GPT Image 2.5 Sunburstvs.Grok Imagine Image Quality

Which one is better?

In our own test both are on par. Grok Imagine Image Quality has no arena rating yet. GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst costs 4.2 times as much per image.

Test images

Same task, the first image of each. The task with the biggest difference is preselected.

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst: Product photography, first image from the fixed test run — GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst87 out of 100

Grok Imagine Image Quality: Product photography, first image from the fixed test run — Grok Imagine Image Quality37 out of 100

Result for “Product photography”:GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst ahead

Prompt given to both modelsCreate a square premium product photograph of a brushed titanium wristwatch standing upright on dark green marble. The watch has a cream dial, thin black hands set to 10:10, twelve distinct hour markers, a realistic crown, and a dark brown leather strap. Soft window light from the left, controlled reflections, shallow depth of field, no text, no logo, no extra objects.

What the rating looks at: Materials, reflections, and fine details.

“Ahead”: better in all three rating rounds. “Slightly ahead”: a higher value, but not in every round.

Test protocol of the images

Each test attempt uses the same archived prompt and one request. The first output of that attempt counts. Repeats after technical test failures are disclosed for the affected images. Files are normalized to 1,024 × 1,024 pixels without cropping. Provider resolution, randomness, quality tier and prompt processing can still differ. The images are a practical visual test, not a reconstruction of the arena configuration.

Character and detail

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst: openai, 1024x1024, quality high, n=1, generated Sep 28, 2026, 8:51 PM. Source

Grok Imagine Image Quality: openrouter, aspect ratio 1:1, resolution 1K, n=1, seed=provider random, actual cost $0.050000, generated Aug 14, 2026, 1:34 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: 985a75b38642a9f0e5e0c0e0c67f1b7f67780d42bd2168fa24e9a7a7a94b0da6

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst image SHA 256: 2bcd5e2358dbf9e2f11336ebf6c4a4a15e0a9a10261dd74378d40985ac68ec6d

Grok Imagine Image Quality image SHA 256: b6cccae7af9a70af45a46b9e3264fa6971101e04979f7a0539e889ba6521250a

Infographic

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst: openai, 1024x1024, quality high, n=1, generated Sep 28, 2026, 8:52 PM. Source

Grok Imagine Image Quality: openrouter, aspect ratio 1:1, resolution 1K, n=1, seed=provider random, actual cost $0.050000, generated Aug 14, 2026, 1:34 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: ed65cb4e6a51e2336f8b149ad4cbb16e020f07d527ad94362e719d2dcf91d94f

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst image SHA 256: 7dab94e5588be73aefe08f23f9d56ced4e2ddb2b29f754db41b057025cf34847

Grok Imagine Image Quality image SHA 256: 03fbeae7859be72584048dfc23fba0651220ab44c707da66c386b77d90cc86f7

Product photography

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst: openai, 1024x1024, quality high, n=1, generated Sep 28, 2026, 8:51 PM. Source

Grok Imagine Image Quality: openrouter, aspect ratio 1:1, resolution 1K, n=1, seed=provider random, actual cost $0.050000, generated Aug 14, 2026, 1:34 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: c67fd71e91304458a2feef5c91efa8677260fab0c0099a29a2c52cb579f5b2f3

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst image SHA 256: c648276704e06f7925f2325e8ffff0d9d0a9bd6c5bb4866785abac92ce97ff9a

Grok Imagine Image Quality image SHA 256: 0ea1e48f20bf61ff10414398b5248b0496c9040b3868c915580efd11d0dbaf11

Typography and layout

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst: openai, 1024x1024, quality high, n=1, generated Sep 28, 2026, 8:50 PM. Source

Grok Imagine Image Quality: openrouter, aspect ratio 1:1, resolution 1K, n=1, seed=provider random, actual cost $0.050000, generated Aug 14, 2026, 2:05 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: 2e012c3d14ee5dd02203a94f394ca80a5038cdebd6032b25a8b8a221f2255419

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst image SHA 256: fd6a3767ba8253869cb94d5346f025541dac924c2190df2c37b366b182986cf8

