Last updated: 2026-06-13
FLUX by Black Forest Labs generates and edits AI images from $0.014 each via API, with open-weight FLUX.2 [klein] models under the Apache 2.0 license.
FLUX is Black Forest Labs' image generation model family, with pay-per-image API pricing from $0.014 for FLUX.2 [klein] up to $0.07 for FLUX.2 [max]. FLUX.2 [klein] (4B/9B) is open weight under Apache 2.0, generating images in under one second on an NVIDIA GB200. The official MCP server connects FLUX.2 to Claude, Cursor, and Codex with OAuth, no API keys required.
FLUX is the image generation and editing model family built by Black Forest Labs, a Freiburg-based AI company founded in 2024 by Robin Rombach, Andreas Blattmann, Patrick Esser, and Dominik Lorenz, the team behind the original Stable Diffusion. The flagship FLUX.2 generation, released in November 2025, solves the consistency problem that plagued earlier diffusion models: it can hold a character, product, or style steady across dozens of generated variations at up to 4 megapixel resolution. FLUX.2 runs on a 32 billion parameter latent flow matching transformer paired with a Mistral-3 24B vision-language model, letting it reason about spatial relationships, physical properties, and lighting before it renders pixels. The FLUX.2 [klein] models, added in January 2026, strip this down to 4B and 9B parameter variants that generate or edit multiple images in under one second on an NVIDIA GB200, and the 4B model fits in roughly 13GB of VRAM, small enough for a single RTX 3090 or 4070. FLUX is built for developers and creative teams who need API-driven, on-brand image generation at scale: product photography with consistent lighting across hundreds of SKUs, marketing creative that keeps a mascot or model identical across scenes, and apps that need accurate in-image text for signs, posters, and book covers. The official FLUX MCP server at mcp.bfl.ai exposes the full FLUX.2 toolkit, generation, editing, multi-reference composition, and history, to any MCP client including Claude, Cursor, Codex, and Windsurf with OAuth sign-in and no API keys to manage. Pricing is pay-per-image with no subscription: FLUX.2 [klein] starts at $0.014 per image, FLUX.2 [pro] at $0.03, FLUX.2 [flex] at $0.05, and FLUX.2 [max] at $0.07, with megapixel-based scaling for higher resolutions. New users get 200 free credits, about 12 pro-model generations, in the BFL Playground at playground.bfl.ai without third-party sign-up, and FLUX.2 [klein] is also available as open weights under the Apache 2.0 license for self-hosting. Black Forest Labs raised a $300 million Series B in December 2025 at a $3.25 billion valuation, co-led by AMP and Salesforce Ventures with participation from a16z, NVIDIA, and Northzone, bringing total funding past $450 million. FLUX models are already integrated into Adobe, Microsoft Azure AI Foundry, Freepik, and ComfyUI, and FLUX.2 [pro] generally outperforms Midjourney on prompt adherence for complex scenes while matching it on photorealism.
Pay-per-image, no subscription. FLUX.2 [klein] from $0.014/image, [pro] from $0.03, [flex] from $0.05, [max] from $0.07 (megapixel-based scaling for higher resolutions). New users get 200 free Playground credits (about 12 pro generations). FLUX.2 [klein] (4B/9B) is open weight under Apache 2.0 for free self-hosting.
FLUX is the image generation and editing model family built by Black Forest Labs, a German AI company founded in 2024 by the original creators of Stable Diffusion. It generates photorealistic images from text prompts and edits existing images through natural language instructions. The flagship FLUX.2 generation, released in November 2025, runs on a 32 billion parameter latent flow matching transformer paired with a Mistral-3 24B vision-language model. This lets it understand spatial relationships, lighting, and physics before rendering pixels, producing images up to 4 megapixels. FLUX.2 [klein], added in January 2026, is a smaller 4B/9B variant that generates or edits images in under one second on an NVIDIA GB200. Black Forest Labs has raised over $450 million, including a $300 million Series B at a $3.25 billion valuation in December 2025.
FLUX uses pay-per-image API pricing with no monthly subscription. FLUX.2 [klein] starts at $0.014 per image, FLUX.2 [pro] at $0.03, FLUX.2 [flex] at $0.05, and FLUX.2 [max] at $0.07, with megapixel-based pricing that scales for higher resolutions. The earlier FLUX.1 lineup charges $0.04 for FLUX1.1 [pro], $0.06 for FLUX1.1 [pro] Ultra, and $0.04 to $0.08 for Kontext [pro] and [max]. New users get 200 free credits in the BFL Playground, enough for roughly 12 pro-model generations, without needing third-party sign-up. FLUX.2 [klein] (4B and 9B) is also free to self-host under the Apache 2.0 open weights license. There are no hidden seat fees; you pay only for what you generate.
