Replicate vs WaveSpeed: AI media generation pricing compared
Updated 2026-11-10 · listed A to Z, not ranked
Replicate runs open-source and proprietary machine learning models through an API. Some public models bill by input and output (per image, per token, per second of video); most bill by the time they run on a given hardware type, priced per second.
WaveSpeed AI is a pay-per-use API for image, video and language models. Eligible new accounts get $1 in free credits.
Listed A to Z, from replicate.com and wavespeed.ai. Every figure below is quoted from those pages.
- Main price table
- black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro, black-forest-labs/flux-dev, black-forest-labs/flux-schnell, ideogram-ai/ideogram-v3-quality, deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1, wavespeedai/wan-2.1-i2v-720p
- Free option
- None in the published plan table
- Published prices
- Public models billed per output (FLUX 1.1 Pro $0.04/image) or per second of hardware (T4 $0.81/hr, L40S $3.51/hr, A100 $5.04/hr, H100 $5.49/hr).
- Main price table
- Seedream 5.0 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2, GPT Image 2.5, Z-Image Turbo, Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0, Wan 3.0, Kling 4.0, Veo 3.1 Fast, InfiniteTalk
- Free option
- None in the published plan table
- Published prices
- Pay per use, $1 free credits for eligible new accounts; images from $0.005, video from $0.03/second.
How we checked: Prices quoted from each official pricing page: Replicate checked Nov 10, 2026, WaveSpeed 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. Replicate lists 6 entries (black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro, black-forest-labs/flux-dev, black-forest-labs/flux-schnell, ideogram-ai/ideogram-v3-quality, deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1, wavespeedai/wan-2.1-i2v-720p); WaveSpeed lists 11 (Seedream 5.0 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2, GPT Image 2.5, Z-Image Turbo, Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0, Wan 3.0, Kling 4.0, Veo 3.1 Fast, InfiniteTalk).
- Free option. Replicate: none in the published plan table. WaveSpeed: none in the published plan table.
- How prices are quoted. Replicate: “Example public models (billed by output)”. WaveSpeed: “Image and video models (starting prices)”.
Replicate plans and prices
| Model | Price |
|---|---|
| black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro | $0.04 per output image |
| black-forest-labs/flux-dev | $0.025 per output image |
| black-forest-labs/flux-schnell | $3.00 per thousand output images |
| ideogram-ai/ideogram-v3-quality | $0.09 per output image |
| deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1 | $3.75 per million input tokens; $0.01 per thousand output tokens |
| wavespeedai/wan-2.1-i2v-720p | $0.25 per second of output video |
| Hardware | Per second | Per hour | GPU RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU (Small) | $0.000025 | $0.09 | — |
| CPU | $0.000100 | $0.36 | — |
| Nvidia T4 | $0.000225 | $0.81 | 16GB |
| Nvidia L40S | $0.000975 | $3.51 | 48GB |
| Nvidia A100 (80GB) | $0.001400 | $5.04 | 80GB |
| Nvidia H100 | $0.001525 | $5.49 | 80GB |
| 8x Nvidia H100 | $0.012200 | $43.92 | 640GB |
H200 and multi-GPU A100/H100/L40S capacity is listed with committed spend contracts. Volume discounts and enterprise support are available.
From replicate.com, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: Replicate pricing.
WaveSpeed plans and prices
| Model | Starting price | Output per $1 |
|---|---|---|
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | $0.045/image | 22 images |
| Nano Banana Pro | $0.14/image | 7 images |
| Nano Banana 2 | $0.045/image | 22 images |
| GPT Image 2.5 | $0.01/image | 100 images |
| Z-Image Turbo | $0.005/image | 200 images |
| Seedance 2.5 | $0.18/second | 5.5 seconds |
| Seedance 2.0 | $0.12/second | 8.3 seconds |
| Wan 3.0 | $0.05/second | 20 seconds |
| Kling 4.0 | $0.157/second | 6.3 seconds |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | $0.10/second | 10 seconds |
| InfiniteTalk | $0.03/second | 33.3 seconds |
Starting prices are list prices at the lowest resolution or quality; actual cost depends on resolution, duration and other parameters.
| Model | Context | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5 | 1M | $2/M | $10/M |
| GPT-6 Sol | 1.05M | $2/M | $10/M |
| GPT-6 Luna | 1.05M | $0.1/M | $0.5/M |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | 1M | $1.5/M | $7.5/M |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | 1M | $0.15/M | $0.6/M |
From wavespeed.ai, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: WaveSpeed pricing.
FAQ
How much does Replicate cost?
Public models billed per output (FLUX 1.1 Pro $0.04/image) or per second of hardware (T4 $0.81/hr, L40S $3.51/hr, A100 $5.04/hr, H100 $5.49/hr). (checked Nov 10, 2026).
How much does WaveSpeed cost?
Pay per use, $1 free credits for eligible new accounts; images from $0.005, video from $0.03/second. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Do Replicate and WaveSpeed have a free option?
Replicate: none in the published plan table. WaveSpeed: none in the published plan table.
Which is better, Replicate or WaveSpeed?
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: replicate.com (checked Nov 10, 2026) and wavespeed.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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