GPT Image (OpenAI)
OpenAI's image models, DALL-E 3's successor in ChatGPT and the API
Overview
GPT Image is OpenAI's image generation and editing line, which replaced DALL-E 3 in ChatGPT in March 2025 and in the API in May 2026. The current version, ChatGPT Images 2.5, reached every ChatGPT tier on 8 September 2026, and developers can use it through the GPT-Image-2.5 Flare and Sunburst API models, billed per token.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 14 Oct 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
- Limited image creation
- Limited messages with uploads
- More image creation
- More messages with tools
- More uploads
- More complex and accurate image creation
- Projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs
- Early access to new features
- Unlimited and faster image creation, subject to abuse guardrails
- Pro reasoning with GPT-6 Astra
- $8 per 1M image input and $5 per 1M text input tokens
- xhigh and max quality settings
- Batch API at half the standard rate
Use cases
What you can produce with GPT Image (OpenAI)
- Images generated and edited by conversation in ChatGPT, on every plan including Free
- Rough drawings turned into finished images with Sketch
- Posters, flyers and product shots started from built-in templates
- Targeted edits that change one element while keeping the rest of an image
- API image generation and editing through GPT-Image-2.5 Flare or Sunburst, with sizes up to 3,840 pixels on an edge
- Transparent-background PNG or WebP output
- Images labelled with C2PA metadata and an invisible watermark
For most people GPT Image is simply the image tool already inside ChatGPT: available on the free tier, edited by conversation, and since September 2026 helped along by Sketch, templates and on-image comments. Developers get two clear choices, Flare for speed and Sunburst for careful edits, at the same token rates.
The cautions are OpenAI's own: text placement and character consistency are improved rather than solved, anything above 2560x1440 is experimental, and API costs climb with quality settings. Anyone still on gpt-image-1 must migrate by 23 October 2026. A sound default for on-brief images; not a precision layout tool.
What we found
This page began as a review of DALL-E 3, and OpenAI has since retired that model twice over. In ChatGPT, GPT-4o image generation replaced it on 25 March 2025; in the API, the dall-e-2 and dall-e-3 snapshots were removed on 12 May 2026, six months after developers were notified. OpenAI's own DALL-E 3 page now sends readers to ChatGPT Images 2.5. The successor line runs from gpt-image-1 in April 2025 through gpt-image-1.5 in December 2025 to GPT Image 2, released on 21 April 2026 as ChatGPT Images 2.0.
ChatGPT Images 2.5 arrived on 8 September 2026 for every ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex user, the free tier included. OpenAI says it cuts latency by up to 50% against Images 2.0, keeps subjects from reference photos more recognisable and holds edits steady over many turns; those are vendor claims without published benchmarks. It also added Sketch, which turns a rough drawing into a guide for the final image, templates for formats such as posters, comments placed directly on images, and shareable prompts. Images carry C2PA metadata and an invisible watermark.
Developers get two API models: GPT-Image-2.5 Flare, OpenAI's default for most uses, and Sunburst, slower and aimed at precise editing. Both bill per token at $5 per million text input tokens, $8 for image input and $30 for image output, add xhigh and max quality settings, and accept edges up to 3,840 pixels, though OpenAI calls anything above 2560x1440 experimental. For scale, OpenAI's table prices a high-quality 1024x1024 GPT Image 2 image at $0.211. The older gpt-image-1 shuts down on 23 October 2026, with gpt-image-1-mini and 1.5 following on 1 December.
OpenAI's guide still lists the weak spots: precise text placement can slip, recurring characters can drift and complex prompts can take two minutes. Not everyone welcomed the change. An OpenAI community thread titled "OpenAI is making a huge mistake by deprecating DALL-E-3" ran to 86 posts, several from people who simply preferred the older model's look.
Compiled by RECATOOLS from public sources: vendor documentation and pricing, code repositories and published reporting.
Notable facts
- DALL-E 3 was trained with a technique where human annotators provided extremely detailed captions for every training image, which is why it follows complex prompts more accurately than any predecessor.
- The model can accurately count objects in a scene — generating exactly 7 red apples on a table, for example — something that defeated every previous AI image generator.
- DALL-E 3's content policy rejects requests to generate images of real living people by name, a deliberate choice to prevent misuse for misinformation.
Frequently asked questions
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including GPT Image (OpenAI)'s official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with GPT Image (OpenAI) unless explicitly stated.
Third-party AI tools update their pricing, features, availability, and policies frequently. Information here may be outdated by the time you read this — we make reasonable efforts to keep listings current, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy.
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