FigureLabs vs Scientific Figure Compared (2026)

FigureLabs is a web-based AI scientific figure generator at figurelabs.ai. Its site offers three generators, Illustration, Flowchart and Plot, which turn text, documents, sketches and reference images into figures. People often search for it as "Figure Labs", in two words.

Scientific Figure (scientificfigure.com) is an AI scientific figure generator built for researchers. It turns a text description, a sketch, a reference image or a paper PDF into publication-ready figures, graphical abstracts, conference posters, diagrams and data plots. Its general-purpose AI scientific illustration generator sits alongside more than 70 tool pages for specific figure types, and its interface runs in ten languages.

This comparison is written by the team that makes Scientific Figure. Every FigureLabs fact below comes from figurelabs.ai pages read on 13 November 2026, listed under References, and prices are as of that date.

FigureLabs and Scientific Figure side by side

Scientific Figure costs less than FigureLabs per 1K render on GPT Image 2 on every comparable plan, sells credit packs that never expire, and grants publication rights on those packs without a subscription. FigureLabs has an API, an MCP connector and real-time team collaboration, which Scientific Figure does not.

FigureLabs’ Help Center carries a plan table with different prices (Starter at $12 a month or $10 billed yearly). This comparison uses the figures on FigureLabs’ pricing page.

FigureLabs pricing in 2026

As of November 2026, FigureLabs’ pricing page lists four individual plans and a Team plan. Starter has a monthly list price of $10, or $108 a year, with 1,000 credits a month. Plus is $35 a month or $312 a year, with 5,000 credits. Pro is $99 a month or $888 a year, with 20,000 credits. Team is $26 per seat a month billed yearly, with 5,000 credits per seat. FigureLabs’ Help Center notes that first-month discounts apply to its individual monthly plans.

FigureLabs charges 50 credits for a 1K image on any model, 50 for a region redraw or a white background, 60 for a text edit, and 150 to export a figure as editable SVG or PPTX. Upscaling costs 10 credits to 2K, 20 to 4K and 40 to 8K.

Plan credits on individual plans reset at the end of each billing cycle, and top-up credits are valid for 12 months.

Scientific Figure’s plans line up against these at lower prices. Lite is $9.9 a month or $99 a year with 1,200 credits; Pro is $29.9 a month or $249 a year with 5,000 credits; Plus is $49.9 a month or $359 a year with 12,000 credits. The full schedule is on the Scientific Figure pricing page.

Is FigureLabs free?

FigureLabs has a free plan, and its output may not be published. New FigureLabs accounts receive 150 one-time credits, enough for three 1K images at 50 credits each. Free exports stop at 1K, the free plan runs two models (Nano Banana Pro and GPT Image 2), and section 5.4 of FigureLabs’ Terms limits free-plan output to personal, non-commercial, non-publishing evaluation. FigureLabs’ pricing page does not state whether free exports carry a watermark.

Scientific Figure’s free plan covers the same three 1K renders at sign-up: 100 credits at 30 credits a render, with 50 more for a short onboarding survey and no card required. Scientific Figure’s free plan has no publication licence and no licence certificate, and its exports carry a small corner watermark. Three tools, the Venn diagram maker, the unit circle chart and the supply and demand graph maker, draw entirely in the browser and download PNG, SVG or PDF without spending credits.

Which one costs less per figure

Scientific Figure costs less per figure than FigureLabs at every plan level, because a 1K render on GPT Image 2 costs 30 credits on Scientific Figure and 50 on FigureLabs, and Scientific Figure’s plans give as many credits or more for less money.

• Entry plan. Scientific Figure Lite at $9.9 a month gives 40 renders at 1K. FigureLabs Starter at $10 a month gives 20 from its plan credits.
• Middle plan. Scientific Figure Pro and FigureLabs Plus both give 5,000 credits a month. Scientific Figure Pro costs $29.9; FigureLabs Plus costs $35. Billed yearly, the gap is $249 against $312.
• 400 renders a month. Scientific Figure Plus reaches 400 renders at 1K for $49.9 a month. FigureLabs needs its Pro plan at $99 a month for the same 400.
• Edits. Every edit at 1K costs 30 credits on Scientific Figure. FigureLabs charges 50 credits for a region redraw and 60 for a text edit.
• One-time credits. Scientific Figure packs cost $9.9 for 600 credits, $29.9 for 2,500, $99.9 for 12,000 and $199.9 for 30,000, and they never expire. FigureLabs top-ups, as listed in its Help Center, cost $15 for 1,000 credits up to $90 for 12,000, and expire after 12 months.

Dedicated tools for specific figure types

Scientific Figure has more than 70 dedicated tool pages; FigureLabs’ site offers three generators. FigureLabs’ Illustration, Flowchart and Plot pages each cover a broad category and offer prompt shortcuts such as Graphical Abstract, Signaling Pathway, PRISMA, CONSORT, Bar Plot and Volcano plot.

