GPT Image 2.5 Flare vs 
Nano Banana Pro vs 
Flux 2 Pro vs 
Grok Imagine Image 2.0 Which AI image generator should you use? We tested 4 on the same 8 pictures
A family portrait, a poster, a birthday card, a sleepy cat and a few impossible scenes. We gave GPT Image 2.5 Flare, Nano Banana Pro, Flux 2 Pro and Grok Imagine Image 2.0 exactly the same words and kept the first picture each one made.
By chatmodel team Tested with GPT Image 2.5 Flare, Nano Banana Pro, Flux 2 Pro and Grok Imagine Image 2.0 Updated
The short answer
Start with GPT Image 2.5 Flare or Nano Banana Pro: each won 3 of our 8 tests. GPT Image for posters, food and cozy scenes; Nano Banana Pro for dreamy scenes and paintings. Grok Imagine Image 2.0 made the best portrait, and Flux 2 Pro was the quickest.
- GPT Image 2.5 Flare: 3 wins
- Nano Banana Pro: 3 wins
- Flux 2 Pro: 0 wins
- Grok Imagine Image 2.0: 1 win
- 1 tie
Pick GPT Image 2.5 Flare if…
- You're making a poster or a card and want it bold and ready to print.
- You want a warm, cozy everyday scene, like food on a table or a pet at home.
Pick Nano Banana Pro if…
- You want a dreamy, detailed scene with lots of light and color.
- You like paintings that look made by hand, on real paper.
Pick Grok Imagine Image 2.0 if…
- You want a warm, close-up portrait of a person.
You don't have to choose: in chatmodel you can use all of them in the same conversation.
GPT Image 2.5 Flare vs Nano Banana Pro vs Flux 2 Pro vs Grok Imagine Image 2.0 at a glance
| GPT Image 2.5 Flare | Nano Banana Pro | Flux 2 Pro | Grok Imagine Image 2.0 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | OpenAI (the makers of ChatGPT) | Google (its technical name is Gemini 3 Pro Image) | Black Forest Labs | xAI (the makers of the Grok chatbot) |
| Best at, in our test | Bold posters and cozy, finished scenes | Dazzling fantasy scenes and a hand-painted look | Clean, tidy pictures, the quickest we timed | Warm, close-up portraits of people |
| Weakest at, in our test | Small details, like the wrong kind of footprints | Adds things on its own, like a made-up signature | Calms down the mood you ask for | Cuts the subject off at the edge of the picture |
| Rounds won (of 8) | 3 (+1 tie) | 3 (+1 tie) | 0 (+1 tie) | 1 (+1 tie) |
| Edits your own photos | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Came out | September 2026 | September 2025 | November 2025 | August 2026 |
| On chatmodel | Included in Pro | Included in Pro | Included in Pro | Included in Pro |
The 8 tests, picture by picture
The same description to each model, one try each, nothing retouched. Press “Try these words” to make your own.
Test 1 · A poster with real words on it
A poster with words on it: GPT Image is boldest
The description all of them got
A vintage travel poster with the words "VISIT LISBON" in bold letters at the top, a yellow tram climbing a steep hill at sunset, terracotta rooftops and the river in the distance, mid-century illustration style, flat colors
Winner: GPT Image 2.5 Flare. All four spelled “VISIT LISBON” right. GPT Image filled the whole poster with bold color, and Flux was a close second with the tram climbing straight at you. Nano Banana Pro drew it as a print with a cream border. Grok made the words so big it hid most of the tram.
Test 2 · A card with a name on it
A card with a name on it: a three-way tie
The description all of them got
A birthday card with the words "Happy 60th, Maria!" in elegant gold letters, surrounded by spring flowers and a small cake with candles, soft watercolor style
A tie. All four wrote “Happy 60th, Maria!” correctly. GPT Image, Nano Banana Pro and Grok each made a lovely card that's ready to print; Nano Banana Pro added “60” candles on the cake. Flux showed the card propped against a wall, so the words are smaller.
Test 3 · A warm family portrait
A family portrait: Grok comes in closest and warmest
The description all of them got
A smiling grandmother in her sixties picking ripe tomatoes in a sunlit vegetable garden, straw hat, soft golden evening light, natural skin texture and laugh lines, shallow depth of field, 50mm documentary photo
Winner: Grok Imagine Image 2.0. All four made a believable grandmother. Grok came in closest, with the warmest light and the most natural smile as she holds a ripe tomato. GPT Image and Flux caught the golden evening light too; Nano Banana Pro showed the most garden.
Test 4 · Food that looks good enough to eat
Food that looks good enough to eat: GPT Image
The description all of them got
A homemade apple pie with a golden lattice crust on a rustic wooden table by a rainy window, a wisp of steam rising, cinnamon sticks and a cup of tea beside it, cozy autumn kitchen, food magazine photo
Winner: GPT Image 2.5 Flare. GPT Image put in the rainy window, the steam, the tea and the cinnamon, plus apples and autumn leaves. Nano Banana Pro's was neat but plainer. Grok was nearly as cozy but left out the tea. Flux's kitchen was bright and plain, not much like a rainy autumn day.
