Choosing Models
Which model should you use? Nodaro exposes 100+ generation models across image, video, audio, and text. This guide groups them by what you’re making and how much you want to spend, so you don’t have to read every node page to pick.
Every table on this page is generated from Nodaro’s model catalog — it never drifts from what the editor actually offers. The same data drives the MCP list_models tool, so an AI assistant connected to Nodaro picks from this exact set.
How credits and tiers work
- 1 credit = $0.02. Per-generation cost depends on the model, resolution, duration, and quality. The number in each table is the default variant (the bare model with no resolution/quality upgrade); higher settings cost more.
- The Tier column is a quick budget signal, relative within each modality:
- Everyday — cheap and fast; the right default for drafts, iteration, and most work.
- Standard — a step up in quality for a moderate cost.
- Premium — top quality, highest cost; reach for these on hero shots and final renders.
- A Premium image still costs far less than a Premium video — don’t compare tiers across modalities. Use the credit number for that.
- ⭐ marks the best-in-tier pick for that family — a safe default when you’re unsure.
Mode codes in the tables: t2i text→image · i2i image→image · edit targeted edit · upscale / remove-bg · t2v text→video · i2v image→video · v2v video→video · extend · motion-transfer · lip-sync · video-upscale · tts text→speech · music · sfx · stt speech→text · voice-clone / voice-design / voice-changer · isolation · dubbing · forced-alignment.
Quick picks by task
Don’t know where to start? Find your goal here, then jump to the model in the tables below.
| I want… | Models | Notes | | — | — | — | | best for typography / logos / text-heavy | Nano Banana Pro, GPT Image 2 | Nano Banana Pro for diagrams / complex text; GPT Image 2 for logos and short copy. | | cheapest realistic image | Z-Image, Qwen, Imagen 4 Fast | Z-Image is the cheapest at 1 credit. Qwen / Imagen4 Fast for slightly higher quality. | | highest fidelity image | Nano Banana Pro, Imagen 4 Ultra, Flux 2 Flex | Pick by family preference; all three are premium tiers. | | image edit / restyle | Flux Kontext Pro, Ideogram Remix, Seedream 5 Pro (I2I) | Flux Kontext preserves identity; Ideogram Remix is character-aware; Seedream 5 Pro for instruction-based edits (5 Lite is the budget option). | | highest-resolution image (4K / 8K) | Topaz Image Upscale, Nano Banana Pro, GPT Image 2 | Generate at native then Topaz upscale for 8K. | | background removal / cutout | Recraft Remove BG | 1 credit, no prompt needed. | | best cinematic video | VEO 3.1 Quality, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2 | VEO 3.1 Quality for premium narrative; Kling 3.0 for music-synced motion; Seedance 2 for reference-driven consistency. | | cheap batch video clips | VEO 3.1 Fast, Wan 2.2 Turbo, Bytedance Lite I2V | VEO 3.1 Fast is the best price/quality balance with native audio. | | video with start + end frame | VEO 3.1 Quality, VEO 3.1 Fast, Kling 2.5 Turbo Pro, Hailuo 02 I2V Pro, Hailuo 02 Standard, Seedance 2 | All listed support an end frame; VEO uses imageUrls[start, end]. | | music / song generation | Suno v5, Suno v4 | Suno v5 has better vocal quality at the same price. | | voice over / narration | ElevenLabs v3, ElevenLabs Turbo v2.5 | v3 supports [audio tags] for emotion; Turbo is cheaper for plain narration. | | lip-sync a portrait to audio | Kling Avatar Pro, Kling Avatar Standard, InfiniTalk | Pro for best mouth shape; InfiniTalk for resolution control. | | transcription / captions | ElevenLabs STT | Word-level timestamps available. | | motion transfer (drive a subject by another video) | Kling 2.6 Motion Transfer, Kling 3.0 Motion Transfer | Kling 2.6 base is cheap; Kling 3.0 is premium. |
Image models
Text-to-image, image-to-image, editing, upscaling, and background removal. For everyday drafts and storyboards, the Everyday tier is plenty; switch to a Premium model for final, high-detail or text-heavy images.
