Best AI for making images
Updated 2026-10-16 from official prices and dated leaderboards.
Change budget or country in the finder
Up to US$30 a month (USA)
- Best pick ChatGPT Go OpenAI
US$8.00/mo
OpenAI's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (#1); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. - Also strong X Subscription Plus Grok (xAI)
US$8.00/mo
Grok (xAI)'s best model on Arena Text-to-Image is grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) (#4); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. - Also consider Microsoft 365 Personal Microsoft
US$9.99/mo · Annual billing US$99.99/yr
Microsoft's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is MAI Image 2.6 (#5); the provider doesn't say which plans include it.
Any budget (USA)
- Best pick ChatGPT Go OpenAI
US$8.00/mo
OpenAI's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (#1); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. - Also strong X Subscription Plus Grok (xAI)
US$8.00/mo
Grok (xAI)'s best model on Arena Text-to-Image is grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) (#4); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. - Also consider Microsoft 365 Personal Microsoft
US$9.99/mo · Annual billing US$99.99/yr
Microsoft's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is MAI Image 2.6 (#5); the provider doesn't say which plans include it.
In Canada, up to CA$30
Plans with an official CAD price come first; plans that only publish a US price follow, clearly labelled. We never convert.
- Best pick Microsoft 365 Personal Microsoft
CA$11.50/mo · Annual billing CA$115.00/yr
Microsoft's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is MAI Image 2.6 (#5); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. - Also strong Google AI Plus Google
CA$6.99/mo
Google's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 (#6); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. - Also consider ChatGPT Free OpenAI
Free
Includes what this goal needs, within budget. No ranked model is named for this plan, so it sorts by price.
Who leads Arena Text-to-Image
The leaderboard this page uses. Friendly model names, with the leaderboard's own name in grey. All rankings.
Higher is better. Bars compare rows in this table only.
| Rank | Model | Company | Score | Available in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | GPT Image 2.5 Sunburstgpt-image-2.5-sunburst | OpenAI | 1425 | Not named on plan pages |
| #2 | GPT Image 2.5 Flaregpt-image-2.5-flare | OpenAI | 1398 | Not named on plan pages |
| #3 | GPT Image 2Mediumgpt-image-2 (medium) | OpenAI | 1383 | Not named on plan pages |
| #4 | grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) | Grok (xAI) | 1334 | Not named on plan pages |
| #5 | MAI Image 2.6mai-image-2.6 | Microsoft | 1332 | Not named on plan pages |
| #6 | Gemini Nano Banana 2.1gemini-nano-banana-2.1 | 1328 | Not named on plan pages | |
| #7 | Reve 2.1reve-2.1 | Reve | 1302 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
| #8 | Grok Imagine Image 2.0grok-imagine-image-2.0 | Grok (xAI) | 1294 | Not named on plan pages |
| #9 | Muse Imagemuse-image | Meta | 1274 | Not named on plan pages |
| #12 | Seedream 5.0 Proseedream-5.0-pro | ByteDance | 1255 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
| #20 | Ideogram 4.0 Qualityideogram-4.0-quality | Ideogram | 1205 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
| #22 | Uni 1.1Maxuni-1.1-max | Luma | 1189 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
| #29 | Flux 2Maxflux-2-max | Black Forest Labs | 1162 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
| #71 | Runway Gen4runway-gen4 | Runway | 1024 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
| #75 | Lucid Originlucid-origin | Leonardo | 1013 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
| #81 | Stable Diffusion V35 Largestable-diffusion-v35-large | Stability AI | 938 | We don't track this company's consumer plans |
Source: arena.ai, checked 2026-10-15.
Every plan that fits (USA)
| Plan | USD / month | CAD / month | Why it's here |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Go OpenAI | US$8.00 | No official CAD price | OpenAI's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (#1); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| ChatGPT Plus OpenAI | US$20.00 | No official CAD price | OpenAI's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (#1); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| ChatGPT Pro 100 OpenAI | US$100.00 | No official CAD price | OpenAI's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (#1); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| ChatGPT Pro 200 OpenAI | US$200.00 | No official CAD price | OpenAI's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (#1); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| ChatGPT Pro 500 OpenAI | US$500.00 | No official CAD price | OpenAI's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (#1); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| X Subscription Plus Grok (xAI) | US$8.00 | No official CAD price | Grok (xAI)'s best model on Arena Text-to-Image is grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) (#4); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| X Subscription Premium Grok (xAI) | US$30.00 | No official CAD price | Grok (xAI)'s best model on Arena Text-to-Image is grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) (#4); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| X Subscription Super Grok (xAI) | US$100.00 | No official CAD price | Grok (xAI)'s best model on Arena Text-to-Image is grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) (#4); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| X Subscription Ultra Grok (xAI) | US$200.00 | No official CAD price | Grok (xAI)'s best model on Arena Text-to-Image is grok-imagine-image-2.0 (canvas) (#4); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Microsoft 365 Personal Microsoft | US$9.99 | CA$11.50 | Microsoft's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is MAI Image 2.6 (#5); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Microsoft 365 Family Microsoft | US$12.99 | CA$14.50 | Microsoft's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is MAI Image 2.6 (#5); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Microsoft 365 Premium Microsoft | US$19.99 | CA$27.00 | Microsoft's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is MAI Image 2.6 (#5); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Microsoft 365 Pro Microsoft | US$99.99 | CA$135.00 | Microsoft's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is MAI Image 2.6 (#5); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Google AI Plus Google | US$4.99 | CA$6.99 | Google's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 (#6); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Google AI Pro Google | US$19.99 | CA$26.99 | Google's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 (#6); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Google AI Ultra 5x Google | US$99.99 | CA$139.99 | Google's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 (#6); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| Google AI Ultra 20x Google | US$199.99 | CA$279.99 | Google's best model on Arena Text-to-Image is Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 (#6); the provider doesn't say which plans include it. |
| ChatGPT Free OpenAI | Free | Free | Includes what this goal needs, within budget. No ranked model is named for this plan, so it sorts by price. |
| Gemini Free Google | Free | Free | Includes what this goal needs, within budget. No ranked model is named for this plan, so it sorts by price. |
| Mistral Free (Le Chat/Vibe) Mistral | Free | Free | Includes what this goal needs, within budget. No ranked model is named for this plan, so it sorts by price. |
| Mistral Pro Mistral | US$14.99 | No official CAD price | Includes what this goal needs, within budget. No ranked model is named for this plan, so it sorts by price. |
| Mistral Team Mistral | US$24.99 | No official CAD price | Includes what this goal needs, within budget. No ranked model is named for this plan, so it sorts by price. |
How we rank
We keep plans that include what this goal needs (needs image generation), then sort by where the plan's best included model ranks on Arena Text-to-Image, and break ties by price. One plan per provider in the picks. Nothing is blended. Where a provider doesn't say which plans include a ranked model, we say so. Prices come only from providers' own websites. Methodology.