Scientific Figure gives each common figure type its own page, with the conventions of that figure built in: a PRISMA flow diagram generator, cladogram and phylogenetic tree makers, labelled cell diagrams, circuit diagrams, well plate maps from 6 to 384 wells, and topic pages from the Krebs cycle to the brachial plexus. The full list of Scientific Figure tools groups them by figure type and by subject.

Several of these tools compute the figure in code before anything is drawn. A Punnett square generator works out every cell and both ratios from a cross such as AaBb × AaBb. Lewis structures, Bode plots, bell curves, probability trees, reaction energy diagrams and conceptual framework diagrams are computed the same way. The ten chart tools, from box plots to volcano plots, compute the geometry from the numbers you paste, and the model only draws it. FigureLabs’ product pages checked for this comparison do not list Punnett squares, Lewis structures or Bode plots.

Graphical abstracts and conference posters

Scientific Figure has a dedicated graphical abstract maker and a dedicated poster maker, each with its own templates page; FigureLabs handles both inside its general generators. FigureLabs offers Graphical Abstract as a prompt shortcut on its home and illustration pages, and its home page lists posters among its outputs. None of the FigureLabs pages checked states a poster size.

The Scientific Figure graphical abstract maker drafts from an abstract or a full paper PDF, offers six layouts (process, comparison, central concept, cycle, timeline and multi-scale zoom), and lists the required size for Elsevier, Cell Press, ACS and MDPI with the setting to pick for each.

The Scientific Figure poster maker turns a paper or an abstract into a conference poster laid out for A0, A1 or 48 × 36 in, with a title banner, methods, results figures and conclusions.

Editing, export resolution and DPI

Scientific Figure and FigureLabs both let you change a figure after it is generated, and Scientific Figure does it for fewer credits. In the Scientific Figure workspace you can describe a change in words, brush over a region and describe its replacement, correct a label without touching the rest, remove a background, or recolour to a journal palette. Each of these edits costs 30 credits at 1K. Edit in Canvas then breaks the finished figure into objects (text blocks, panels, shapes and traced vector paths) that can be moved, restyled or rewritten, and exports layered SVG or editable PPTX. Both products charge 150 credits for that vector step.

Scientific Figure renders natively at up to 4K (4,096 px on the long side) and upscales to 8K (8,192 px). Upscaling is a super-resolution pass, not a re-render, so labels and data stay as they were. 8K comes with Pro, Plus or any credit pack, so the $9.9 pack, whose 600 credits cover the 200-credit 8K upscale, reaches it. FigureLabs offers 8K from its Plus plan, listed at $35 a month or $312 a year.

Every PNG and JPG that Scientific Figure exports carries a DPI tag matched to its pixel width: 1K is enough for a single-column figure at 300 dpi, and 2K or more for double-column and 600 dpi. FigureLabs’ pricing FAQ equates 8K with about 1200 DPI; its pages do not state whether exported files carry a DPI tag. Scientific Figure’s recolour palettes include journal palettes for Nature, Science, NEJM, Lancet and JAMA and colourblind-safe palettes such as Okabe–Ito and Viridis.

Can you publish the figures in a journal?

Both products require payment before a figure may be published, and Scientific Figure asks for less: a one-time credit pack from $9.9 grants the same publication and commercial rights as a subscription. On the free plan neither product allows publication: FigureLabs’ Terms exclude free output from journal submission, and Scientific Figure’s free plan has no publication licence and no licence certificate. Section 5.3 of FigureLabs’ Terms grants its licence for output "generated or exported during an active paid subscription". FigureLabs’ pages do not state that top-up credits used without a subscription carry that licence.

Scientific Figure issues a numbered publication licence certificate with every export on a paid plan or pack, and anyone can confirm the number on its publication licence verification page. A figure drafted on the free plan can be licensed after upgrading, because the stored original carries no watermark. FigureLabs’ Terms say that retroactive authorisation, where FigureLabs expressly offers it, applies only from the date of upgrade.

Scientific Figure also refunds unused credit packs in full within 14 days, and the unused part of a partly used pack pro rata; first-time subscribers who cancel within 7 days and have used less than 20% of the month’s credits get the payment back. FigureLabs’ Terms state that fees are non-refundable, with exceptions at its discretion.

A licence settles rights, not the journal’s rules on AI imagery. Most publishers accept an AI-assisted schematic with a disclosure and refuse AI-generated data images; the guide to AI-generated figures in journals lists fourteen publishers’ policies and the disclosure wording each one asks for.

What FigureLabs has that Scientific Figure does not

FigureLabs has three things Scientific Figure does not offer:

• A developer API with a prepaid wallet and an MCP connector for ChatGPT, Codex and Claude.
• A Team plan with shared sessions, where collaborators comment and edit with AI in real time.
• Downloadable Python code for the plots it draws.

