Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash vs Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro benchmark

Name: MAI-Image-2.5-Flash vs Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Comparing verified benchmark accuracy, speed, and token pricing between MAI-Image-2.5-Flash and Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Share Analysis:

Microsoft AI

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

Cost-optimized Microsoft AI image model delivering sub-2 second responses at $20/1k images.

FlashImg Elo 1,231$20/1k imgs

Recraft

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro

Specialized generative model for vector art, icon sets, illustrations, and commercial design assets with native brand color matching.

Img Elo 1,218$210/1k imgs

MAI-Image Series Family & Variants (2)

Speed, cost, and intelligence tradeoffs across the Microsoft AI lineup

vs Base Model

MAI-Image-2.5

Microsoft AI

Base Model

Img Elo1307

Latency3.8s

$/1k$48.1/1k

Prompt %92%

View specs →vs this

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

Microsoft AI

Flash

Img Elo1231

Latency1.6s

$/1k$20/1k

Prompt %88.5%

-76 Elo-58% price

Selected

Top Rival Showdowns for MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

All Matchups

Compare vs:vs GPT Image 2 (High)vs Reve 2.1 vs Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image)vs FLUX.2 [max]vs Ideogram 4.0 (Quality)

Image Quality Leader

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

Δ 13 Image Elo pts

Generation Speed Leader

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

1.6s per render

Value per Dollar Leader

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

$20/1k images

Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (3)vsRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro (2)

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash: 3W (60%)Overall: MAI-Image-2.5-FlashRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro: 2W (40%)

← MAI-Image-2.5-FlashRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro →

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro (2/3)

Visual Quality & Adherence

Arena Preference Elo, prompt fidelity & typography score

Image Elo

1,231vs1,218

Prompt adherence

88.5%vs91%

Text rendering

89%vs94%

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash: 1WRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro: 2W

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (1/1)

Generation Latency

Time to render full-resolution image snapshot (seconds)

Generation time

1.6svs4.6s

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash: 1WRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro: 0W

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (1/1)

Cost Efficiency

API inference cost per 1,000 generated images

Price per 1k images

$20/1kvs$210/1k

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash: 1WRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro: 0W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Image EloMAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+13)

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash1,231

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro1,218

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Generation timeMAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+3s)

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash1.6s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro4.6s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Price per 1k imagesMAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+$190/1k)

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash$20/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro$210/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Prompt adherenceRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro (+2.5%)

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash88.5%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro91%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Text renderingRecraft V4.1 Utility Pro (+5%)

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash89%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro94%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Benchmark	MAI-Image-2.5-Flash	Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro	Advantage Delta
Image Elo	1,231 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	1,218 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+13)
Generation time	1.6s seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	4.6s seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+3s)
Price per 1k images	$20/1k seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	$210/1k seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+$190/1k)
Prompt adherence	88.5% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	91% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro (+2.5%)
Text rendering	89% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	94% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro (+5%)

Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 90% with MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

Monthly Image Production Volume25k images / month (25000 imgs)

Quick Presets:

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash$500.00 / mo

Rate: $20/1k

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro$5,250.00 / mo

Rate: $210/1k

Estimated Cost Delta

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash is estimated to save $4,750.00/month ($57,000/year).

Based on 25k images generated

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatinsufficient data

Need list prices.

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGinsufficient data

Need context sizes.

Screenshots / visioninsufficient data

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	insufficient data	Need SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chat	insufficient data	Need list prices.
Voice / low-latency UI	insufficient data	Need TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAG	insufficient data	Need context sizes.
Screenshots / vision	insufficient data	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

0 total votes

Community Discussions (0)

No comments posted on this matchup yet. Be the first to share an evaluation note!

Share card

The real PNG is generated at /compare/mai-image-2-5-flash-vs-recraft-v4-1-pro/opengraph-image for crawlers.

PNG

CompareLLM Matrix

Verified head-to-head card

LIVE

Microsoft AI

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

Elo n/a

LiveBench—

SWE-bench—

Speed—

Output cost—

Recraft

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro

Elo n/a

LiveBench—

SWE-bench—

Speed—

Output cost—

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, MAI-Image-2.5-Flash or Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro?: We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.
Which is better at coding, MAI-Image-2.5-Flash or Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro?: SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: List prices are missing for at least one model.
Which is faster, MAI-Image-2.5-Flash or Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro?: We do not have TTFT for both models.
Which has the larger context window?: Context window is missing for at least one model.
Can I self-host either model?: Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?: No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?: Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. MAI-Image-2.5-Flash and Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All MAI-Image-2.5-Flash matchups →|All Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro matchups →

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash vs MAI-Image-2.5 (previous other)Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro vs Recraft V4.1 Utility (previous recraft)MAI-Image-2.5 vs Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro GPT Image 2 (High) vs Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro Reve 2.1 vs Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) vs Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro

Benchmark

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro

Advantage Delta

Image Elo

1,231

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

1,218

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+13)

Generation time

1.6s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

4.6s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+3s)

Price per 1k images

$20/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

$210/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (+$190/1k)

Prompt adherence

88.5%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

91%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro (+2.5%)

Text rendering

89%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

94%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro (+5%)

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatinsufficient data

Need list prices.

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGinsufficient data

Need context sizes.

Screenshots / visioninsufficient data

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	insufficient data	Need SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chat	insufficient data	Need list prices.
Voice / low-latency UI	insufficient data	Need TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAG	insufficient data	Need context sizes.
Screenshots / vision	insufficient data	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, MAI-Image-2.5-Flash or Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro?

We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.

Which is better at coding, MAI-Image-2.5-Flash or Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro?

SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

List prices are missing for at least one model.

Which is faster, MAI-Image-2.5-Flash or Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro?

We do not have TTFT for both models.

Which has the larger context window?

Context window is missing for at least one model.

Can I self-host either model?

Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.

Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?

No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.

What does preference Elo mean on this page?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. MAI-Image-2.5-Flash and Recraft V4.1 Utility Pro Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.