Nucleus-Imagevs.Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px

Which one is better?

In our own test, Nucleus-Image leads. Neither is in the arena. Neither has an API price.

Test images

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

Nucleus-Image: Character and detail, first image from the fixed test run — Nucleus-Image66 out of 100

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px: Character and detail, first image from the fixed test run — Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px26 out of 100

Result for “Character and detail”:Nucleus-Image slightly ahead

Prompt given to both modelsCreate a square cinematic full-body portrait of a fictional bicycle courier waiting under a transparent umbrella at a rainy tram stop in Hamburg at blue hour. She wears a mustard raincoat, navy trousers, red sneakers, a silver helmet, and carries a teal messenger bag. Keep both hands visible, render the bicycle correctly, use realistic wet-street reflections, and include no readable brand names.

What the rating looks at: Anatomy, clothing, and spatial consistency.

“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

Nucleus-Image: fal, aspect ratio 1:1; Fal has no output-size input, n=1, seed=748477400, Upstream checkpoint documents 1024x1024; estimate reserves 2 MP at Fal's $0.01 per MP rate, estimated cost $0.020000, generated Nov 2, 2026, 3:03 PM. Source

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px: manual, 1:1, one request, first output, one image, provider-side randomize seed enabled, observed seed 889651570, native 1024x1024, 2 inference steps, guidance 4.5, no prompt enhancement, no reference images, exact checkpoint Efficient-Large-Model/Sana_Sprint_1.6B_1024px_diffusers, Space commit b42328123ed688df4bee46e52c60cc1dc62c045a, generated Nov 1, 2026, 9:42 PM. Source

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

Nucleus-Image image SHA 256: c931159b5d8670025e00457995bc1bf8aa51176bc54271267abbd67808689aae

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px image SHA 256: 1d77cacabeb38205299446bc6c5b80f38cf757d98f4251fc44c25340ab870dd9

Infographic

Nucleus-Image: fal, aspect ratio 1:1; Fal has no output-size input, n=1, seed=956072606, Upstream checkpoint documents 1024x1024; estimate reserves 2 MP at Fal's $0.01 per MP rate, estimated cost $0.020000, generated Nov 2, 2026, 3:03 PM. Source

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px: manual, 1:1, one request, first output, one image, provider-side randomize seed enabled, observed seed 853526908, native 1024x1024, 2 inference steps, guidance 4.5, no prompt enhancement, no reference images, exact checkpoint Efficient-Large-Model/Sana_Sprint_1.6B_1024px_diffusers, Space commit b42328123ed688df4bee46e52c60cc1dc62c045a; an earlier request on 2026-11-01 was rejected before generation by the ZeroGPU quota, generated Nov 2, 2026, 2:30 PM. Source

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

Nucleus-Image image SHA 256: 826d0bab35098adaae1c5a663d88713b7a8faa277a3ded16c1047beda0f169bf

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px image SHA 256: da4ed66ab2f25ea33c81978bc687142d50f7f7d01db096169151e70f1648ec43

Product photography

Nucleus-Image: fal, aspect ratio 1:1; Fal has no output-size input, n=1, seed=1580273337, Upstream checkpoint documents 1024x1024; estimate reserves 2 MP at Fal's $0.01 per MP rate, estimated cost $0.020000, generated Nov 2, 2026, 3:03 PM. Source

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px: manual, 1:1, one request, first output, one image, provider-side randomize seed enabled, observed seed 178858232, native 1024x1024, 2 inference steps, guidance 4.5, no prompt enhancement, no reference images, exact checkpoint Efficient-Large-Model/Sana_Sprint_1.6B_1024px_diffusers, Space commit b42328123ed688df4bee46e52c60cc1dc62c045a, generated Nov 1, 2026, 9:42 PM. Source

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

Nucleus-Image image SHA 256: f8ce2bbfd219cc3ee98d1579426cbae88d0f43880a445301396ab04b5bf2f458

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px image SHA 256: 39284e75f1ffa7a286c193927441bca1bee31495f6cf67b4fd024a567a548b09

Typography and layout

Nucleus-Image: fal, aspect ratio 1:1; Fal has no output-size input, n=1, seed=689548231, Upstream checkpoint documents 1024x1024; estimate reserves 2 MP at Fal's $0.01 per MP rate, estimated cost $0.020000, generated Nov 2, 2026, 3:03 PM. Source

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px: manual, 1:1, one request, first output, one image, provider-side randomize seed enabled, observed seed 37807657, native 1024x1024, 2 inference steps, guidance 4.5, no prompt enhancement, no reference images, exact checkpoint Efficient-Large-Model/Sana_Sprint_1.6B_1024px_diffusers, Space commit b42328123ed688df4bee46e52c60cc1dc62c045a, generated Nov 1, 2026, 9:42 PM. Source

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

Nucleus-Image image SHA 256: a92e94eadcf94b661a14dc4308c6f94ca177223fca9965006dc571f5d95bacda

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px image SHA 256: 5f4459e7adbe7d47fe3ba162ce8e13507b5ea6e3bb4beb5084c862df9ab9e933

The numbers at a glance

Arena ratingfrom votes by users · higher is better

n/a

Nucleus-Image

not in the arena

n/a

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px

not in the arena

GraduallyBenchour own rating, 0 to 100 · higher is better

Nucleus-Image

Rank 65 of 108

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px

Rank 96 of 108

Price per imagedollars through the API · lower is better

n/a

Nucleus-Image

no API price

n/a

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px

no API price

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.

Nucleus-Image

Subscription: n/a No plan in Germany names exactly this model.
Via API: No API price known. Access: local.
License: Open weights.

Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px

Subscription: n/a No plan in Germany names exactly this model.
Via API: No API price known. Access: local.
License: Open weights.

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

GraduallyBench from Nov 3, 2026 · Subscription database from Sep 29, 2026 (38 days old)

All data side by side

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

Kennzahl	Nucleus-Image	Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px
Ratings
Arena ratingfrom votes by users, higher is better	n/a	n/a
Arena rank	n/a	n/a
Arena votesmore votes, a safer rating	n/a	n/a
GraduallyBenchour own rating, 0 to 100	48	21
GraduallyBench by task
Typography and layoutLegible text, hierarchy, and composition	38	21
Product photographyMaterials, reflections, and fine details	62	27
Character and detailAnatomy, clothing, and spatial consistency	66	26
InfographicNumbers, labels, and visual organization	23	10
API price
Per imagelower is better	n/a	n/a
100 images	n/a	n/a
Profile
Released	n/a	Mar 22, 2025
Weightsopen means: runs locally	open	open
Access	local	local
Parameters	17 billion	1.6 billion
Largest output	not consistently published	not consistently published
Plans in Germanynaming exactly this model	n/a	n/a

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

Sources: Nucleus-Image model source (verified Nov 1, 2026) · Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px model source (verified Nov 1, 2026)

Arena ratings by category

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

No shared arena score in the stored snapshot

The stored benchmark database contains no measurement for Nucleus-Image and Sana-Sprint 1.6B 1024px from the same arena and category. Older model versions are not used as substitutes.

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