AI Model Explorer: Compare 317 Models by Cost & Quality
Replicate lists 600+ models with no cost comparison. Hugging Face has model cards with no pricing. Neither helps you answer the question that actually matters: which model gives you the best result for what you can spend?
FairStack’s Model Explorer is a free tool that lets you filter AI models by modality (image, voice, video, music, 3D, talking head), sort by cost or quality tier, and see the exact infrastructure cost plus platform fee before you generate anything. This page explains how the tool works, what models are available, and why we selected them.
Model Explorer
[Interactive component: Filter by modality, sort by cost/quality/speed. Renders live from FairStack’s model registry.]
The explorer shows every model FairStack offers, organized by modality:
Image Models (142 models)
| Model | Type | FairStack Price |
|---|---|---|
| FLUX.1 Schnell | Text-to-image | $0.0036 |
| Z-Image Turbo | Text-to-image | $0.0048 |
| P-Image (Pruna) | Text-to-image | $0.006 |
| GPT Image 1.5 (low) | Text-to-image | $0.011 |
| Ideogram V3 | Text-to-image | $0.021 |
| Imagen 4 Fast | Text-to-image | $0.024 |
| FLUX.1 Dev | Text-to-image | $0.024 |
| Grok Imagine | Text-to-image | $0.024 |
| FLUX.2 | Text-to-image | $0.030 |
| FLUX.1 Kontext | Image editing | $0.030 |
| Seedream v4 | Text-to-image | $0.032 |
| Seedream 4.5 | Text-to-image | $0.038 |
| Imagen 4 | Text-to-image | $0.048 |
| Reve | Text-to-image | $0.048 |
| Nano Banana Pro | Text-to-image | $0.108 |
| GPT Image 1.5 (high) | Text-to-image | $0.160 |
Video Models (104 models)
| Model | Type | FairStack Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runway Gen-4 (5s) | Text-to-video | $0.072 | 5s |
| Hailuo 2.3 Fast | Text-to-video | $0.096 | 6s |
| Grok Imagine T2V | Text-to-video | $0.120 | 6s |
| Seedance 1.0 Pro | Text-to-video | $0.144 | 5s |
| Hailuo 02 Standard | Text-to-video | $0.180 | 6s |
| Runway Gen-4 (10s) | Text-to-video | $0.180 | 10s |
| Sora 2 | Text-to-video | $0.180 | 10s |
| CogVideoX-5B | Text-to-video | $0.240 | 10s |
| LTX-2 19B | T2V + Audio | $0.240 | 10s |
| WAN 2.5 | Image-to-video | $0.300 | 5s |
| Seedance v1.5 Pro | Image-to-video | $0.312 | 5s |
| Kling 2.6 | Text-to-video | $0.330 | 5s |
| WAN 2.1/2.2 | T2V / I2V | $0.360 | 5s |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | Text-to-video | $0.360 | 8s |
| WAN 2.6 | T2V / I2V | $0.420-0.600 | 5-15s |
| Sora 2 (RunPod) | Image-to-video | $0.480 | 5s |
| Kling v2.1 Pro | Image-to-video | $0.540 | 5s |
| Sora 2 Pro | Image-to-video | $1.440 | 5s |
| Veo 3.1 Quality | Text-to-video | $1.500 | 8s |
Voice Models (17 models)
| Model | Type | FairStack Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stable Audio Open | Text-to-audio | $0.000 | Free |
| Chatterbox Turbo | TTS + cloning | $0.0012/sec | Per second |
| CosyVoice2 | TTS + cloning | $0.0012/sec | Per second |
| ElevenLabs SFX | Sound effects | $0.0014/sec | Per second |
| ElevenLabs STT | Speech-to-text | $0.021/min | Per minute |
| Minimax Speech HD | TTS | $0.060/1K chars | Per 1K chars |
| ElevenLabs Multilingual V2 | TTS | $0.060/1K chars | Per 1K chars |
Music Models (32 models)
| Model | FairStack Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ACE-Step 1.5 | ~$0.005/track | Any duration up to 10 min, ~3s generation time |
| Suno v4 | $0.072/song | Full-length songs with vocals |
Why Open-Source Models?
FairStack runs primarily open-source and open-weight models: FLUX, WAN, ACE-Step, Chatterbox, CogVideoX, Whisper. We also offer commercial API models (Runway Gen-4, Imagen 4, Sora 2, ElevenLabs, Kling) through provider partnerships.
