import {
  BlogHeading,
  BlogImage,
  BlogLeadParagraph,
  BlogInfoBox,
  BlogCTA,
  BlogServiceLink,
  BlogPricing,
} from '../../_components';
import type { TocItem } from '../../types';

// Image imports
import midjourneyHomepage from './assets/midjourney-homepage.png';
import leonardoAiHomepage from './assets/leonardo-ai-homepage.png';
import adobeFireflyHomepage from './assets/adobe-firefly-homepage.png';
import chatgptHomepage from './assets/chatgpt-homepage.png';
import ideogramHomepage from './assets/ideogram-homepage.png';
import googleGeminiHomepage from './assets/google-gemini-homepage.png';
import recraftAiHomepage from './assets/recraft-ai-homepage.png';
import reveAiHomepage from './assets/reve-ai-homepage.png';
import blackForestLabsHomepage from './assets/black-forest-labs-homepage.png';
import stabilityAiHomepage from './assets/stability-ai-homepage.png';
import civitaiHomepage from './assets/civitai-homepage.png';
import replicateHomepage from './assets/replicate-homepage.png';
import falAiHomepage from './assets/fal-ai-homepage.png';
import runwareHomepage from './assets/runware-homepage.png';
import segmindHomepage from './assets/segmind-homepage.png';
import novitaAiHomepage from './assets/novita-ai-homepage.png';
import togetherAiHomepage from './assets/together-ai-homepage.png';
import banatieHomepage from './assets/banatie-homepage.png';
import poeHomepage from './assets/poe-homepage.png';
import kreaAiHomepage from './assets/krea-ai-homepage.png';
import freepikAiHomepage from './assets/freepik-ai-homepage.png';

export const tocItems: TocItem[] = [
  { id: 'ui-first-platforms', text: 'UI-First Platforms', level: 2 },
  { id: 'midjourney', text: 'Midjourney', level: 3 },
  { id: 'leonardo-ai', text: 'Leonardo AI', level: 3 },
  { id: 'adobe-firefly', text: 'Adobe Firefly', level: 3 },
  { id: 'chatgpt', text: 'ChatGPT / GPT-4o', level: 3 },
  { id: 'ideogram', text: 'Ideogram', level: 3 },
  { id: 'google-gemini', text: 'Google Gemini', level: 3 },
  { id: 'recraft-ai', text: 'Recraft AI', level: 3 },
  { id: 'reve-ai', text: 'Reve AI', level: 3 },
  { id: 'open-source', text: 'Open Source / Self-Hosted', level: 2 },
  { id: 'flux', text: 'FLUX', level: 3 },
  { id: 'stable-diffusion', text: 'Stable Diffusion 3.5', level: 3 },
  { id: 'civitai', text: 'Civitai', level: 3 },
  { id: 'api-first-platforms', text: 'API-First Platforms', level: 2 },
  { id: 'replicate', text: 'Replicate', level: 3 },
  { id: 'fal-ai', text: 'fal.ai', level: 3 },
  { id: 'banatie', text: 'Banatie', level: 3 },
  { id: 'runware', text: 'Runware', level: 3 },
  { id: 'segmind', text: 'Segmind', level: 3 },
  { id: 'novita-ai', text: 'Novita AI', level: 3 },
  { id: 'together-ai', text: 'Together AI', level: 3 },
  { id: 'aggregators', text: 'Aggregators', level: 2 },
  { id: 'poe', text: 'Poe', level: 3 },
  { id: 'krea-ai', text: 'Krea.ai', level: 3 },
  { id: 'freepik-ai', text: 'Freepik AI', level: 3 },
  { id: 'faq', text: 'FAQ', level: 2 },
  { id: 'conclusion', text: 'Conclusion', level: 2 },
];

// Color-coded feature tags
const tagColors: Record<string, string> = {
  // Green - Commercial
  'Commercial safe': 'bg-emerald-100 text-emerald-700 ring-1 ring-emerald-500/20',
  // Blue - API/Technical
  'API': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  'API (via providers)': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  'MCP': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  'SDK': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  'CLI': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  'CDN': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  'Image Hosting': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  'Live URLs': 'bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 ring-1 ring-blue-500/20',
  // Purple - Reference types
  'Style ref': 'bg-violet-100 text-violet-700 ring-1 ring-violet-500/20',
  'Character ref': 'bg-violet-100 text-violet-700 ring-1 ring-violet-500/20',
  'Content ref': 'bg-violet-100 text-violet-700 ring-1 ring-violet-500/20',
  'Pose ref': 'bg-violet-100 text-violet-700 ring-1 ring-violet-500/20',
  'Depth ref': 'bg-violet-100 text-violet-700 ring-1 ring-violet-500/20',
  // Orange - Text/Vector
  'Text': 'bg-amber-100 text-amber-700 ring-1 ring-amber-500/20',
  'Vector': 'bg-amber-100 text-amber-700 ring-1 ring-amber-500/20',
  // Pink - Editing
  'Canvas': 'bg-pink-100 text-pink-700 ring-1 ring-pink-500/20',
  'Inpaint': 'bg-pink-100 text-pink-700 ring-1 ring-pink-500/20',
  'Outpaint': 'bg-pink-100 text-pink-700 ring-1 ring-pink-500/20',
  'Upscaling': 'bg-pink-100 text-pink-700 ring-1 ring-pink-500/20',
  'Object selection': 'bg-pink-100 text-pink-700 ring-1 ring-pink-500/20',
  // Cyan - Video/Live
  'Video': 'bg-cyan-100 text-cyan-700 ring-1 ring-cyan-500/20',
  'Live editing': 'bg-cyan-100 text-cyan-700 ring-1 ring-cyan-500/20',
  // Gray - Interface
  'Chatbot interface': 'bg-gray-100 text-gray-700 ring-1 ring-gray-500/20',
};

const FeatureTags = ({ tags }: { tags: string[] }) => (
  <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2 mb-6">
    {tags.map((tag) => (
      <span
        key={tag}
        className={`inline-flex items-center rounded-full px-3 py-1 text-xs font-medium ${
          tagColors[tag] || 'bg-gray-100 text-gray-700 ring-1 ring-gray-500/20'
        }`}
      >
        {tag}
      </span>
    ))}
  </div>
);

export const Content = () => (
  <>
    <BlogLeadParagraph>
      Midjourney set the standard for AI image generation. But it has
      limitations: no official API, Discord-first interface, no free tier. In
      2026, dozens of alternatives exist for different needs — whether you want
      a simple UI, need programmatic access, prefer self-hosting, or want to try
      multiple models through one platform.
    </BlogLeadParagraph>

