Alternatives
A Mage alternative with no subscription, crypto top-up, and an open API
Yes: Vellria is an uncensored AI image and video platform built the other way round on the axes that decide this choice: prepaid credits instead of a monthly plan, cryptocurrency top-up instead of a card, and a REST API any account can use without applying for it. If you pay for software with a card, or want to generate something before you have paid anything, Vellria is the wrong tool, and it is better you learn that in the first paragraph than in the eighth.
What rules Vellria out
Start with what rules Vellria out. Top-ups are made in cryptocurrency through a third-party payment provider and there is no card option. There is no free allowance either: a new account opens with a zero balance, and the first generation happens after the first top-up.
Nothing here is unlimited. Every run is metered against a prepaid balance, which is the trade for having no monthly floor: an idle month costs nothing. Finished files are held for a limited retention window and then removed, so download what you mean to keep.
Side by side
| Vellria | Mage | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing model | Prepaid credits, nothing renews | Subscription-first: monthly membership tiers, plus Gems |
| Unused balance | Stays until a generation spends it | Their FAQ: membership Gems expire after 30 days |
| Payment method | Cryptocurrency top-up, no card option | Stripe named as billing partner; no crypto option on its public site (31 Aug 2026) |
| API access | Public REST API, key from the console | Their FAQ: premium offering in limited beta, "currently at capacity" (31 Aug 2026) |
| Automation | Expected; rate limited per account | Their FAQ: "automation is strictly forbidden" |
| Video access | Any account with the credits for it | Capped by membership tier; none on the entry tier |
| Refunds | Failed runs refunded automatically; unused credits by request, assessed individually | States it typically does not offer refunds |
Details about Mage were checked on August 31, 2026 from its own site and may have changed since.
A plan you renew, or a balance you spend
Everything this page says about Mage was read from Mage's own public pages, FAQ and Terms on 31 August 2026. Mage is subscription-first: monthly membership tiers, with membership Gems that its FAQ says expire after 30 days, alongside Gems bought for pay-per-generation use. Its membership table caps video by tier, with no video on the entry tier and resolution and duration limits rising with price. Mage names Stripe as its billing partner, and no cryptocurrency option appears anywhere on its public site; we opened no account, so that describes its public pages on that date rather than its logged-in purchase flow.
Vellria has no plan and nothing renews. Credits arrive with a crypto top-up once the network confirms, and the balance falls only when you start a generation. There is no monthly reset, so an unspent balance is still there next month, and no model sits behind a tier: every image and video model is open to any account with the credits for it. What a run costs is a property of the model, shown on its own page and on the pricing page.
Refunds differ too. Mage states that it typically does not offer refunds, citing the unlimited nature of its plans. Here a failed generation returns its credits automatically the moment it is marked failed, and you can ask for a refund of unused credits from the console, where requests are assessed individually.
Automation, and where the API sits
Mage's FAQ states that automation is strictly forbidden on Mage, and directs business needs to a sales conversation about API access. The API itself is not public: Mage's own FAQ calls it a premium offering in limited beta and says "We are currently at capacity", and no api., docs. or developer. subdomain resolved when we checked on 31 August 2026.
On Vellria the API is the same door as the console. Create a key, send it as a Bearer token, and the whole catalog answers one shape of request: a model id, a prompt, and the settings that model accepts. Start a run and poll the record it returns until it finishes; closing the tab does not lose the job. Requests are rate limited per account and the response tells you how long to wait, which is a limit you can code against. The API docs have the shapes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the API without applying for access?
Yes. You create a key in the console and send it as a Bearer token, with no application and no waiting list in front of it. Mage's own FAQ, read on 31 August 2026, describes its API as a premium offering in limited beta, says "We are currently at capacity", and states that automation is strictly forbidden on Mage.
Can I pay with a card?
No. Top-ups are in cryptocurrency through a third-party payment provider, and credits land once the network confirms. Mage names Stripe as its billing partner and no cryptocurrency option appears anywhere on its public site, as read on 31 August 2026, though we did not see its logged-in purchase flow. If a card is a hard requirement, that decides it against us.
Do my credits expire at the end of the month?
No. Credits sit on the account until a generation spends them, and there is no monthly reset to spend against. Mage's FAQ says its membership Gems expire after 30 days, alongside Gems bought for pay-per-generation use.