Three reasons for this approach:
1. Cost transparency is only possible with visible infrastructure. When we run FLUX.1 Schnell on an A100 GPU, we know the exact cost per second of compute. We publish that cost and add our 20% platform fee on top. Proprietary models with opaque pricing make this impossible — we can only pass through what the provider charges, plus our platform fee.
2. Open-source models improve faster than any single company’s model. FLUX, WAN, and ACE-Step all released major quality improvements in the past 6 months. When a new open-source model surpasses the current best, we add it. You get the upgrade automatically — no waiting for one company’s R&D roadmap.
3. No vendor lock-in on either side. If a better hosting provider appears, we can move open-source models without changing the model itself. If you want to self-host the same model, you can — the weights are public. FairStack competes on convenience and pricing, not on locking you into a proprietary format.
For commercial models (Runway, Imagen, Sora, ElevenLabs, Kling), we pass through the provider’s cost plus our platform fee. The pricing formula is the same — you see infrastructure cost + platform fee for every generation, regardless of whether the model is open-source or commercial.
How We Select Models
Not every model makes the cut. FairStack curates rather than catalogs. The selection criteria:
Quality gate. Every model must produce output that a professional would use in production. We test across standard prompts and reject models with consistent artifacts, low coherence, or poor prompt adherence. Models that pass are assigned a quality tier (budget, standard, premium).
Cost efficiency. For each modality, we maintain at least three price tiers. You can generate a quick-draft image for $0.0036 (FLUX.1 Schnell) or a premium image for $0.048 (Imagen 4). The model explorer makes this tradeoff visible.
Provider reliability. Models must be available with >99% uptime through at least one of our infrastructure providers (RunPod, Kie.ai, fal.ai). We route to the cheapest available provider for each model and fall back automatically if one provider goes down.
Update cadence. We evaluate new models monthly and retire models that have been surpassed. When WAN 2.6 shipped, it replaced WAN 2.1 as the recommended video model at its price tier. Old models remain available but are marked as superseded in the explorer.
Model Cost Breakdown: Infrastructure + Platform Fee
Every price in the model explorer follows the same formula:
Your cost = Infrastructure cost + 20% platform feeThe infrastructure cost is what FairStack pays the GPU provider (RunPod, Kie.ai, or fal.ai) to run the model. The platform fee is FairStack’s revenue — a flat 20% on every generation. No subscription required. No tiers.
Worked example — Imagen 4 (text-to-image):
Infrastructure cost: $0.040 (Kie.ai provider cost)
+ Platform fee (20%): $0.008
= You pay: $0.048Every generation receipt shows this breakdown. No credits to decode, no hidden fees, no “compute units” that obscure the real cost.
You can check the cost of any generation before running it:
# Estimate cost before generating (no credits deducted)
curl -X POST https://api.fairstack.ai/v1/estimate \
-H "Authorization: Bearer fs_your_api_key" \
-d '{
"model": "imagen-4-t2i",
"params": {"prompt": "a mountain landscape at sunset"}
}'
# Response
{
"model": "imagen-4-t2i",
"estimated_cost_micro": 48000,
"estimated_cost_display": "$0.048",
"breakdown": {
"infra_micro": 40000,
"platform_fee_micro": 8000,
"platform_fee_percent": 20
}
}FAQ
How often do you add new models?
We evaluate new models monthly and add any that pass our quality gate at a competitive price point. When a model is added, existing users can access it immediately — no plan upgrade required.
Can I request a specific model?
Yes. If there is a model you want that we do not currently offer, contact us. If it meets our quality and reliability criteria, we will add it. Many of our current models were added based on user requests.
What happens when a model is retired?
Retired models are marked as “superseded” in the explorer with a pointer to the recommended replacement. We keep retired models available for at least 90 days after marking them superseded, so existing workflows are not disrupted.
Why are some models more expensive on FairStack than self-hosting?
FairStack’s price includes infrastructure management, auto-scaling, CDN storage for outputs, and the persistent asset library. If you self-host a model, you pay only the GPU cost but also manage deployment, scaling, monitoring, and storage yourself. FairStack is priced for people who want to generate, not operate infrastructure.
Do all models support the API?
Yes. Every model in the explorer is accessible through the REST API and MCP server at the same price as the web app. No separate API pricing tier.
Want to see the full model catalog with live pricing? Open the Model Explorer — filter by modality, sort by cost, and check prices before you generate. Or start with $10 in credits (get $11 with the first-deposit bonus) and try any model.