    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-8">
      This guide covers 19 tools across four categories. All pricing accurate as
      of January 2026.
    </p>

    {/* UI-First Platforms */}
    <BlogHeading id="ui-first-platforms" level={2}>
      UI-First Platforms
    </BlogHeading>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-6">
      These services have their own web or app interfaces. No coding required.
      Best for quick generation and iteration.
    </p>

    {/* Midjourney */}
    <BlogHeading id="midjourney" level={3}>
      Midjourney — The Baseline
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://midjourney.com">midjourney.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={midjourneyHomepage} alt="Midjourney homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['Style ref', 'Character ref', 'Video', 'Upscaling']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The platform that defined AI art. 21M Discord members, ~1.4M paying
      subscribers, 26.8% market share. What keeps users here: superior
      photorealism with cinematic lighting, rich textures, and moody atmospheres
      that feel emotionally resonant. The community-driven Discord approach
      created an ecosystem where artists inspire each other in real-time — you
      see what others create, learn from their prompts, iterate together.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The tradeoff? Text rendering remains weak (~30% accuracy). The web app
      launched alongside Discord, but the interface still lacks the project
      organization and asset management that web-native competitors offer. But
      for pure artistic quality and consistent aesthetic across generations,
      it&apos;s still the benchmark others chase.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing paid="$10/mo (Basic) → $120/mo (Mega)" perImage="~$0.03-0.05" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> V7 model with video generation (5-21 sec
      clips). Style reference (--sref) and character reference (--cref) for
      consistency. Omni-reference system. Web app now available alongside
      Discord.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Artistic quality, community feedback, consistent
      aesthetic across projects.
    </p>

    {/* Leonardo AI */}
    <BlogHeading id="leonardo-ai" level={3}>
      Leonardo AI
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://leonardo.ai">leonardo.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={leonardoAiHomepage} alt="Leonardo AI homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={[
        'API',
        'MCP',
        'SDK',
        'CDN',
        'Video',
        'Style ref',
        'Pose ref',
        'Character ref',
        'Content ref',
        'Depth ref',
        'Inpaint',
        'Outpaint',
        'Canvas',
        'Upscaling',
      ]}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      18M+ creators use Leonardo for game assets and concept art. What sets it
      apart: <strong>granular control over every aspect of generation</strong>.
      The Image Guidance suite offers six reference types (Style, Content,
      Character, Pose, Depth, Edge) — upload a reference and the model respects
      it. Multiple base models (Phoenix for photorealism, Anime XL for stylized
      work) with adjustable parameters. Image-to-image workflows with strength
      sliders. Style LoRAs (Elements) with tunable influence. This depth of
      customization gives control that Midjourney&apos;s simpler interface
      doesn&apos;t offer.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Users love the balance between automation and creative authority. You
      maintain your unique voice through robust customization rather than
      surrendering control to the algorithm. The real-time Canvas with
      inpaint/outpaint means less post-production work in external editors.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="150 tokens/day" paid="$12-60/mo, API at $299/mo" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Flow State real-time generation. Image
      Guidance suite with 6 reference types. Real-time Canvas with
      inpaint/outpaint. Motion 2.0 for video. Phoenix model for quality.
      Elements (style LoRAs with adjustable strength).
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Game developers, concept artists, anyone who
      needs character consistency across multiple generations.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a href="https://docs.leonardo.ai/reference/" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">REST API</a>.{' '}
      SDK: <a href="https://github.com/Leonardo-Interactive/leonardo-python-sdk" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">Python</a>,{' '}
      <a href="https://github.com/Leonardo-Interactive/leonardo-ts-sdk" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">TypeScript</a>.{' '}
      <a href="https://docs.leonardo.ai/docs/connect-to-leonardoai-mcp" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">MCP</a>.{' '}
      CDN hosting. Upscaling, inpainting, outpainting, background removal.
    </p>

    {/* Adobe Firefly */}
    <BlogHeading id="adobe-firefly" level={3}>
      Adobe Firefly
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://firefly.adobe.com">firefly.adobe.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={adobeFireflyHomepage} alt="Adobe Firefly homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={[
        'API',
        'SDK',
        'Commercial safe',
        'Style ref',
        'Inpaint',
        'Upscaling',
      ]}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The enterprise-safe option. Firefly is trained only on Adobe Stock, public
      domain, and licensed content — no scraped web data. This matters for
      commercial work: IP indemnification on qualifying plans means legal
      protection if copyright questions arise.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Firefly 5 generates photorealistic images at native 4MP resolution with
      strong anatomical accuracy. The <strong>Prompt to Edit</strong> feature
      lets you describe changes in natural language — &quot;move the tree,&quot;
      &quot;swap the sky&quot; — and watch them happen instantly. Content
      Credentials (C2PA standard) prove AI origin on every image, increasingly
      important as AI detection becomes standard in publishing.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      For Creative Cloud users, the deep integration with Photoshop and
      Illustrator eliminates the export-import dance between generation and
      editing tools.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="Limited via web app" paid="Creative Cloud subscription" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Firefly 5 model (4MP native resolution).
      Content Credentials on all images (C2PA standard proving AI origin).
      Partner models include FLUX.2, Gemini, GPT. Deep integration with
      Photoshop, Illustrator, and Creative Cloud. Style Kits for brand
      consistency. Prompt to Edit natural language editing.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Commercial projects where copyright matters.
      Adobe users who want generation inside their existing workflow.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a href="https://developer.adobe.com/firefly-services/docs/firefly-api/" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">REST API</a>.{' '}
      SDK: <a href="https://developer.adobe.com/firefly-services/docs/guides/sdks/" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">JavaScript</a>.{' '}
      <a href="https://docs.firefly.ai/integrations/mcp" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">MCP</a>.{' '}
      S3+CloudFront CDN (temporary URLs). Generative fill, generative expand, background removal, upscaling.
    </p>

