Overview

We provide gpt-image-1, gpt-image-1.5, gpt-image-2 and gpt-image-2-preview API.

Usage & Pricing

gpt-image-2-preview

This is a preview version model, each generation costs $0.10 / image (flat per-call fee — independent of size, quality, or token count).

Token-Based Models (`gpt-image-1`, `gpt-image-1.5`, `gpt-image-2`)

All three share the same text-token rate; image input and image output rates differ per model.

Model	Text input	Text cached input	Image input	Image cached input	Image output
gpt-image-1	$5.00 / 1M	$1.25 / 1M	$10.00 / 1M	$1.25 / 1M*	$40.00 / 1M
gpt-image-1.5	$5.00 / 1M	$1.25 / 1M	$8.00 / 1M	$1.25 / 1M*	$32.00 / 1M
gpt-image-2	$5.00 / 1M	$1.25 / 1M	$8.00 / 1M	$1.25 / 1M*	$30.00 / 1M

* Image cached input is billed at the same rate as text cached input because our billing system uses a single cached-token rate per model. In practice this only affects repeated image-edit calls that reuse the same reference image within the cache window.

Estimated Cost per Image

These are estimates for output images at common resolutions and quality settings. Input prompt cost is negligible for typical short prompts.

gpt-image-1 ($40 / 1M output)

Resolution	Low Quality	Medium Quality	High Quality
1024×1024	~$0.011	~$0.042	~$0.167
1024×1536	~$0.016	~$0.063	~$0.250
1536×1024	~$0.016	~$0.063	~$0.250

gpt-image-1.5 ($32 / 1M output)

Resolution	Low Quality	Medium Quality	High Quality
1024×1024	~$0.009	~$0.034	~$0.133
1024×1536	~$0.013	~$0.051	~$0.200
1536×1024	~$0.013	~$0.051	~$0.200

gpt-image-2 ($30 / 1M output)

Resolution	Low Quality	Medium Quality	High Quality
1024×1024	~$0.008	~$0.032	~$0.125
1024×1536	~$0.012	~$0.048	~$0.188
1536×1024	~$0.012	~$0.048	~$0.188

Key Points

Higher resolutions and quality settings consume more output tokens and cost more per image.

Processing an image you provide (as input) is billed at the image-input rate (per model above), which is significantly cheaper than generating one from scratch.

gpt-image-2-preview is the only flat-rate model — all others scale with actual token usage.

These are estimates; the exact token count for a specific image may vary.

Default Parameter Values

When a parameter is omitted in the request, the following defaults apply:

Parameter	Default	Note
`size`	`1024x1024`
`n`	`1`
`quality`	`low` (token-billed models)	Omitting `quality` now defaults to `low` (cheapest tier). Pass `medium` / `high` / `auto` explicitly for higher fidelity. Note: `auto` lets the upstream pick a much higher token count (observed several× to ~15× the `low` cost), so only use it when you want maximum quality regardless of price.
`quality`	`standard` (`gpt-image-2-preview`)	Flat-rate; quality choice does not affect price.
`response_format`	`b64_json`	Pass `response_format=url` to get a hosted URL instead.
`output_format`	`png`

Simple Example

curl --location 'https://api.piapi.ai/v1/images/generations' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer {your-api-key}' \
--data '{
    "model": "gpt-image-2",
    "prompt": "A cute baby sea otter",
    "n": 1,
    "size": "1024x1024",
    "quality": "low",
    "output_format": "jpeg"
}'

Image Edit with Reference Image

Use the /v1/images/edits endpoint to transform an existing image with a natural-language prompt. The request must be multipart/form-data — the reference image is uploaded as a file field named image.

Example (`gpt-image-2-preview`)

Sample Response (HTTP 200)

{
  "data": [
    {
      "url": "https://imagefil.scdn.app/assets/codex/d69c5648-f0d0-4cd3-8860-0d7b1733d274.png"
    }
  ],
  "created": 1776956146,
  "usage": {
    "total_tokens": 1889,
    "input_tokens": 1124,
    "output_tokens": 765,
    "input_tokens_details": {
      "text_tokens": 19,
      "image_tokens": 1105
    }
  }
}

Verified sample roundtrip (~100 s end-to-end):

Reference image: https://oss.filenest.top/uploads/1776b813-28cb-4ca7-a82f-6096f4e7c5b7.png

Edited output: https://imagefil.scdn.app/assets/codex/d69c5648-f0d0-4cd3-8860-0d7b1733d274.png

Tips

If response_format is omitted, the response comes back as b64_json. Pass response_format=url when you want a hosted link instead of inline base64.

