# OpenAI Image API — AI Compare Ninja

> Generate or edit images with GPT Image 2.5 from text and image references.

## Overview
- **Category:** Design & Image (Image generation & creative suites)
- **Status:** Active · checked - GPT Image 2 is the current image model. DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 are discontinued and removed from the API.
- **Paid from:** $5 / $8 / $2 / $30 / Usage (Standard API)
- **Free access:** No free plan published (GPT Image 2 does not support a free usage tier according to model page.)
- **Website:** https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-image-2
- **Canonical URL:** https://www.aicompare.ninja/en/tool/openai-image-api

## What it does
- GPT Image 2 for generation and editing via the API
- Token-based billing by image size, quality, and references
- Batch API at 50% of standard token rates for asynchronous processing
- Tier 1: 100,000 TPM and 5 images per minute
- Automatic tier progression through usage and spend

## In brief
The OpenAI Image API uses GPT Image 2 for generation and editing. DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 are deprecated and have been removed from the API.

Cost is token-based and varies with image size, quality, and references. The Batch API costs half the standard token rates.


## Limits
GPT Image 2 is not flat-priced per image but by text and image tokens. Standard costs $8/million image-input tokens, $2 cached input, and $30 output; Batch halves these to $4/$1/$15. Without the token quantity returned by the official calculator, no honest fixed image count can be derived from $20. Usage tier also caps throughput: Tier 1 allows five, Tier 2 twenty, and Tier 5 up to 250 images/minute. Free is unsupported for GPT Image 2. DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 are deprecated and removed from the API, so they are no longer a current comparison tier.

## Pricing tiers
| Tier | Price | Period | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Standard API | $5 / $8 / $2 / $30 | Usage | GPT Image 2.5 generation and editing; Flexible image sizes and high-fidelity image inputs; Cost by actual text/image tokens; No free-tier access to GPT Image 2.5; Image calculator for estimates |
| Batch API | $2.50 / $4 / $1 / $15 | Batch use | 50% lower published token prices; For asynchronous batch processing; Same variable image-token logic; Not equivalent to immediate standard latency |
| Rate limits | nach Usage Tier | Flow rate | Free unsupported; Tier 1: 100k TPM and 5 images/minute; Tier 2: 250k TPM and 20 images/minute; Tier 3/4/5: 50/150/250 images/minute; Automatic tier progression by usage/spend |
| Historical DALL-E models | nicht als aktueller Einstieg empfohlen | Legacy | DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 removed from the API; Both only listed as deprecated image generation models on their own pages, no longer in the model catalogue; GPT Image 2 is the current state-of-the-art model; No old DALL-E 3 subscription claim reused |

## Sources
All details regarding plans, limits, and features are based on official vendor documentation and the primary sources verified below.

- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-image-2
- https://platform.openai.com/pricing
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/all
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/dall-e-2
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/dall-e-3

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*Source: AI Compare Ninja (2026) - https://www.aicompare.ninja/en/tool/openai-image-api*