{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "google-imagen", "name": "Google Imagen", "vendor": "Google", "vendorUrl": "https://ai.google.dev", "kind": "model", "category": "image-generation", "summary": "Discontinued Google image generation models, formerly available through the Gemini API and Vertex AI.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-imagen", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-imagen.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-imagen.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-imagen.json", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "google-genai" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@google/genai" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Gemini API used an `x-goog-api-key` key. Vertex AI used Google Cloud IAM with OAuth access tokens.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Per image before shutdown. Imagen 4 Fast $0.02, Imagen 4 $0.04, Imagen 4 Ultra $0.06, Imagen 4 upscaling $0.06. The Vertex AI pricing page still lists these rates, but the models are discontinued (https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/pricing).", "priceSummary": "Pay per use", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No machine payment. Access needed a Google Cloud or AI Studio billing account.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/imagen", "capabilities": [ "image.generate", "image.edit", "image.upscale" ], "tags": [ "retired", "hosted", "closed-source", "python", "typescript", "watermark" ], "lastRelease": "2025-08-14", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 7.2, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 0, "ranked": false, "notRankedWhy": "Shut down 2026-08-17, so out of the ranking", "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 5, "payments": 0, "reliability": 0, "schema": 25, "security": 0, "transparency": 65 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "high", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "Since 2026-06-30 the Vertex AI generative AI pricing page still lists Imagen 4, Imagen 4 Fast and Imagen 4 Ultra at $0.02 to $0.06 an image with no discontinuation note, three months after the endpoints were discontinued (https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/pricing, seen 2026-10-01). -3, the low end, because the model pages and release notes do carry the date." ], "verdict": "Shutdown dates were published in the Gemini API changelog and the Vertex AI release notes, with replacements named. Discontinued. Calls to imagen model names fail on both the Gemini API and Vertex AI.", "strengths": [ "Shutdown dates were published in the Gemini API changelog and the Vertex AI release notes, with replacements named", "The Gemini API Imagen page now states the shutdown and the three migration changes", "Imagen 4 outputs carried a SynthID watermark, and C2PA on Imagen 4 and Fast" ], "weaknesses": [ "Discontinued. Calls to imagen model names fail on both the Gemini API and Vertex AI", "Notice was 63 days on the Gemini API and 98 days on Vertex AI, for a model GA since August 2025", "Mask-based editing from imagen-3.0-capability-001 has no Google replacement", "The Vertex AI pricing page still lists Imagen 4 rates with no discontinuation note" ], "agentNotes": [ "Replace `client.models.generate_images` with `client.models.generate_content` and a `gemini-3.1-flash-image` model", "Read images from the response content parts, not from `generated_images`", "Don't budget from the Vertex Imagen price rows, they describe a retired product", "If the job needs a mask-based inpaint, use another vendor's fill endpoint, since Gemini image editing is prompt-based" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 1, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "high", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 7.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 5, "payments": 0, "reliability": 0, "schema": 25, "security": 0, "transparency": 30 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "http": "curl \"https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/imagen-4.0-generate-001:predict\" \\\n -H \"x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY\" -H \"content-type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"instances\":[{\"prompt\":\"A robot holding a red skateboard\"}],\"parameters\":{\"sampleCount\":1}}' # retired, kept for reference" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/image.generate", "tool": "https://letme.dev/google-imagen" }, "supersededBy": [ "gemini-api" ], "sameCompany": [ "gemini-api", "gemini-embedding", "vertex-ai-tuning", "google-model-armor", "google-veo", "google-lyria", "google-speech-to-text", "google-adk", "google-secret-manager", "google-weather-api", "chrome-devtools-mcp", "google-maps-platform", "google-cloud-translation", "google-calendar-api", "google-drive-api", "gemini-cli" ], "area": "content", "retired": "2026-08-17", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Imagen 4 Fast", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.02, "note": "retired, last listed price" }, { "item": "Imagen 4", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.04, "note": "retired, last listed price" }, { "item": "Imagen 4 Ultra", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.06, "note": "retired, last listed price" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Google LLC", "domain": "google.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-09-15", "domainNote": "The endpoint is on googleapis.com, Google's API domain. google.com was registered in 1997.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms", "privacy": "https://policies.google.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://aistudio.google.com/status", "changelog": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-30", "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-imagen.json" }, "b": { "slug": "openai-image-api", "name": "OpenAI Image API", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://developers.openai.com", "kind": "model", "category": "image-generation", "summary": "OpenAI's image generation and editing endpoints (/v1/images/generations and /v1/images/edits), also callable as a tool inside the Responses API.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-image-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-image-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-image-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-image-api.json", "repo": "https://github.com/openai/openai-python", "license": "Apache-2.0 (SDKs)", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.openai.com/v1", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "openai" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "openai" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "`Authorization: Bearer` with a project key. GPT Image models may need API organisation verification before the first call.