    {/* ChatGPT / GPT-4o */}
    <BlogHeading id="chatgpt" level={3}>
      ChatGPT / GPT-4o
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://chatgpt.com">chatgpt.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={chatgptHomepage} alt="ChatGPT homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'SDK', 'Text', 'Chatbot interface', 'Inpaint']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      GPT-4o generates images natively inside ChatGPT — the same interface
      millions already use daily. No separate app, no new subscription, no
      context switch. Need a quick mockup while discussing a project? Generate
      it mid-conversation. The fundamental difference: conversational iteration.
      &quot;Make the sky darker&quot; works exactly as you&apos;d expect, and
      the model maintains context across edits. Where other tools require
      re-prompting from scratch, GPT-4o remembers what you&apos;re building.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The breakthrough is text rendering. Earlier models mangled typography;
      GPT-4o handles it cleanly — readable signs, labels, captions within
      images. Anatomical accuracy (hands, faces) has improved dramatically. The
      tradeoff is speed: ~1 minute per generation vs seconds on dedicated
      platforms.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Over 700 million images generated in a single week shows the adoption
      curve. For users already paying for ChatGPT Plus, it&apos;s image
      generation without another subscription.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="Limited access" paid="ChatGPT Plus $20/mo" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Best-in-class text rendering in images.
      Strong anatomical accuracy (hands, faces). Conversational editing with
      context preservation. C2PA metadata for provenance. Multi-turn generation
      maintaining character consistency.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Iterative refinement through conversation.
      Images with readable text. Users who already pay for ChatGPT Plus.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a href="https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/image-generation" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">REST API</a> (DALL-E 3).{' '}
      SDK: <a href="https://github.com/openai/openai-python" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">Python</a>,{' '}
      <a href="https://github.com/openai/openai-node" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">TypeScript</a>.{' '}
      Temporary CDN URLs. Basic transformation: variations, editing via masks.
    </p>

    {/* Ideogram */}
    <BlogHeading id="ideogram" level={3}>
      Ideogram
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://ideogram.ai">ideogram.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={ideogramHomepage} alt="Ideogram homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'SDK', 'Text', 'Inpaint']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Founded by former Google Brain researchers specifically to solve
      typography in AI images. Where Midjourney achieves roughly 30% text
      accuracy, Ideogram hits ~90%. This isn&apos;t incremental improvement —
      it&apos;s a different category of capability.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The <strong>Style Reference</strong> system lets you upload up to 3
      reference images to replicate colors, textures, and mood.{' '}
      <strong>Random Styles</strong> accesses 4.3 billion+ combinations for
      inspiration. <strong>Savable Style Codes</strong> store exact visual
      styles for reuse — critical for brand consistency across campaigns.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      For logos, branding, marketing materials — anything where text needs to be
      readable — Ideogram delivers production-ready results from the first
      attempt. Less time fixing text errors in Photoshop.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="10 slow credits/week" paid="$7-42/mo" perImage="0.25-1 credit" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Ideogram 3.0 model with industry-leading
      text rendering. Style Reference (up to 3 images). 4.3B+ Random Style
      combinations. Savable Style Codes. Magic Fill and Extend editing. Multiple
      style modes: Realistic, Design, 3D, Anime.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Logos, branding, marketing materials — anything
      where text needs to be readable.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a href="https://developer.ideogram.ai/ideogram-api/api-overview" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">REST API</a>.{' '}
      Temporary image URLs (expiring). Edit, remix, reframe, upscale, background replacement.
    </p>

    {/* Google Gemini */}
    <BlogHeading id="google-gemini" level={3}>
      Google Gemini / Imagen
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://gemini.google.com">gemini.google.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={googleGeminiHomepage} alt="Google Gemini homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={[
        'API',
        'MCP',
        'SDK',
        'CLI',
        'Text',
        'Chatbot interface',
        'Character ref',
        'Style ref',
      ]}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Google&apos;s image generation spans multiple products. Gemini 2.5 Flash
      Image (nicknamed &quot;Nano Banana&quot;) became popular in 2025 for a
      specific reason: <strong>multi-image fusion</strong>. Upload multiple
      images, describe how to combine them, and the model merges elements
      coherently. Restoring rooms with new color schemes, combining product
      shots into lifestyle scenes — use cases that required Photoshop skills now
      work through natural language.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Character consistency</strong> across generations — historically
      difficult in AI synthesis — works reliably. The semantic understanding
      from Gemini&apos;s world knowledge means the model grasps context, not
      just visual patterns. Strong text rendering, especially on the Pro model.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      For Google ecosystem users, the integration across Gemini app, Google
      Photos, and developer APIs creates a seamless workflow.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (speed-optimized), Gemini
      3 Pro Image (quality-optimized), Imagen 3/4 (enterprise via Vertex AI).
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="Gemini app (with watermark), AI Studio free" perImage="~$0.03 via API" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Multi-image fusion. Character and style
      consistency across edits. Search-grounded generation (Pro model). Strong
      text rendering. SynthID invisible watermarks. Natural language editing.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Google ecosystem users. Developers who want
      conversational editing with API access. Multi-image composition workflows.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a href="https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/imagen" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">REST API</a>.{' '}
      SDK: <a href="https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/libraries" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">Python, JavaScript, Go, Java, C#</a>.{' '}
      CLI: <a href="https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">gemini-cli</a>.{' '}
      Base64 response (no hosting). Inpainting, outpainting, upscaling, subject customization.
    </p>

