When you build with image or video generation APIs, the bill usually surprises you after the fact. Input tokens, output tokens, image resolution, seconds of video - you only see the total at the end of the month.
There is a simpler pattern: know the price before you send the request.
The problem with post-hoc pricing
Most visual AI providers calculate cost after generation:
- You pick a model and some settings
- The job runs
- You get charged by tokens, pixels, or seconds
- Your invoice arrives later
That works, but it makes budgeting awkward when you run a lot of jobs, or when you let users generate content in your own product.
What pre-flight pricing looks like
With Pixapi, you choose a supported model and settings, and the API returns the required credits before you commit. You know instantly whether a generation is inside your budget.
Some example prices (check current pricing for the live numbers):
- Nano Banana from 2 credits (roughly $0.02)
- Supported routes typically 20-49% below official list prices
One key, one balance
You do not need separate keys or balances per model family. A single Bearer key and credit balance covers:
- Image generation
- Image editing
- Async video generation (Veo, Kling, Wan, and more)
Practical tips
- Always read the estimated credits from the pre-flight response and cache it for your UI
- For async video routes, poll the job status endpoint instead of blocking
- Set a hard credit budget client-side so a runaway job cannot drain the balance
Docs: https://pixapi.ai/docs
This article was originally published at pixapi.ai - canonical source.
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