# Adobe Firefly API vs Google Imagen

> Adobe Firefly API has a score of 49.2 (D) against Google Imagen's 7.2 (F). Both do image generate. The largest gap is security & auth, 63 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-04

Adobe Firefly API has a score of 49.2 (D) against Google Imagen's 7.2 (F). Both do image generate. The largest gap is security & auth, 63 points.

- Adobe Firefly API: grade D, 49.2/100, rank #370 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/adobe-firefly.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/adobe-firefly.json
- Google Imagen: grade F, 7.2/100, rank retired, not ranked. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-imagen.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-imagen.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Adobe Firefly API for reliability (+55), schema & documentation (+53), agent ergonomics (+57), security & auth (+63), maintenance & community (+18), transparency & trust (+6).

Pick Google Imagen for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Adobe Firefly API | Google Imagen | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 0 | Adobe Firefly API +55 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 25 | Adobe Firefly API +53 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 57 | 0 | Adobe Firefly API +57 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 0 | Adobe Firefly API +63 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 0 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 23 | 5 | Adobe Firefly API +18 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 65 | Adobe Firefly API +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **49.2 · D** | **7.2 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Adobe Firefly API | Google Imagen |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Adobe | Google |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://firefly-api.adobe.io` | `https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | none |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-04-24 | 2025-08-14 |
| Popularity | 1.1k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 1.5/5 (2) | 1/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Adobe Firefly API.** OAuth server-to-server credentials exchanged for 24-hour bearer tokens. Enterprise contract only. No self-serve sign-up and no public price list.

**Google Imagen.** Shutdown dates were published in the Gemini API changelog and the Vertex AI release notes, with replacements named. Discontinued. Calls to imagen model names fail on both the Gemini API and Vertex AI.

## Before you call either

### Adobe Firefly API

1. Call the REST async endpoints directly. `@adobe/firefly-apis` 2.0.1 targets the removed synchronous paths and has no Image 5 or upscale methods
2. Cache the IMS token and refresh it before its 24 hours run out
3. Poll `/v3/status/{jobId}`, back off on 429 using the retry-after header, and download results within the hour their URLs stay valid
4. Send `precise_upsampler_v1` to Upscale. `creative_upsampler_v1` returns 422 since 2026-04-24
5. Image 5 lives at `/v4/images/generate-async`. Image 3 and 4 stay on `/v3/images/generate-async`

### Google Imagen

1. Replace `client.models.generate_images` with `client.models.generate_content` and a `gemini-3.1-flash-image` model
2. Read images from the response content parts, not from `generated_images`
3. Don't budget from the Vertex Imagen price rows, they describe a retired product
4. If the job needs a mask-based inpaint, use another vendor's fill endpoint, since Gemini image editing is prompt-based

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