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    Comparisons

    GPT Image 1.5 vs GPT Image 2

    GPT Image 1.5 is 2 credits with edit paths. GPT Image 2 T2I is 4 credits and 4K generate-only. Pick the contract.

    Versely Team••7 min read

    GPT Image 1.5 is 2 credits with edit paths. GPT Image 2 T2I is 4 credits and 4K generate-only. Pick the contract, not the bigger version number. GPT Image 1.5 is OpenAI, text-to-image plus image-to-image plus edit-image, 2 credits, 4K listed, conversational prompt understanding, strong at long instructions and legible in-image text, up to 16 references. GPT Image 2 Text to Image is OpenAI, text-to-image only, 4 credits, discounted, 4K listed, high-fidelity generation with strong prompt adherence. GPT Image 2 launched 21 April 2026 (InVideo's GPT Image roundup). 1.5 is the earlier conversational still on the same roster. This page is the OpenAI stills split. It is not GPT Image 2 vs Nano Banana 2. That post is OpenAI versus Google. This one is 1.5 versus 2.

    Neither slug is video. Empty durations. Audio empty. After approval, motion is a different row.

    Two OpenAI stills, two meters

    GPT Image 1.5. Content type image. Categories: text-to-image, image-to-image, edit-image. 2 credits. 4K max output. Requires no image on the generate path. Max references: 16. Aspects: 1:1, 2:3, 3:2. Styles listed: Realistic, Artistic, Anime. Features: GPT, AI-powered, Versatile. The published job is conversational prompt understanding across generate and edit, long specific instructions, legible in-image text. The aspect list is narrow: square and the 2:3 family. If the deliverable is 9:16, this card does not list 9:16. Do not generate 1:1 and crop a face you needed tall. Pick a row that lists 9:16, or crop knowing you will lose the sides.

    GPT Image 2 T2I. Content type image. Category: text-to-image. 4 credits. 4K max output. Requires no image. No max_reference on this card — it is a generate. Aspects: auto, 1:1, 3:2, 2:3, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9, 9:16, plus ultra-wide and tall extras. Features: GPT, High-fidelity, Up-to-4K, Text-to-image, Prompt-adherence. You describe a scene. You get a still. If the jacket is wrong, you write a new prompt or you leave this slug.

    There is also GPT Image 1 Edit: 2 credits, 4K, edit-image and image-to-image, requires an image, max references 6. That is the dedicated edit cousin of the 1-line. This comparison is 1.5 versus 2 T2I. Do not grab 1 Edit because the version looks adjacent unless the job is already "change this file" and you wanted the 1 Edit contract specifically.

    Public 2026 stills writeups put GPT Image 2 at the top of text-to-image and editing arenas after the 21 April launch (kingy.ai, OrcaRouter and InVideo roundups, read 4 September 2026). Those boards are preference votes. They are not a router. Arena #1 on generate does not add an edit category to the Versely T2I card. The published 2 slug in this catalog is text-to-image only. If you need an OpenAI edit path on Versely, 1.5 (or 1 Edit) is the card that lists it.

    1.5 is the conversational loop

    Pick 1.5 when the week is a loop.

    • You will generate, then change, then change again, in language.
    • The prompt is long and specific: a product-in-context with a keep list, not a one-line vibe.
    • In-image text is part of the still, and you are iterating the words rather than compositing later.
    • Sixteen references are actually useful: SKU angles, a face, a type sample — on-model, not a junk board.
    • 2 credits per call is the honest sticker for a session with four turns.

    1.5 is not "the worse 2." It is a different machine at half the list credits of 2 T2I, with extra categories 2 T2I does not publish here. If you generate once on 1.5 and ship, you spent 2 credits on a 4K still with a narrow aspect set. That can be correct. If you generate once on 2 T2I because the version number is larger, then bounce to 1.5 to edit, say that plan out loud. It is a two-slug workflow, not a failure of 2.

    The conversational pitch is a warning. Long instructions help when they are specs. Long instructions that are vibes get you a polite restyle. Point at objects. Quote strings. Name what must not move on the edit turns.

    Image 2 is the generate-once 4K

    Pick 2 T2I when the week is a first still.

    • You have no file. The prompt is the brief.
    • Prompt adherence is the failure mode: wrong object, wrong count, ignored layout.
    • You want the wide aspect menu, including 9:16 and 16:9, at 4K.
    • You will generate once, mark it up, and either ship or send that exact file to I2V.
    • You are willing to pay 4 credits for that generate, or to use an edit slug afterwards rather than pretending 2 T2I is an editor on this catalog.

    Arena #1 is a prior for "from-scratch still," not a reason to skip 1.5 on an edit job. Grok Imagine Image 2.0 later climbed the same boards; it is not this comparison. Nano Banana 2 is Google's 8-credit iterate/edit still; it is not this comparison.

    Pick both in one campaign only as a test: same prompt, one 1.5 generate, one 2 T2I generate. Keep the file you would print. Then edit on 1.5 if the keeper needs a change, even if 2 won the generate. Edit path beats loyalty to the version number.

    Pick neither when the still is a dense 14-language pack. That is Seedream 5.0 Pro. When the still is Flux photoreal on purpose, Flux 2 Max is 7 credits. When the still is Recraft UI chrome, Recraft 4.1 is 4 credits.

    Pick the contract, not the version number

    A week that does not upgrade itself by accident:

    Monday: decide generate versus loop. If generate-once and you need 9:16, 2 T2I. If loop, 1.5.

    Tuesday: run the stills. Kill the ones you would not print. Do not "just try 2" on every 1.5 keeper.

    Wednesday: if one object is wrong on a 2 T2I keeper, change slugs. 1.5 or 1 Edit. Re-rolling 2 is a new identity.

    Thursday: if the still must move, image-to-video. Hailuo 2.3 Fast is 6s / 10s at 28 credits. Omni Video is 9 credits, 4–10s. Veo 3.1 is 40 credits, 4 / 6 / 8 seconds, native audio. Captions after motion: add captions to video.

    Friday: do not open 2 T2I to add a camera move. Do not open 1.5 without reading the aspect list.

    Article 50 can apply to a realistic still of a real person. Read Article 50. GPT-6 Astra is not an image model; do not wait for it to replace this pick (GPT-6 Astra will not make your videos).

    The test: is the next action a new sentence on a blank page, or a change to a file? Blank page with a wide aspect: 2 T2I at 4 credits. Change, long instruction, 2 credits a turn: 1.5. "Use GPT Image" is how you double the meter on a loop, or miss the edit path on a 4-credit generate.

    Confirm gpt-image-1-5 versus gpt-image-2-text-to-image, then sign up when the job is an OpenAI stills contract, not a version reflex. 1.5 stays the loop. 2 T2I stays the generate.

    FAQ

    Is GPT Image 2 the editor because it won editing arenas?

    Not on this catalog. The published 2 slug is text-to-image only. Arena votes are not Versely categories. For an OpenAI edit path here, use 1.5 or GPT Image 1 Edit.

    Why is 1.5 cheaper if 2 is newer?

    Different machines. 2 T2I sells a high-fidelity 4K generate with a wide aspect list at 4 credits. 1.5 sells a 2-credit conversational generate-and-edit loop with a narrow aspect list. Newer is not a price.

    Can I animate from either still?

    Yes, after you would print the file. I2V does not care which GPT stills SKU made frame one. It cares that frame one is locked. Neither GPT image slug has a duration menu.