---
title: "FLUX.2 [schnell] API pricing"
canonical: "https://router.xark.io/models/flux-2-schnell"
description: "FLUX.2 [schnell] at $0.0018/img, 40% below the official rate. Apache 2.0 licensed, OpenAI-compatible."
section: "models"
updated: "2026-09-02"
source: "https://router.xark.io/models/flux-2-schnell.md"
---

# FLUX.2 [schnell] API pricing

FLUX.2 [schnell] costs $0.0018 per image, against an official rate of $0.0030 — 40% below official pricing. It is a Black Forest Labs model under the Apache 2.0 licence, callable through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint with the model id `black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell`. This model is listed for reference and is not currently served by an upstream provider, so requests for it return no available channel.

**Availability:** not currently served. No configured upstream carries FLUX.2 [schnell], so a request naming `black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell` returns `no available channel`. The rate below is what it will cost once an upstream carries it. 7 of the 24 catalogued models are callable today.

## At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Model id | `black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell` |
| Publisher | Black Forest Labs |
| Modality | image |
| Licence | Apache 2.0 — [what it permits](https://router.xark.io/licences/apache-2-0.md) |
| Capacity | up to 2K |
| Released | Feb 25, 2026 |
| Unit | per image |
| Saving vs official | 40% |
| Callable today | No |

## Pricing

| Line item | Applies to | Our rate | Official rate | Saving |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Image output | All requests | $0.0018/img | $0.0030/img | 40% off |

## Other providers carrying this model

| Provider | Input | Output |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI Token Router | $0.0018/img | — |
| Replicate | $0.0035/img | — |
| fal.ai | $0.0030/img | — |
| Publisher (official) | $0.0030/img | — |

## What it is

Four-step distilled generation under Apache 2.0. Fast and cheap enough to put image generation directly in a user-facing loop.

## Good for

- User-facing real-time image generation
- High-volume thumbnail and variant production
- Prototyping before committing to a heavier model

## Calling it

### Python

```python
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
    base_url="https://router.xark.io/api/v1"   # ← the only line that changes
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
)
```

### Node.js

```javascript
import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.ROUTER_API_KEY,
  baseURL: "https://router.xark.io/api/v1"   // ← the only line that changes
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }]
});
```

### cURL

```bash
curl https://router.xark.io/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
  }'
```

## Questions

### What does FLUX.2 [schnell] cost on AI Token Router, and what is the official rate?

FLUX.2 [schnell] is billed at $0.0018 per image here, against Black Forest Labs's official $0.0030 — 40% below, or $0.0012 per image back. There is no platform fee, no minimum spend and no per-job surcharge on top of that rate, and failed requests are not billed. The official figure is published next to ours because a discount with no stated benchmark is not a claim anyone can check.

### Can I call FLUX.2 [schnell] right now?

No. FLUX.2 [schnell] is catalogued but not currently servable — no configured upstream provider carries it, so a request naming `black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell` returns `no available channel` instead of a result. The rate on this page is what it will cost once an upstream serves it, not something you can spend today. The image models you can call today are Qwen-Image. 7 of the 24 catalogued models are callable, and every page says which it is.

### How do I generate an image with FLUX.2 [schnell]?

POST to `https://router.xark.io/api/v1/images/generations` with `"model": "black-forest-labs/flux-2-schnell"` and a prompt, or call `images.generate` on an OpenAI SDK pointed at `https://router.xark.io/api/v1`. The request and response shapes follow the OpenAI images API, so an existing integration needs the base URL and the model id changed and nothing else. The bare name `flux-2-schnell`, without the provider prefix, resolves to the same model.

### What resolution does FLUX.2 [schnell] output, and what counts as one billable image?

FLUX.2 [schnell] outputs at up to 2K. Billing is per generated image at $0.0018/img — one rate, so resolution, prompt length and the number of denoising steps do not change what you are charged, and a request that fails is not billed at all. Asking for several images in one call bills as that many images, which is the same as making the calls separately.

### What licence is FLUX.2 [schnell] under, and can I use it commercially?

FLUX.2 [schnell] is published by Black Forest Labs under the Apache 2.0 licence. Apache 2.0 is a standard permissive licence: commercial use, modification and redistribution are allowed, subject to keeping the notices and stating what you changed. It also carries an explicit patent grant from the contributors, which terminates if you bring a patent claim over the work — that grant is usually the reason a legal team prefers it to MIT. No user threshold and no field-of-use restriction apply.

### How does FLUX.2 [schnell] pricing here compare with other providers carrying it?

Of the 2 other providers we track carrying FLUX.2 [schnell], the lowest is fal.ai at $0.0030/img, against our $0.0018/img. That is where the rates stood when we last reconciled them, and it can change without notice — we are not claiming to be the cheapest source for this model, only that our rate sits below Black Forest Labs's official $0.0030/img. If you find one of these figures stale, tell us and we will correct it.

### What is FLUX.2 [schnell] actually good at?

Four-step distilled generation under Apache 2.0. Fast and cheap enough to put image generation directly in a user-facing loop. In practice that points at user-facing real-time image generation, high-volume thumbnail and variant production and prototyping before committing to a heavier model. The specifics that actually decide a fit — the rate, the licence and what it will and will not serve today — are all on this page rather than behind a sales conversation.

## Related models

| Model | Our rate | Callable | Document |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Qwen-Image | $0.0120/img | Yes | [read](https://router.xark.io/models/qwen-image.md) |
| Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large | $0.0210/img | No | [read](https://router.xark.io/models/sd-3-5-large.md) |
| HiDream-I1 | $0.0150/img | No | [read](https://router.xark.io/models/hidream-i1.md) |