Krea 3 release: price, speed, vs Nano Banana Pro
Krea released Krea 3 on 15 October 2026: an image editing model Krea says finishes most edits in under 8 seconds at native 2K, for $0.06 an image.
Krea released Krea 3 on 15 October 2026. It is an image editing model first: Krea says most edits come back in under 8 seconds at native 2K, cost $0.06 an image ($0.03 at 1K), and leave products, labels and faces as they were. It also makes images from text. On Versely, Krea 3 starts at 2 credits.
Key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Released | 15 October 2026, per Krea's launch post; fal listed its endpoints on 14 October |
| What it is | An editing model that also does text-to-image. Krea: "not a distilled copy of a larger model" |
| Speed | "Most edits come back in under 8 seconds, end to end, at native 2K" (Krea's figure) |
| Resolution | Native 2K; the API takes 1k, 2k or a custom size up to 4096 pixels a side |
| References | Up to 6 per edit in the launch post; up to 8 in Krea's API docs and on fal |
| List price | Krea: $0.06 at 2K, $0.03 at 1K. fal: $0.025 per megapixel, each reference counted |
| Where | krea.ai, the Krea API (early access), fal, Hedra, Together AI, Nous Research, OpenRouter, Replicate |
| Not yet in the API | LoRAs and style references: "Neither is supported for Krea 3 yet" |
Sources, all read on 16 October 2026: Krea's launch post, Krea 3 page, API guide, changelog and press page; fal's Krea 3 overview, edit and text-to-image pages. Speed, price and quality comparisons with other models are Krea's own, not independent tests.
What is new compared with Krea 2
Krea 2 is a text-to-image model. fal's page puts the split plainly: use Krea 3 "when you start from images: editing a photo, combining references, or keeping a product or character consistent", while "Krea 2 is Krea's text-to-image model with tunable creativity and style references" and stays available.
Built for editing. Krea says Krea 3 is "a new model trained for editing" that "spends its compute on the region you change, not on the whole image." That is how it explains the speed.
It leaves the rest alone. The launch post's examples change one thing and keep the rest. A living room gets a new sofa, chairs and table from three product photos, while the rug, the view and a woman reading in the corner stay. A packshot on white becomes a campaign photo with the label and logo intact. In the API, regional_edit: true asks for "a local edit that keeps the rest of the image exact."
Characters and style. Give it a few references and the same cast can appear on a new street, in a new pose or under new light. Krea says it "also has Krea 2's eye for style", so paintings, vector art and ink drawings stay in their own medium.
Sketches and briefs. Krea shows a line drawing plus a six-colour palette turned into a finished restaurant interior, with each colour on the surface the prompt assigned it.
What it gave up, for now. Krea 2 Turbo, the distilled Krea 2, works with style references, moodboards and LoRAs. On 16 October Krea's changelog said Krea 3 API requests that use style references or LoRAs now get a "coming soon" response: "Neither is supported for Krea 3 yet." Launch coverage from TestingCatalog and AlphaSignal reported it as the first editing model that can be fine-tuned with LoRAs. Krea's own changelog says that isn't available yet.
Checking Krea's headline claims
Under 8 seconds. This is Krea's own measurement at 2K. The rival times in its table are "median time from request to finished image for edit jobs on Krea, Sep 24 to Oct 1, 2026, queue included": 27 seconds for Nano Banana 2, 33 for Nano Banana Pro and 90 for GPT Image 2. Krea also says it "isn't real time yet", and its fastest setup takes about 4 to 5 seconds. Resellers add their own queue. In Versely's own test on 16 October, through fal, one text-to-image job took 12 seconds end to end and one edit took 68. Those are single runs, not a benchmark.
$0.06 an image. Krea compares that with $0.135 for Nano Banana Pro and $0.22 for GPT Image 2, list prices "without image references". References are not free. Krea's API adds $0.02 for each 1K reference image, $0.07 for each 2K one and $0.02 for high thinking mode. fal bills $0.025 per megapixel, "counting the output image plus each reference image". So an edit with references costs more than the headline. Krea's FAQ says "The launch price is the list price."
