OpenAI launched its version of an AI art generator last year, and since then there has been an explosion of artwork-generating artificial intelligence software on the market. With such a wide range of powerful artwork generators at your fingertips, price is an important factor in choosing which one to go for. Therefore, it’s left many people wondering – is DALL-E 2 free or not?

If you aren’t familiar, DALL-E 2 is another popular addition to the growing browser-based AI image generators, developed by OpenAI. Using just a text prompt, it can create ai-generated graphics and ai-generated images and art.

So, does it do it for free, or does this service come at a cost? Well, the answer is both – yes and no. Although there was previously a free trial available, it seems this feature has been discontinued by OpenAI, and replaced by a credit system. Keep reading to find out more about the new costs of using DALL-E 2.

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Can you use DALL-E 2 for free?

DALL-E 2 is a close cousin to OpenAI’s wildly popular chatbot, ChatGPT. As with any AI tool, it can help you be more productive by generating new realistic images or ai-generated art in seconds. You can also use the AI tool to edit (options including adding a new frame or erasing a part of the image ) the generation images.

So, what makes DALL-E 2 so special? Well, if you need to create digital art quickly, then DALL-E 2 is the tool for you. With a few ideas and input, the text-to-image AI application can create remarkably complex artwork that seems very realistic.

Initially, the AI art generator was free to use, allowing its users to experiment with the model – OpenAI was granting its new users 50 free credits for their first month. After that, they will only receive 15 free credits for subsequent months. However, OpenAI has taken the decision to unfortunately end this free trial feature. These free credits are only available to early adopters of DALL-E that signed up before the 6th of April 2023.

If you now want to try out DALL-E 2, you will have to purchase credits after you sign up that are used to generate images and variations. At $15 for 115 prompts, each with four image variations, that works out to approximately around $0.13 per prompt, or roughly $0.035 per image.

If you feel like you need to purchase more, $15 will get you 115 credits or 460 generated images. However, this isn't officially confirmed by the DALL-E 2 developers, nor is the quality of those pictures generated. Therefore, you need to be careful and intentional when using these credits.

According to the OpenAI pricing page, there is a tiered resolution pricing to offer some flexibility when using the model. This model outlines 256×256 resolution at $0.016 / image, 512×512 resolution at $0.018 / image, and 1024×1034 resolution at $0.020 / image.

Conclusion

Although DALL-E 2 was previously free to try, thanks to OpenAI’s generous trial credit scheme, this seems to no longer be the case. If you now want to use DALL-E 2, you will have to purchase credits to generate images from your prompts. You can buy 115 prompt credits for $15, which should allow you to get some good use out of this powerful platform.

There are also other programs that use artificial intelligence to create high-quality images from natural language inputs, such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. We’ve explored how to use Midjouney for free as well as how to use Stable Diffusion for free, and compared Dall-E 2 to Midjourney and Dall-E2 to Stable Diffusion too, so you can make an informed decision as to which one to use. Using AI

• NOW READ Is DALL-E 2 safe to use?

About the Author

Marla Broadway

Marla writes across a wide range of topics across PC Guide, including AI, PC hardware, and news on the latest tech releases. She's a passionate writer that's interested in the future of technology.