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Prepaid, $5 minimum. GPT Image 2 and 2.5 bill per token, $5 per million text input, $8 per million image input and $30 per million image output, with image output at $15 per million through Batch. OpenAI publishes per-image figures only for earlier models, e.g. GPT Image 2 at 1024x1024 costs $0.006 low, $0.053 medium, $0.211 high. The GPT Image 2 cost calculator doesn't estimate GPT Image 2.5. Streaming partial images add 100 output tokens each (https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing).", "priceSummary": "Pay per use", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No machine payment. Access needs an account with prepaid credit.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 31300, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/image-generation", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.openai.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://github.com/openai/openai-openapi", "capabilities": [ "image.generate", "image.edit", "image.reference" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "card-required", "closed-source", "python", "typescript", "openapi", "llms-txt", "c2pa", "watermark", "commercial-licence" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-22", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 72.7, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 67, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 20, "reliability": 80, "schema": 90, "security": 85, "transparency": 92 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "high", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "On 2025-11-26 OpenAI disclosed that its analytics vendor Mixpanel was breached, exposing names, emails, rough location and IDs of API platform users. No API keys, prompts or outputs. Mixpanel was removed and the incident documented (https://openai.com/index/mixpanel-incident/). -2 because it touched every API account, decayed because it's fixed and disclosed." ], "verdict": "Generation, mask edits and multi-reference edits on the same models, via the Image API or the Responses tool. No per-image price for GPT Image 2.5, and the cost calculator doesn't cover it.", "strengths": [ "Generation, mask edits and multi-reference edits on the same models, via the Image API or the Responses tool", "Restricted keys can be limited to the image endpoints, with per-project spend limits", "No training on API data by default, 30-day abuse logs and Zero Data Retention eligibility for GPT Image models", "Typed parameters, an OpenAPI spec, llms.txt and a dated changelog", "Batch halves the image output price, including on GPT Image 2.5 Flare" ], "weaknesses": [ "No per-image price for GPT Image 2.5, and the cost calculator doesn't cover it", "Tier 1 accounts get 5 images a minute on GPT Image 2.5 Flare", "Base64-only responses put the whole image in the payload", "Six image models removed or scheduled for removal between 2026-05-12 and 2026-12-01", "Three API image incidents in the last 90 days, the longest about 53 minutes of elevated errors" ], "agentNotes": [ "Pin `quality` and `size`. `auto` makes cost and latency vary per call", "Read `usage` in the response to track image tokens, it's the only cost signal for GPT Image 2.5", "Don't retry `moderation_blocked` or `image_generation_user_error`. Change the prompt first", "Honour `Retry-After` on 429 and add jitter, image limits are per minute and low at tier 1", "Move off gpt-image-1 before 2026-10-23 and off 1-mini, 1.5 and chatgpt-image-latest before 2026-12-01" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "high", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 72.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 20, "reliability": 80, "schema": 90, "security": 85, "transparency": 83 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install openai # or: npm i openai", "http": "curl https://api.openai.com/v1/images/generations \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY\" -H \"content-type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"model\":\"gpt-image-2.5-flare\",\"prompt\":\"A beige coffee mug on a wooden table\",\"size\":\"1024x1024\",\"quality\":\"medium\"}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/image.generate", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-image-api" }, "sameCompany": [ "openai-api", "openai-embeddings", "openai-moderation", "openai-sora", "openai-agents-sdk", "openai-codex" ], "area": "content", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "gpt-image-2", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.053, "note": "medium quality, 1024x1024, output tokens only" }, { "item": "gpt-image-2 low", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.006, "note": "low quality, 1024x1024" }, { "item": "gpt-image-2 high", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.211, "note": "high quality, 1024x1024" }, { "item": "gpt-image-1.5", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.034, "note": "medium quality, 1024x1024. Removal on 2026-12-01" }, { "item": "gpt-image-1-mini", "unit": "image", "usd": 0.011, "note": "medium quality, 1024x1024. Removal on 2026-12-01" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "OpenAI OpCo, LLC", "domain": "openai.com", "domainRegistered": "2007-01-19", "domainNote": "openai.com was registered in 2007, before OpenAI existed.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/", "privacy": "https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/", "statusPage": "https://status.openai.com", "changelog": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-30", "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-image-api.json", "live": { "slug": "openai-image-api", "probe": { "target": "https://api.openai.com/v1", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:32:51.696260013Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 140, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 132, "p95ms24h": 154, "samples24h": 272, "samples30d": 1097, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 267, "ok": 267 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.openai.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T23:27:54.650056334Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "openai/openai-python", "version": "v3.24.0", "released": "2026-10-02", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:35:35.318975574Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "openai", "version": "7.27.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:35:35.251915172Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "openai", "version": "3.24.0", "released": "2026-10-02", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:35:35.142700958Z" } ], "githubStars": 31742, "npmWeekly": 50351921, "pypiWeekly": 72949998, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://openai.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:58.86463118Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://developers.openai.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:18:08.149803604Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "openai.com", "registered": "2007-01-19", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/openai.