What is the best AI text to image model?

Based on blind community voting, Nano Banana 2 is currently the #1 ranked AI text to image model with an Elo rating of 1263. Rankings update in real time as new votes come in.

How are AI text to image 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 text to image models for portrait, based on 1 blind community-voted challenge.

Highlights

5 images

Best AI Models for Portrait

23 models ranked · Last update: June 14, 2026 7:17 AM

#	Model	Price	¢/img	Speed	Elo
1	Nano Banana 2 Google	$$	2.2¢		1263
2	ImagineArt 1.5 (Preview) Vyro AI	$$	3¢	—	1249
3	Nano Banana Pro Google	$$$	6.7¢		1245
4	FLUX.2 [dev] Turbo fal	$	0.8¢		1240
5	FLUX.2 [pro] Black Forest Labs	$$	1.5¢		1226
6	Recraft V4 Recraft AI	$$	4¢		1226
7	FLUX.2 [dev] Flash fal	$	0.5¢		1223
8	Z-Image Turbo Alibaba	$	0.5¢		1223
9	GPT Image 1.5 OpenAI	$	0.9¢		1220
10	GPT Image 1 Mini OpenAI	$	0.5¢		1208

11	Recraft V4 Pro Recraft AI	$$$$	25¢		1206
12	Lucid Origin Leonardo AI	$$	2¢	—	1200
13	FLUX.2 [dev] Black Forest Labs	$$	1.2¢		1193
14	Grok Imagine Image Pro xAI	$$$	7¢		1171
15	Grok Imagine Image xAI	$$	2¢		1171
16	Reve Image 1.0 Reve AI	$$	4¢		1159
17	Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large Stability AI	$$$	6.5¢	—	1156
18	HiDream I1 Fast HiDream AI	$	0.5¢	—	1147
19	Nano Banana Google	$$	3.9¢		1102
20	Seedream 5.0 Lite ByteDance	$$	3.5¢		1099
21	Imagen 4.0 Fast Generate 001 Google	$$	2¢		1096
22	DALL-E 2 OpenAI	$$	1.6¢		1038
23	DALL-E 3 OpenAI	$$	4¢		1016

Google's Nano Banana 2 leads the portrait category with a 1263 Elo and 83.3% win rate, narrowly outpacing ImagineArt 1.5 (1249 Elo) and Nano Banana Pro (1245 Elo). While high-tier models dominate, the budget-friendly FLUX.2 [dev] Turbo offers a competitive 82.1% win rate at a 63% lower price point than the category leader.

Elo vs Cost

Elo vs Speed

11 models waiting for enough speed data

Highlighted Battles

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

GPT Image 1.5 vs Recraft V4 Pro

Fantasy Warrior

50% · 50%

GPT Image 1.5 vs Lucid Origin

Fantasy Warrior

50% · 50%

Think a model is ranked wrong? Cast your vote

Challenges

Fantasy Warrior Portrait

Prompt

“Close portrait of a battle-worn paladin in ornate engraved plate armor, hair braided with small beads, faint scars and dirt on the skin, warm torchlight reflecting off metal, shallow depth of field, bokeh sparks, lifelike eyes, highly detailed texture on leather straps and cloth underlayer.”

Top 3

Nano Banana 2

ImagineArt 1.5 (Preview)

Recraft V4

Bottom 3

Nano Banana

DALL-E 2

DALL-E 3

23 models competed

Vote on this challenge All results & rankings

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