GPT Image 2 Complete Guide
OpenAI's 2026 flagship image model — built-in reasoning, web search, text rendering and image editing. A full walkthrough of its capabilities, QCode's $0.30-per-image billing, API access and use cases.
What is GPT Image 2
GPT Image 2 is OpenAI's latest image generation model released in 2026 — a major upgrade over DALL·E 3. Supports reasoning (thinks through composition before generating), web search (generates based on real-time info), text rendering (clear text in images), and image editing (modify locally rather than regenerate). The strongest available image model in OpenAI's ecosystem.
Key Capabilities
Text-to-image, image-to-image, editing (inpainting / style transfer), in-image text (posters / memes / infographics), multiple resolutions (1024×1024 / 1024×1536 / 1536×1024), and quality tiers (low/medium/high). Billed per output image, so costs are easy to predict.
Billing: $0.30 per image
GPT Image 2 is billed per output image, at the same rate for generations and edits: $0.30 for each image, so n images cost n × $0.30. size, quality, the number of input images, mask and prompt length do not affect the price. Failed requests (4xx including content-moderation rejections, 5xx, timeouts, client disconnects) are never billed. As of 2026-10-06, billing changed from per-token (with a per-request minimum) to a flat $0.30 per image.
- Per output image — $0.30
- size / quality / input images / mask / prompt length do not affect the price
- Failed requests (4xx / 5xx / timeouts / client disconnects) are never billed
The price is independent of size / quality and of how many images you send in — only the number of output images counts.
Access via QCode
GPT Image 2 is listed in the /models catalog; to judge whether it is callable right now, check the /models catalog and the status page rather than the wording of any static page. Billing is per output image at $0.30, the same for generations and edits. The same QCode plan quota covers multiple CLI tools such as Claude Code and OpenAI Codex.
generations and edits cost the same; n images = n × $0.30.
4xx (incl. content-moderation rejections) / 5xx / timeouts / client disconnects are never billed.
API Setup Example
Use OpenAI-compatible API. Just point BASE_URL to QCode endpoint, use QCode Key as API Key — everything else identical to official SDK.
from openai import OpenAI
import base64
# Note: image generation uses the dedicated endpoint /qcode-img/v1 (separate from text /openai/v1)
client = OpenAI(
api_key="$QCODE_KEY",
base_url="https://api.qcode.cc/qcode-img/v1",
timeout=180.0, # OpenAI SDK default is short, recommend 180s
)
response = client.images.generate(
model="gpt-image-2",
prompt="A serene Japanese garden with a koi pond",
size="1024x1024",
quality="medium",
)
img = base64.b64decode(response.data[0].b64_json) # Only b64_json is returned; response_format=url is rejected with 400
open("out.png", "wb").write(img)
# Full endpoint path: POST https://api.qcode.cc/qcode-img/v1/images/generationsUse Cases
Marketing assets, social media posters, e-commerce product shots, book illustrations, concept design drafts, slide graphics, UI mockups, prototype designs. Reasoning capability handles complex multi-object scenes, text posters, and infographics — far surpassing DALL·E 3 output quality.
vs DALL·E 3 / Midjourney / Stable Diffusion
vs DALL·E 3: comprehensive upgrade (reasoning + editing + text rendering), slightly higher price but significantly better quality. vs Midjourney: API-first design suits programmatic integration; Midjourney leans Discord creator workflow. vs Stable Diffusion: closed-source but more stable quality and controllability, no self-hosted GPU needed. For production API integration, GPT Image 2 is the best current choice.
QCode also powers OpenAI Codex / GPT-5.6
Your QCode quota works across Claude Code and OpenAI Codex CLI — one shared balance, zero duplicate spend.
FAQ
How much better is GPT Image 2 than DALL·E 3?
Significantly better. GPT Image 2 has built-in reasoning, web search, text rendering (Chinese/English/long text clear), and image editing (local modifications). Far surpasses DALL·E 3 on complex scenes, posters, and infographics.
How is GPT Image 2 billed?
Per output image, at $0.30 each — the same rate for generations and edits, so n images cost n × $0.30. size, quality, the number of input images, mask and prompt length do not affect the price, and failed requests are never billed.
Can users in China stably access GPT Image 2?
QCode runs its developer platform on Asia-Pacific nodes (Hong Kong / Japan), so access from mainland China is stable. gpt-image-2 is listed in the /models catalog; current availability is governed by the /models catalog and the status page, and this page makes no real-time promise.
Can my QCode plan quota be used for GPT Image 2?
QCode plan quota works across multiple CLI tools (Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, etc.) with a single API Key. gpt-image-2 is listed in the /models catalog — check /models and the status page for availability; image requests count toward dailyCostLimit at $0.30 per image.
Learn about GPT Image 2
QCode plans share quota across multiple CLIs — flexible subscription