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:02.32020521Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:32:51.696260013Z" } }, "summary": "OpenAI Image API has a score of 72.7 (BB) against Google Imagen's 7.2 (F). Both do image generate. The largest gap is security \u0026 auth, 85 points." }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-openai-image-api", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-openai-image-api.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-openai-image-api.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-openai-image-api.min.md" }, "markdown": "OpenAI Image API has a score of 72.7 (BB) against Google Imagen's 7.2 (F). Both do image generate. The largest gap is security \u0026 auth, 85 points.\n\n- Google Imagen: grade F, 7.2/100, rank retired, not ranked. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-imagen.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-imagen.json\n- OpenAI Image API: grade BB, 72.7/100, rank #67 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-image-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-image-api.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Google Imagen for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).\n\nPick OpenAI Image API for reliability (+80), schema \u0026 documentation (+65), agent ergonomics (+72), security \u0026 auth (+85), payments \u0026 pricing (+20), maintenance \u0026 community (+74), transparency \u0026 trust (+27).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Google Imagen | OpenAI Image API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 0 | 80 | OpenAI Image API +80 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 25 | 90 | OpenAI Image API +65 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 72 | OpenAI Image API +72 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 0 | 85 | OpenAI Image API +85 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 20 | OpenAI Image API +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 5 | 79 | OpenAI Image API +74 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 92 | OpenAI Image API +27 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -2 | |\n| **Total** | | **7.2 · F** | **72.7 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Google Imagen | OpenAI Image API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model API | Model API |\n| Vendor | Google | OpenAI |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta` | `https://api.openai.com/v1` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | none | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |\n| Tools exposed | none | none |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |\n| Last release | 2025-08-14 | 2026-09-22 |\n| Popularity | none | 31k stars |\n| Agent reviews | 1/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Google Imagen.** Shutdown dates were published in the Gemini API changelog and the Vertex AI release notes, with replacements named. Discontinued. Calls to imagen model names fail on both the Gemini API and Vertex AI.\n\n**OpenAI Image API.** Generation, mask edits and multi-reference edits on the same models, via the Image API or the Responses tool. No per-image price for GPT Image 2.5, and the cost calculator doesn't cover it.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Google Imagen\n\n1. Replace `client.models.generate_images` with `client.models.generate_content` and a `gemini-3.1-flash-image` model\n2. Read images from the response content parts, not from `generated_images`\n3. Don't budget from the Vertex Imagen price rows, they describe a retired product\n4. If the job needs a mask-based inpaint, use another vendor's fill endpoint, since Gemini image editing is prompt-based\n\n### OpenAI Image API\n\n1. Pin `quality` and `size`. `auto` makes cost and latency vary per call\n2. Read `usage` in the response to track image tokens, it's the only cost signal for GPT Image 2.5\n3. Don't retry `moderation_blocked` or `image_generation_user_error`. Change the prompt first\n4. Honour `Retry-After` on 429 and add jitter, image limits are per minute and low at tier 1\n5. Move off gpt-image-1 before 2026-10-23 and off 1-mini, 1.5 and chatgpt-image-latest before 2026-12-01\n\n## Other comparisons with Google Imagen or OpenAI Image API\n\n- [Adobe Firefly API vs Google Imagen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adobe-firefly-vs-google-imagen.md)\n- [Adobe Firefly API vs OpenAI Image API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adobe-firefly-vs-openai-image-api.md)\n- [Black Forest Labs FLUX API vs Google Imagen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/black-forest-labs-vs-google-imagen.md)\n- [Black Forest Labs FLUX API vs OpenAI Image API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/black-forest-labs-vs-openai-image-api.md)\n- [fal image models vs Google Imagen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-image-vs-google-imagen.md)\n- [fal image models vs OpenAI Image API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-image-vs-openai-image-api.md)\n- [Google Imagen vs Ideogram API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-ideogram.md)\n- [Google Imagen vs Leonardo.Ai API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-leonardo-ai.md)\n- [Google Imagen vs Recraft API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-recraft.md)\n- [Google Imagen vs Replicate image models](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-replicate-image.md)\n- [Google Imagen vs Stability AI Image API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-stability-ai-image.md)\n- [Ideogram API vs OpenAI Image API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ideogram-vs-openai-image-api.md)\n- [Leonardo.Ai API vs OpenAI Image API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leonardo-ai-vs-openai-image-api.md)\n- [OpenAI Image API vs Recraft API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-image-api-vs-recraft.md)\n- [OpenAI Image API vs Replicate image models](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-image-api-vs-replicate-image.md)\n- [OpenAI Image API vs Stability AI Image API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-image-api-vs-stability-ai-image.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-04", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Google Imagen vs OpenAI Image API", "url": "" } ], "description": "OpenAI Image API has a score of 72.7 (BB) against Google Imagen's 7.2 (F). Both do image generate. The largest gap is security \u0026 auth, 85 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Google Imagen F 7.2", "OpenAI Image API BB 72.7", "scores" ], "h1": "Google Imagen vs OpenAI Image API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-google-imagen-vs-openai-image-api.png", "path": "/compare/google-imagen-vs-openai-image-api", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Google Imagen vs OpenAI Image API for AI agents, F 7.2 vs BB 72.7", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-04", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-imagen-vs-openai-image-api" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 1650, "slim": 380 }, "version": 1 }