    {/* Recraft AI */}
    <BlogHeading id="recraft-ai" level={3}>
      Recraft AI
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://recraft.ai">recraft.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={recraftAiHomepage} alt="Recraft AI homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={[
        'API',
        'SDK',
        'Vector',
        'Text',
        'Inpaint',
        'Outpaint',
        'Upscaling',
      ]}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      One of only two AI tools with native SVG vector output (the other being
      Adobe Firefly). 4M+ users, mostly designers. The difference matters:
      vectors scale infinitely without quality loss. A logo generated here works
      on business cards and billboards without creating multiple file versions.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The Recraft-20B SVG model understands design principles, not just visual
      patterns — clean vector paths that require minimal touch-up work.
      Generated SVGs open directly in Illustrator and Figma for refinement.
      According to Google&apos;s Web Performance research, SVG icons load 73%
      faster than equivalent PNGs and use 85% less bandwidth.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Precise color control through hex codes</strong> means brand
      palettes stay consistent across generated assets. For icon sets, patterns,
      and anything that needs infinite scalability — there&apos;s no real
      alternative.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="50 generations/day" paid="$10-48/mo" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> True vector generation — export actual SVG
      files, not rasterized images. V3 model with strong prompt adherence.
      Pattern generation. Product mockups. Brand consistency tools with hex
      color control. Accurate text rendering. AI vectorizer converts existing
      PNGs/JPGs to SVG.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Logo design, icon sets, patterns, anything that
      needs to scale infinitely.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a href="https://docs.recraft.ai" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">REST API</a> (OpenAI-compatible).{' '}
      Temporary image URLs. Vectorization, upscaling, inpainting, outpainting, background removal.
    </p>

    {/* Reve AI */}
    <BlogHeading id="reve-ai" level={3}>
      Reve AI
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://reve.ai">reve.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={reveAiHomepage} alt="Reve AI homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={['Commercial safe', 'Text', 'Object selection']}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Launched March 2025, immediately claimed #1 on Artificial Analysis&apos;s
      Image Arena with an ELO score of 1167 — outperforming Midjourney v6.1,
      Nano Banana, and Seedream 4.0 in realism and text handling benchmarks. The
      pricing is aggressive: $5 for 500 images works out to $0.01 per image.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      What&apos;s unusual:{' '}
      <strong>full commercial rights on all outputs, including free tier</strong>
      . Most platforms restrict commercial use to paid plans. Reve&apos;s 12B
      parameter hybrid model delivers prompt adherence that rivals much larger
      systems, with natural-language editing and image remixing (combine
      multiple images into new compositions).
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      For budget-conscious creators who still need quality, it&apos;s the value
      play without quality compromise.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="100 credits + 20/day" paid="$5 for 500 images" perImage="$0.01" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> 12B parameter hybrid model. Full commercial
      rights on all images, including free tier. Natural language editing. Image
      remixing (combine multiple images). Enhanced text rendering. Strong prompt
      adherence.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Budget-conscious creators who still need
      quality. Commercial projects on a tight budget.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong> Available via providers ({' '}
      <a href="https://docs.aimlapi.com/api-references/image-models/reve" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">AIML API</a>,{' '}
      Replicate).
    </p>

    {/* Open Source / Self-Hosted */}
    <BlogHeading id="open-source" level={2}>
      Open Source / Self-Hosted
    </BlogHeading>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-6">
      Run models on your own hardware. Higher setup cost, lower per-image cost
      at scale. Full control over the pipeline.
    </p>

    {/* FLUX */}
    <BlogHeading id="flux" level={3}>
      FLUX (Black Forest Labs)
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://bfl.ai">bfl.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={blackForestLabsHomepage} alt="Black Forest Labs homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={['API (via providers)', 'MCP', 'Style ref', 'Pose ref', 'Depth ref', 'Inpaint']}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The community favorite for self-hosting. Black Forest Labs publishes
      open-weight models alongside commercial offerings — their philosophy of
      &quot;sustainable open innovation&quot; drives adoption among developers
      who want control without vendor lock-in.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      FLUX.2&apos;s standout capability:{' '}
      <strong>
        multi-reference support combining up to 10 images simultaneously
      </strong>{' '}
      while maintaining character, product, and style consistency. The
      architecture pairs a Mistral-3 24B vision-language model with a rectified
      flow transformer — it understands real-world physics, lighting,
      perspective, and material properties rather than just pattern matching.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Text and typography mastery</strong> makes complex infographics,
      memes, and UI mockups with legible fine text work reliably. The community
      has developed FP8 quantizations that reduce VRAM requirements by 40% while
      improving performance — running state-of-the-art generation on consumer
      hardware.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing perImage="From $0.014 (via API providers)" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> Schnell (speed), Dev (balanced, most popular),
      Pro (commercial license), Kontext (editing/context-aware).
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Hardware requirements:</strong> Full models need 16-24GB VRAM.
      Quantized versions (GGUF) run on 6-8GB, with Q2 quantization possible on
      4GB. RAM: 16GB minimum, 32GB recommended.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> ComfyUI as the primary interface.
      Multi-reference support (up to 10 images). ControlNet support via Flux
      Tools (Canny, Depth) and XLabs collections. LoRA training through
      FluxGym, Replicate trainer, or fal.ai. Top-tier prompt understanding. 32K
      token context on Pro model.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Developers who want maximum control.
      High-volume generation where per-image cost matters. Custom model
      training.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a href="https://docs.bfl.ai/" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">REST API</a>.{' '}
      <a href="https://docs.bfl.ai/api_integration/mcp_integration" className="text-blue-600 hover:underline">MCP</a>.{' '}
      Temporary URLs (10 min expiration). Inpainting, outpainting, multi-reference editing.
    </p>

