What a product image costs: the 90% figure

Our homepage says generated product images cost 90% less than studio photography. This page shows the arithmetic: published rate cards on one side, generation pricing on the other, and what the number deliberately leaves out.

The studio side of the ledger

A professional studio packshot costs $39 to $75 per image at current published rates; soona publishes its rate card openly, and its competitors sit in the same band. On-model and lifestyle photography runs $200 to $500 per finished shot once models, sets, shipping and retouching are counted in.

The invoice is not the whole cost. Products have to be shipped to the studio and back. Turnaround is one to three weeks. Reshoots cost the full price again. And imagery with models carries usage rights that expire, a recurring cost hiding inside a one-time price.

The generation side

The image models behind Cobiro price a finished asset at under $5, delivered the same day, with templates, scenes and avatars already set up. The per-model prices are public on our pricing page, listed next to what the same generation costs directly at the providers.

Run the division and the range is 87% to 93% cheaper against packshots, and 97% or more against on-model photography. We say 90% because it sits in the middle of the packshot range, which is the most conservative comparison available.

What the number does not say

It does not say a shoot is never worth it. A flagship campaign, a founder portrait or the hero image of a brand relaunch can justify studio day rates. The 90% applies to the volume work: the twenty angles, scenes and seasonal variants every product needs and almost no catalog budget survives at studio prices.

It also does not mean quality goes unchecked. Every generated image passes your review before it goes live, so quality is judged shot by shot, and a miss costs seconds to regenerate rather than a reshoot fee.