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AI image model comparison

Seedream 5.5 vs GPT Image 2.5

Seedream 5.5 is ByteDance's newest image model, released on November 9, 2026, and Arena has not ranked it yet. In ByteDance's own tests, published with the launch, it leads GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and Nano Banana 2.1 on text structure and shows a clear advantage in text-to-image realism. GPT Image 2.5 Flare ranks third on Arena's text-to-image board, starts at fewer Gems, and runs unlimited from the Basic plan on Mage.

Try Seedream 5.5Try GPT Image 2.5 Flare

Side by side

Prices, plans, resolutions, ratios, and reference limits are Mage's own, for the model compared. Makers, release dates, search grounding, and watermarks are what each maker publishes. Arena ranks come from its text-to-image and text-rendering and image-edit boards of November 7, 2026. "Not ranked" means the board does not list the version Mage runs.

Seedream 5.5GPT Image 2.5
Made byByteDance SourceOpenAI Source
ReleasedNovember 9, 2026 SourceSeptember 8, 2026 Source
Price on Mage, from24 Gems ($0.024) per image9 Gems ($0.009) per image
Unlimited on Mage fromProBasic
Top resolution on Mage2K2K
Aspect ratios on Mage21:9, 16:9, 3:2, 5:4, 1:1, 4:5, 2:3, 9:16, 9:2121:9, 16:9, 3:2, 5:4, 1:1, 4:5, 2:3, 9:16, 9:21
Reference images on Mage, up to1015
Search groundingNone documented SourceNone documented Source
Arena text-to-imageNot ranked Source#3 of 84 (preliminary) Source
Arena text renderingNot ranked Source#2 of 84 (preliminary) Source
Arena image editNot ranked Source#2 of 63 (preliminary) Source
WatermarkNone stated SourceC2PA metadata and an invisible watermark Source

Last checked November 2026

Which should you use?

Choose Seedream 5.5 for

  • Photographic realism: skin, light, and materials closer to a real photo
  • Dense small text, such as captions, labels, and infographics
  • Long editing sessions that keep everything you did not ask to change

Choose GPT Image 2.5 for

  • A model with independent rankings: it is on every Arena board we checked
  • Up to 15 reference images, with people in them kept recognizable
  • A quality setting for every job, from quick drafts to its most detailed renders
  • Unlimited images from the Basic plan

Image quality

Arena's text-to-image, text-rendering, and image-edit boards of November 7, 2026, do not list Seedream 5.5 yet, so there are no blind votes to set against GPT Image 2.5's. There, GPT Image 2.5 Flare ranks third of 84 for text-to-image and second of 63 for image editing, on scores still marked preliminary.

ByteDance released Seedream 5.5 on November 9, 2026 and tuned it for realism: skin, light, and materials closer to a real photograph, with less of the excess gloss and overexposure image models often add. In ByteDance's own side-by-side tests, Seedream 5.5 shows a clear advantage in text-to-image realism over GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, the higher tier of GPT Image 2.5, and over Nano Banana 2.1. Those are the maker's tests, not independent votes. OpenAI positions GPT Image 2.5 Flare as its default model for most work.

Text in images

ByteDance reports that Seedream 5.5 leads GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst on text structure, in new images and in edits, and that it sets dense small text and complex characters more accurately than earlier Seedream models. On Mage it also letters in languages beyond English and Chinese, such as Spanish, Japanese, and Russian. GPT Image 2.5 Flare ranks second on Arena's text-rendering board, and OpenAI notes that precise text placement can still struggle on GPT Image 2.5.

Edits and reference images

ByteDance built Seedream 5.5 for long editing sessions: it keeps the parts of an image you did not ask to change at the pixel level, so colors do not drift and detail does not wear away from one round to the next, and its launch demo runs one portrait through 100 successive edits. On Mage it takes up to 10 input images and follows points and boxes placed on an image.

GPT Image 2.5 takes up to 15 reference images on Mage and keeps their subjects recognizable.

Resolution and shape

Both render up to 2K on Mage in the same 9 aspect ratios, from 9:21 to 21:9.

Price on Mage

Seedream 5.5 starts at 24 Gems (about $0.024) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Pro plan. GPT Image 2.5 starts at 9 Gems (about $0.009) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Basic plan.

On Seedream 5.5, each input image you attach adds to the price. GPT Image 2.5's price rises with its quality setting: its starting price and unlimited plans are for its quickest setting, and its most detailed settings cost many times more Gems.

A little more clarity

Questions

Is Seedream 5.5 better than GPT Image 2.5?
There is no independent vote yet: Arena has not ranked Seedream 5.5. ByteDance's own tests put Seedream 5.5 ahead of GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst on text structure and on realism in new images. GPT Image 2.5 Flare ranks third on Arena's text-to-image board, starts at fewer Gems, and runs unlimited from the Basic plan on Mage. Run the same prompt on both and keep the better image.
Is Seedream 5.5 on Arena?
Not yet. Arena's text-to-image, text-rendering, and image-edit boards of November 7, 2026, do not list Seedream 5.5, which ByteDance released on November 9, 2026. GPT Image 2.5 is on each of them.
Which costs less on Mage?
GPT Image 2.5 starts at 9 Gems (about $0.009) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Basic plan, at its quickest quality setting; its higher settings cost more. Seedream 5.5 starts at 24 Gems (about $0.024) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Pro plan.
Can I use both on Mage?
Yes. Both run in the same prompt box on Mage, on the same Gems and plans, and through the Mage API and the Mage MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT, so you can try a prompt on each and keep the better image.

Try Seedream 5.5 and GPT Image 2.5 on one prompt

Run the same prompt on both in Mage's prompt box and keep the better image. New accounts get 300 free Gems.

Try Seedream 5.5