Is Black Forest Labs or Subframe better?

Neither clearly leads. Black Forest Labs starts at $0.17/month and Subframe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Black Forest Labs or Subframe?

Subframe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.17/month for Black Forest Labs and Free for Subframe.

Does Black Forest Labs or Subframe run on more platforms?

Black Forest Labs runs on web, api. Subframe runs on Web.

Can I use Subframe for free?

Yes. Subframe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Black Forest Labs starts at $0.17/month.

What is Black Forest Labs best used for?

Black Forest Labs is most often used for generating high-fidelity images via api for production apps, self-hosting open-weight flux models on private infrastructure, producing short branded video clips with synchronized audio, robotics research using action-prediction models. Of those, generating high-fidelity images via api for production apps and self-hosting open-weight flux models on private infrastructure are not what Subframe is typically brought in for.

What can Black Forest Labs do that Subframe cannot?

Black Forest Labs covers FLUX 3 image generation, Video generation, Synchronized audio generation, Open weights.

AI Tools · head to head

Black Forest Labs vs Subframe

Black Forest Labs

AI Tools

Frontier AI lab behind the FLUX family of image, video, and audio generation models

From: $0.17/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Subframe

Design Tools

The AI-native design tool built for code

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Subframe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Black Forest Labs open weights licensing tiers (Builder, Platform, Professional) do not list public prices, requiring sales contact for most volumes.; Subframe the free plan is capped at 1 project, 10 pages, and 2 prototypes with limited AI usage and only 24 hour version history, versus unlimited AI on the $29 per editor per month Pro plan, as of August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Black Forest Labs and Subframe actually diverge.

Attributes where Black Forest Labs and Subframe differ
Attribute	Black Forest Labs	Subframe
Starting price	$0.17/month	Free
Pricing model	usage-based	freemium
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	web, api	Web
Category	AI Tools	Design Tools

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Black Forest Labs

FLUX 3 image generation
Video generation
Synchronized audio generation
Open weights
Action-prediction
Fine-tuning and LoRA rights
Pricing calculator

Only in Subframe

Nothing recorded that Black Forest Labs does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Black Forest Labs

Generating high-fidelity images via API for production appsnot Subframe
Self-hosting open-weight FLUX models on private infrastructurenot Subframe
Producing short branded video clips with synchronized audionot Subframe
Robotics research using action-prediction modelsnot Subframe

Subframe

No use cases recorded yet. See the Subframe review.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Black Forest Labs

Open weights licensing tiers (Builder, Platform, Professional) do not list public prices, requiring sales contact for most volumes.
Video generation pricing per second can become costly for longer or higher-resolution outputs compared to subscription-based competitors.
No consumer subscription plan; pricing is oriented toward developers and enterprises rather than casual creators.

Subframe

The free plan is capped at 1 project, 10 pages, and 2 prototypes with limited AI usage and only 24 hour version history, versus unlimited AI on the $29 per editor per month Pro plan, as of August 2026.

Pricing, plan by plan

Black Forest Labs

$0.17/month

API (video)$0.17/month
- $0.17 per second of generated video
Builder$undefined/mo
- FLUX.2 [klein] models
- 10K images/month
- 1 domain, 10 licensed users
Platform$undefined/mo
- FLUX.2 [klein] 9B + FLUX.2 [dev]
- 100K images/month
- 1 domain, 10 licensed users
Professional$undefined/mo
- FLUX.2 [dev] open weights license
- 100K images/month
- Up to 3 domains, 10 licensed users

Subframe

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Subframe review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Black Forest Labs if

You need flux 3 image generation.
You work on web, api.
You also want video generation.

Black Forest Labs review

Choose Subframe if

You want to start without paying.

Subframe review

Questions people ask

Is Black Forest Labs or Subframe better?: Neither clearly leads. Black Forest Labs starts at $0.17/month and Subframe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Black Forest Labs or Subframe?: Subframe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.17/month for Black Forest Labs and Free for Subframe.
Does Black Forest Labs or Subframe run on more platforms?: Black Forest Labs runs on web, api. Subframe runs on Web.
Can I use Subframe for free?: Yes. Subframe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Black Forest Labs starts at $0.17/month.
What is Black Forest Labs best used for?: Black Forest Labs is most often used for generating high-fidelity images via api for production apps, self-hosting open-weight flux models on private infrastructure, producing short branded video clips with synchronized audio, robotics research using action-prediction models. Of those, generating high-fidelity images via api for production apps and self-hosting open-weight flux models on private infrastructure are not what Subframe is typically brought in for.
What can Black Forest Labs do that Subframe cannot?: Black Forest Labs covers FLUX 3 image generation, Video generation, Synchronized audio generation, Open weights.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Black Forest Labs: How much does Black Forest Labs' API cost?

The API is pay-as-you-go with no subscription required; video generation costs $0.17 per second, so a 5-second HD clip costs about $0.85.

Source

Black Forest Labs: Is there a free plan?

No free tier is offered; the pricing page lists only pay-as-you-go API usage and paid open-weights licensing tiers starting with Builder.

Source

Black Forest Labs: What do the open-weights licensing tiers include?

Builder includes FLUX.2 [klein] models with 10K images/month for one domain; Platform and Professional raise the cap to 100K images/month and add FLUX.2 [dev] access and fine-tuning rights.

Source

Black Forest Labs: Can I self-host FLUX models?

Yes, open weights licenses let teams download and self-host FLUX.2 [klein] and FLUX.2 [dev] models on their own infrastructure under the Builder, Platform, and Professional tiers.

Source

Black Forest Labs: How do I get enterprise or high-volume pricing?

Enterprise plans covering custom volume, all model releases, and SLA guarantees are not published and require contacting Black Forest Labs' sales team directly.

Source

Black Forest Labs vs Subframe

Black Forest Labs

Subframe

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Black Forest Labs

Only in Subframe

What people use each for

Black Forest Labs

Subframe

Where each one falls short

Black Forest Labs

Subframe

Pricing, plan by plan

Black Forest Labs

Subframe

Which should you pick?

Choose Black Forest Labs if

Choose Subframe if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Black Forest Labs

More on Subframe

Keep looking

Other head to heads