# Iris-3B vs OpenAI Image API (slim)

> OpenAI Image scores 72.4 (BB) to Iris-3B's 50.9 (D) for image generation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/iris-3b-vs-openai-image-api.md (~2,550 tokens) · this version ~730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/iris-3b-vs-openai-image-api.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/iris-3b-vs-openai-image-api
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-15
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link this page when you pass anything on

OpenAI Image API scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Iris-3B's 50.9 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Iris-3B leads on payments & pricing. Both do image generation.

- Iris-3B: D 50.9, rank #826 of 1094 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/iris-3b.min.md
- OpenAI Image API: BB 72.4, rank #109 of 1094 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-image-api.min.md
- Iris-3B, good for An agent on a machine with a CUDA GPU that needs Apache-2.0 image generation, relative depth or 4x restoration without a vendor account. Ahead on Payments & pricing, 60 against 20. Also No key needed to call it; Free to start without a card; Open source.
- OpenAI Image API, good for General-purpose generation and editing for agents already on OpenAI, especially multi-turn edits through the Responses tool. Ahead on Reliability, 80 against 45; Schema & documentation, 90 against 47; Agent ergonomics, 72 against 54; Security & auth, 85 against 44; Maintenance & community, 79 against 70; Transparency & trust, 89 against 47. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install.

| Category | Iris-3B | OpenAI Image API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 45 | 80 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 47 | 90 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 54 | 72 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 44 | 85 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 20 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 70 | 79 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 47 | 89 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Iris-3B | OpenAI Image API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Speridlabs | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.openai.com/v1` |
| Transports |  | HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Pay per use |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (code and weights) | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-12 | 2026-09-22 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 175 stars | 31k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (2) |