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Comparisons

# What Are the Best Qwen Image Alternatives for Generation and Editing?

Makernice Team · 2026-11-11 · Updated 2026-11-12

Prices as of November 12, 2026 (price list v15).

## Key takeaways

-   Qwen3 Image generates at 1k and 2k in 8 aspect ratios and edits with up to 3 reference images; Qwen3 Pro Image has the same limits.
-   For edits that combine many images, MiniMax H3-Image takes up to 16, Seedream 5.0 14, and Seedream 5.5 and Seedream 5.0 Pro 10 each.
-   MiniMax H3-Image offers 13 text-to-image aspect ratios, the widest choice among Makernice image models; Seedream 5.0 renders at 2k only.
-   Platforms that print a plain US-dollar per-image price for Qwen3 Image are listed below with the tiers and check date; the amounts are on the Qwen3 Image model page.

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Qwen Image alternatives on Makernice are Qwen3 Pro Image from the same vendor, ByteDance's Seedream 5.5, Seedream 5.0 Pro and Seedream 5.0, and MiniMax H3-Image, all compared here against Qwen3 Image. If you need a Qwen Image Edit alternative that takes more than 3 input images, every model in this list except Qwen3 Pro Image does. Qwen3 Image itself is also sold by other platforms, listed further down.

## What Qwen3 Image covers on Makernice

Alibaba's Qwen3 Image runs text-to-image and image edit at 1k or 2k, in 1:1, 3:2, 2:3, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9, 9:16, 21:9. An edit takes up to 3 reference images. Each image is priced on its own, with one rate for text-to-image and another for edits: $0.0236 and $0.0329 per image at 1k on price list v15 (November 12, 2026).

## How do Qwen Image alternatives compare on edit references and ratios?

Qwen Image alternatives differ most in how many reference images an edit accepts, from 3 on Qwen3 Image up to 16 on MiniMax H3-Image, and in how many text-to-image aspect ratios they offer. The table lists both, with the per-image price at each tier.

| Model | Resolutions | Reference images | Text-to-image ratios | Makernice 1k per image | Makernice 2k per image |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Qwen3 Image | 1k, 2k | 3   | 8   | $0.0236 | $0.0236 |
| Qwen3 Pro Image | 1k, 2k | 3   | 8   | $0.0328 | $0.0657 |
| Seedream 5.5 | 1k, 2k | 10  | 8   | $0.0156 | $0.0273 |
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | 1k, 2k | 10  | 7   | $0.0351 | $0.0702 |
| Seedream 5.0 | 2k  | 14  | 8   | —   | $0.0336 |
| MiniMax H3-Image | 1k, 2k | 16  | 13  | $0.036 | $0.036 |

Text-to-image prices from Makernice price list v15 (November 12, 2026). A dash means the model has no such tier. Edits have their own per-image rate, and some image models add a charge per reference image; each model page shows how its edit price is built.

## Looking for a Qwen Image Edit alternative?

A Qwen Image Edit alternative on Makernice mostly means more input images per edit; four of the five models below take more than Qwen3 Image's 3.

-   **MiniMax H3-Image:** up to 16 reference images per edit, and the output follows the reference image's shape, since its edit mode takes no aspect ratio.
-   **Seedream 5.0:** up to 14 references, fixed at 2k, with 8 ratios.
-   **Seedream 5.5:** up to 10 references at 1k or 2k, with 8 ratios.
-   **Seedream 5.0 Pro:** up to 10 references at 1k or 2k, with 7 ratios.
-   **Qwen3 Pro Image:** the same 3-image limit as Qwen3 Image; switch to it for a second Qwen model, not for more inputs.