| Model | Family | Tier | Credits | Modes | Best for |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Flux 2 Klein (Open) | Black Forest Labs | Everyday | 1 | t2i | Open Flux 2 9B from BFL — fast, no safety filter. Runs direct on Replicate. |
| GPT Image 2 | OpenAI | Everyday | 1 | t2i | Next-gen GPT Image — broader aspect ratios, resolution-based pricing (1K/2K/4K). |
| GPT Image 2 (I2I) | OpenAI | Everyday | 1 | i2i | Image-to-image with GPT Image 2. |
| Grok Imagine | xAI | Everyday | 1 | t2i, t2v | Expressive, high-contrast output. Supports both image and video. |
| Grok Imagine (I2I) | xAI | Everyday | 1 | i2i | Image-to-image with Grok. |
| Imagen 4 Fast | Google | Everyday | 1 | t2i | Cheaper / quicker Imagen 4 tier. |
| Qwen | Alibaba | Everyday | 1 | t2i | Cheap, fast, decent quality. Native negative-prompt support. |
| Qwen (I2I) | Alibaba | Everyday | 1 | i2i | Image-to-image with Qwen. |
| Recraft Crisp Upscale | Recraft | Everyday | 1 | upscale | Light-weight image upscale (Recraft Crisp). |
| Recraft Remove BG | Recraft | Everyday | 1 | remove-bg | Remove image background. Cheap utility. |
| ⭐ Z-Image | Tongyi-MAI | Everyday | 1 | t2i | Cheapest model in catalog. Fast, stylized output. Limited aspect ratios. |
| Flux 2 Pro | Black Forest Labs | Everyday | 2 | t2i | Flux 2 Pro text-to-image. Strong realism, fast. Resolution lever to 2K. |
| Flux 2 Pro (I2I) | Black Forest Labs | Everyday | 2 | i2i | Image-to-image with Flux Pro. Cheaper than Flex variant, good general edits. |
| Flux Kontext Pro | Black Forest Labs | Everyday | 2 | t2i, edit | Context-aware editing and style transfer. Strong at preserving subject identity through edits. |
| Ideogram Reframe | Ideogram | Everyday | 2 | edit | Outpaint / reframe to a new aspect ratio while preserving subject. |
| Ideogram V3 | Ideogram | Everyday | 2 | t2i | Strong typography and stylized illustration. Speed/quality tiered (TURBO/BALANCED/QUALITY). |
| Imagen 4 | Google | Everyday | 2 | t2i | Google’s Imagen 4 — strong photographic quality and prompt fidelity. |
| Nano Banana 2 Lite | Google | Everyday | 2 | t2i, i2i | Lightweight Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite) — fast, low-cost 1K generation and editing. |
| Nano Banana Edit | Google | Everyday | 2 | edit | Image-to-image edits via Google’s Nano Banana family. Good general-purpose editor. |
| Qwen Edit | Alibaba | Everyday | 2 | edit | Qwen image edit endpoint with native negative prompt. |
| Seedream 5 Lite | Bytedance | Everyday | 2 | t2i | Newer Seedream 5 Lite — instruction-based generation, visual reasoning. |
| Seedream 5 Lite (I2I) | Bytedance | Everyday | 2 | i2i | Image-to-image with Seedream 5 Lite. |
| Wan 2.7 | Alibaba | Everyday | 2 | t2i | Wan 2.7 text-to-image — 1K/2K/4K, up to 9 optional style/character reference images. |
| Flux 2 Pro (Safety Tolerance) | Black Forest Labs | Standard | 3 | t2i, i2i | BFL Flux 2 Pro flagship via Replicate — exposes the safety_tolerance lever pinned to 5 (max for Pro). Accepts up to 4 reference images. |
| Grok Upscale | xAI | Standard | 3 | upscale | Upscale a previously-generated Grok image. Requires the prior task id. |
| Imagen 4 Ultra | Google | Standard | 3 | t2i | Premium Imagen 4 — highest fidelity, slower / more credits. |
| Kontext Multi (Open) | Black Forest Labs | Standard | 3 | i2i, edit | Multi-image Flux Kontext Pro via Replicate — up to 4 input images, no safety filter. |
| Seedream 5 Pro | Bytedance | Standard | 3 | t2i | Flagship Seedream 5 Pro — strongest instruction following and visual reasoning. Basic = 1K, high = 2K. |
| Seedream 5 Pro (I2I) | Bytedance | Standard | 3 | i2i | Image-to-image with Seedream 5 Pro — multi-reference instruction edits. Basic = 1K, high = 2K. |
| Topaz Image Upscale | Topaz | Standard | 3 | upscale | High-quality image upscale up to 8K. Best for production-ready output. |
| Wan 2.7 Pro | Alibaba | Standard | 3 | t2i | Wan 2.7 Pro text-to-image — higher quality, 1K/2K/4K, no image input. |
| Flux 2 Flex | Black Forest Labs | Standard | 4 | t2i | Flux 2 Flex — premium fidelity, more flexible composition. Pricier than Pro. |
