Same prompt, every model
Rembrandt-lit dramatic portrait
The same prompt, sent to every model.
Short answer
For this prompt, Nano Banana Pro produced the best image (5.0/5). Krea 2 Turbo was the fastest (3.6 s) and Krea 2 Turbo the cheapest ($0.0080). All 10 models received the identical prompt and settings.
Last tested
Fine-art portrait of a young man with curly dark hair and a short beard, wearing a textured wool sweater. Rembrandt lighting with a small triangle of light on the shadow-side cheek, a black background, moody low-key photographic look.
What this tests
- Small triangle of light on the shadow-side cheek (true Rembrandt lighting)
- Low-key image with a clean black background
- Curly hair and beard show individual strands, not a smooth mass
- Wool sweater texture is visible
Quality vs. price
Each dot is one model's image for this prompt: higher is better, further left is cheaper.
| Model | Score | Price per image |
|---|---|---|
| FLUX.2 [dev] | 2.67 | $0.01 |
| FLUX.2 [pro] | 3.67 | $0.03 |
| GPT Image 2 | 4.00 | $0.17 |
| Grok Imagine 2.0 | 3.67 | $0.06 |
| Ideogram V4.5 | 3.67 | $0.06 |
| Krea 2 Turbo | 4.00 | $0.008 |
| Nano Banana Pro | 5.00 | $0.15 |
| Qwen Image 3 | 4.00 | $0.04 |
| Recraft V4.1 | 2.67 | $0.04 |
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | 3.33 | $0.1 |
Quality vs. time to image
Wait for this image, including queue time: higher is better, further left is faster.
| Model | Score | Time to image |
|---|---|---|
| FLUX.2 [dev] | 2.67 | 57 s |
| FLUX.2 [pro] | 3.67 | 14 s |
| GPT Image 2 | 4.00 | 117 s |
| Grok Imagine 2.0 | 3.67 | 67 s |
| Ideogram V4.5 | 3.67 | 8.8 s |
| Krea 2 Turbo | 4.00 | 3.6 s |
| Nano Banana Pro | 5.00 | 27 s |
| Qwen Image 3 | 4.00 | 12 s |
| Recraft V4.1 | 2.67 | 11 s |
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | 3.33 | 44 s |
Editor pending · AI 2.7 · $0.012 · 56.9 s (3.8 s generating)
AI judge: The "Rembrandt triangle" is rendered as a hard-edged rectangular patch pasted on the cheek while the rest of the face is evenly lit, so the lighting is not genuine. Black background, curly hair with strands, and a nicely textured wool sweater are good.
Editor pending · AI 3.7 · $0.030 · 13.8 s
AI judge: Lighting is fairly broad and even across the face, with no real Rembrandt triangle on the shadow-side cheek. Black background and curly hair are fine, but the black sweater hides most of the wool texture and has odd colored speckles. Clean, competent portrait that misses the key lighting brief.
Editor pending · AI 4.0 · $0.171 · 117.4 s
AI judge: Clean black low-key background, defined curly strands, beard detail and a visibly textured wool sweater. The lighting is closer to loop/short lighting; there is no distinct Rembrandt triangle on the shadow cheek. Eyes are slightly asymmetric in gaze but no clear defects.
Editor pending · AI 3.7 · $0.060 · 66.9 s
AI judge: Moody low-key portrait with a clean black background, well-defined curls, detailed beard and visible knit texture. However the shadow-side cheek shows no distinct triangle of light, so true Rembrandt lighting is missing. Anatomy is clean.
Editor pending · AI 3.7 · $0.060 · 8.8 s
AI judge: Excellent individual curls, a visible cable-knit wool texture and a clean black background. The lighting is broad from the left with no true Rembrandt triangle on the shadow-side cheek. The beard is thin and patchy rather than a short beard.
Editor pending · AI 4.0 · $0.0080 · 3.6 s (1.3 s generating)
AI judge: Shadow-side cheek has a plausible patch of light, though it is broad rather than a crisp small triangle. Black low-key background, strand-level curls and beard, and a clearly textured wool sweater. Natural skin with no visible defects.
Editor pending · AI 5.0 · $0.150 · 27.3 s
AI judge: True Rembrandt setup: the nose shadow joins the cheek shadow, leaving a small lit triangle on the shadow side, against a clean black background. Curly hair and beard show individual strands, and the chunky wool knit texture is excellent. Moody, publishable fine-art look with no defects.
Editor pending · AI 4.0 · $0.040 · 11.6 s
AI judge: Low-key image on a clean black background, with well-defined curly hair, beard strands and a strongly textured wool sweater. Light comes from one side, but the shadow-side cheek is lit too much for a distinct Rembrandt triangle. Slightly smooth skin and a frontal, static pose.
Editor pending · AI 2.7 · $0.035 · 10.9 s
AI judge: The light falls as a band across the upper face rather than a cheek triangle, and a stray literal triangle of light appears on the background instead. Hair curls are good but the sweater texture is barely visible in the darkness.
Editor pending · AI 3.3 · $0.101 · 43.9 s
AI judge: Moody low-key look with curly hair, a short beard and a textured wool sweater on a near-black background. The cheek triangle is an isolated, sharp-edged light patch that does not come from the face lighting, which is fairly even. It looks pasted on rather than true Rembrandt lighting.