Processing a reference image you provide is billed at the input-image token rate (per-model table above), which is significantly cheaper than generating one from scratch.

Typical latency is 40–100 s depending on input image size and prompt complexity.

Asynchronous API

The endpoints above are synchronous: one HTTP call blocks until the image is ready (30–120 s), which can hit gateway timeouts on slow generations. For long-running jobs you can use the asynchronous variant instead — submit the job, get a task_id back immediately, then poll for the result.

Both APIs generate identical images and bill identically. Pick whichever fits your client:

Synchronous (sections above) — simplest; one request, one image. Best when your HTTP client tolerates a 30–120 s wait.

Asynchronous (this section) — submit → poll. Best for batch jobs, serverless/edge clients with short request timeouts, or when you'd otherwise risk a gateway 5xx on slow calls.

⚠️ The async base URL is different

This is the easiest thing to get wrong. The two APIs live on different path prefixes:

API	Base URL	Prefix	Auth header
Synchronous	`https://api.piapi.ai/v1`	`/v1` (no `/api`)	`Authorization: Bearer sk-...`
Asynchronous	`https://api.piapi.ai/api/v1`	`/api/v1` (with `/api`)	`X-API-KEY: <your-key>`

Simple rule: sync = /v1, async = /api/v1. The async prefix has the extra /api. Confirm the exact async host for your account — it may be provisioned on a separate gateway.

Authentication (async)

The async endpoints take a single header — X-API-KEY: <your-key> — the same key you use for the synchronous API (it may be sent with or without the sk- prefix). You do not need a separate token. The gateway forwards that key to the image backend, so billing lands on your account exactly as it does for a synchronous call.

1. Submit a job

POST https://api.piapi.ai/api/v1/images/generations/async
POST https://api.piapi.ai/api/v1/images/edits/async

The request body is identical to the synchronous endpoints (same model, prompt, size, quality, n, …).

Returns 200 immediately with a task shell (status: pending):

{
  "task_id": "b1e7f0c2-...",
  "task_type": "gpt-image-generation",
  "status": "pending",
  "output": null
}

2. Poll for the result

GET https://api.piapi.ai/api/v1/task/{task_id}
Header: X-API-KEY: <your-account-key>

Only the account that created the task can query it. status moves pending → processing → completed | failed.

When completed, output holds the standard OpenAI image response:

{
  "task_id": "b1e7f0c2-...",
  "status": "completed",
  "output": {
    "created": 1751000000,
    "data": [ { "b64_json": "iVBORw0KGgo..." } ],
    "usage": { "total_tokens": 1234, "input_tokens": 12, "output_tokens": 1222 }
  }
}

When failed, the upstream error is preserved in output.error_body:

{
  "status": "failed",
  "output": { "error_body": { "error": { "message": "...", "type": "..." } } }
}

Behavior & limits (async)

No auto-retry. A failed task is final — submit a new task rather than expecting a retry. To avoid double-billing the same intent, poll the existing task_id instead of blindly resubmitting.

Results kept for 60 minutes. Fetch your result within 60 minutes of submission — after that the task_id and its image data expire (results carry full base64 image payloads, so they are not retained long-term).

Concurrency cap. Up to 100 in-flight tasks; over the limit, submission is rejected with a too-many-requests shell.

Billing. The async layer adds no charge of its own, exactly as the synchronous call would be. All the pricing and quality guidance above applies unchanged.

Quality defaults to low. Omitting quality now bills at the cheapest low tier (verified in production). Pass medium / high for more fidelity, or auto to let the upstream decide — note auto can cost several× to ~15× a low image, so set it deliberately.

Image edits (async)

Submit edits as multipart/form-data, with the reference image as a file field named image (same shape as the synchronous /v1/images/edits). The submit returns a task_id; poll it like any other async task.

Then GET /api/v1/task/{task_id} until completed; output.data[0].b64_json holds the edited image. A JSON body with the image inline ("image": "data:image/png;base64,...") is also accepted if you prefer not to send a file part.

GPT-image API

Overview#

Usage & Pricing#

gpt-image-2-preview#

Token-Based Models (gpt-image-1, gpt-image-1.5, gpt-image-2)#

Estimated Cost per Image#

gpt-image-1 ($40 / 1M output)#

gpt-image-1.5 ($32 / 1M output)#

gpt-image-2 ($30 / 1M output)#

Key Points#

Default Parameter Values#

Simple Example#

Image Edit with Reference Image#

Example (gpt-image-2-preview)#

Sample Response (HTTP 200)#

Tips#

Asynchronous API#

⚠️ The async base URL is different#

Authentication (async)#

1. Submit a job#

2. Poll for the result#

Behavior & limits (async)#

Image edits (async)#