Which is better for your figure

• Graphical abstract: Scientific Figure, which has a dedicated maker with six layouts and journal sizes for Elsevier, Cell Press, ACS and MDPI.
• Conference poster: Scientific Figure, which lays posters out at A0, A1 and 48 × 36 in; FigureLabs’ pages state no poster size.
• Punnett squares, Lewis structures, Bode plots and similar computed diagrams: Scientific Figure, which computes them in code before drawing.
• Publishing in a journal without a subscription: Scientific Figure, where a $9.9 credit pack that never expires carries the publication licence.
• Tight monthly budget: Scientific Figure, at $9.9 a month for 40 renders at 1K against a $10 list price for 20 on FigureLabs Starter.
• Editing after generation: Scientific Figure, at 30 credits per edit at 1K against 50 to 60 on FigureLabs.
• Upscaling to 8K: Scientific Figure, from a one-time $9.9 pack against FigureLabs Plus at $35 a month or $312 a year.
• Editable flowchart on a free account: FigureLabs, whose free plan includes SVG flowcharts.
• Figures generated from your own software or an AI assistant: FigureLabs, which has an API and an MCP connector.
• A team editing one figure together in real time: FigureLabs, on its Team plan.

Frequently asked questions

What is FigureLabs?

FigureLabs is a web-based AI scientific figure generator at figurelabs.ai. Its site offers three generators, for illustrations, flowcharts and data plots, which work from text, documents, sketches and reference images. As of November 2026 its paid plans start at $10 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly.

What is Scientific Figure?

Scientific Figure is an AI scientific figure generator at scientificfigure.com. It turns a text description, a sketch, a reference image or a paper PDF into figures, graphical abstracts, conference posters, diagrams and data plots, and has more than 70 dedicated tool pages for specific figure types. Paid plans start at $9.9 a month, and one-time credit packs start at $9.9.

Is FigureLabs free?

FigureLabs has a free plan with 150 one-time credits. One 1K image costs 50 credits, and exports are limited to 1K. FigureLabs’ Terms limit free-plan output to personal, non-commercial evaluation, so a free figure cannot be submitted to a journal.

How much does FigureLabs cost?

As of November 2026, FigureLabs’ pricing page lists Starter at $10 a month (1,000 credits), Plus at $35 (5,000 credits) and Pro at $99 (20,000 credits), or $9, $26 and $74 a month billed yearly. One 1K image costs 50 credits on any model. Scientific Figure’s comparable plans cost $9.9 for 1,200 credits, $29.9 for 5,000 and $49.9 for 12,000, with a 1K render on GPT Image 2 at 30 credits.

What is the best FigureLabs alternative?

Scientific Figure is the strongest FigureLabs alternative for researchers, and it costs less per 1K render on GPT Image 2. Its Lite plan is $9.9 a month for 40 renders at 1K on GPT Image 2, against 20 on FigureLabs Starter at $10, and its one-time credit packs never expire and carry publication rights without a subscription. It also has dedicated tools for graphical abstracts, conference posters at A0, A1 and 48 × 36 in, and computed diagrams such as Punnett squares and Lewis structures.

Is FigureLabs or Scientific Figure better for graphical abstracts?

Scientific Figure is better for graphical abstracts. It has a dedicated graphical abstract maker that drafts from an abstract or a paper PDF, offers six layouts, and lists the required size for Elsevier, Cell Press, ACS and MDPI. FigureLabs offers a graphical abstract shortcut inside its general illustration generator.

Can I publish figures made with FigureLabs in a journal?

Yes, if they were generated or exported during an active paid FigureLabs subscription; that is the condition in section 5.3 of FigureLabs’ Terms of Service. Free-plan output may not be used for journal submission. The journal’s own policy on AI-generated figures still applies.

Can I publish figures made with Scientific Figure in a journal?

Yes, on any paid Scientific Figure plan or with credits from a one-time credit pack, which starts at $9.9 and never expires. Each export can carry a numbered publication licence certificate that anyone can verify at scientificfigure.com/verify. The free plan has no publication licence and no licence certificate, and its exports carry a corner watermark; a figure drafted on the free plan can still be licensed after upgrading.

How does FigureLabs compare with BioRender?

FigureLabs generates figures with AI, while BioRender assembles them from a library of pre-made icons; FigureLabs’ own About page draws that distinction. FigureLabs also suggests exporting its SVG or PPTX files to finish a layout in BioRender. Scientific Figure is also a generator rather than an icon library, and exports layered SVG and editable PPTX in the same way. For BioRender’s own prices and free-plan limits, see the comparison of BioRender alternatives.

Where to go next

• AI scientific illustration generator: draft a figure from a sentence, a sketch, a reference image or a PDF
• Graphical abstract maker: journal-sized abstracts from your paper
• All Scientific Figure tools: more than 70 figure types, by type and subject
• Pricing: 100 free credits on sign-up, plans from $9.9 a month, packs from $9.9
• BioRender alternatives: ten tools compared on publication rights and cost