| Flux 2 Flex (I2I) | Black Forest Labs | Standard | 4 | i2i | Image-to-image with Flux Flex. Honors source image structure while applying prompt. |
| Flux Kontext Max | Black Forest Labs | Standard | 4 | t2i, edit | Premium Kontext — highest fidelity context-aware edits. |
| Nano Banana 2 | Google | Standard | 4 | t2i, i2i | Newer Nano Banana with native resolution control (1K/2K/4K) and Google Search context. |
| Ideogram Edit | Ideogram | Premium | 5 | edit | Inpainting / mask-based editing with Ideogram. Pair with a mask URL. |
| Ideogram Remix | Ideogram | Premium | 5 | i2i | Ideogram remix — character-aware restyling driven by reference images. |
| ⭐ Nano Banana Pro | Google | Premium | 5 | t2i, i2i | Top-tier Nano Banana — best for text rendering, diagrams, and complex compositions. |
| Flux 2 Max (Safety Tolerance) | Black Forest Labs | Premium | 7 | t2i, i2i | BFL Flux 2 Max — even larger sibling of Pro via Replicate, safety_tolerance=5, up to 8 reference images. Variable pricing by MP and ref count. |
Video models
Many video models support both t2v and i2v from the same id — the Generate Video node picks the mode based on whether you wired an image in. Watch the audio feature (native sound/dialogue), duration limits, and whether the model accepts a start and end frame. Everyday models are great for batch B-roll; Premium models (VEO 3.1 Quality, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2) are for cinematic, multi-subject, or audio-driven shots.
| Model | Family | Tier | Credits | Modes | Best for | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | VEO 1080p Upscale | Google | Everyday | 2 | video-upscale | Upscale VEO output to 1080p. | | Runway (via KIE) | Runway | Everyday | 3 | i2v, t2v | Runway Gen-3 routed through KIE. 5/10s at 720p/1080p. | | Video Analysis (Gemini 3 Flash) | Google | Everyday | 3 | video-analysis | Analyze a video into a structured shot list (scenes, camera, audio) — fast Gemini tier. Billed per duration bucket. | | Grok Imagine (I2V) | xAI | Everyday | 5 | i2v | Grok image-to-video — stylized motion. Up to 15s. | | Bytedance Lite I2V | Bytedance | Everyday | 6 | i2v, t2v | Cheapest Bytedance video tier with end-frame support. | | Hailuo 02 Standard | MiniMax | Everyday | 8 | i2v, t2v | Hailuo 02 Standard — economical option with end-frame support. | | Hailuo 2.3 Standard | MiniMax | Everyday | 8 | i2v | Cheaper Hailuo 2.3 tier — good baseline quality. | | VEO 3.1 Lite | Google | Everyday | 8 | i2v, t2v | VEO 3.1 Lite — most cost-effective VEO tier for high-volume generation. 4/6/8s with audio, supports first+last frame. | | Bytedance Pro Fast I2V | Bytedance | Everyday | 9 | i2v | Faster Bytedance Pro variant. | | Wan 2.2 Turbo | Alibaba | Everyday | 10 | i2v, t2v | Cheap, fast Wan turbo — 5s. Serves both i2v and t2v under one id. | | Kling 2.5 Turbo Pro | Kuaishou | Everyday | 11 | i2v, t2v | Faster Kling — good quality at lower cost. Supports end frame. | | Video Analysis (Gemini 3.1 Pro) | Google | Everyday | 11 | video-analysis | Analyze a video into a structured shot list (scenes, camera, audio) — high-fidelity Gemini tier. Billed per duration bucket. | | Wan Flash V2V | Alibaba | Everyday | 13 | v2v | Faster Wan V2V variant. | | Hailuo 02 I2V Pro | MiniMax | Everyday | 15 | i2v, t2v | Hailuo 02 Pro — strong photoreal motion, fixed 5-second clips. Supports end frame. | | Kling 2.6 Motion Transfer | Kuaishou | Everyday | 15 | motion-transfer | Transfer the motion from a driving video onto a still subject. Kling 2.6 base. | | ⭐ VEO 3.1 Fast | Google | Everyday | 15 | i2v, t2v | VEO 3.1 Fast — cheaper VEO 3.1 tier, 4/6/8s with audio. Good balance for most uses. Flat per-generation pricing across durations. | | Bytedance Pro I2V | Bytedance | Standard | 18 | i2v, t2v | Pro Bytedance video tier — better quality. | | Wan 2.6 | Alibaba | Standard | 18 | v2v, t2v | Wan 2.6 — text-to-video and video-to-video under a single id. | | Wan 2.6 I2V | Alibaba | Standard | 18 | i2v | Wan 2.6 image-to-video — 5/10/15s at 720p/1080p. | | Seedance 2 Mini | Bytedance | Standard | 19 | i2v, t2v | Budget Seedance 2 tier — 480p/720p only, per-second pricing by