DALL-E — AI Tool Review, Features & Pricing

About DALL-E

OpenAI's legacy image generation suite. DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 were retired from the OpenAI API on May 12, 2026, replaced by GPT Image 2 — which delivers ~99% character-level text-rendering accuracy and up to 4K output. OpenAI's current image models are GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and Flare, released September 8, 2026. This page is kept for reference.

It belongs to the image category (subcategory: text-to-image) within the AI Workflows tool directory.

DALL-E offers a freemium model with a free tier and paid upgrades.

Editorial Review: DALL-E scores 8.5/10

Our editors scored DALL-E 8.5 out of 10 overall (4.3 out of 5 stars), averaged across 5 independently rated dimensions.

Pros of DALL-E

• Understood prompts unusually well when described conversationally through ChatGPT
• Followed complex, detailed instructions faithfully
• Sat seamlessly inside the ChatGPT ecosystem

Cons of DALL-E

• Photorealism trailed Midjourney and newer image models
• Tight content filters rejected many prompts
• Offered less fine control than parameter-driven tools

When to use DALL-E

• Quick concept art and illustration from natural language
• Images generated conversationally inside ChatGPT
• Marketing visuals needing accurate prompt adherence

The editor's take on DALL-E

DALL-E 3's strength was comprehension — described conversationally through ChatGPT, it followed complex prompts more faithfully than most, and the integration made iterating effortless. It was retired from the OpenAI API on May 12, 2026; by then its photorealism already trailed Midjourney and newer image models, and its content filters were strict. Users who want to type plain English and get an on-brief image should now use GPT Image 2.5, OpenAI's current image line inside ChatGPT.

Last evaluated August 2026 by the AI Workflows editorial desk.

Pricing & Plans

• Pricing model: Freemium
• Plan details: Included in ChatGPT (limited daily generations). The DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 APIs were retired on May 12, 2026 and are no longer billable. OpenAI image generation now runs on GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and Flare, which use the GPT Image 2 token rates: $5.00 per 1M text input, $8.00 per 1M image input, and $30.00 per 1M image output (as of September 2026).

Available Models in DALL-E

• GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (current successor)
• GPT Image 2.5 Flare (current successor)
• GPT Image 2
• DALL-E 3 (retired)
• DALL-E 2 (retired)

Key Capabilities

• text-to-image
• prompt-adherence
• inpainting
• text-rendering

Tags & Keywords

image, text-rendering, gpt-image, legacy, retired, api

How to access DALL-E

Visit the official DALL-E website: https://openai.com/dall-e-3.

Find more AI tools like DALL-E on our AI Tools Directory, explore complete AI Workflows that combine multiple tools, or read in-depth reviews on our AI Blog.

Alternatives to DALL-E

If DALL-E does not fit your use case, these alternative AI tools in the same category may be worth comparing:

• Stable Diffusion — Open-source image generation model with Stable Diffusion 3.5 series. Available for free local deployment or via commercial API....
• GPT Image 2 — OpenAI's 2026 image model, bundled into ChatGPT and the OpenAI API as the successor to DALL-E 3. Near-perfect text rendering (~...
• Recraft — AI design studio specializing in both vector (SVG) and raster image generation with precise text placement, custom brand styles...
• Ideogram — AI image generator renowned for industry-leading text rendering accuracy within images. Ideogram 4.0 (June 2026) is its first o...