# Fal's $16B Round: Best Image & Video AI APIs 2026

> Fal raised $1.3 billion at a $16 billion valuation on November 3. We compare it with Replicate, Together AI, Runware, WaveSpeedAI and Modal on published prices.

By Arthur R. · Published 2026-11-04 · Updated 2026-11-04 · 11 min read · https://innvesti.com/reports/fal-16-billion-round-best-image-video-ai-inference-apis-2026/

## Quick answer

Fal is the broadest hosted API for image and video models and the safest default after its $1.3 billion Series F, but it is not the cheapest for every model. Runware, WaveSpeedAI and Together AI undercut it on several popular image models, and Modal is better if you run your own code.

## Key takeaways

- Fal announced a $1.3 billion Series F at a $16 billion valuation on November 3, 2026, double the $8 billion it was valued at in April (TechCrunch); Bessemer led, with Nvidia, Sound Ventures and T. Rowe Price in the round.
- Prices for the same model differ by platform. Nano Banana Pro costs $0.15 per image on fal, $0.14 on WaveSpeedAI and $0.134 on Together AI; Nano Banana 2 costs $0.08 on fal against $0.05 on Together AI and $0.045 on WaveSpeedAI (vendor pricing pages, checked November 4, 2026).
- Fal bills model APIs per output and serverless GPUs per second. It says it does not charge for server errors or queue wait time.
- On an H100, list prices run from about $3.95 per hour (Runware, Modal) through $4.50 (fal) to $5.49 (Replicate, Together AI), though fal lists discounted rates as low as $2.49.
- Replicate is now part of Cloudflare, which matters if you want your model API near Workers. It still bills by run time or per output.

## Key figures

- **$1.3B** — Fal Series F, announced November 3, 2026 (TechCrunch)
- **$16B** — Fal valuation, double its April 2026 valuation (TechCrunch)
- **$1.65B** — Combined Series E and Series F raised by fal (TechCrunch)

## Ranked

1. **fal** — Best all-round hosted API for image, video and audio models. https://fal.ai
2. **Replicate** — Best for a huge community model catalog, now part of Cloudflare. https://replicate.com
3. **Runware** — Best for low per-image prices and cheap GPUs. https://runware.ai
4. **WaveSpeedAI** — Best for cheap image and video generation through one pay-per-use account. https://wavespeed.ai
5. **Together AI** — Best if you also run language models and dedicated GPUs. https://www.together.ai
6. **Modal** — Best for running your own model code serverlessly. https://modal.com

## Comparison

| Platform | Billing model | Nano Banana Pro (per image) | H100 list price (per hour) | Free credit (pricing page) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| fal | Per output; GPUs per second | $0.15 | $4.50 (as low as $2.49) | Not mentioned |
| Replicate | Run time or per output | Not listed on pricing page | $5.49 | Not mentioned |
| Runware | Per output; GPUs per second | Not listed in rate excerpt | $3.95 | $2 (business email) |
| WaveSpeedAI | Prepaid credits, per use | $0.14 | Not listed | $1 (eligible new accounts) |
| Together AI | Per image or video; GPUs per hour | $0.134 | $5.49 | Not stated |
| Modal | Per second of compute | Not applicable | About $3.95 | $30 per month (Starter) |

## FAQ

### How much did fal raise and what is it worth?

Fal announced a $1.3 billion Series F at a $16 billion valuation on November 3, 2026, according to TechCrunch. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round, with Nvidia, Sound Ventures and T. Rowe Price participating. The valuation is double the $8 billion it carried in April.

### What does fal do?

Fal is a San Francisco company that hosts and runs AI video, image and audio models for developers, billing model APIs per output and serverless GPUs per second, according to TechCrunch and its pricing page.

### Is fal the cheapest image and video API?

No. On the pricing pages we checked on November 4, 2026, Nano Banana 2 was $0.08 per image on fal against $0.05 on Together AI and $0.045 on WaveSpeedAI. Prices vary by model, resolution and settings, so compare the specific model you plan to use.

### What are the best alternatives to fal?

Replicate for a large community model catalog, Runware and WaveSpeedAI for low published per-output prices, Together AI if you also run language models and dedicated GPUs, and Modal if you want to deploy your own code on serverless GPUs.

### Who owns Replicate?

Cloudflare announced it would acquire Replicate in November 2025, and its FY2025 10-K records the acquisition. We could not confirm the exact closing date from the sources we checked.

### Which platform is best for custom models?

Modal, because you ship your own code and weights and pay per second of compute. Fal also offers serverless GPUs, with H100 at $4.50 per hour list and discounted rates as low as $2.49.

## How we evaluated

We confirmed the funding news from TechCrunch's report and a second independent search with consistent coverage. We picked platforms that serve image and video models through an API or sell serverless GPUs for running them. We read each vendor's public pricing page on November 4, 2026 and report only numbers that appeared there. Listed prices are usually minimums at the lowest resolution, duration or step count, so real costs run higher and the same model is not always the same configuration across platforms. We did not benchmark latency, quality or throughput. Baseten and Fireworks AI, which TechCrunch also names as fal competitors, are excluded because their public pages did not list comparable image or video prices when we checked. Ranking weights catalog breadth, price transparency and billing fairness.

- Catalog breadth for current image and video models
- Published, checkable pricing and what is not billed
- GPU access for custom models
- Free credit and onboarding friction

## Sources

- [TechCrunch — AI inference startup fal doubles its valuation to $16B as demand surges (Nov 3, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/03/ai-inference-startup-fal-doubles-its-valuation-to-16b-as-demand-surges/)
- [fal pricing](https://fal.ai/pricing)
- [Replicate pricing](https://replicate.com/pricing)
- [Together AI pricing](https://www.together.ai/pricing)
- [Runware pricing](https://runware.ai/pricing)
- [WaveSpeedAI pricing](https://wavespeed.ai/pricing)
- [Modal pricing](https://modal.com/pricing)
- [Cloudflare Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (SEC)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1477333/000147733326000016/cloud-20251231.htm)