Test 5 · A pet portrait
A pet portrait: GPT Image makes the cat the star
The description all of them got
A fluffy orange cat asleep on a sunny window seat next to a stack of old books and a potted fern, soft morning light, warm and cozy home photo
Winner: GPT Image 2.5 Flare. GPT Image made the sleeping cat big and fluffy on a window seat next to the old books and the fern. Flux was a close second, with the cat on a sunny window cushion. Grok's cat was smaller, and Nano Banana Pro's slept on a cabinet in a corner full of plants.
Test 6 · Something that could never happen
Something impossible, a dog on the moon: Nano Banana Pro gets the details
The description all of them got
A golden retriever wearing a small astronaut helmet sitting on the surface of the moon, the blue Earth rising behind him, footprints in the grey dust, playful, photorealistic
Winner: Nano Banana Pro. GPT Image, Nano Banana Pro and Flux all made a happy golden retriever in a helmet with the Earth behind. Nano Banana Pro added paw prints, a little space suit and a lunar module. GPT Image drew boot prints, as if a person had walked there. Grok cut off the dog's helmet at the edge.
Test 7 · A scene from a dream
A scene from a dream: Nano Banana Pro dazzles
The description all of them got
A giant whale made of clear glass floating above desert sand dunes at sunrise, sunlight refracting through its body and throwing rainbow patterns on the sand, a lone traveler looking up, photorealistic, wide shot
Winner: Nano Banana Pro. The description asked for rainbow patterns on the sand. Nano Banana Pro made them bright and everywhere, with rays of light through a detailed glass whale. GPT Image's was beautiful but calmer, and Flux's calmer still. Grok cut off the whale's head at the edge.
Test 8 · A painting in a classic style
A painting in a classic style: Nano Banana Pro looks hand-painted
The description all of them got
A watercolor painting of a small Tuscan village on a hilltop with cypress trees and a winding road, loose brushstrokes, soft pastel colors, white paper showing through, painted by hand
Winner: Nano Banana Pro. Asked for a watercolor with “white paper showing through”, Nano Banana Pro did exactly that, with loose strokes and white edges. It also added a made-up signature, “Giulia Rossi”, nobody asked for. The other three were pretty but looked more like finished prints.
Scorecard
| Test | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1. A poster with real words on it | GPT Image 2.5 Flare |
| 2. A card with a name on it | Tie |
| 3. A warm family portrait | Grok Imagine Image 2.0 |
| 4. Food that looks good enough to eat | GPT Image 2.5 Flare |
| 5. A pet portrait | GPT Image 2.5 Flare |
| 6. Something that could never happen | Nano Banana Pro |
| 7. A scene from a dream | Nano Banana Pro |
| 8. A painting in a classic style | Nano Banana Pro |
| Total | GPT Image 2.5 Flare 3 · Nano Banana Pro 3 · Flux 2 Pro 0 · Grok Imagine Image 2.0 1 · 1 tie |
What we noticed
GPT Image 2.5 Flare made the most finished pictures: strong color, the subject front and center, ready to print. It’s the safest first choice for posters, cards and everyday scenes.
Nano Banana Pro reads your words very literally and likes to add small extras of its own, like a signature on a painting. It made the most dazzling dream scene and the most hand-painted watercolor.
Flux 2 Pro was the quickest of the four we timed, with clean, tidy pictures and a great poster. It didn’t win a round outright, and it tends to calm down the mood you ask for.
Grok Imagine Image 2.0 made the warmest portrait and a very cozy pie, but it sometimes cut the subject off at the edge.
What it costs, in plain words
Each company sells its own plans. In chatmodel, all four are included in Pro, with every other image model, so you can try the same idea with several of them and keep the one you like. See the current prices on the pricing page.
Can you use these pictures?
All four spelled every word right in our test, but that isn’t guaranteed. Before you print a card or a poster, read every word on it. Look for things you didn’t ask for too, like a made-up signature, and check the edges for anything cut off. And remember the pictures are made up: don’t use them to show something that really happened.
How we tested
We wrote 8 descriptions of the pictures people actually make: a family portrait, food, a poster, a birthday card, a pet, and a few impossible scenes. Each model got exactly the same words, one try each, and we kept the first picture without retouching it. We judged how well each picture followed the description and how good it would look printed or shared.
One try each is a small test: ask again and you’ll get a different picture. Treat the winners as a guide, and try your own idea with two or three of them. In chatmodel, switching takes one click. For a closer look at the top two, see GPT Image vs Nano Banana Pro.
What changed
- First test: GPT Image 2.5 Flare, Nano Banana Pro, Flux 2 Pro and Grok Imagine Image 2.0, 8 descriptions, one try each.