GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst vs Seedream 5 Pro for Image Generation
The results split by task: choose Seedream 5 Pro for precise prompt constraints, multilingual typography, anatomy, advertising composition, and structured graphics. Choose GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst for reference-preserving edits, identity and garment transfer, coherent relighting, outpainting, and preserving products across scene changes; both handled counting and attribute binding equally well.
Side-by-side facts
| Feature | GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst | Seedream 5 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | OpenAI | ByteDance |
| Availability on Banana Pie | Available now | Available now |
| Credits from | 30 credits | 25 credits |
| Max resolution | 4K | 2K |
| Reference images | Up to 8 | Up to 8 |
Scenario by scenario
Same prompt. Two models. Judge the difference in the published images below.
Product material and lighting
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRIGHT follows the requested half-fill level and subtle, physically plausible reflection more closely, while LEFT has stronger upper-left lighting but overfills the bottle and produces a more pronounced reflection.
- Exactly one bottle and no extras: Tie. Both images show one upright transparent rectangular perfume bottle on bare wet stone, with no visible text, logo, plants, or separate objects.
- Half-filled amber liquid: Right does better. Its amber liquid occupies approximately the lower half of the bottle body, while the left bottle appears filled noticeably above halfway.
- Coherent refraction and reflection: Right does better. Its restrained reflection falls directly beneath the bottle and the glass edges distort the background consistently; the left has a much brighter, sprawling reflection and some visually complex distortions around the thick glass base.
- Upper-left lighting and contact shadow: Left does better. It has a clearly directional upper-left highlight, bright left-facing glass edges, and a corresponding shadow extending to the right; the right lighting is softer and more frontal, making the requested direction and contact shadow less distinct.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
A premium product photograph of exactly one transparent rectangular perfume bottle, half filled with amber liquid, standing upright on wet black stone. Light comes from the upper left, creating coherent refraction, a contact shadow, and one subtle reflection. No text, logo, plants, or extra objects.
Multilingual typography
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRight follows the requested four-line poster structure exactly, while Left incorrectly wraps the first line.
- Exactly four centered text lines and no additional text: Right does better. It shows exactly four centered lines, while Left splits “MOONLIGHT MARKET” across two lines, producing five visible text lines.
- Exact wording and order: Right does better. Its four lines read “MOONLIGHT MARKET”, “月光市集”, “18 OCT”, and “RIVER HALL” in the requested order. Left renders the same wording and order but breaks “MOONLIGHT MARKET” into separate “MOONLIGHT” and “MARKET” lines.
- Specified colors: Tie. Both render “月光市集” in red and all English and numeric text in black.
- Legibility, spacing, and alignment: Right does better overall. Both are legible and centered, but Right keeps each requested item on one line in a more compact, coherent arrangement; Left’s oversized first item wraps and disrupts the four-line structure.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Design a clean cream-colored vertical event poster. Show exactly four centered text lines and no other text: "MOONLIGHT MARKET", "月光市集", "18 OCT", and "RIVER HALL". Render "月光市集" in red and all other lines in black.
Human anatomy and contact
Better here: Seedream 5 ProThe right image is stronger overall because its finger count, anatomy, and hand-to-clay interaction are clearer and more plausible.
- Exactly two fully visible hands are present, with no extra hands or people: Tie. Each image visibly contains one potter and exactly two hands, with no additional hands or people; in both, small portions of fingers are naturally occluded by the bowl during contact.
- Each hand has exactly five distinct, naturally formed fingers: Right does better. On the right, five digits can be distinguished on each hand, including the thumbs. On the left, the clay-covered fingers overlap heavily and the thumbs are difficult to distinguish, making the exact count less visually certain.
- The fingers, joints, and contact with the clay are anatomically plausible: Right does better. Its inner hand presses into the bowl while the other supports the exterior, with convincing bends and joint placement. The left fingers look unusually long, crowded, and nearly parallel, and both hands press into the bowl in a less natural shaping pose.
- The clay bowl, spinning wheel, and shaping action are clearly recognizable: Right does better. The bowl and wheel are clear in both, but the right image more clearly shows the standard coordinated action of shaping the inside with one hand while supporting the outside with the other.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
A photorealistic close-up of an adult potter shaping a clay bowl on a spinning wheel. Both hands are fully visible, each with five natural fingers touching the clay. No other people or hands. Soft window light.
Counting and attribute binding
Depends on the taskBoth images satisfy all four criteria with the requested counts, attributes, arrangement, and handle direction. The visible differences are stylistic rather than rubric-relevant.
- Object count and placement: tie; both images visibly show exactly three red cubes in a row on the left, two blue spheres on the right, and one yellow mug centered behind the foreground objects.
- Color, shape, and material binding: tie; both depict red cubes with visible wood-like surface texture, blue transparent glass-like spheres, and a glossy yellow ceramic mug.
- Mug handle direction: tie; the mug handle is clearly attached on and extends toward the right in both images.
- No additional objects or text: tie; neither image contains any visible extra objects or text.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
On a matte gray table, exactly three red wooden cubes form a row on the left, exactly two blue glass spheres sit on the right, and one yellow ceramic mug stands centered behind them. The mug handle points right. No other objects or text.
