Choosing an AI Provider
BatchGen Image supports multiple AI image providers. You connect with your own API key — the app sends requests directly to your chosen provider.
Quick recommendation
| Goal | Best choice |
|---|---|
| Best quality | OpenAI DALL-E 3 (HD) |
| Cheapest | Fireworks AI (FLUX Schnell) |
| Free tier available | Fireworks AI |
| Portrait / landscape sizes | OpenAI or Fireworks SDXL |
| Custom / local endpoint | OpenAI-Compatible |
Supported providers
| Provider | Image models | Sign up |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | DALL-E 3 | platform.openai.com |
| Fireworks AI | FLUX.1 Schnell FP8, FLUX.1 Dev FP8, SDXL | fireworks.ai |
| OpenRouter | Various (model-dependent) | openrouter.ai |
| Together AI | Stable Diffusion XL and others | api.together.xyz |
| Custom | Any OpenAI-compatible image endpoint | — |
OpenAI
The default provider. Supports full DALL-E 3 quality with Standard and HD tiers.
Pricing:
| Quality | Price per image |
|---|---|
| Standard | $0.040 |
| HD | $0.080 |
Standard is fine for social media graphics, web images, and drafts. HD is better for print, book covers, and hero images where detail matters.
Getting your API key:
- Go to platform.openai.com and create an account
- Add a payment method under Billing
- Go to API keys and click Create new secret key
- Copy the key and paste it into the app via the key icon
OpenAI gives new accounts some free credits to start with. Once those run out, billing is pay-as-you-go.
Supported sizes: 1024×1024, 1024×1792 (portrait), 1792×1024 (landscape)
Fireworks AI
Faster and cheaper than OpenAI for most use cases. Offers FLUX and SDXL models.
Models:
| Model | Notes |
|---|---|
flux-1-schnell-fp8 | Fastest and cheapest. Good for drafts and large batches. |
flux-1-dev-fp8 | Higher quality than Schnell, slower. |
| SDXL models | Supports portrait and landscape orientations (768×1344). |
Note: FLUX models only generate at 1024×1024 (square). For portrait or landscape outputs, use an SDXL model with Fireworks.
Getting started with Fireworks:
- Sign up at fireworks.ai and get an API key
- In the app, click the key icon and select Fireworks AI
- Paste your API key and click Test
OpenRouter
OpenRouter routes to 100+ models from a single API key. Image model availability depends on which models OpenRouter carries at a given time.
Set the model field to the full OpenRouter model ID, e.g. openai/dall-e-3.
Together AI
Together AI hosts Stable Diffusion XL and other open-source image models. Pricing is per-image and generally lower than OpenAI.
Use model IDs from their documentation, e.g. stabilityai/stable-diffusion-xl-base-1.0.
Custom (OpenAI-compatible)
Select Custom (OpenAI-Compatible) to connect to any endpoint that supports the OpenAI /images/generations API format.
Examples:
- A locally hosted model via ComfyUI with an OpenAI-compatible wrapper
- A self-hosted image generation server
- Azure OpenAI with DALL-E deployment
Enter the base URL (e.g. http://localhost:7860/v1) in the Base URL field.
Switching providers
You can switch providers at any time from the key icon. Each API key is saved separately per provider — switching does not delete previously saved keys.