GPT Image

0:00 GPT Image is the name of OpenAI's image models in the API, and as of Nov 6, 2026 the newest are GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst (gpt-image-2.6-sunburst, "for detailed visual work") and GPT-Image-2.6 Flare (gpt-image-2.6-flare, "for fast iteration"), released on Nov 4, 2026 with SVG and animated GIF output. Both cost $8 per 1M image input tokens and $30 per 1M image output tokens, plus $5 per 1M text input tokens. The same models power ChatGPT Images for ChatGPT users. The line began with gpt-image-1 on Apr 23, 2025, which replaced DALL-E and was itself shut down on Oct 23, 2026. For the rest of the platform, see OpenAI API.

Quick facts

Every GPT Image model

OpenAI names GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst or Flare as the replacement for everything that shuts down on Dec 1, 2026 (deprecations).

Sunburst or Flare?

0:00 Since version 2.5, each release comes in two models. Sunburst is the quality model and Flare the fast one. When 2.5 launched, OpenAI called Flare "the default choice for most applications", with higher quality than GPT-Image-2 at 50% lower latency, and Sunburst the model "built for premium visual workflows" (OpenAI, Sep 8, 2026); OpenAI's API video the same day called Flare "over 50% faster than GPT Image 2" at "equal quality". With 2.6, OpenAI says images generate 50% faster than before, and that Flare at low quality can return an image "in as little as six seconds" (OpenAI, Nov 4, 2026). Both are OpenAI's own figures.

The two cost the same per token (pricing), so the choice is about speed and detail rather than the rate card. Per image, though, OpenAI warns that "equal token rates don't mean equal cost per image" (image generation guide), because models use different numbers of output tokens.

What GPT-Image-2.6 adds

0:38 From OpenAI's image generation guide, read Nov 6, 2026 (guide):

• complexity: low, medium or high (default high), with "no separate fee".
• SVG output: output_format: "svg", one image per request (n = 1), generation only, not edits.
• Animated GIF output: output_format: "gif", with frame_count from 2 to 16 (default 9) and frame_duration_ms from 20 to 2,000 (default 200).
• Custom sizes: multiples of 16, aspect ratios from 1:3 to 3:1, edges up to 3,840 px, and 655,360 to 8,294,400 pixels in total. Sizes above 2560x1440 are "experimental".
• Quality: the 2.5 models accept low, medium, high, xhigh, max and auto (GPT-Image-2.5 Sunburst); GPT Image 2 accepts low, medium and high (gpt-image-2).

0:22 OpenAI's Nov 4, 2026 launch video also shows markup editing: you send a separate image with a circled area or annotations, describe the change, and the model makes that specific edit.

One oddity: the guide's overview still names the 2.5 models as the ones it documents, even though it describes the 2.6 features (guide).

How much does GPT Image cost?

Source: OpenAI API pricing, per 1M tokens, read Nov 6, 2026. Cached input for GPT Image 2 and 2.5 applies only to images generated through the Responses API.

Per image. The guide lists fixed per-image costs only for the older models. For a 1024x1024 square: GPT Image 2 about $0.006 (low), $0.053 (medium) and $0.211 (high); GPT Image 1.5 $0.009, $0.034 and $0.133; GPT Image 1 Mini $0.005, $0.011 and $0.036. Portrait and landscape cost differently. The guide offers a calculator rather than a table for 2.5 and 2.6, and each partial image streamed along the way adds 100 output tokens.

How to generate an image with the API

1. Install the SDK and set OPENAI_API_KEY (see OpenAI API).
2. Send a prompt to v1/images/generations with model set to gpt-image-2.6-flare for speed or gpt-image-2.6-sunburst for detail (model page).
3. Choose quality, a size, and an output_format (for example svg or gif on 2.6).
4. To change an existing image, send it with a prompt to v1/images/edits.
5. Inside a conversation, use the image generation tool of the Responses API instead, which also makes cached image input possible on GPT Image 2 and 2.5.

For bulk jobs, the Batch API accepts /v1/images/generations and /v1/images/edits at half price for models that have a Batch row (Batch guide).

Provenance and rules

Images from the first GPT-4o image model carry C2PA metadata that identifies them as AI-generated (OpenAI, Mar 25, 2025), and gpt-image-1 kept C2PA metadata and added a moderation parameter (OpenAI, Apr 23, 2025). The pages read for this article do not restate the C2PA policy for 2.5 and 2.6. OpenAI published a system card for ChatGPT Images 2.6 on Nov 4, 2026.

How GPT Image compares

Google's Nano Banana models are the main rival in the API: gemini-nano-banana-2.1 costs $0.0336 per image at 1K resolution, against about $0.053 for a medium GPT Image 2 square, though the two quality levels are not equivalent. ChatGPT Images vs Nano Banana compares them properly. The image arena leaderboards were not read for this page, so no quality ranking is given here.

Frequently asked questions

What is the latest OpenAI image model? As of Nov 6, 2026, the latest are GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst and GPT-Image-2.6 Flare, released Nov 4, 2026 with SVG and animated GIF output; Sunburst targets detail and Flare speed.

How much does gpt-image-2 cost per image? OpenAI's guide puts a 1024x1024 GPT Image 2 image at about $0.006 in low quality, $0.053 in medium and $0.211 in high, from token prices of $8 per 1M image input tokens and $30 per 1M image output tokens.

Is gpt-image-1 still available? No. OpenAI shut gpt-image-1 down on Oct 23, 2026; gpt-image-1.5, gpt-image-1-mini and chatgpt-image-latest follow on Dec 1, 2026, with GPT-Image-2.6 as the replacement.

Can the OpenAI image API make GIFs and SVGs? Yes, with GPT-Image-2.6. Set output_format to gif for an animated GIF of 2 to 16 frames, or to svg for a vector image, one per request.

Does OpenAI have a video API? Not anymore. OpenAI shut down the Sora 2 models and its Videos API on Sep 24, 2026 with no replacement, so GPT Image covers only still and animated GIF images; see Sora.

Sources

• Image generation, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst model page, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• GPT-Image-2.5 Sunburst model page, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• gpt-image-2 model page, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• gpt-image-1 model page, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Pricing, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Batch API, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Changelog, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Deprecations, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Introducing Images 2.6, OpenAI, Nov 4, 2026
• Introducing ChatGPT Images 2.5, OpenAI, Sep 8, 2026
• Introducing ChatGPT Images 2.0, OpenAI, Apr 21, 2026
• The new ChatGPT Images is here, OpenAI, Dec 16, 2025
• Image generation API, OpenAI, Apr 23, 2025
• Introducing 4o Image Generation, OpenAI, Mar 25, 2025
• Deployment Safety Hub, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Gemini API pricing, Google, read Nov 6, 2026
• GPT-Image-2.6: Faster image generation with Flare and Sunburst, OpenAI, Nov 4, 2026 (video)
• Introducing GPT-Image-2.5 in the API, OpenAI, Sep 8, 2026 (video)