Alternatives · Last reviewed October 20, 2026

Mage.space alternatives for lasting credits, an API and phone apps

Mage, the AI generator at mage.space, is a browser platform for images, video and audio: you pick a model, from Stable Diffusion and Flux 2 to Nano Banana and its own Mango, write a prompt and generate. People look elsewhere mostly because Gems expire (membership Gems after 30 days, purchased ones after 90), its API is still a limited beta with automation forbidden outside it, and no phone app is listed. NightCafe suits people who want credits that never expire, Leonardo.Ai and Krea suit those who need an API, and getimg.ai suits shared team spaces. ImageQuarry suits people who want each edit kept as a version in a project.

We make ImageQuarry, one of the alternatives below. Mage and each alternative were compared on how long usage lasts, developer access, platforms, editing in words, keeping versions and price, using each vendor's public pages, checked October 20, 2026.

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Last updated October 20, 2026

Mage alternatives at a glance

Tool	Best for	Price from	How it differs
NightCafe	Hobbyists who buy credits now and then and want leftovers to keep, on web and phone	AI Beginner $7.49 a month (excluding tax) (as of 2026-10)	Fast Credits that roll over and never expire, plus mobile sync
Leonardo.Ai	Creators who need a working API and iOS and Android apps from one vendor	Free plan, 150 fast tokens a day; Essential $12 a month (as of 2026-10)	Pay as you go API credit that does not expire, plus phone apps
Krea	People who want a public API and many models with a daily allowance	Basic $9 a month billed monthly; 100 units a day on the free plan (as of 2026-10)	Public API, plugins and 100 units a day across many models
ImageQuarry	People who refine an image in rounds and want to see, compare and return to every round	$9 monthly for Starter; $29 monthly for Pro (as of 2026-10)	Each typed change becomes a version you can compare or branch from
getimg.ai	Small teams that want shared spaces, a lasting library and a separate API	Entry $15 a month billed monthly (as of 2026-10)	Team spaces, unlimited storage history and an API without a subscription

What is Mage?

Mage's docs describe "an AI image, video, and audio generation platform. You pick a model, write a prompt, and generate in the browser." The model list runs from Stable Diffusion 1.5, SDXL and Flux 2 to Nano Banana, GPT Image and Grok Image, plus Mage-only models such as Mango. Mango 3 edits an input image from exact instructions, and apps such as Refine, Inpaint, Relight, Angles and Outfit Swap cover other changes. Everything you make is private by default.

This page is about Mage the AI generator at mage.space, not other software or games that share the name.

Mage pricing

Gem top-ups are sold without a subscription, from 10,000 Gems for $10 to 110,000 Gems for $100. Membership Gems expire after 30 days and purchased Gems 90 days after purchase, with a cap of 300,000 Gems per account. No annual billing option is shown. Prices as of October 2026, from mage.space. Check the vendor for current pricing.

Product	Plan	Price	Includes
Mage	Free	$0 per month	Limited access to features, 300 Gems sign-up bonus
Mage	Basic	$10 per month, billed monthly	500 monthly Gems, unlimited generations on base models, LoRAs, Inpainting, Refine
Mage	Pro	$30 per month, billed monthly	1,500 monthly Gems, unlimited Mango, unlimited video, Enhance 2K
Mage	Pro Plus	$60 per month, billed monthly	3,500 monthly Gems, Enhance 4K, import custom models, queue up to 10 generations
Mage	Max	$200 per month, billed monthly	15,000 monthly Gems, unlimited Cherry 2 Pro, HD video up to 1080p

Prices as of 2026-10

What Mage does well

Private by default on every plan

Mage says all creations are private by default and visible to your account only, becoming public only if you post them to Mage Social, on every plan including Free.

Commercial use from the Free plan up

Mage's docs say you own what you create and can use it commercially on every plan, Free included, with exceptions for GPT Image 2, Grok and Nano Banana 2 output, which also falls under the lab's terms, and for imported models.

Unlimited generations on paid tiers

Basic at $10 a month includes unlimited generations on base models, and Pro at $30 adds unlimited Mango and unlimited video.

Edits by instruction with up to 10 references

Mango 3 is described as taking exact instructions with edits that keep the rest in place, and Mango accepts up to 10 reference images to hold one character across a set.

A wide model list, open and closed

The FAQ names Stable Diffusion 1.5, SDXL, SD3.5, Flux 2, Chroma, Krea 2, Z-Image, Wan and Nano Banana, and the plan table adds GPT Image, HiDream and Grok Image.

Where Mage falls short

Gems run out on a clock

Membership Gems expire after 30 days and purchased Gems 90 days after purchase, and an account can hold at most 300,000 Gems.

API still in limited beta

Mage's premium API is in limited beta, and the docs say automation is strictly forbidden anywhere outside it.

No phone app listed

Mage's docs name a web app, the API, an MCP server, Mage in Claude and ChatGPT, SDKs, ComfyUI nodes and Discord, with no iOS or Android app among them as of October 2026.

Larger Mango output costs more

Mango 3 tops out at 2K; Mango 3S (3K) and Mango 2 (4K) need Pro Plus at $60 a month or above, and Mango has no negative prompt field.

Monthly billing only

The membership page says plans are billed monthly in USD and shows no annual billing option.

Why people look for a Mage alternative

You buy usage in bursts and lose it, since membership Gems expire after 30 days and purchased Gems after 90.
You need to generate from your own code now, and Mage's API is a limited beta with automation forbidden elsewhere.
You want a native phone app, and Mage's platform list names none.
You want edits kept as a revision history, and Mage's menu lists My Creations, asset folders, Story Studio and Storyboard with no version history mentioned.

