fal vs OpenRouter: AI media generation pricing compared
Updated 2026-11-10 · listed A to Z, not ranked
fal is a generative media platform: hosted model APIs for video, image, audio and 3D, plus serverless GPUs for your own apps. You pay for what you use.
OpenRouter is a single OpenAI-compatible API for hundreds of language models from many providers. Its pricing has two parts: the model’s own token price, and OpenRouter’s fee, which is charged when you buy credits rather than on each request.
Listed A to Z, from fal.ai and openrouter.ai. Every figure below is quoted from those pages.
- Main price table
- B300, GB200, B200, H200, H100, RTX PRO 6000
- Free option
- None in the published plan table
- Published prices
- GPUs as low as $2.49/h for H100 (list $4.50/h); model APIs billed per output, e.g. FLUX.1 schnell $0.003 per megapixel.
- Main price table
- Standard (pay as you go), Business (pay as you go), Enterprise
- Free option
- Standard (pay as you go): 5.5% on credit purchases
- Published prices
- Model tokens at provider list price, a 5.5% (Standard) or 8% (Business) fee on credit purchases, BYOK and USDC.
How we checked: Prices quoted from each official pricing page: fal checked Nov 10, 2026, OpenRouter checked Nov 10, 2026. Taxes, usage overages and promotions can change what you pay; confirm with each provider before you buy.
How they compare
- Main price table. fal lists 6 entries (B300, GB200, B200, H200, H100, RTX PRO 6000); OpenRouter lists 3 (Standard (pay as you go), Business (pay as you go), Enterprise).
- Free option. fal: none in the published plan table. OpenRouter: Standard (pay as you go): 5.5% on credit purchases.
- How prices are quoted. fal: “Serverless GPU pricing”. OpenRouter: “Plans and fees”.
fal plans and prices
| GPU | VRAM | List price | As low as |
|---|---|---|---|
| B300 | 288 GB | $12.99/h | $5.99/h |
| GB200 | 192 GB | $9.99/h | $5.89/h |
| B200 | 192 GB | $7.99/h | $5.49/h |
| H200 | 141 GB | $6.00/h | $2.99/h |
| H100 | 80 GB | $4.50/h | $2.49/h |
| RTX PRO 6000 | 96 GB | $4.00/h | $1.99/h |
| Model | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Kling Video v3 Text to Video [Pro] | second | $0.14 |
| Kling Video (v2.5 Turbo Pro, image to video) | second | $0.07 |
| MiniMax H3 Max Text to Video | second | $0.03 |
| Seedance 2 Image to Video | 1000 tokens | $0.014 |
| Nano Banana Pro | image | $0.15 |
| Nano Banana 2 | image | $0.08 |
| FLUX.1 [schnell] | megapixel | $0.003 |
| ElevenLabs TTS Multilingual v2 | 1000 characters | $0.1 |
| xAI Text to Speech | 1000 characters | $0.015 |
fal lists many more models. Image prices are normalized to 1MP and higher resolutions are priced proportionally; some models use GPU-based pricing.
From fal.ai, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: fal pricing.
OpenRouter plans and prices
| Plan | Fee | How you pay | Notable limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (pay as you go) | 5.5% on credit purchases | Credit and debit cards, AliPay, crypto (USDC) | Rate limits pass through from the providers; 5 workspaces |
| Business (pay as you go) | 8% on credit purchases | Credit and debit cards, AliPay, crypto (USDC) | Adds EU and US in-region routing, advanced notifications, 1,000 workspaces |
| Enterprise | Set by contract; fee discounts available | Invoicing and purchase orders | SSO/SAML, contractual SLAs, dedicated support |
| Plan | Included BYOK usage | Above the allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Standard and Business | $25,000 of list-price inference per month with no OpenRouter fee | 5% of what the same request would cost at list price on OpenRouter, deducted from credits |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
With BYOK, the model provider bills you for inference directly.
From openrouter.ai, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: OpenRouter pricing.
FAQ
How much does fal cost?
GPUs as low as $2.49/h for H100 (list $4.50/h); model APIs billed per output, e.g. FLUX.1 schnell $0.003 per megapixel. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
How much does OpenRouter cost?
Model tokens at provider list price, a 5.5% (Standard) or 8% (Business) fee on credit purchases, BYOK and USDC. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Do fal and OpenRouter have a free option?
fal: none in the published plan table. OpenRouter: Standard (pay as you go): 5.5% on credit purchases.
Which is better, fal or OpenRouter?
We do not pick a winner. The two price and package their products differently; the tables above quote each official pricing page so you can match a plan to your own usage.
Where do these prices come from?
Each vendor's own pricing page: fal.ai (checked Nov 10, 2026) and openrouter.ai (checked Nov 10, 2026). Prices change; confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
Sources (official pages, read 2026-11-10)
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