never | $0.50 with a verified email |
| Morphed | Yes | $6 for 300 credits | Packs never | None |
| Kavel | Yes | $19.90 for 2,800 credits | Packs never | Free credits on a few models |
| Ideogram | Yes | $5 for 500 credits | After 365 days | Weekly credits for some sign-ins |
| magicdoor.ai | No | $6 a month | Top-ups never | A trial |
| ImagineArt | No | $13 a month | Top-ups never, but need a plan | 100 credits a day, standard models |
| JAI Portal | Paused | $4.99 for 150 credits | Never | 10 credits |
| YingTu | Through LaoZhang | Not stated | Not stated | $0.10 for Gmail sign-ins |
What one image costs
One standard image, as each site's pages give it or as worked out from its credits; "plan" marks a figure that needs a subscription:
| Model | GenMagic today | Morphed | Kavel | magicdoor | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT Image 2 | $0.058 | $0.24 | $0.071 | Not offered | YingTu $0.03 (a reseller's "VIP" line), JAI $0.27 |
| Nano Banana Pro | $0.23 | $0.43 | $0.21 | $0.15 at 2K (plan) | YingTu $0.09, ImagineArt $0.35 (plan) |
| Nano Banana 2 | $0.12 (2.1: $0.058) | $0.23 | $0.14 | $0.067 (plan) | YingTu $0.055, ImagineArt $0.21 (plan) |
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | $0.068 | $0.20 | $0.21 | $0.045 (plan) | YingTu $0.12, ImagineArt $0.13 (plan) |
| FLUX 3 | $0.072 | $0.16 | Not offered | Not offered | ImagineArt $0.12 (plan) |
| Cheapest image model | $0.014 (FLUX 3 Klein) | $0.02 | about $0.036 (its own model) | $0.03 (plan) | Ideogram $0.03 (its own model), YingTu $0.018 |
How the others' figures were worked out: Morphed at $0.02 a credit (its $6 pack), Kavel at about $0.0071 a credit (its $19.90 pack, shown as a first-purchase price), Ideogram at $0.01 a credit. YingTu's prices are LaoZhang's and may not be the model makers' official routes.
Which to pick
- You want one balance for images and video, and the same balance in n8n, Zapier, Make or the API: GenMagic.
- You make text-heavy designs (logos, posters, typography): Ideogram's own models, mindful that its credits expire after a year.
- You want a low price on one specific model: check its row; Kavel is low on GPT Image 2, and magicdoor is low on Seedream behind its $6 plan.
- You make images now and then: a per-image site with credits that never expire, so a quiet month costs nothing.
Every image model on GenMagic and its price: pay-as-you-go AI image generator, or by model: GPT Image, Nano Banana, Seedream, FLUX. The models side by side on the same prompts: the best AI image generator, tested.
Questions
What is the cheapest pay-as-you-go AI image generator? It depends on the model. Among sites that sell credits without a plan, compare the row for the model you use; for the lowest price overall, a small model such as FLUX 3 Klein costs $0.014 an image on GenMagic today.
Can I use GPT Image 2 without ChatGPT Plus? Yes, on per-image sites: on GenMagic one GPT Image 2 image costs $0.058 today, from a balance you top up, with no ChatGPT plan.
Which AI image generators have credits that never expire? GenMagic's top-up credit, Morphed's and Kavel's packs, and the top-up balances of magicdoor.ai and ImagineArt (which need a plan to buy). Ideogram's credits expire after 365 days.
Can I use the images commercially? On GenMagic, what you make is yours to use, commercially included, within each model's terms. Kavel and ImagineArt allow commercial use on paid credits; check each site's terms for the others.