Recraft: marketplaces match its prices, not controls
Recraft's own comparison found that fal, OpenRouter and its direct API charge the same list prices for its V4.1 image model, but only the direct API applies custom styles to its newest model.
Image-model maker Recraft compared how its models are offered on fal, OpenRouter and its own API. It checked each endpoint's published schema and price on November 8, 2026. Recraft is the vendor here, so this is its own comparison, not an independent one.
List prices are the same everywhere it looked. V4.1 costs $0.035 per image, V4.1 Pro costs $0.21, and native SVG output costs $0.08. Brand and background colors also work on all three. The differences are in which controls each endpoint exposes. Neither marketplace lets you apply a custom style to V4.1, so you have to call the direct API to use custom styles with Recraft's newest model. Both marketplaces do carry Recraft's older V4 Styles models, including styled SVG.
OpenRouter has no reusable style ID. Its V4 Styles models take reference images on every request and charge the $0.005 style-creation fee each time. The direct API and fal charge that fee once per saved style. By Recraft's math, OpenRouter's approach adds $50 per 10,000 single-image requests. Billing also differs: the direct API sells prepaid units at $1 per 1,000 that do not expire, while the marketplaces bill per call on their own terms.
According to Recraft, OpenRouter lists Recraft itself as the provider behind its Recraft endpoints. Replicate also hosts V4.1, but the post didn't include it in the table.
The post also notes how large the marketplace layer has become. It cites fal's $1.3 billion Series F at a $16 billion valuation, led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Recraft's advice is to read each endpoint's schema before assuming it matches the direct API.