FLUX.2's multi-reference composition can generate dozens of consistent image variations from multiple reference photos in a single pass, keeping characters and products identical across scenes. FLUX.1 Kontext preserves a character, object, or art style across iterative edits while making targeted local changes without disturbing the rest of the image. FLUX renders in-image text with notably high accuracy, making it suitable for signs, posters, and book covers where many competitors produce garbled letters. The official FLUX MCP server at mcp.bfl.ai exposes the full FLUX.2 toolkit, generation, editing, multi-reference composition, and history, to MCP clients like Claude, Cursor, Codex, and Windsurf via OAuth sign-in. FLUX.2 [klein] adds sub-second generation speed on an NVIDIA GB200 and runs on consumer GPUs with around 13GB of VRAM.
FLUX is not entirely free for hosted use, but it has several free paths. New users to the BFL Playground at playground.bfl.ai receive 200 free credits, roughly 12 pro-model image generations, with just a BFL account and no third-party sign-up. FLUX.2 [klein] (4B and 9B parameters) and FLUX.1 [dev]/[schnell] are released as open weights, with FLUX.2 [klein] under the Apache 2.0 license for commercial self-hosting, so anyone with a capable GPU can run them at no cost. Beyond the free credits, all hosted API and Playground generations are billed per image starting at $0.014. There is no free unlimited tier for the hosted [pro], [flex], or [max] models. Local deployment of the largest FLUX.2 models requires roughly 90GB of VRAM, which limits free use to those with serious hardware.
Midjourney is the closest competitor on output quality, with version 8.1 offering sharper textures and an HD Mode, but it runs on $10 to $60 monthly subscriptions through Discord and a web app rather than FLUX's pay-per-image API. Ideogram remains the leader for in-image text rendering on logos and posters and offers one of the strongest free tiers among major image generators, making it a better pick for users who want to test extensively before paying. Adobe Firefly is the only major generator trained exclusively on licensed content, giving it full commercial indemnification, which matters for enterprises wary of copyright risk that FLUX's training data does not address as explicitly. Stable Diffusion remains the most customizable fully open-source option for users who want complete control over fine-tunes and community extensions. Choose FLUX when you need API-first pricing, multi-reference consistency, and an open-weight option in the same family.
FLUX is best for developers and technical teams building image generation directly into apps, agents, or pipelines through its API or official MCP server. Product and marketing teams that need consistent, on-brand visuals across hundreds of assets, such as product photography or ad creative, benefit from FLUX.2's multi-reference consistency. ComfyUI and Stable Diffusion users who want open-weight, frontier-quality models for self-hosting can run FLUX.2 [klein] on a single RTX 3090 or 4070 with around 13GB of VRAM. AI agent builders integrating image generation into Claude, Cursor, Codex, or Windsurf can connect via the MCP server with OAuth and no API key management. FLUX is a poor fit for non-technical users who want a polished, community-driven web app with galleries and remixing, since the BFL Playground is a bare-bones interface and Midjourney or Ideogram serve that audience better.
Yes, Black Forest Labs offers a simple-to-integrate REST API at api.bfl.ai built to handle production workloads at scale, documented at docs.bfl.ml. The API gives access to every current FLUX.2 model, [klein] 4B and 9B, [pro], [flex], and [max], plus the FLUX.1 and Kontext lineup, all billed per image starting at $0.014. Beyond text-to-image and editing, the API supports tools like FLUX Outpainting, FLUX Eraser, and FLUX VTO for virtual try-on. For agent workflows, the official FLUX MCP server at mcp.bfl.ai is a hosted, remote MCP endpoint using OAuth-only authentication, so MCP clients like Claude, Cursor, Codex, and Windsurf can generate, edit, vary, and browse FLUX.2 images without pasting API keys into a conversation. A pricing calculator on bfl.ai/pricing helps estimate megapixel-based costs before committing.
FLUX.2 [pro] generally outperforms Midjourney on prompt adherence for complex, multi-element scenes and matches or exceeds it on photorealism and text rendering, according to comparative reviews. Midjourney still produces the most consistently striking, artistic aesthetic, particularly for abstract or stylized concepts where FLUX tends toward literal interpretations. On pricing, FLUX charges per image from $0.014 to $0.07 with no subscription, while Midjourney requires a $10 to $60 monthly plan regardless of usage, making FLUX more cost-flexible for high-volume or API-driven workloads. Midjourney's Discord-based community offers galleries, remixing, and social discovery that FLUX's bare-bones Playground lacks. FLUX.2 [klein] also offers an open-weight, self-hostable option under Apache 2.0 that Midjourney does not provide at all, since Midjourney is closed source and cloud-only. Pick FLUX for API integration, consistency across image sets, and open-weight flexibility; pick Midjourney for out-of-the-box artistic quality and a social creative community.