DALL·E 3

  • 1. One-line positioning

    DALL·E 3 (OpenAI, San Francisco 2015-founded parent; model shipped Oct 2023, API Nov 2023) = the prompt-faithful text-to-image model that lives inside ChatGPT — natural-language prompting + conversational inpainting/outpainting + legible in-image text + C2PA provenance, no standalone app. Not Midjourney (artistic interpretation), not Flux (photoreal king/open-weight), not Ideogram (text-in-image specialist), not Adobe Firefly (license-safe training). Your 39th CPT card, fits ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none (spans text-to-image + conversational-edit + api-image-batch). Table-first, Claude Code skeleton. The 2026 trap: DALL·E 3 removed from OpenAI Images API on 2026-05-12​ — new API projects get GPT Image 1, not DALL·E 3; existing integrations grandfathered. Encode that sunset as the headline gotcha.

    2. Core features

    Layer Capability Notes
    Prompt Natural-language text-to-image, no syntax needed, ChatGPT rewrites vague prompts into detailed ones Best-in-class prompt adherence (literal execution)
    Text-in-img Renders short legible text (signs, labels, slogans) Better than Midjourney v7, behind Ideogram 2.0
    Edit Conversational inpainting/outpainting via ChatGPT (“remove the left person”, “wider frame”) No standalone editor; edit loop only inside ChatGPT
    Sizes 1024×1024, 1792×1024, 1024×1792; Standard + HD quality Max res capped, no 4K native
    Safety Input+output moderation, public-figure/brand blocking, C2PA metadata on every image Stricter than MJ/Flux
    Rights Commercial rights granted to Plus/Pro/API buyers OpenAI TOS updates periodically
    Dev OpenAI Images API (grandfathered DALL·E 3 until 2026-05-12 sunset; now GPT Image 1) No fine-tune/LoRA/custom style
    Surface 🌐 ChatGPT web · 📱 ChatGPT iOS/Android · 🔌 Bing Image Creator / Microsoft Designer (free, boosted) · REST API (legacy) No desktop app, no Discord

    3. Pricing (2026-08, USD)

    Tier Price Scope Unlocks
    Bing Image Creator / Designer $0 MS account, daily “boosts” then slow queue DALL·E 3 standard quality, no conversational edit
    ChatGPT Free $0 2 images/day (uses GPT-4o image now, not DALL·E 3) —
    ChatGPT Plus $20/mo ($16 ann) ~40–50 images / 3h window DALL·E 3 full access, HD, conversational edit, inpaint
    ChatGPT Pro $200/mo Near-unlimited, priority compute DALL·E 3 + GPT Image 1, fastest queue
    ChatGPT Team $25/user/mo (annual, 2-seat min) Plus features + no-training-on-your-data Same image quota per seat
    Enterprise Custom SSO, DPA, audit —
    API (legacy DALL·E 3, grandfathered) $0.04/std 1024² · $0.08/HD 1024² · $0.08/std widescreen · $0.12/HD widescreen per-image, no sub Programmatic; new projects get GPT Image 1, not DALL·E 3​

    pricing_type = freemium; starting_price = $0; free_tier = "Bing Image Creator: free, daily boosts then slow queue, standard quality, no edit tools; ChatGPT Free gives 2 GPT-4o images/day NOT DALL-E 3"; pricing_note = "dalle3-removed-from-api-2026-05-12; new-api-projects-get-gpt-image-1; plus-20-includes-dalle3-no-overage; ~40-50-images-per-3h-window; hd-0.08-std-0.04-legacy-api-only; chatgpt-free-uses-gpt4o-image-not-dalle3"

    4. Access Type (v2)

    access_type: web-app, api

    access_display: 🌐 ChatGPT web · 📱 iOS/Android (ChatGPT) · 🔌 Bing Designer / Microsoft 365 · REST API (legacy, grandfathered)

    5. Reviews (split — G2/Trustpilot divide)

    Platform Score Volume Signal
    G2 4.6/5​ (alt snapshot 3.9/5) ~2,000 Prompt adherence, text-in-image, ChatGPT convenience
    Capterra 4.4/5​ ~21–95 Ease of use, beginner access, commercial rights
    Trustpilot 1.2–1.9/5​ ~25–195 OpenAI-corporate billing/cancel/sunset complaints (DALL·E 3 dragged in, not product-quality)
    Aggregate ~4.5/5​ (G2+Capterra) — Trustpilot gap = OpenAI-account billing pattern (same shape as Character.AI/ChatGPT/ClickUp)

    Recurring praise: follows complex prompts literally, conversational edit loop is unique, legible short text, commercial rights clean, zero extra app if already on Plus.

    Recurring gripes: artistic polish flatter than Midjourney, 10–20s/gen slower than MJ/Flux, no img2img fine control, strict content filter blocks celebrities/brands, API sunset 2026-05-12 surprised integrators, Plus 3h rate cap frustrates batch users.

    6. Best for / Not for

    Best for Not for
    ChatGPT Plus/Pro subscribers needing occasional visuals at zero incremental cost Art directors wanting Midjourney-level aesthetic coherence
    Marketers needing exact-composition mockups (product on desk, specific lighting) Photoreal purists (Flux 1.1 Pro beats it)
    Slides/docs/blog headers with short text labels Text-heavy poster designers (Ideogram 2.0 sharper)
    Developers with legacy DALL·E 3 API integration still grandfathered New projects starting API image-gen (must use GPT Image 1, not DALL·E 3)
    Non-artists who hate prompt syntax Fine-tune/LoRA/style-train users (SD3.5/Flux only)
    Client decks needing C2PA provenance + commercial rights High-volume batch (>1k/day) on tight budget (API $0.04–0.12/image adds up)

    7. Competitors (table)

    Tool Lane Starts vs DALL·E 3
    Midjourney v7 Artistic/stylized $10/mo Better beauty/coherence, worse prompt-literalness, no API, Discord/web
    Flux 1.1 Pro Photoreal + open-weight free local / ~$0.004/img API Better realism, self-host, weaker in-image text
    Ideogram 2.0 Text-in-image Free / $8/mo Sharper typography, less generalist
    Adobe Firefly 3 License-safe commercial $4.99/mo standalone Safer training data, weaker prompt adherence
    Stable Diffusion 3.5 Open-source customizable Free Max control, high tech barrier, no ChatGPT convenience
    GPT Image 1 (OpenAI) DALL·E 3 successor API $0.011–0.083/img New default in ChatGPT+API post-2026-05-12, better text/reasoning

     

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