resolution. | | Topaz Video Upscale | Topaz | Standard | 19 | video-upscale | High-quality video upscale and enhancement. | | VEO Extend | Google | Standard | 19 | extend | Extend an existing VEO 3.1 clip by another segment. | | Wan 2.7 I2V | Alibaba | Standard | 19 | i2v | Wan 2.7 image-to-video — 2–15s at 720p/1080p, supports start+end frame. | | Wan 2.7 T2V | Alibaba | Standard | 19 | t2v | Wan 2.7 text-to-video — 2–15s at 720p/1080p. | | Hailuo 2.3 Pro | MiniMax | Standard | 20 | i2v | Hailuo 2.3 Pro — newer Hailuo with 768P / 1080P resolutions. | | Gemini Omni | Google | Standard | 23 | i2v, t2v | Google multimodal video with native audio; text/image-to-video + video-edit. | | Kling 3 Omni | Kuaishou | Standard | 25 | i2v | Kling 3 Omni via Replicate — 3-15s, 720p/1080p, end frame + reference images, native audio. | | Kling 2.6 | Kuaishou | Standard | 28 | i2v, t2v | Kling 2.6 I2V — strong motion realism. 5s/10s, optional native audio. | | Kling Avatar Standard | Kuaishou | Standard | 28 | lip-sync | Lip-sync a still portrait to driving audio. Standard quality. | | HappyHorse 1.1 | HappyHorse | Standard | 29 | t2v | HappyHorse 1.1 text-to-video — 3–15s at 720p/1080p, 9 aspect ratios incl. 21:9/9:21, per-second pricing. | | HappyHorse 1.1 I2V | HappyHorse | Standard | 29 | i2v | HappyHorse 1.1 image-to-video — 3–15s at 720p/1080p, aspect ratio inferred from input image, per-second pricing. | | HappyHorse 1.1 Ref2V | HappyHorse | Standard | 29 | i2v | HappyHorse 1.1 reference-to-video — 1–9 reference images, 3–15s at 720p/1080p, per-second pricing. | | Grok Imagine Video 1.5 | xAI | Standard | 30 | i2v | Grok Imagine 1.5 image-to-video — 1–15s, 480p/720p, per-second pricing. Requires an input image. | | Kling 3.0 Motion Transfer | Kuaishou | Standard | 30 | motion-transfer | Premium motion transfer via Kling 3.0. | | Seedance 2 Fast | Bytedance | Standard | 31 | i2v, t2v | Cheaper / quicker Seedance 2 tier. | | Runway Extend | Runway | Standard | 32 | extend | Extend a Runway video by another clip. | | Wan 2.7 VideoEdit | Alibaba | Standard | 32 | v2v | Guided video editing with optional reference image, audio control, and prompt expansion. | | HappyHorse Edit | HappyHorse | Standard | 35 | v2v | HappyHorse video-edit — video-to-video transformation, up to 60s input, 720p/1080p output. | | Runway Aleph V2V | Runway | Standard | 35 | v2v | Runway Aleph — video-to-video conversion. | | Seedance 2 | Bytedance | Standard | 38 | i2v, t2v | Seedance 2 — premium tier with native audio. Per-second pricing by resolution. | | VEO 4K Upscale | Google | Standard | 38 | video-upscale | Upscale VEO output to 4K. | | Kling 2.1 Master | Kuaishou | Standard | 40 | i2v | Master tier I2V — strong cinematic quality. | | InfiniTalk | InfiniTalk | Standard | 42 | lip-sync | Audio-driven talking-head from a still image. 480p / 720p. | | ⭐ Kling 3.0 | Kuaishou | Premium | 50 | i2v, t2v | Premium Kling 3.0 — variable 3-15s duration, native audio, 720P/1080P. | | Seedance 2 Extend | Bytedance | Premium | 53 | extend | Extend ANY video: generates the continuation (audio included) and trim-stitches it into one seamless clip. | | Kling Avatar Pro | Kuaishou | Premium | 56 | lip-sync | Premium lip-sync — better mouth shape and timing. | | ⭐ VEO 3.1 Quality | Google | Premium | 63 | i2v, t2v | Google VEO 3.1 Quality — premium cinematic video. 4/6/8s clips, optional end frame, native audio. Flat per-generation pricing across durations. | | OmniHuman 1.5 | ByteDance | Premium | 405 | lip-sync | Premium prompt-directed talking avatar from a still image + audio. 720p / 1080p, up to 60s. People, pets, anime. | | Volcengine Lip Sync | Volcengine | Premium | 600 | lip-sync | Video-to-video AI dubbing — re-syncs lips to a new vocal track. Multi-speaker (scene detection + speaker ID) in basic mode. Video input, billed per second. | | Sync Lipsync v3 | Sync | Premium | 2000 | lip-sync | Dub existing footage — re-syncs lips to a new audio track. Video input, billed per second. |
Audio, voice & music models
Text-to-speech, voice cloning/design/changing, dubbing, sound effects, transcription, and full music generation (Suno).