The 5 Mage alternatives

Ordered by how many of the reasons above each one answers, taken in the order listed: usage that lasts, a generally available API, phone apps, then a revision history. getimg.ai comes last because its plan credits also reset each month.

1. NightCafe

Best for: Hobbyists who buy credits now and then and want leftovers to keep, on web and phone

How it differs from Mage: NightCafe's pricing page says unused Fast Credits roll over month to month and do not expire, the clearest answer to Mage's 30 and 90 day expiry. It offers 50+ PRO image models including Nano Banana Pro, GPT Image and Seedream, supports editing with prompts, and syncs creations between its web and mobile generators.

Price: AI Beginner $7.49 a month (excluding tax) (as of 2026-10)

Limitation: It centres on a public feed, chat rooms and daily challenges, and its pages do not say whether creations are public by default, where Mage keeps them private.

Visit NightCafe

2. Leonardo.Ai

Best for: Creators who need a working API and iOS and Android apps from one vendor

How it differs from Mage: Leonardo.Ai sells API access pay as you go, with no commitment, and says API credit does not expire, while Mage's API is a limited beta. It has iOS and Android apps and an MCP server, and runs FLUX.2 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Ideogram 4.5 and Seedream next to its own Lucid and Phoenix models.

Price: Free plan, 150 fast tokens a day; Essential $12 a month (as of 2026-10)

Limitation: Free plan creations are public and Leonardo.Ai holds rights to use them, whereas Mage keeps Free creations private.

Visit Leonardo.Ai

3. Krea

Best for: People who want a public API and many models with a daily allowance

How it differs from Mage: Krea has a public API for generating images and video and enhancing media, plus plugins for creative software such as After Effects. Its catalog puts Krea 3 beside Flux, Nano Banana, GPT Image and Ideogram, and "Edit by typing" changes any image from a written request.

Price: Basic $9 a month billed monthly; 100 units a day on the free plan (as of 2026-10)

Limitation: Units on Basic, Pro and Max do not roll over and compute packs expire after 90 days, so it does not fix expiring usage, and no phone app was found.

Visit Krea

4. ImageQuarry

Best for: People who refine an image in rounds and want to see, compare and return to every round

How it differs from Mage: Mage files output under My Creations and asset folders such as Characters and References, and Mango edits from instructions. ImageQuarry centres on the revision trail: every change you ask for becomes a version kept with its prompt and references, you can compare versions side by side, and you can branch from an older one when a direction stops working.

Price: $9 monthly for Starter; $29 monthly for Pro (as of 2026-10)

Limitation: Every plan is paid, it makes still images with no video or audio, and ImageQuarry publishes no rights policy.

5. getimg.ai

Best for: Small teams that want shared spaces, a lasting library and a separate API

How it differs from Mage: getimg.ai shares generations and uploads in Team spaces with folders, lists unlimited content storage history on every plan, and sells its API separately, with no subscription required. Its AI Image Editor takes a typed change such as "make the jacket blue" and finds, isolates and edits that part.

Price: Entry $15 a month billed monthly (as of 2026-10)

Limitation: No free plan appears on its pricing page, and plan credits do not roll over to the next month.

Visit getimg.ai

Who should stay with Mage

You want creations private by default and commercial use on every plan, Free included.
You generate heavily on base models or Mango and use the unlimited generations Basic and Pro include.
You rely on Mage's own Mango and Cherry models or on apps such as Relight, Angles and Outfit Swap.
You already reach Mage through its MCP server, Mage in Claude or ChatGPT, or its ComfyUI nodes.

How to try an alternative alongside Mage

Check your Gem balance first, because membership Gems expire after 30 days and purchased Gems 90 days after purchase.
Download the creations you want to keep from My Creations, and save copies of the images behind your Characters and References so you can upload them as references elsewhere.
Take one Mango edit instruction you use often and run it in the alternative on the same source image.
Mage bills membership monthly and says you can cancel anytime, so keep your plan until the comparison is done.

Does not carry over: Mage-only models such as Mango and Cherry, and your Story Studio, Storyboard and Moodboard work, stay on Mage.

Mage alternatives: questions

Do Mage Gems expire?

Yes. Membership Gems expire after 30 days, purchased Gems expire 90 days after purchase, and an account can hold up to 300,000. NightCafe says its unused Fast Credits roll over and never expire, and Leonardo.Ai says its API credit does not expire.

Is there a free alternative to Mage?

NightCafe allows unlimited base Stable Diffusion creations at no cost plus 5 credits each day you log in, Leonardo.Ai gives 150 fast tokens a day, and Krea 100 units a day. Mage's own free plan comes with a 300 Gem sign-up bonus. Every ImageQuarry plan is paid.

Which Mage alternative has an API?

Krea has a public API, Leonardo.Ai sells a pay as you go API, and getimg.ai sells API access that needs no subscription. Mage's premium API is in limited beta, and automation outside it is forbidden.

Is there a Mage app for iPhone or Android?

No iOS or Android app is listed on Mage's pages, which name the web app, API, MCP server, Discord and Mage in Claude and ChatGPT. Leonardo.Ai has iOS and Android apps, and NightCafe syncs its web and mobile generators.

How does ImageQuarry compare with Mage?

Mage offers dozens of models, video and audio, and unlimited generations on some plans. ImageQuarry is for still images and built around editing in words: each change becomes a version you can compare, branch from or download, kept in projects with its prompts and references.

Sources

Checked October 20, 2026. Recheck public pages before making a buying decision.

Checked October 20, 2026

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Create an image. Edit it with words. Keep refining.

A revision trail for every image

Ask for each change in words, compare the versions side by side, and download the one you choose.

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