Pay only for delivered images: who bills for retries
OrcaRouter says Hy Image 3.5 bills only for delivered images. Sume's image API bills a completed generation in full and does not bill failed or cancelled ones.
OrcaRouter reports that Hy Image 3.5 bills only for delivered output images, so discarded and failed generations cost nothing. Sume's Image API works the same way in effect: a completed generation is billed in full, and failed or cancelled generations are not billed.
What the comparison says
The OrcaRouter comparison states the billing rule for Hy Image 3.5, quotes CNY 0.15 for domestic 2K, and notes that Qwen charges input images at CNY 0.02 each.
| Model | Billing rule | Figure quoted |
|---|---|---|
| Hy Image 3.5 | Delivered output images only; failed and discarded cost nothing | CNY 0.15, domestic 2K |
| Qwen | Input images are charged | CNY 0.02 per input image |
What Sume documents
Image generation billing is all-or-nothing. Completed generations are fully billed at endpoint pricing. Failed or cancelled generations are not billed, and failed requests return 502 Bad Gateway. A client that disconnects early is treated as a failed generation and is not billed either.
Endpoint pricing lines are what your wallet is charged, with Sume's margin already applied, so cost_usd times n is the cost. The job's usage.cost is the billed USD amount.
Why it matters for retries
If a provider charges for every attempt, a retry policy multiplies spend. With delivered-only billing the main risk is paying for results you do not use, not for failures. Either way, set a retry limit and use an Idempotency-Key so a network retry returns the original job instead of creating a second one.
- Retry transport errors with the same idempotency key.
- Do not auto-retry on a content-quality judgment.
- Log cost per delivered image, not per attempt.
Sources
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