Model comparison · 2026-09-22
When Recraft V3 Vector still makes sense: a comparison with V4
Recraft V3 Vector and V4 Vector carry the same per-image price, but their prompt length limit differs tenfold; this covers which situation still makes V3 the sensible choice.
Same price, the real difference is elsewhere
Recraft V3 Vector and Recraft V4 Vector carry the same per-image price (USD 0.08) in the catalog, so choosing V3 because it's 'cheaper' is a wrong reason — there is no cost difference. The real difference is the prompt length limit: V3 accepts a prompt of at most 1,000 characters, while V4 raises that limit to 10,000 characters.
That means V4 can process a prompt with far more detail at the same price, making it an objectively more capable option for most new work.
The one concrete reason to still choose V3
The catalog page positions V3 as useful 'when teams want familiar behavior or a lower step before moving to V4 Vector.' The practical version of that is a team that already has a prompt template set tuned and verified for V3 leaving those templates on V3 rather than moving them to V4 right away; moving to V4 doesn't break existing short templates since it allows longer prompts, but small differences in output behavior can show up.
If you're designing prompts from scratch for new work, starting directly with V4 Vector usually makes more sense, since you can write more detail at the same price.
- Same price: USD 0.08 per image, on both V3 and V4.
- Prompt limit: 1,000 characters on V3, 10,000 on V4.
- The reason to choose V3 is usually preserving existing, verified prompt templates, not cost.
Verify the migration decision with a small test set
Before moving from V3 to V4, running a few of your existing prompt templates through both models and comparing the output shows whether V4's longer prompt capacity actually makes a difference for your use case.
Frequently asked questions
Is V3 Vector cheaper than V4?
No, both carry the same per-image price (USD 0.08). There is no price difference; the real difference is the prompt length limit.
Do the short prompts I wrote for V3 give the same result on V4?
V4 allows longer prompts, but it also works when you send a short one. Since small differences in output behavior can occur, testing your existing templates before moving them to V4 is recommended.