What is Kive?
Kive (kive.ai) describes itself as "On-brand visuals made by AI." Kive is a web workspace where an ecommerce brand builds a product model from one to four photos of an item, then uses saved scene presets, which Kive calls Studios, to generate product shots, lifestyle and on-model images, edits and short videos. Kive is made by To Labs AB in Sweden and runs in the browser only, with no app to download.
Kive used to be something else. Until early 2025 Kive was a creative asset-management and mood board tool; Kive launched "Kive Product Shots" on 4 March 2025, and Kive's Terms of Service, last updated on 26 October 2026, still describe "a platform for media asset hosting and management". Pages that still call Kive a mood board app are out of date.
Kive pricing (checked 4 November 2026)
| Kive plan | Price | Credits a month | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 40 once (80 with a store website), then one image every 30 minutes | Kive.ai watermark on images, up to 5 boards |
| Basic | $40 a month or $360 a year | 2,000 | AI product shots, ads and edits, the Kive agent, an MCP connector for Claude and ChatGPT, up to 2 users, video up to 720p |
| Pro | $100 a month or $900 a year | 5,000, up to 80,000 | Everything in Basic, up to 10 users, unlimited AI products and brands, advanced brand training, video up to 1080p |
| Enterprise | Custom | 150,000 and more | Custom presets, product accuracy and IP checks, SSO |
- Pro steps: $100 a month for 5,000 credits, $200 for 10,000, $400 for 20,000, $800 for 40,000 and $1,600 for 80,000.
- Yearly billing saves 25%, and Kive's prices exclude tax.
- Credits: Kive's pricing page says credits roll over up to twice the monthly allowance, while its billing docs say each credit is valid for one month. Failed and content-filtered generations are refunded automatically; credits are not refunded for results you simply dislike.
- Refunds: Kive does not refund auto-renewed subscriptions, and decides technical failures, duplicate charges and accidental sign-ups case by case.
Source: kive.ai/pricing and kive.ai/docs, checked 4 November 2026. Prices in US dollars.
What one Kive image costs
Kive charges credits per action. A credit costs $0.015 on Basic billed yearly and $0.02 billed monthly; the dollar columns are our arithmetic on Kive's published prices.
| Kive action | Credits | Billed yearly ($0.015 a credit) | Billed monthly ($0.02 a credit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image, Premium quality | about 10 | about $0.15 | about $0.20 |
| Remove background | 1 | $0.015 | $0.02 |
| Change background, or an agent edit | 10 | $0.15 | $0.20 |
| Upscale to 16 MP or 24 MP | 10 or 20 | $0.15 or $0.30 | $0.20 or $0.40 |
| Five-second video | about 100 | about $1.50 | about $2.00 |
| One finished ad | about 200 | about $3.00 | about $4.00 |
For comparison, one Photta product photo costs $0.25 to $0.47, depending on the plan. A Kive image costs less than a Photta product photo at these rates.
| Photta plan | Price | Product photos a month | One product photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $14 a month | 30 | $0.47 |
| Seller | $29 a month | 100 | $0.29 |
| Brand | $79 a month | 300 | $0.26 |
| Studio | $249 a month | 1,000 | $0.25 |
Source: photta.app/pricing, checked 4 November 2026. One product photo is a plan's price divided by the product photos a month it lists.
Is Kive free?
Kive has a free plan: 40 starter credits once you verify your email (80 if you sign up with a store website), and after that one free image every 30 minutes. Free images carry the Kive.ai watermark, and Kive's docs state commercial use for paid plan holders without saying what the free plan allows. Connecting Kive to Shopify from Kive's settings needs a paid plan.
Kive API, MCP connector and Shopify app
Kive has no public REST API. Programmatic access is an OAuth-protected MCP server with 33 tools that spends normal workspace credits, so an assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT drives it. Kive's Shopify app, launched on 16 July 2026, imports products and adds chosen results back to a product; it is free to install, and connecting it needs a paid Kive plan. Kive does not publish directly to Amazon or other marketplaces. Source: kive.ai/docs, checked 4 November 2026.
Kive strengths and limits for product photos
- Strength: a catalogue workflow. Kive keeps a product model, saved Studios and a bulk generate mode, so many products get one consistent look.
- Strength: range. Kive covers product shots, on-model images, ghost mannequin, jewelry, short videos and ads in one account.
- Limit: not the cheapest. Kive says on its own site that it is credit-based and not positioned as the cheapest generator.
- Limit: not a batch editor. Kive's bulk mode generates new images; it does not batch-edit existing photos, which dedicated editors do faster.
- Limit: accuracy. Kive warns that logos, text and colours can drift, and that a physical shoot remains the source of truth.
- Limit: ownership. Kive's terms say outputs may be identical or similar to outputs made for other users, and give no promise that you can claim copyright.
Kive ratings on Trustpilot, G2 and Product Hunt
| Where | Kive rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 2.8 | 35 |
| G2 | 4.3 | 2 (both from 2021, before the product changed) |
| Product Hunt | 5.0 | 1 |
| Shopify App Store | 5.0 | 1 |
All seen on 4 November 2026. The last three are single-digit samples. Trustpilot reviewers dated August to October 2026 describe credits running down on retries, and one says a $20 option shown at sign-up became $40 at checkout; that is reviewer opinion, not Kive's statement.
Kive alternatives for product photos
- Photta: product photos from one clear photo, plus apparel on models, jewelry, eyewear and ghost mannequin studios, an API on every plan and an app in 19 languages.
- Photoroom: an editor for any product photo, with background removal and a ghost mannequin tool. Photoroom pricing and reviews.
- Claid: an AI photo editor for ecommerce catalogues, with a free trial. Claid pricing and reviews.
- PicWish: a low price per image for cut-outs and simple edits, with credit packs that never expire. PicWish pricing and reviews.
Each tool is described from its own website on the date shown on its page; check its pricing page before you decide.
Kive vs Photta: who each one suits
| If you need | Kive | Photta |
|---|---|---|
| One look across a Shopify catalogue | Built for it: saved Studios, bulk generate, Shopify app | Product photos from one photo, Shopify via download or the API |
| A price per image | About 10 credits, $0.15 to $0.20 | $0.25 to $0.47 a product photo, listed by plan |
| An API for your own store or app | No public REST API, MCP only | REST API on every plan |
| Clothing, jewelry or eyewear on a model | On-model and jewelry images | Dedicated apparel, jewelry, eyewear and ghost mannequin studios, a saved model or a photo of a real adult model |
| A team | 2 users on Basic, 10 on Pro | 1 to 15 seats by plan |
| An app in your language | English | 19 languages |
Try Photta on the photo you used in Kive
- Take the product photo you used in Kive.
- Upload it to Photta's AI product photos and pick a scene or a white background.
- Put the two results side by side at the size you publish. Photta is free to try on your own photo; free images carry a Photta watermark until you choose a plan.