What is the best AI image editing model?

Based on blind community voting, Nano Banana is currently the #1 ranked AI image editing model with an Elo rating of 1281. Rankings update in real time as new votes come in.

How are AI image editing models ranked on Lumenfall?

Lumenfall Arena ranks AI models through blind community voting. In each matchup, two models generate from the same prompt and voters pick the better result without seeing model names. Votes are processed using TrueSkill, a Bayesian rating algorithm developed by Microsoft Research, that produces a single Elo score reflecting each model's relative quality.

What is an Elo rating for AI models?

An Elo rating is a numerical score representing a model's skill relative to other models. Under the hood, Lumenfall uses TrueSkill, which tracks two values per model: mu (estimated skill) and sigma (uncertainty). The displayed Elo is calculated as 1000 + 10 x (mu - 3*sigma), a conservative lower bound. A model must prove itself consistently across many matchups to earn a high rating.

ARENA Leaderboard

See how AI image models stack up against each other. How it works

Best AI Models for Portrait

Ranking the best AI image editing models for portrait, based on 2 blind community-voted challenges.

Highlights

10 images

Best AI Models for Portrait

15 models ranked · Last update: April 30, 2026 2:56 PM

#	Model	Price	¢/img	Elo
1	Nano Banana Google	$$	3.9¢	1281
2	Nano Banana 2 Google	$$	2.2¢	1274
3	Seedream 5.0 Lite ByteDance	$$	3.5¢	1274
4	Nano Banana Pro Google	$$$	6.7¢	1272
5	FLUX.2 [max] Black Forest Labs	$$	3¢	1246
6	GPT Image 1.5 OpenAI	$	0.9¢	1244
7	Grok Imagine Image xAI	$$	2¢	1242
8	Seedream 4.5 ByteDance	$$	4¢	1238
9	Grok Imagine Image Pro xAI	$$$	7¢	1234
10	Qwen Image Edit 2511 Alibaba	$$	3¢	1220

11	FLUX.2 [pro] Black Forest Labs	$$	1.5¢	1199
12	Wan 2.6 Alibaba	$$	3¢	1195
13	Seedream 4.0 ByteDance	$$	3¢	1180
14	Reve Image 1.0 Reve AI	$$	4¢	1156
15	Z-Image Turbo Alibaba	$	0.5¢	1151

Google dominates the Portrait category with Nano Banana (1281 Elo) and Nano Banana 2 (1274 Elo) leading the rankings, though Nano Banana 2 maintains a significantly higher win rate at 89.7%. This hierarchy mirrors the overall leaderboard, but the Portrait-specific data highlights a marginal 7-point Elo gap between the top-tier Google models and ByteDance’s Seedream 5.0 Lite (1274 Elo).

Elo vs Cost

Elo vs Speed

2 models waiting for enough speed data

Highlighted Battles

The most competitive head-to-head matchups, selected by closeness and vote count.

Qwen Image Edit 2511 vs Grok Imagine Image

Neutral Expression to Genuine Smile

50% · 50%

FLUX.2 [pro] vs FLUX.2 [max]

Neutral Expression to Genuine Smile

50% · 50%

Reve Image 1.0 vs Seedream 4.0

Bald man challenge

50% · 50%

FLUX.2 [pro] vs GPT Image 1.5

Bald man challenge

50% · 50%

Think a model is ranked wrong? Cast your vote

Challenges

Bald man challenge Image Editing Photorealism Portrait

“Give the person a full, thick head of natural hair with realistic texture, density, and a natural hairline. Preserve facial features and lighting.”

Input

Top 3

Before After

Nano Banana

Before After

Nano Banana 2

Before After

Nano Banana Pro

Bottom 3

Before After

Reve Image 1.0

Before After

Wan 2.6

Before After

Seedream 4.0

15 models competed

Vote on this challenge All results & rankings

Neutral Expression to Genuine Smile Image Editing Photorealism Portrait

{
  "action": "image_edit",
  "reference": "uploaded neutral portrait",
  "change": "Warm genuine Duchenne smile: lips curved up, slight natural teeth, soft eye crinkles, subtle cheek raise",
  "details": "Realistic smiling skin (dimples if present, soft cheek shadows), slightly brighter eyes; keep exact eye shape/color/iris",
  "preserve_exact": "Face identity/structure, eyes/nose/lips/eyebrows, hair, skin texture/pores/freckles, makeup, clothing, head pose, background, lighting, shadows, framing",
  "no_changes": "No face shape change, no new features, no gaze shift, no hair/clothing/lighting/background edits",
  "style": "Ultra-photorealistic 8K portrait, sharp face focus, natural soft lighting, realistic skin glow"
}

Input