01 /TOOLS / dall-e
DALL-E 3
skipOpenAI's earlier image model, still reachable via ChatGPT and the API.
journal entry · observed by @whysanesanders · verified 2026-08-15
Perfectly serviceable two years ago, now outclassed on aesthetics by Midjourney and FLUX and on editing by OpenAI's own newer image models. No reason to start new work on it.
Known limitations
- Weak text rendering compared to Ideogram and FLUX.
- Dated, plasticky default look.
- Inpainting and editing lag modern rivals.
Facts
- pricing
- paid
- price note
- via ChatGPT Plus $20/mo; API from $0.04/image
- free tier
- no
- open source
- no
- api
- yes
- self-host
- no
- category
- image
Receipts
Same sector — image
FLUX (Black Forest Labs)
Open-weights image models from the original Stable Diffusion team.
image
freemium · API from $0.04/image (FLUX1.1 pro); dev/schnell weights free
OSSAPIFREE TIER
Ideogram
Image generator with the strongest text-in-image rendering.
image
freemium · free tier; from $8/mo (Plus)
APIFREE TIER
Leonardo AI
Production-oriented image suite with fine-tuning, canvas editing and team features.
image
freemium · free daily tokens; from $12/mo (Apprentice)
APIFREE TIER