An image model chooser
The best AI image generator depends on the job. Here is how to choose.
Public leaderboards rank image models by how often people prefer their pictures in blind comparisons. That is useful, and it is not the same as which model suits your poster, product shot or portrait. Below: a dated snapshot of the Artificial Analysis board, which of ZeroTwo's image models appear on it, and how to test a shortlist yourself.
Top five, text to image
Artificial Analysis, checked 5 October 2026
- Rank 1: GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (max)OpenAI1197 ± 9
- Rank 2: GPT Image 2.5 Flare (max)OpenAI1191 ± 9
- Rank 3: GPT Image 2 (high)OpenAI1172 ± 9
- Rank 4: Grok Imagine Image 2.0SpaceXAI1155 ± 11
- Rank 5: MAI-Image-2.6Microsoft AI1151 ± 10
None of these five is in the image model list this site's code carries. Use the board as a map of the market, not a menu of what ZeroTwo offers.
Who publishes this, and what we did not do
ZeroTwo publishes this page and offers some of the models it discusses, so read it as a way to decide, not a verdict.
The ranking is Artificial Analysis's, not ours. We have not run our own same-prompt test set for this page, so there are no ZeroTwo-made scores and no sample gallery here.
An earlier version of this page ranked eight models with scores of our own. It has been replaced because those scores could not be reproduced.
Leaderboard snapshot
The Artificial Analysis text-to-image board ranks 166 models. Here are its top eight, then where each image model in ZeroTwo's list sits. Checked 5 October 2026; the board moves as models and votes are added.
| Rank | Model on the board | Maker | Elo (95% interval) | Released | Creator API, per 1k images | In ZeroTwo's list? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (max) | OpenAI | 1197 ± 9 | Sep 2026 | $210.7 | No |
| 2 | GPT Image 2.5 Flare (max) | OpenAI | 1191 ± 9 | Sep 2026 | $210.7 | No |
| 3 | GPT Image 2 (high) | OpenAI | 1172 ± 9 | Apr 2026 | $211.0 | No |
| 4 | Grok Imagine Image 2.0 | SpaceXAI | 1155 ± 11 | Aug 2026 | $60.0 | No |
| 5 | MAI-Image-2.6 | Microsoft AI | 1151 ± 10 | Aug 2026 | $38.9 | No |
| 6 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) | 1125 ± 8 | Feb 2026 | $67.0 | No | |
| 7 | Muse Image | Meta | 1115 ± 9 | Jul 2026 | $10.0 | No |
| 8 | GPT Image 1.5 (high) | OpenAI | 1107 ± 8 | Dec 2025 | $133.0 | Yes |
It is a preference vote
Artificial Analysis builds Elo from blind side-by-side comparisons: voters see two images from the same prompt without knowing which model made which, and the preferred one gains points. That measures general taste on the prompts it uses, not fit for your brief.
Small gaps are noise
Every score carries an interval. Ranks 1 and 2 overlap (1188 to 1206 against 1182 to 1200), and so do ranks 8 and 11. Read the board in tiers, not as a strict order.
Price is the creator's API price
The price column is what the model's maker charges per 1,000 images at 1024 by 1024 with default settings. ZeroTwo is plan-based, so it does not map one to one onto that column.
Where ZeroTwo's image models sit on the same board
| ZeroTwo image model | Closest board entry | Rank of 166 | Elo (95% interval) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT Image 1.5 | GPT Image 1.5 (high) | 8 | 1107 ± 8 | Name match. |
| Nano Banana Pro | Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) | 11 | 1102 ± 8 | Name match. Ranks 8 and 11 overlap, so treat them as a tie. |
| GPT Image 1 | GPT Image 1 (high) | 38 | 1010 ± 9 | Name match, listed at its high setting. |
| Flux Pro 2 | FLUX.2 [pro] | 41 | 1004 ± 8 | Closest entry. We cannot confirm which FLUX.2 variant ZeroTwo calls Flux Pro 2. |
| Nano Banana | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | 58 | 985 ± 9 | Name match. |
| GPT Image 1 Mini | GPT Image 1 Mini (medium) | 89 | 917 ± 7 | Name match, listed at its medium setting. Creator API price is $11.0 per 1k images. |
| Imagen 4 | Imagen 4 Standard | 97 | 910 ± 10 | Closest entry. The board also lists Imagen 4 Ultra (rank 45) and Fast (rank 110); we cannot confirm which build ZeroTwo calls. |
| Flux Pro | FLUX1.1 [pro] | 105 | 891 ± 7 | Closest entry to the flux-pro-v1.1 model in ZeroTwo's list. |
| Qwen | Qwen Image | 106 | 889 ± 7 | Closest entry. The board lists several newer Qwen versions. |
| Grok 2 | Not listed | — | — | The board lists newer Grok Imagine models instead. |
Source: Artificial Analysis, AA-Image-T2I v2.0, read 5 October 2026. ZeroTwo's list is taken from this site's code; the in-app picker is current. Matches marked "closest" are our judgement, not Artificial Analysis's.