Quality. Krea publishes speed, price and a "precision" test: the share of pixels outside the edit area left unchanged, from one attempt per model. It publishes no arena or human-preference score. A benchmark figure that circulated in launch coverage, a CPI-Bench score of 4.81 out of 5 reported by Glitchwire, doesn't appear on Krea's pages. On 16 October 2026 Artificial Analysis didn't list Krea 3 on its text-to-image or image editing leaderboards; Krea 2 is there.
Who it is for, and who should wait
Good fit:
- E-commerce and marketing teams that put one product into many scenes, colourways or formats. Krea pitches it at "product-consistent scene changes, object removal and variants at volume."
- Campaigns that need the same model or character across a set of images.
- Designers and architects turning sketches, moodboards or technical drawings into finished renders.
- Anyone running enough edits that seconds per image matter more than the last bit of polish.
Wait, or test first, if:
- Your workflow depends on LoRAs or style references through the API. Neither works with Krea 3 there yet.
- You need print-size output. Krea says it generates natively at 2K; its API accepts custom sizes up to 4096 pixels a side, but Krea's speed and price figures are for 1K and 2K.
- You mainly generate from text with Krea's creativity controls. Krea 2 is still that model.
- You want Krea's own API. It is in early access, and "Only workspaces in the Krea 3 beta can call it"; the resellers above are open now.
On krea.ai, Krea 3 became the default image model on 16 October, and "Krea 3 Ultra is available on Max plans and above." Krea doesn't say how Ultra maps to the API's settings.
How to use it on Versely
Versely added both modes on 16 October 2026, served through fal:
| Mode | Model on Versely | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Text to image | Krea 3 | 2 per image |
| Edit, up to 4 images | Krea 3 Edit | 4 per edit |
Both output about 1 megapixel in five aspect ratios: 1:1, 9:16, 16:9, 3:4 and 4:3. That is about Krea's 1K size, not the native 2K behind Krea's launch figures.
- Open Krea 3 and choose text to image or Krea 3 Edit, on the web or the iOS app.
- For an edit, upload the photo you want changed, plus up to three more references (a product, a character, a setting), for four images in total.
- Write the prompt the way Krea recommends. Start with what stays ("Keep the product exactly as it is", naming the label or logo). Then describe the change like a photographer: scene, light, camera. With several images, say what each one is for ("image 1 is the room, image 2 is the sofa"). Use "only" when one thing should change.
- Keep the best result, then animate it with an image-to-video model if you need motion.
Other Versely rows for the same jobs:
| Job | Model | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest drafts and edits | FLUX 3 Image Klein | 1 |
| Text to image with style references | Krea 2 Medium | 3 |
| Edits that combine up to 10 references | FLUX 3 Image Edit | 4 |
For how Krea 2 handles style references, read Krea 2: photoreal images with style references. For Black Forest Labs' box-based approach to edits, read the FLUX 3 Image launch.
FAQ
When was Krea 3 released?
Krea's launch post is dated 15 October 2026, and fal listed the endpoints on 14 October. Krea's press page gives 12 October. On 16 October Krea made it the default image model in its app.
How much does Krea 3 cost?
Krea lists $0.06 an image at 2K and $0.03 at 1K, as read on 16 October 2026. Through Krea's API, each reference image adds $0.02 (1K) or $0.07 (2K), and high thinking mode adds $0.02. fal charges $0.025 per megapixel, counting the output and each reference.
How many reference images does Krea 3 take?
The launch post says up to 6 per edit. Krea's API docs, its Krea 3 page and fal say up to 8, and Krea's API allows at most 4 with Zero Data Retention. Krea 3 Edit on Versely takes up to 4 images, the photo you edit included.
Is Krea 3 better than Nano Banana Pro?
By Krea's own figures it is faster (under 8 seconds against 33) and cheaper per 2K image ($0.06 against $0.135). No independent quality ranking exists yet. Artificial Analysis hadn't listed Krea 3 on 16 October 2026, so compare it on your own images before you switch.
Can I use Krea 3 on Versely?
Yes. Since 16 October 2026, Krea 3 costs 2 credits an image and Krea 3 Edit 4 credits an edit, at about 1 megapixel in five aspect ratios.