Grok Imagine Image Quality image SHA 256: 84d88fb03bdbba672fc91268f4c120b17a19e4c9d637425aeca8ed44b2397d9f

The numbers at a glance

Arena ratingfrom votes by users · higher is better

1,427

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

Rank 1 of 21

n/a

Grok Imagine Image Quality

not in the arena

GraduallyBenchour own rating, 0 to 100 · higher is better

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

Rank 8 of 108

Grok Imagine Image Quality

Rank 54 of 108

Price per imagedollars through the API · lower is better

$0.21

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

expensive

$0.05

Grok Imagine Image Quality

fairly cheap

Ranks among the 21 image models with an arena rating and the 108 with a GraduallyBench run; prices compared with 28 models with an API price.

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

Subscription: No OpenAI subscription includes this model. Through other providers from ≈ €6.39 a month (ElevenLabs Starter, with limited credits). 62 plans in Germany.
Via API: $0.21 per image, 100 images $21.07.

Grok Imagine Image Quality

Subscription: n/a No plan in Germany names exactly this model.
Via API: $0.05 per image, 100 images $5.

Subscriptions only count plans that name exactly this model. Subscription prices include VAT, API prices are in dollars.

Arena rating (LMArena) from Oct 28, 2026 · GraduallyBench from Nov 3, 2026 · API prices from Nov 3, 2026 · Subscription database from Sep 29, 2026 (35 days old)

All data side by side

The better value is bold. For ratings only when the gap is clear.

Kennzahl	GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst	Grok Imagine Image Quality
Ratings
Arena ratingfrom votes by users, higher is better	1,427	n/a
Arena rank	Rank 1 of 21	n/a
Arena votesmore votes, a safer rating	40,323	n/a
GraduallyBenchour own rating, 0 to 100	75	60
GraduallyBench by task
Typography and layoutLegible text, hierarchy, and composition	54	88
Product photographyMaterials, reflections, and fine details	87	37
Character and detailAnatomy, clothing, and spatial consistency	64	56
InfographicNumbers, labels, and visual organization	97	61
API price
Per imagelower is better	$0.21	$0.05
100 images	$21.07	$5
Profile
Released	Sep 8, 2026	April 2026
Weightsopen means: runs locally	proprietary	proprietary
Lifecycle	no notice	Deprecated: xAI retires the model slug on November 2, 2026; requests are then served by grok-imagine-image-2.0 (quality=low)
Access	API	API, Web app
Parameters	not published	not published
Largest output	3,840 × 2,160 pixels	2K
Plans in Germanynaming exactly this model	62	n/a

API prices for one image at 1,024 × 1,024 pixels according to Artificial Analysis.

Sources: GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst model source (verified Sep 24, 2026) · Grok Imagine Image Quality model source, status source (verified Aug 15, 2026)

Arena ratings by category

From blind votes on LMArena. “Ahead” means the lead is clear.

Arena rating per categoryfrom votes by users · higher is betterGPT Image 2.5 SunburstGrok Imagine Image Quality

Text to Image Arena1,2231,049ahead

Image Editing Arena1,1991,096ahead

Image Editing: Overall1,5171,391ahead

Artificial Analysis from Nov 3, 2026 · LMArena from Oct 28, 2026

All individual values with sources

Rating	GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst	Grok Imagine Image Quality	Source
Text to Image Arena	1,223	1,049	Artificial AnalysisRetrieved Nov 3, 2026
Image Editing Arena	1,199	1,096	Artificial AnalysisRetrieved Nov 3, 2026
Image Editing: Overall	1,517	1,391	LMArenaRetrieved Oct 28, 2026

More comparisons with GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and Grok Imagine Image Quality

Compare GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and Grok Imagine Image Quality with the models people compare them with most often.

Compare another matchup

First image modelSecond image model

Predecessor and successor

PredecessorGPT Image 2.5 Sunburst vs. GPT Image 2Predecessor of GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
SuccessorGrok Imagine Image Quality vs. Grok Imagine Image 2.0Successor of Grok Imagine Image Quality
GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst has no successor yet
No predecessor recorded for Grok Imagine Image Quality

The most popular comparisons

Show all 10 comparisons

10Grok Imagine Image Quality vs. Qwen-Image-2.1