## Qwen3 Image on other platforms

These platforms state a per-image price for Qwen3 Image in US dollars at the tiers listed. Credit-only pricing and limited-time discounts are skipped, so the list is narrower than everywhere the model is offered.

| Platform | Listed US-dollar tiers | Source checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [APIMart](https://makernice.com/alternatives/apimart/) | 1k, 2k | [apimart.ai](https://apimart.ai/pricing) · 2026-11-11 |
| [Atlas Cloud](https://makernice.com/alternatives/atlas-cloud/) | 1k, 2k | [atlascloud.ai](https://www.atlascloud.ai/pricing/models?q=Qwen+Image+3) · 2026-11-11 |
| [CometAPI](https://makernice.com/alternatives/cometapi/) | 1k, 2k | [cometapi.com](https://www.cometapi.com/models/aliyun/qwen-image-3-0/) · 2026-11-11 |
| [Crun](https://makernice.com/alternatives/crun/) | 2k  | [crun.ai](https://crun.ai/pricing) · 2026-11-11 |
| [EvoLink](https://makernice.com/alternatives/evolink/) | 1k, 2k | [evolink.ai](https://evolink.ai/qwen-image-3-0?model=qwen-image-3.0) · 2026-11-11 |
| [Kie.ai](https://makernice.com/alternatives/kie/) | 1k, 2k | [kie.ai](https://kie.ai/pricing) · 2026-11-11 |
| [MuAPI](https://makernice.com/alternatives/muapi/) | 1k, 2k | [muapi.ai](https://muapi.ai/pricing) · 2026-11-11 |
| [PoYo](https://makernice.com/alternatives/poyo/) | 1k, 2k | [poyo.ai](https://poyo.ai/pricing) · 2026-11-11 |
| [WaveSpeedAI](https://makernice.com/alternatives/wavespeed/) | 1k, 2k | [wavespeed.ai](https://wavespeed.ai/models/alibaba/qwen-image-3.0/text-to-image) · 2026-11-11 |

For the per-image amounts by tier, next to Makernice, open the [Qwen3 Image price table](https://makernice.com/models/qwen3-image/#third-party-prices). Rows without a 1k tier mean that platform prints a dollar price for 2k only.

## Is Qwen Image open source, and can you run it locally?

Qwen Image is open source in its earlier releases, but Qwen3 Image, the version Makernice hosts, has no official open-weights release that we could find (checked November 12, 2026). The Qwen team's Hugging Face organization publishes [Qwen-Image](https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen-Image), Qwen-Image-Edit (including 2509 and 2511), Qwen-Image-2512 and Qwen-Image-Layered under Apache 2.0. [Qwen-Image-2.1](https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen-Image-2.1) uses the Qwen Research License, which allows non-commercial use only. None of those checkpoints is Qwen3 Image or Qwen3 Pro Image.

Makernice runs Qwen3 Image as a hosted API only, so a local setup means one of those older Qwen checkpoints on your own GPU. Among the alternatives above, MiniMax publishes [MiniMax H3-Image](https://huggingface.co/MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-H3-Image) weights under a community license that excludes the EU, the UK, South Korea and the US (checked November 12, 2026).

## Why you might stay with Qwen3 Image

Stay if your edits use 3 or fewer images and the 8 Qwen ratios cover your layouts, including 21:9 and 3:2. Stay too if your prompts are tuned to Qwen's output.

## Frequently asked questions

#### Which Qwen Image alternative takes the most reference images?

MiniMax H3-Image, with up to 16 per edit. Seedream 5.0 takes 14, and Seedream 5.5 and Seedream 5.0 Pro take 10.

#### How is image editing priced on Qwen3 Image and its alternatives?

Per output image, with a separate rate for edits. Some models also charge per reference image sent with an edit, and the price list on each model page shows that line.

#### Is Qwen3 Pro Image a drop-in replacement for Qwen3 Image?

On specs, yes: the same resolutions, 8 aspect ratios and 3 edit references. It has its own per-image prices.

#### Can I run an open-source Qwen Image model on Makernice?

No. Makernice runs hosted models only and doesn't host custom or local weights, including the open Qwen-Image checkpoints.

## Models in this post

Image

### Qwen3 Image

\-21%

Everyday images and quick edits: Alibaba's Qwen3 Image at 1K or 2K, eight aspect ratios, up to 3 references.

By AlibabaFrom $0.0236/img

https://makernice.com/models/qwen3-image/