    {/* Stable Diffusion 3.5 */}
    <BlogHeading id="stable-diffusion" level={3}>
      Stable Diffusion 3.5
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://stability.ai">stability.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={stabilityAiHomepage} alt="Stability AI homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={['API (via providers)', 'SDK', 'CLI', 'Style ref', 'Pose ref', 'Depth ref', 'Inpaint']}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The foundation model that democratized AI image generation. What Stable
      Diffusion 3.5 brings: a{' '}
      <strong>Multimodal Diffusion Transformer (MMDiT) architecture</strong>{' '}
      that fundamentally improves how the model understands relationships
      between text and images. Legible, contextually integrated text — the
      long-standing challenge — now works.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Three variants for different hardware realities: Large (8.1B params,
      professional-grade), Large Turbo (4-step fast generation), and Medium
      (runs on 9.9GB VRAM — standard consumer GPUs). The{' '}
      <strong>permissive Community License</strong> enables commercial and
      research applications without enterprise agreements.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The ecosystem advantage is unmatched: thousands of fine-tunes, LoRAs, and
      ControlNets built by the community. DreamBooth training works with as few
      as five images. For developers wanting to customize rather than use
      off-the-shelf, no other model has this depth of community tooling.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing perImage="From $0.025 (via API providers)" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> Large (8.1B params), Turbo (4-step fast
      generation), Medium (9.9GB VRAM requirement).
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Hosted options:</strong> DreamStudio (official), Stability AI API,
      plus dozens of third-party UIs.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> MMDiT architecture for superior prompt
      adherence. Diverse style range (3D, photography, painting, line art).
      Massive ecosystem of fine-tunes, LoRAs, and ControlNets. Query-Key
      Normalization for simplified fine-tuning. Runs on consumer hardware.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Local deployment. Custom pipeline development.
      Access to the largest model ecosystem.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://platform.stability.ai/docs/api-reference"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . SDK:{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/Stability-AI/stability-sdk"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Python
      </a>
      ,{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/Stability-AI/stability-sdk-go"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Go
      </a>
      . CLI via Python SDK. Upscaling, inpainting,
      outpainting, background removal.
    </p>

    {/* Civitai */}
    <BlogHeading id="civitai" level={3}>
      Civitai
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://civitai.com">civitai.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={civitaiHomepage} alt="Civitai homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'CDN', 'Image Hosting', 'Inpaint']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Not a model — a marketplace and community. Tens of thousands of
      checkpoints, fine-tunes, and LoRAs for SD and FLUX families. What makes it
      essential: finding niche styles that don&apos;t exist in base models. A
      specific anime aesthetic, a particular photography style, a character
      concept — someone has probably trained a model for it.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The platform evolved into an <strong>all-in-one hub</strong> in 2025:
      on-site image and video generation (including Vidu, Wan 2.1, Hunyuan),
      integrated LoRA trainer (including video LoRA), and creator monetization
      through the revised Creator Program. Usage Control lets model creators
      restrict how their work is used.
    </p>
    <BlogInfoBox type="warning" title="Important 2025 context">
      Stricter moderation policies restrict real-person likenesses and extreme
      content. Credit card payments were paused; ZKP2P alternatives exist but
      add friction. Verify current status before building production workflows
      around it.
    </BlogInfoBox>
    <BlogPricing free="Earn Buzz through community" paid="$10-50/mo for Buzz packs" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Browse tens of thousands of checkpoints: SD
      families, FLUX variants, video models. Generate directly on-site: txt2img,
      img2img, ControlNet. Built-in LoRA trainer (including video). Community
      features: Bounties, Creator Program for monetization. Per-model licensing
      with Usage Control.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Finding niche styles. Community fine-tunes.
      Exploring what&apos;s possible before training your own.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://developer.civitai.com"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . CDN hosting (permanent URLs).
    </p>

    {/* API-First Platforms */}
    <BlogHeading id="api-first-platforms" level={2}>
      API-First Platforms
    </BlogHeading>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Midjourney has no official API. Third-party wrappers exist but violate ToS
      and risk account bans. These platforms provide legitimate programmatic
      access to image generation.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-6">
      Key considerations when choosing: pricing model (per-image vs GPU-time),
      SDK support, model selection, latency.
    </p>

    {/* Replicate */}
    <BlogHeading id="replicate" level={3}>
      Replicate
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://replicate.com">replicate.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={replicateHomepage} alt="Replicate homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'MCP', 'SDK', 'CDN']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The model marketplace for developers. 50,000+ production-ready models
      spanning image generation, transcription, and beyond. The appeal:{' '}
      <strong>run any model with one line of code</strong>, no GPU configuration
      or backend setup required.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Replicate&apos;s Cog tool lets you package and deploy custom models as
      production APIs with automatic scaling and versioning. The{' '}
      <strong>zero-scale economics</strong> mean you pay only when generating —
      no idle capacity costs. Fine-tuning with custom data creates on-brand
      outputs without infrastructure expertise.
    </p>
    <BlogInfoBox type="info" title="November 2025 milestone">
      Cloudflare agreed to acquire Replicate. The integration will make all
      50,000+ models available directly to Cloudflare Workers AI users —
      building entire full-stack applications in one place.
    </BlogInfoBox>
    <BlogPricing perImage="$0.003 (FLUX Schnell) to $0.09 (premium models)" sdk="Python, JavaScript" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> 50,000+ production-ready models via
      Official Models program. Cog tool for deploying custom models. Zero-scale
      economics — pay only when generating. Fine-tuning support. NVIDIA H100 GPU
      support for demanding workloads. Cloudflare acquisition expands reach.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Gotcha:</strong> Stripe payment issues reported in some regions.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Model variety. Serverless deployment. Teams
      that need zero-scale economics.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://replicate.com/docs/reference/http"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . SDK:{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/replicate/replicate-python"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Python
      </a>
      ,{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/replicate/replicate-javascript"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Node.js
      </a>
      ,{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/replicate/replicate-swift"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Swift
      </a>
      ,{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/replicate/replicate-go"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Go
      </a>
      .{' '}
      <a
        href="https://replicate.com/docs/reference/mcp"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        MCP
      </a>
      . CDN hosting.
    </p>

