Luma Photon
Ultra-cheap high-detail image generation — about $0.015 per 1080p image.
About
Photon, announced November 25, 2024, is Luma AI's text-to-image foundation model, built to bring the Dream Machine video success to stills. The pitch is value: $0.015 per 1080p image on Photon, $0.002 on the lighter Photon Flash — roughly 8-10x cheaper than comparable models, per Luma — with Luma claiming wins in large double-blind quality tests (provider-reported, treat accordingly). It supports multi-image references, style references, single-image character consistency, and natural-language iterative editing ('add some orange' style refinements that remember prior instructions). Served via the Luma API and Dream Machine; proprietary, no weights. Limitation: the blind-test and cost claims are Luma's own, and as a 2024 model it now competes with a newer generation of editors.
Specs
Context window
Pricing
Free quota
API access
Weights
Released
Benchmarks
Luma-reported: preferred in 60.1% of double-blind tests (provider-reported)
Provider-reported unless a source says otherwise. Benchmarks are marketing-adjacent by nature — treat them as directional.
Use cases
Trust score — 7/10
Scored 7/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: Announced Nov 25, 2024 per Business Wire press release; Luma AI text-to-image foundation model.; $0.015/1080p image (Photon), $0.002 (Photon Flash); API available.; Character consistency, style references, natural-language iterative editing.; Limitations: blind-test wins and cost claims are Luma's own (provider-reported)..