Leaderboard / creative / best model for illustration / hero image
Best model for an illustration / hero image
Art-directed images for a site, deck or campaign.
Top pick: GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst · $0.014 per image.
Best for the need
GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
~$0.014 · OpenAI
Best value
GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
~$0.014 · OpenAI
Cheapest that meets it
Muse Image
~$0.010 · Meta
Ranked for illustration / hero image — seed scores as of 2026-10-28
| Model | Score | Max size | Transparent bg | Lettering | Open weights | Cost / image | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT Image 2.5 SunburstTOPOpenAI · Top of the Artificial Analysis text-to-image arena (Oct 2026). Token-billed. | 93 | 2048px | ✓ | high | — | ~$0.014 | Get it at OpenAI |
| GPT Image 2.5 FlareOpenAI · Drew the most detailed mark in the Fuser test; transparent background only on text-to-image, not edits. | 92 | 2048px | ✓ | high | — | ~$0.014 | Get it at OpenAI |
| Nano Banana 2 (Gemini image)Google · Strongest at editing a finished logo into a scene. Also reachable with an OpenRouter key. | 89 | 2048px | — | high | — | ~$0.067 | Get it at Google AI Studio |
| Recraft V4.1 Pro (raster)Recraft | 86 | 2048px | ✓ | medium | — | $0.21 | Get the key |
| Ideogram 4 (Quality)Ideogram · Leads on lettering accuracy in the cited tests. Raster only — trace afterwards. | 85 | 2048px | ✓ | high | ✓ | ~$0.10 | Get it at Ideogram |
| Recraft V4.1 (raster)Recraft · Quick high-resolution mockups; not a substitute for the vector output. | 83 | 1024px | ✓ | medium | — | $0.035 | Get the key |
| Qwen-Image 3.0 ProAlibaba · Dense, multilingual text; the cheap exploration sweep. | 82 | 2048px | — | high | ✓ | ~$0.040 | Get it at Alibaba Model Studio |
| FLUX.2 [klein]Black Forest Labs · Open-weights leader on the Artificial Analysis v2.1 board; priced per megapixel. | 80 | 2048px | — | medium | ✓ | ~$0.014 | Get it at Black Forest Labs |
| Muse ImageMeta · The cheapest sweep. | 70 | 1024px | — | medium | — | ~$0.010 | Get it at Meta |
Sources: Artificial Analysis text-to-image arena, Oct 2026 · Teamday ‘ranked by job’, Oct 2026. Seed scores from published tests, replaced by Tokenokio’s own probes as they run. Prices marked ~ are reseller or third-party figures, not the provider’s list.
How to get the best result
Sweep cheaply first, then re-run the winner on the top model — the arena leaders cost a few cents per image.
Run it on your key
Recraft V4.1 Pro (raster) · $0.21 per image, billed to your Recraft accountWhat is the best AI model for an illustration / hero image in 2026?
GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst scores highest for illustration / hero image (Artificial Analysis text-to-image arena, Oct 2026). Best value is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst at $0.014 per image; the cheapest that meets the need is Muse Image.
How do I get the best result for an illustration / hero image?
Sweep cheaply first, then re-run the winner on the top model — the arena leaders cost a few cents per image.
Some “get the key” links are referral links. They never change the ranking above, and they never cost you more.