    {/* fal.ai */}
    <BlogHeading id="fal-ai" level={3}>
      fal.ai
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://fal.ai">fal.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={falAiHomepage} alt="fal.ai homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'MCP', 'SDK', 'CLI']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Speed-focused platform. 600+ models including FLUX.2, often with day-zero
      access to new releases. The technical edge:{' '}
      <strong>inference engine up to 10x faster</strong> than traditional
      deployments through 100+ custom CUDA kernels optimized for diffusion
      transformers.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      For developers, zero DevOps friction matters: no GPU configuration, no
      cold starts, no autoscaler setup. The TypeScript SDK (@fal-ai/client)
      enables rapid prototyping with minimal boilerplate. The platform scales
      from prototypes to 100M+ daily inference calls with 99.99% uptime.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      fal&apos;s FLUX.2 [dev] Turbo is <strong>6x more efficient</strong> than
      the full-weight model while being <strong>3-10x cheaper</strong> than
      comparable APIs. December 2025 funding: $140M Series D at $4.5B valuation
      from Sequoia, NVIDIA, Kleiner Perkins, and a16z — validation of the
      speed-first approach.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing perImage="$0.03-0.04 (quality models)" sdk="TypeScript, Python, Swift" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Users:</strong> 2M+ developers.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> 10x faster inference via custom CUDA
      kernels. Sub-second generation for Schnell. Day-zero access to new model
      releases. No cold starts. Unified API across 600+ models. Real-time video
      generation with temporal consistency.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Speed-critical applications. TypeScript
      developers. Teams that want the latest models first.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.fal.ai/model-apis"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      , WebSocket. SDK:{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.fal.ai/model-apis/client"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        TypeScript
      </a>
      ,{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.fal.ai/model-apis/client"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Python
      </a>
      , Swift, Java, Kotlin, Dart.{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.fal.ai/mcp"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        MCP
      </a>
      .{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.fal.ai/serverless/python/cli"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        CLI
      </a>
      . Style transfer, img2img.
    </p>

    {/* Banatie */}
    <BlogHeading id="banatie" level={3}>
      Banatie
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://banatie.app">banatie.app</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={banatieHomepage} alt="Banatie homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'Live URLs', 'CDN', 'Image Hosting']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Developer-native image generation built for AI coding workflows.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The problem Banatie solves: generating images means leaving your IDE,
      switching to an external tool, downloading files, organizing them
      manually. This context-switching breaks flow, especially when you&apos;re
      deep in a Claude Code or Cursor session.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Banatie integrates directly into your development environment. MCP Server
      connects to Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible tools — generate
      images without leaving your editor. REST API for standard HTTP access.
      Prompt URLs let you generate images via URL parameters for on-demand
      generation. SDK and CLI tools handle automation in build pipelines.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The platform enhances your prompts automatically, delivers images through
      a built-in CDN globally, and organizes everything by project. Use @name
      references to maintain visual consistency across project images —
      reference a character or style once, use it everywhere.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Where other API platforms focus on model variety (Replicate), speed
      (fal.ai), or cost (Runware), Banatie focuses on workflow. MCP integration,
      built-in CDN, and Prompt URLs are unique to this platform.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Developers using AI coding tools who want image
      generation without leaving their editor.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://api.banatie.app"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . Live URLs. CDN hosting (permanent URLs).
    </p>

    {/* Runware */}
    <BlogHeading id="runware" level={3}>
      Runware
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://runware.ai">runware.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={runwareHomepage} alt="Runware homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'SDK']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The cost leader. Their <strong>Sonic Inference Engine</strong> runs on
      AI-native hardware (custom servers, storage, networking, cooling)
      achieving near-100% GPU utilization — effectively halving cost per
      generation compared to traditional data centers.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The numbers: <strong>$0.0006/image for FLUX Schnell</strong> — that&apos;s
      1,666 images per dollar. Sub-second inference times. 0.1s LoRA cold
      starts. A unified API provides access to 300,000+ models including
      open-source options from Civitai.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The pricing model differs fundamentally from competitors:{' '}
      <strong>cost-per-image rather than compute-time billing</strong>. You pay
      for actual outputs regardless of processing overhead. Enterprise customers
      report $100,000+ monthly savings migrating from competitors.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="$2 credits (~3,300+ images)" perImage="$0.0006 (FLUX Schnell)" sdk="REST API, WebSocket" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> 300,000+ via unified API (SD, FLUX, Imagen).
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Sonic Inference Engine on custom hardware.
      Sub-second inference. 0.1s LoRA cold starts. Per-image pricing (not
      compute-time). Zero-day access to new releases. Runs on renewable energy.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> High-volume production. Cost-sensitive
      projects. Startups watching burn rate.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://runware.ai/docs/getting-started/how-to-connect"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      , WebSocket. SDK:{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/Runware/sdk-js"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        JavaScript
      </a>
      ,{' '}
      <a
        href="https://runware.ai/docs/libraries/python"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Python
      </a>
      . Upscaling, inpainting, outpainting, background
      removal, vectorize.
    </p>

    {/* Segmind */}
    <BlogHeading id="segmind" level={3}>
      Segmind
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://segmind.com">segmind.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={segmindHomepage} alt="Segmind homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'SDK', 'Image Hosting']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Workflow-focused platform. <strong>PixelFlow</strong> is the
      differentiator: a cloud-based drag-and-drop builder where you create
      generative AI pipelines visually, then convert them directly into
      production APIs. No code required to build complex multi-step workflows.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The parallel processing capability runs a single input through multiple
      models simultaneously — generate different variations using multiple SDXL
      checkpoints at once. Combine text, image, audio, and video generation in
      unified workflows: product descriptions → promotional images →
      accompanying text → video — all without switching tools.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      500+ AI models accessible, per-second billing (~$0.002/s on A100), and
      338+ pre-built templates covering AI sketch-to-3D, photo restoration,
      portrait video, product ads, and infographics.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="$5 credits" paid="$39-599/mo or ~$0.002/s PAYG" sdk="JavaScript, Python, Swift" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> PixelFlow visual workflow builder. Parallel
      processing through multiple models. Publish workflows as API endpoints.
      Multimodal AI integration (text, image, audio, video). 338+ pre-built
      templates. Fine-tuning support.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Complex generation pipelines. Teams building
      custom image processing workflows.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.segmind.com/api-reference"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . SDK:{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/segmind/segmind-npm"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        JavaScript
      </a>
      . Image hosting (shareable URLs). Upscaling,
      inpainting, outpainting, background removal, segmentation.
    </p>

