ChatGPT Images 2.6: Is It REALLY Better? (Proof)
ChatGPT Images 2.6 came out on 4 November 2026. OpenAI says it's faster and can now make GIFs. But is it really better than 2.5? I went through more than twenty people's tests on X, Hacker News and blogs, and checked the key numbers myself, one feature at a time. Please ⭐ star the repo: https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI What you'll learn - GIFs: how they're made, what people made on day one, and their limits - Saved pictures: keeping the same character (and when it drifts) - Speed: what "50% faster" really means for your waiting time - Posters and text, circle-to-edit (markup), SVG files - Flare vs Sunburst, and the new complexity setting - What the scoreboards say, and the price catch for quick pictures - How to make a GIF from Python with OpenAI's library and with PraisonAI Honest trade-offs - Flare 2.6 is faster: OpenAI's demo 7.08 s to 4.84 s, AGI Lab 12.9 s to 8.2 s (9 runs each), my own test 9.4 s to 6.9 s (5 runs each). That's about a quarter to a third less waiting, not half. - Sunburst 2.6 was more than a fifth slower than 2.5 in Kingy AI's hands-on test. - For still pictures it's close to a tie: Evals ran 13 prompts word for word and all four models scored 11.5/13. Arena (medium quality only) puts each 2.6 model just below its 2.5 version; Rapidata puts 2.6 first; Design Arena puts 2.6 first only at max quality and high complexity. - A quick low-quality 1024x1024 picture uses about 824 output tokens on 2.6 against 196 on 2.5, at the same price per token: about $0.025 against $0.006. My own test gave exactly 196 and 824, every run. From high quality upward the token counts are identical (CellCog). - SVG: CellCog got 9 valid SVGs from 48 requests; prompts with lettering went 3 for 41. - Faces drift with repeated edits: Keigo Matsumaru saw the face change by the second edit. Chapters 0:00 ChatGPT Images 2.6: is it really better? 0:23 What you'll learn 0:54 What OpenAI promised 1:37 1. GIFs 2:41 2. Saved pictures 3:24 3. Speed: is it really 50% faster? 4:32 4. Posters and text 5:22 5. Circle to edit (markup) 6:03 6. SVG files 6:43 7. Flare vs Sunburst 7:22 Is it better? The scoreboards 8:15 The catch: the price per picture 9:19 Use it from Python (OpenAI + PraisonAI) 9:51 The short answer My tests (5 Nov 2026) - Flare 2.5 vs Flare 2.6, same prompt, quality low, 1024x1024, 5 runs each through PraisonAI: 196 vs 824 output image tokens every run; middle time 9.4 s vs 6.9 s - Fresh install of praisonai 4.7.24: the PraisonAI code below made an 8-frame GIF (512x512, 0.96 s) and saved it Make a GIF with OpenAI's Python library (openai 3.46.0) import base64 from openai import OpenAI client = OpenAI() result = client.images.generate( model="gpt-image-2.6-flare", prompt="A cartoon cat waving hello", output_format="gif", frame_count=8, frame_duration_ms=120, quality="low", ) open("cat.gif", "wb").write(base64.b64decode(result.data[0].b64_json)) The same with PraisonAI (praisonai 4.7.24): it saves the GIF for you from praisonai import ImageAgent agent = ImageAgent(llm="gpt-image-2.6-flare") agent.generate( "A cartoon cat waving hello", output_format="gif", frame_count=8, frame_duration_ms=120, quality="low", ).save("cat.gif") PraisonAI 4.7.24 (released 5 Nov 2026), install with pip install -U praisonai: https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/releases/tag/v4.7.24 Sources - OpenAI announcement: https://openai.com/index/introducing-images-2-6/ - OpenAI on X: https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2118124944928432327 - OpenAI Developers speed demo: https://x.com/OpenAIDevs/status/2118124757639966858 - OpenAI image guide and prices (2.5 and 2.6: $8 in, $30 out per 1M image tokens): https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing - AGI Lab timing: https://x.com/ctgptlb/status/2118149728315818256 - AGI Lab same-prompt comparison: https://x.com/ctgptlb/status/2118149730878574892 - CellCog 2.6 vs 2.5: https://cellcog.ai/blog/gpt-image-2-6-vs-2-5/ - CellCog SVG test: https://cellcog.ai/blog/recraft-v4-1-vs-gpt-image-2-6-svg/ - Kingy AI hands-on: https://kingy.ai/blog/chatgpt-gifs-images-2-6-vs-2-5-hands-on-test/ - Hacker News thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50372945 - Arena chart (via leo): https://x.com/synthwavedd/status/2118141750015344949 - Rapidata: https://x.com/RapidataAI/status/2118161546425638944 - Design Arena: https://x.com/DesignArena/status/2118124376126271823 - Evals: https://x.com/evals_ag/status/2118297573090013274 - Keigo Matsumaru: https://x.com/k_matsumaru/status/2118186638228816322 - Tetumemo: https://x.com/tetumemo/status/2118129204449697985 - Creators shown: @SSSS_CRYPTOMAN, @Gorden_Sun, @op7418, @TlanoAI, @GeekCatX, @illyism, @MaddieSmitxfs1, @PJaccetturo Which feature will you try first? Tell me in the comments. Follow for more AI news, explained simply. #ChatGPT #OpenAI #AIImages #GPTImage #AINews
