Sume image models at a $0.06 list price: Imagen Ultra and Ideogram

Three Sume image models list at $0.06 per image: Imagen 4 Ultra (imagen-4-ultra), Ideogram V3 (ideogram-v3) and Ideogram 4.5 (ideogram-v4.5, at its default medium quality). Times the catalog's 1.25 rule that is $0.075 per image before cent rounding. Pick Imagen 4 Ultra for text-only photographic prompts at 1K or 2K, and an Ideogram row when you need edits, references or unusual ratios.

All figures are from Sume's image router catalog and price tables in the repo, read 2026-10-03. Ideogram 4.5's list price depends on quality: the catalog notes low is $0.03 and high is $0.22 per image at list, so $0.06 is only the medium default.

Capabilities at the same list price

Both Ideogram rows list 1:3 and 3:1, shapes Imagen 4 Ultra does not offer. Imagen 4 Ultra is the only one of the three with no edit path.

How quality works on each

Ideogram V3's quality values map to Fal's rendering speed, according to the catalog constraint note, so TURBO is the fast setting and QUALITY the slow one. Ideogram 4.5 uses low, medium and high, with medium as the default. Imagen 4 Ultra exposes no quality value; it exposes a resolution tier instead, 1K or 2K.

That difference matters for budgeting. With Ideogram 4.5 you can move one request from $0.03 to $0.22 list by changing a single field. With Imagen 4 Ultra the price row is flat in the catalog.

References and edits

Ideogram 4.5's docs entry says that without input_references it generates from text, and with them it edits the first image and uses up to 4 more as references, 5 in total. An edit without aspect_ratio keeps the source image's shape. Ideogram V3 is edit-capable in the catalog too, but check its per-model reference range in GET /v1/images/models before relying on a number.

Imagen 4 Ultra rejects image_urls. If your workflow starts from a product photo, it is the wrong row at this price.

Choosing between them

For a head-to-head on the two Ideogram rows see Ideogram 4.5 vs Ideogram V3 on Sume. Always confirm the live price on the catalog endpoint, because list prices are subject to change.

• Photographic text prompt, no source image, 2K wanted: Imagen 4 Ultra.
• Extreme banner or column shapes (1:3, 3:1): Ideogram V3 or 4.5.
• Rendered text in the image with a quality dial: Ideogram 4.5.
• Cheaper first pass on the same family: Ideogram 4.5 at low quality, then raise it for finals.