    {/* Novita AI */}
    <BlogHeading id="novita-ai" level={3}>
      Novita AI
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://novita.ai">novita.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={novitaAiHomepage} alt="Novita AI homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'SDK']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Budget option with startup-friendly programs. The{' '}
      <strong>Agent Sandbox</strong> launched in 2025 delivers millisecond-level
      startup times for AI agent workloads — optimized for high-concurrency
      tasks where traditional cold starts kill performance.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      10,000+ image models with rapid integration of trending open-source
      releases (DeepSeek, Qwen, Llama 3) means access to cutting-edge tools
      without corporate release cycle delays. The dual-service model combines
      ready-to-use inference APIs with GPU cloud infrastructure for custom
      development.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The Startup Program offers up to <strong>$10,000 in credits</strong> —
      meaningful runway for early-stage teams validating AI-powered features.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing perImage="$0.0015 baseline" sdk="Python" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> 10,000+ image models plus LLMs, video, audio.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Agent Sandbox with millisecond startup
      times. Serverless GPU endpoints. Dedicated Endpoints for custom models and
      LoRA adapters. Function calling and structured outputs across LLMs.
      Startup Program with $10k credits.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Early-stage startups. Budget-constrained
      projects. High-concurrency agent workflows.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://novita.ai/docs/api-reference/model-apis-introduction"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . SDK:{' '}
      <a
        href="https://novita.ai/docs/api-reference/model-apis-introduction"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Python
      </a>
      . Upscaling, inpainting, outpainting, background
      removal, ControlNet.
    </p>

    {/* Together AI */}
    <BlogHeading id="together-ai" level={3}>
      Together AI
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://together.ai">together.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={togetherAiHomepage} alt="Together AI homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'SDK', 'CLI', 'CDN']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Unified AI platform covering text, image, and video generation. The
      strategic advantage:{' '}
      <strong>OpenAI-compatible endpoints</strong> make it a drop-in replacement
      for teams migrating from proprietary APIs. Familiar SDK format, minimal
      code changes.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Inference runs <strong>up to 4x faster</strong> than traditional
      deployments through speculative decoding, quantization, and FP8 kernels.
      Browser-based fine-tuning launched in 2025 — customize models with your
      own data without Python SDK installation. The data preprocessing engine
      improved by up to 32% for large-scale training.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      200+ open-source models across text, code, image, and multimodal
      categories. Pay-as-you-go with no minimums enables experimentation; 99.9%
      SLA availability handles production workloads.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="3 months free FLUX.1 Schnell" paid="$0.005-0.08/image" sdk="OpenAI-compatible (Python, JavaScript)" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> 200+ (FLUX.2, SD3, Imagen, SeeDream, plus text
      and code models).
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> OpenAI-compatible endpoints for easy
      migration. 4x faster inference. Browser-based fine-tuning without SDK.
      Direct preference optimization (DPO) support. Integration with Hugging
      Face Hub. 99.9% SLA.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Teams standardized on OpenAI SDK. Projects
      needing text + image + video from one provider. Easy migration from
      proprietary APIs.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.together.ai/"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>{' '}
      (OpenAI-compatible). SDK:{' '}
      <a
        href="https://github.com/togethercomputer/together-python"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        Python
      </a>
      ,{' '}
      <a
        href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/together-ai"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        TypeScript
      </a>
      . CLI. CDN hosting.
    </p>

    {/* Aggregators */}
    <BlogHeading id="aggregators" level={2}>
      Aggregators
    </BlogHeading>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-6">
      One subscription, multiple models. Compare outputs side-by-side. Good for
      exploration and finding the right model for your use case.
    </p>

    {/* Poe */}
    <BlogHeading id="poe" level={3}>
      Poe (Quora)
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://poe.com">poe.com</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={poeHomepage} alt="Poe homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'Chatbot interface']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      100+ models through one interface, including FLUX-pro, GPT-Image, Imagen
      3/4, DALL-E 3, Gemini. The fundamental advantage:{' '}
      <strong>
        compare outputs from different models within a single conversation
      </strong>{' '}
      without managing separate subscriptions.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      What sets Poe apart from simple aggregators:{' '}
      <strong>
        group chats supporting up to 200 users across 200+ AI models
        simultaneously
      </strong>
      . Families planning trips with specialized search models, creative teams
      brainstorming with various image generators — collaborative AI workflows
      that don&apos;t exist elsewhere.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Custom bot creation lets you build chatbots using prompts and existing
      models as a base. The July 2025 API release uses OpenAI-compatible format
      for developer integration. Real-time chat sync across devices maintains
      context when switching from desktop to mobile.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="3,000 points/day" paid="$4.99-249.99/mo" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://poe.com/api"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>{' '}
      (OpenAI-compatible format).
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> 100+ models including major providers.
      Multi-model comparison in one chat. Group chats for 200 users across 200+
      models. Custom bot creation. App Creator for building simple tools.
      Real-time cross-device sync.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Exploring different models before committing.
      One subscription for access to everything. Collaborative multi-model
      workflows.
    </p>

    {/* Krea.ai */}
    <BlogHeading id="krea-ai" level={3}>
      Krea.ai
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://krea.ai">krea.ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={kreaAiHomepage} alt="Krea.ai homepage" />
    <FeatureTags
      tags={[
        'API',
        'Live editing',
        'Canvas',
        'Inpaint',
        'Outpaint',
        'Upscaling',
      ]}
    />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Real-time generation leader. The core innovation:{' '}
      <strong>draw on the canvas and watch AI respond in under 50ms</strong>.
      This transforms image generation from &quot;prompt-wait-revise&quot; into
      active creative sculpting. You see results instantly, making iteration
      feel like playing an instrument rather than operating a vending machine.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The <strong>AI Strength slider</strong> is critical — balance how closely
      AI follows your sketch versus how much creative freedom it exercises.
      Designers rapidly iterate on logos, layouts, prototypes by painting
      primitives and seeing instant results. Concept artists convert rough 3D
      models into fully textured concept art in seconds.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Beyond real-time generation: in/out-painting, style transfer, and an
      Enhancer upscaling to 22K resolution. Krea also functions as an
      image-to-video hub, dispatching stills to Runway, Luma, and Hailuo for
      seamless storyboarding from static visuals to motion.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing free="100 compute units/day" paid="$9-105/mo" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> Flux, Veo 3, Kling, Runway, 20+ total.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Real-time canvas — draw and see AI
      generation in &lt;50ms. AI Strength slider for control balance. 22K
      resolution upscaling. In/out-painting and style transfer. AI Patterns for
      tileable textures. Real-time video generation. Image-to-video hub
      integration.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Concept artists. Interactive co-creation.
      Anyone who thinks in sketches rather than prompts.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.krea.ai"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . Upscaling, style transfer, enhance.
    </p>