Choose by job, not by rank
What to look at, what to check before you commit, and where to start. The starting points are things to test, not winners.
Photorealistic scenes and product mockups
- Look at
- Skin, hands, reflections, materials and lighting in your own samples. Board position is a starting filter only.
- Check
- Output size, and whether the same model can edit an image so you can iterate on a good result instead of regenerating.
- Start
- In ZeroTwo, compare GPT Image 1.5, Nano Banana Pro and Flux Pro 2: they are the three highest entries on the board above.
Text inside the image
- Look at
- Your exact string, spelled out letter by letter, at the length you need.
- Check
- Run the same copy, with punctuation and any non-English characters, through three models.
- Start
- Include one model from each maker in the list.
Illustration and a house style
- Look at
- Whether the style stays consistent across four runs of the same prompt.
- Check
- A low general-preference rank does not tell you a model is wrong for a style. Judge on samples.
- Start
- Midjourney is on the board (v7 Alpha at rank 113, released April 2025, no API listed) but is its own service and not in ZeroTwo's list.
Fast drafts and many variations
- Look at
- Cost and latency, not rank. Draft cheap, then redo the keepers on a stronger model.
- Check
- GPT Image 1.5 (high) is listed at $133.0 per 1k images by its creator and ranks 8th. GPT Image 1 Mini (medium) is listed at $11.0, about twelve times less, and ranks 89th.
- Start
- GPT Image 1 Mini is the smallest model in ZeroTwo's list.
Changing an image you already have
- Look at
- Does the model keep what you did not ask to change? Generation rank does not answer that.
- Check
- Editing has its own board with different leaders and a different order.
- Start
- Read the editing guide for edit types, prompts and the seven edit-capable models.
Open weights and self-hosting
- Look at
- The board has an open-weights filter. At the check date its top open model is Qwen-Image-2.1 at 1036, then Ideogram 4.0 (Quality) at 1011.
- Check
- Open weights does not mean unrestricted. Read the licence on each model card, especially its commercial-use terms.
- Start
- Self-hosting is outside ZeroTwo.
Commercial work
- Look at
- The licence and your own revenue, before the picture.
- Check
- Rights to outputs differ by provider and by company size. The section below shows one worked example and a checklist.
- Start
- Read the provider's terms and ZeroTwo's terms.
Cost and licence
Two things a leaderboard cannot tell you, and both can rule a model out.
Cost in ZeroTwo is a plan, not a per-image price
Image generation is part of a plan allowance. We do not state credits per image here because this site's pricing data does not publish that figure; generate a few images and watch your allowance before a large batch.
- Free$0/moLimited image generations. No card required.
- Plus$14.99/moImage and video generation, with 1,650 monthly credits.
- Pro$29.99/moImage generation included, with 3,500 monthly credits.
Licence: read it before you ship
One example. Midjourney's Terms of Service (version effective 27 May 2026, read 5 October 2026) say a company, or an employee of a company, with more than $1,000,000 USD a year in revenue must be on a Pro or Mega plan to own its Assets. Terms change, and this is not legal advice.
Ask of any provider
- Who owns the outputs, and does that depend on your plan or your company's revenue?
- Is there a revenue threshold above which a higher tier is required?
- Does the provider say anything about the training data, or offer indemnity for commercial use?
- For open weights, what does the licence on the model card say about commercial use?
- Do the terms limit what you can generate, for example people, brands or political content?
Run your own same-prompt test
Until we publish a test set of our own, this is the method we would use. It takes about an hour and answers the question for your work. Once you have a model, the text-to-image prompt cookbook covers how to write the prompts.
Write three real prompts
Take them from work you will actually ship: one easy, one with text in it, one that has failed you before. Generic prompts reward generic models.