| Model | Family | Tier | Credits | Modes | Best for | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | ElevenLabs Sound Effects | ElevenLabs | Everyday | 1 | sfx | Generate short sound effects from a text prompt. | | ElevenLabs Turbo v2.5 | ElevenLabs | Everyday | 2 | tts | Fast, cheap ElevenLabs TTS via the direct ElevenLabs API. Good for narration. | | ElevenLabs Forced Alignment | ElevenLabs | Everyday | 3 | forced-alignment | Align an existing transcript to audio with word-level timestamps. | | ElevenLabs Multilingual v2 | ElevenLabs | Everyday | 3 | tts | Multi-language ElevenLabs TTS via the direct ElevenLabs API. | | ElevenLabs STT | ElevenLabs | Everyday | 3 | stt | Speech-to-text — transcribe audio with timestamps. | | ⭐ ElevenLabs v3 | ElevenLabs | Everyday | 3 | tts | Latest ElevenLabs TTS — supports [audio tags] for emotion / pacing. Direct API. | | Suno v4 | Suno | Everyday | 3 | music | Suno v4 music generation — full songs with vocals, multiple genres. | | Suno v5 | Suno | Everyday | 3 | music | Newer Suno v5 — better vocal quality, more genres. Same price as v4. | | ⭐ Suno v5.5 | Suno | Everyday | 3 | music | Suno v5.5 — latest model with improved audio quality and expressiveness. | | ElevenLabs Voice Changer | ElevenLabs | Standard | 4 | voice-changer | Speech-to-speech: convert one voice to another while preserving prosody. | | ElevenLabs Voice Design | ElevenLabs | Standard | 5 | voice-design | Design a synthetic voice from a description (no reference clip needed). | | Voice Clone (Instant) | ElevenLabs | Standard | 5 | voice-clone | Clone a voice from a short reference clip. Instant clone via direct ElevenLabs API. | | ElevenLabs Dubbing | ElevenLabs | Premium | 8 | dubbing | Translate + dub a video into a new language. Async. | | ElevenLabs Voice Isolation | ElevenLabs | Premium | 8 | isolation | Strip background noise / music from a vocal track. |
Text & LLM models
LLM-backed nodes (Generate Script, AI Writer, LLM Chat, QA Check, prompt helper, scene-graph/motion-graphics authoring) route through a tiered model selector rather than a single fixed model. Pick the tier on the node:
| Tier | Use it for | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | High-volume, simple text — fast drafts, short prompts, QA passes. | Lowest |
| Standard | The default for most writing and structured-output work — balanced quality and cost. | Mid |
| Premium | The hardest reasoning: long scripts, intricate scene graphs, nuanced rewrites. | Highest |
Provider availability per node varies (e.g. Generate Script offers multiple providers; QA Check is narrower). The node’s config panel shows the exact tier/provider options and their credit cost. Model assignments per tier live in packages/shared/src/llm-models.ts.
Keeping this guide accurate
The model tables and quick-picks above are generated from packages/shared/src/model-catalog.ts (MODEL_CATALOG + MODEL_RECOMMENDATIONS) by npm run gen:skills. To change them, edit the catalog and regenerate — don’t hand-edit the generated blocks. CI (gen:skills:check) fails if this page drifts from the catalog.