# 20 public AI API SKUs: starting-price study, 06 November 2026

> A dated study of 20 public API SKUs, with modality counts and separate price distributions by billing unit.

Canonical: https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing

Published 2026-11-06. Updated 2026-11-06. Author: CheapAIAPI.

This study describes a dated public pricing snapshot. See [models and pricing](https://cheapaiapi.org/models/) for current public rates and account access.

## Study sections

- [Catalog coverage by modality](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#catalog-coverage)
- [Image starting prices](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#image-prices)
- [Text input and output prices](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#text-prices)
- [Video resolution-rate distribution](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#video-prices)
- [Underlying image and text starting prices](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#underlying-tables)
- [Underlying video rates](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#video-rate-table)
- [Methodology and limitations](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#methodology)
- [Frequently asked questions](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#faq)
- [Suggested citation](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#suggested-citation)
- [Sources](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#sources)

## [Catalog coverage by modality](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#catalog-coverage)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, the catalog contains 20 unique SKUs: 10 image, 4 text, and 6 video. Each SKU counts once.

| Modality | Unique SKUs | Share of all unique SKUs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| image | 10 | 50% |
| text | 4 | 20% |
| video | 6 | 30% |
## [Image starting prices](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#image-prices)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, across 10 image SKUs, the lowest starting price is $0.024 and the median is $0.04 per generation. Lowest-price SKUs: nano-banana, nano-banana-2-lite-1k.

| Unit | SKU count | Lowest | Median | Lowest SKU(s) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| USD per image generation | 10 | $0.024 | $0.04 | nano-banana, nano-banana-2-lite-1k |
## [Text input and output prices](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#text-prices)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, across 4 text SKUs, median input pricing is $0.7875 and median output pricing is $4.4625 per million tokens. Lowest input price is $0.175 (gemini-3.1-flash-lite); lowest output price is $1.05 (gemini-3.1-flash-lite).

| Unit | SKU count | Lowest | Median | Lowest SKU(s) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| USD per 1M input tokens | 4 | $0.175 | $0.7875 | gemini-3.1-flash-lite |
| USD per 1M output tokens | 4 | $1.05 | $4.4625 | gemini-3.1-flash-lite |
## [Video resolution-rate distribution](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#video-prices)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, the 6 video SKUs expose 17 model-resolution rates. The lowest is $0.0427 (wan-3.0 / 480p) and the median is $0.171 per generated output second.

| Unit | Model-resolution rate count | Lowest | Median | Lowest model-resolution pair(s) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| USD per output second | 17 | $0.0427 | $0.171 | wan-3.0 / 480p |
## [Underlying image and text starting prices](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#underlying-tables)

Exact source decimal values, USD. Each listed image SKU is one source catalog entry. Text input and output rates are per million tokens.

| SKU | Modality | Pricing unit | Image price | Input price | Output price |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| gemini-3.1-flash-lite | text | per_million_tokens | — | 0.175 | 1.05 |
| gemini-3.1-pro | text | per_million_tokens | — | 1.4 | 8.4 |
| gemini-3.5-flash | text | per_million_tokens | — | 1.05 | 6.3 |
| gemini-3.7-flash | text | per_million_tokens | — | 0.525 | 2.625 |
| gpt-image-2.5 | image | per_call | 0.04 | — | — |
| gpt-image-2.6 | image | per_call | 0.04 | — | — |
| nano-banana | image | per_call | 0.024 | — | — |
| nano-banana-2-lite-1k | image | per_call | 0.024 | — | — |
| nano-banana-2.1-1k | image | per_call | 0.028 | — | — |
| nano-banana-2.1-2k | image | per_call | 0.038 | — | — |
| nano-banana-2.1-4k | image | per_call | 0.06 | — | — |
| nano-banana-pro-1k | image | per_call | 0.07 | — | — |
| nano-banana-pro-2k | image | per_call | 0.08 | — | — |
| nano-banana-pro-4k | image | per_call | 0.11 | — | — |
## [Underlying video rates](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#video-rate-table)

Exact source decimal values, USD per generated output second. The public source formula is resolution_rate_usd * output_duration_seconds. Reference-video billing is outside this snapshot's formula and these findings.

| SKU | Resolution | USD per output second |
| --- | --- | --- |
| seedance-2.0 | 1080p | 0.55 |
| seedance-2.0 | 480p | 0.115 |
| seedance-2.0 | 4k | 1.25 |
| seedance-2.0 | 720p | 0.25 |
| seedance-2.0-fast | 480p | 0.08 |
| seedance-2.0-fast | 720p | 0.18 |
| seedance-2.0-mini | 480p | 0.054 |
| seedance-2.0-mini | 720p | 0.115 |
| seedance-2.5 | 1080p | 0.93 |
| seedance-2.5 | 480p | 0.175 |
| seedance-2.5 | 720p | 0.375 |
| wan-3.0 | 1080p | 0.171 |
| wan-3.0 | 480p | 0.0427 |
| wan-3.0 | 720p | 0.0855 |
| wan-3.0-prime | 1080p | 0.2674 |
| wan-3.0-prime | 480p | 0.0669 |
| wan-3.0-prime | 720p | 0.1337 |
## [Methodology and limitations](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#methodology)

Observed https://cheapaiapi.org/pricing.json at 2026-11-06T15:39:29.688917+00:00. Source status: database_backed_snapshot; prices_may_be_stale=false. Scope is public new-customer starting prices, prepaid usage-based, USD. Identical SKU duplicates count once; conflicting duplicates and invalid prices are rejected. Each SKU has equal weight in its modality. Video distribution counts each model-resolution pair once. Medians average the middle pair for an even sample. Catalog-share percentages use all unique SKUs as denominator and round to two decimals. At least 20 distinct SKUs are required for publication. Each price distribution requires two observations. Rates from different billing units are never pooled. These descriptive statistics describe public starting-price entries. Quality, latency, popularity, competitor savings, and account-specific prices are outside the study. Consult current pricing.json and authenticated GET /v1/models for current account terms.
## Frequently asked questions

### [How many public API SKUs are in this snapshot?](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#faq-catalog-coverage)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, the catalog contains 20 unique SKUs: 10 image, 4 text, and 6 video. Each SKU counts once.
### [What are the lowest and median image starting prices?](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#faq-image-prices)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, across 10 image SKUs, the lowest starting price is $0.024 and the median is $0.04 per generation. Lowest-price SKUs: nano-banana, nano-banana-2-lite-1k.
### [What are the median input and output token prices?](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#faq-text-prices)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, across 4 text SKUs, median input pricing is $0.7875 and median output pricing is $4.4625 per million tokens. Lowest input price is $0.175 (gemini-3.1-flash-lite); lowest output price is $1.05 (gemini-3.1-flash-lite).
### [How many video rates are listed and what is their median?](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing#faq-video-prices)

In CheapAIAPI's 2026-11-06 public starting-price snapshot, the 6 video SKUs expose 17 model-resolution rates. The lowest is $0.0427 (wan-3.0 / 480p) and the median is $0.171 per generated output second.
## Suggested citation

CheapAIAPI. (2026-11-06). 20 public AI API SKUs: starting-price study, 06 November 2026. https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing.

[Canonical study](https://cheapaiapi.org/research/api-pricing)

## Sources

- [Official public starting-price catalog](https://cheapaiapi.org/pricing.json) — Accessed 2026-11-06.
## Related

- [All research](https://cheapaiapi.org/research)
- [Current models and pricing](https://cheapaiapi.org/models/)