Pick two to four models
Choose from the picker in the app: at least two makers, and one cheap model so you learn what the price gap buys.
Hold everything else still
Same prompt text, same aspect ratio, same number of runs per model. Change one thing at a time.
Score what matters to the job
Use the scorecard below. Look at the image at full size, not as a thumbnail, and check text one character at a time.
Keep a winner per job
You can use a different model for posters, product shots and drafts. One favourite for everything is a convenience, not a requirement.
A scorecard to copy
| Criterion | What to check | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt adherence | Does every element you named appear, in the right place? | Elements dropped or merged on two of four runs. |
| Text accuracy | Is each word spelled correctly, with the right punctuation? | Any misspelling in a line you cannot retouch. |
| Anatomy and fine detail | Hands, teeth, jewellery, small objects at 100% zoom. | Detail that falls apart as soon as you zoom in. |
| Style fit | Does it look like your house style or your reference? | You keep rewriting the prompt to fix the look. |
| Consistency | Do four runs of the same prompt feel like one family? | Wide swings in framing, palette or subject. |
| Cost and speed | How long did it take, and how much of your allowance did it use? | A great result you cannot afford to repeat 50 times. |
Writing prompts is its own skill; see how to write image prompts and the library of AI image prompts. To judge image-prompt tools, see the imageprompt tools comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI image generator is best right now?
There is no single answer. On Artificial Analysis's text-to-image arena, checked 5 October 2026, GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (max) leads at 1197 Elo, followed by GPT Image 2.5 Flare (max), GPT Image 2 (high), Grok Imagine Image 2.0 and MAI-Image-2.6. That ranks blind preference on the board's prompts. For your own work the right model depends on the job, the licence and the cost, so shortlist from the board and then test on your own prompts.
How are the arena scores calculated?
Artificial Analysis derives Elo ratings from blind pairwise comparisons: a voter sees two images made from the same prompt without knowing which model produced each, and picks the one they prefer. Votes come from its recruited human panel plus public Image Arena votes cast before 1 January 2026. ZeroTwo does not compute or publish a score of its own on this page.
Which AI image generator is best for commercial use?
That is a licence question more than a quality question, and it varies by provider. As one example, Midjourney's Terms of Service, version effective 27 May 2026, say a company or company employee with more than $1,000,000 USD a year in revenue must be on a Pro or Mega plan to own its Assets. Read the current terms of any provider you rely on. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is there a free AI image generator?
ZeroTwo's Free plan includes limited image generations and does not require a card. How many depends on the model and on the plan, so try a few before you plan a batch. Other tools have their own free tiers, and those change; check each provider's current page.
Which image models can I use in ZeroTwo?
The image model list in this site's code includes GPT Image 1.5, GPT Image 1 and GPT Image 1 Mini from OpenAI; Imagen 4, Nano Banana and Nano Banana Pro from Google; Flux Pro and Flux Pro 2 from Black Forest Labs, served through FAL; Qwen from Alibaba; and Grok 2 from xAI. The picker in the app is the current source of truth, and what you can use depends on your plan.
Is Midjourney better than FLUX?
Not in general. On the board, Midjourney v7 Alpha is at rank 113 (878 Elo), FLUX.2 [pro] at rank 41 (1004) and FLUX1.1 [pro] at rank 105 (891). That is general preference, which does not decide style fit. FLUX models are in ZeroTwo's list; Midjourney is its own service and is not, so the practical test is to run the same prompt in each.
Keep exploring
- Text-to-image prompt cookbook
Prompt structure and worked prompts, once you have chosen a model.
- Free AI image generators
Quotas, watermarks and licences for no-cost tiers.
- AI image editing
Seven edit types, prompts and the edit-capable models.
- AI image to video
Turn a finished image into a short clip.
- Best AI photo editor
Compare photo-editing products by task.
- Best AI photo batch editor
Editing hundreds of photos at once.
- Best free AI upscaler
Enlarge AI images for print and 4K.
- All AI tools
The wider ZeroTwo toolkit.
Starting from a different brief? Try the multi-model AI generator, the AI fantasy art generator, the AI art workflow for tabletop RPGs, the guide to putting yourself in AI images, or AI image to text for the opposite direction. For Gemini-family prompts see Gemini AI photo prompts; for open-weights news, Stability AI news; and if you are leaving a single-model gallery site, the Raphael AI alternative page. Not generating images today? Summarise a deck with the presentation summarizer or plan dinner with the recipe generator AI.