    {/* Freepik AI */}
    <BlogHeading id="freepik-ai" level={3}>
      Freepik AI
    </BlogHeading>
    <BlogServiceLink href="https://freepik.com/ai">freepik.com/ai</BlogServiceLink>
    <BlogImage src={freepikAiHomepage} alt="Freepik AI homepage" />
    <FeatureTags tags={['API', 'Image Hosting', 'Text', 'Inpaint', 'Upscaling']} />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      All-in-one creative platform combining stock assets, AI generation, and
      editing. The <strong>Mystic model</strong> delivers exceptional
      photorealism with pixel-perfect text rendering — capabilities where
      Midjourney and DALL-E 3 struggle. National Geographic-level composition
      with skin textures and individual hair strands that exceed expectations
      for AI-generated content.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Mystic integrates finetunes of Stable Diffusion, Flux, and Magnific.ai
      technology for <strong>2K default resolution without upscaling</strong>.
      Complex prompts complete in under a minute. For marketers creating social
      media graphics, promotional materials, and branded content, the text
      accuracy eliminates post-production fixes.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      The ecosystem integration matters: generate with Mystic, refine with
      Retouch (selective editing), expand compositions, create variations — all
      within one interface. No bouncing between Photoshop, design tools, and
      image generators.
    </p>
    <BlogPricing paid="$5-35/mo (Essential to Premium+)" />
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Models:</strong> Mystic (proprietary, fine-tuned on
      Flux/SD/Magnific), plus Flux and Ideogram.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Key features:</strong> Mystic model with 2K default resolution.
      Superior text rendering vs competitors. AI Video via Veo. Sketch-to-Image.
      Custom Characters. Integrated Retouch, Expand, Reimagine tools. Multiple
      model modes for different styles.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Best for:</strong> Marketing teams. All-in-one creative workflow.
      Text-heavy marketing materials.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>API:</strong>{' '}
      <a
        href="https://docs.freepik.com/api-reference/mystic/mystic"
        className="text-blue-600 hover:underline"
      >
        REST API
      </a>
      . Multiple rendering engines. Style and structure reference images.
      Character system. LoRA styles.
    </p>

    {/* FAQ */}
    <BlogHeading id="faq" level={2}>
      FAQ
    </BlogHeading>

    <h4 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 mt-8 mb-3">
      Is there an AI better than Midjourney?
    </h4>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Depends on what you need. For text rendering: Ideogram, Recraft, or
      GPT-4o. For API access: fal.ai, Replicate, or Banatie. For free usage:
      Leonardo AI, Gemini, or Reve. For commercial safety: Adobe Firefly. For
      vectors: Recraft. Midjourney excels at artistic quality but lacks API
      access and has no free tier.
    </p>

    <h4 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 mt-8 mb-3">
      What is similar to Midjourney but free?
    </h4>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Leonardo AI gives you 150 tokens daily. Gemini offers unlimited generation
      in the app (with watermark). Reve provides 100 credits plus 20 per day.
      Ideogram and Poe both have free tiers. For truly unlimited free
      generation, self-host FLUX with ComfyUI — requires your own GPU.
    </p>

    <h4 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 mt-8 mb-3">
      Which AI image generator has no restrictions?
    </h4>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Most services have content policies. Self-hosted options (FLUX, Stable
      Diffusion via Civitai) offer the most freedom. Civitai hosts community
      models with varied restrictions. Note that &quot;no restrictions&quot;
      often means NSFW content — check individual model licenses for commercial
      use.
    </p>

    <h4 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 mt-8 mb-3">
      Is Midjourney better than Stable Diffusion?
    </h4>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      Different tools for different needs. Midjourney: easier to use, consistent
      artistic style, no setup. Stable Diffusion: free, fully customizable,
      self-hostable, massive model ecosystem. For developers wanting
      programmatic access, SD or FLUX via API gives more control. For artists
      wanting quality-per-prompt, Midjourney remains hard to beat.
    </p>

    <h4 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 mt-8 mb-3">
      Does Midjourney have an API?
    </h4>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      No official API. Third-party wrappers exist but violate Midjourney&apos;s
      Terms of Service and risk account bans. For legitimate programmatic image
      generation, use Replicate, fal.ai, Runware, Together AI, or Banatie. These
      platforms provide similar quality models (especially FLUX) with proper API
      access.
    </p>

    {/* Conclusion */}
    <BlogHeading id="conclusion" level={2}>
      Conclusion
    </BlogHeading>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      No single &quot;best&quot; Midjourney alternative exists — it depends on
      your specific needs.
    </p>
    <p className="text-gray-700 leading-relaxed mb-4">
      <strong>Quick decision guide:</strong>
    </p>
    <ul className="list-disc pl-6 mb-6 text-gray-700 space-y-2">
      <li>
        <strong>Want a UI?</strong> → Leonardo AI, Reve, or Adobe Firefly
      </li>
      <li>
        <strong>Need API access?</strong> → fal.ai, Runware, or Banatie
      </li>
      <li>
        <strong>Prefer self-hosting?</strong> → FLUX with ComfyUI
      </li>
      <li>
        <strong>Want to explore models?</strong> → Poe or Krea
      </li>
    </ul>

    <BlogCTA
      title="Developer-native image generation"
      description="For developers working with AI coding tools, Banatie integrates directly into your workflow — generate images without leaving your editor."
      buttonText="Get API Access"
      buttonHref="/#get-access"
    />
  </>
);