Advertising composition
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRight follows the text restriction exactly while preserving the requested composition. Left has a stronger lower-right shoe placement, but the additional visible "AERO" text is a direct prompt violation.
- Exactly one silver shoe and orange trail: Left does better. It clearly places one silver shoe in the lower-right, while an orange trail enters from the bottom-left and curves into the scene. Right also shows exactly one silver shoe and a bottom-left orange trail, though its shoe sits closer to center-right.
- Visible text: Right does better. Its only visible text is "RUN LIGHT" and "42 KM", both spelled correctly. Left renders "RUN LIGHT" and "42 KM" correctly but also visibly includes "AERO" on the shoe, violating the no-other-text requirement.
- Top spacing and headline placement: Tie. Both leave roughly the top portion visibly uncluttered and position "RUN LIGHT" in the upper-left directly beneath that empty area.
- Visibility and hierarchy: Tie. Both keep the headline, badge, trail, and single shoe fully visible, with a clear hierarchy led by the headline and shoe.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Create a vertical social ad for a fictional running shoe named AERO. Keep the top 15 percent empty. Directly below it, place the headline "RUN LIGHT" in the upper-left. Show exactly one silver shoe in the lower-right, an orange trail curving from the bottom-left, and a round badge reading "42 KM". No other shoes or text.
Structured UI graphic
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRIGHT follows the requested structure precisely, while LEFT adds unrequested plan values and therefore fails the explicit no-additional-text constraint.
- Criterion 1: Tie. Both render the exact title "CHOOSE YOUR PLAN" and exactly three columns labeled "STARTER", "PRO", and "TEAM".
- Criterion 2: Right does better. Both show exactly three aligned rows labeled "PROJECTS", "STORAGE", and "SUPPORT", but the right presents only those requested row labels, while the left adds values beside them.
- Criterion 3: Tie. Each column on both sides contains exactly one blue button labeled "SELECT".
- Criterion 4: Right does better. Its three columns are evenly aligned and contain no additional text. The left adds "3", "5 GB", "Email", "10", "50 GB", "Priority", "Unlimited", "1 TB", and "24/7", violating the no-additional-text requirement.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Create a clean horizontal pricing comparison graphic titled "CHOOSE YOUR PLAN". Use exactly three equal columns labeled "STARTER", "PRO", and "TEAM". Under each column, show exactly three aligned rows labeled "PROJECTS", "STORAGE", and "SUPPORT", followed by one blue button labeled "SELECT". White background, dark navy text, no additional columns or text.
Six-reference object binding and edit
Better here: GPT Image 2.5 SunburstLeft is the stronger edit overall. Both outputs bind the requested objects correctly, but Left preserves the base composition and replacement positions more faithfully; Right's main advantage is the more exact two-lemon appearance.
- Mug and napkin replacement: Left does better. Its dark navy mug more closely preserves the original mug's large footprint, position, and handle orientation while retaining the reference mug's gold rim; its striped napkin also occupies nearly the same folded area as the original towel. Right renders both replacements recognizably but makes the mug smaller and the napkin more compact.
- Orange and notebook replacement: Left does better. Both sides remove the pear and blue notebook and replace them with one leaf-topped orange and a mustard-yellow hardcover notebook with a black elastic band, but Left keeps the notebook closer to the original right-edge placement and cropping.
- Two lemons: Right does better. It shows exactly two lemons to the right of the mug in the same touching arrangement as Reference 6, including the leaf on the left lemon. Left also has exactly two lemons in the correct general area, but omits the leaf and spaces them farther apart.
- Base-scene preservation: Left does better. Its framing, tabletop extent, prominent wood knots, warm lighting, and original object layout remain closer to Reference 1. Right shifts the notebook substantially inward and upward, changes object scale and spacing more noticeably, and renders the tabletop lighting flatter.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Use Reference 1 as the base tabletop scene. Replace the red mug with the exact dark navy-blue mug from Reference 2 in the same position and orientation. Replace the folded white towel with the exact green-and-white striped napkin from Reference 3 in the same folded area. Replace the green pear with exactly one orange from Reference 4 in the same position. Replace the blue notebook with the exact mustard-yellow hardcover notebook from Reference 5 in the same position. Add exactly the two lemons from Reference 6 to the right of the mug. Preserve the wooden table, camera, framing, wood grain, lighting, shadows, and all other spatial relationships from Reference 1. Do not copy the white product backgrounds from References 2–6, duplicate any asset, or add other objects.
In-image text replacement
Better here: GPT Image 2.5 SunburstBoth outputs replace the wording cleanly and accurately, but the left output follows the edit-only requirement much more faithfully by preserving the original composition and scene.
- Exact text replacement: Both sides render "NIGHT OWL" exactly, and neither shows any visible remnant of "MORNING BEAN"; this criterion is even.
- Character integrity: Both sides show only the intended letters in "NIGHT OWL", with no additional, duplicated, or malformed characters; this criterion is even.
- Font, spacing, and perspective: Left is closer to the reference, preserving the tall uppercase sans-serif character, broad spacing, sign proportions, and original viewing perspective more faithfully. Right uses similar lettering but noticeably changes the framing and apparent sign geometry.
- Material, lighting, and scene preservation: Left is substantially better because the green wooden sign, facade, lamps, windows, plants, bench, shadows, and overall composition remain nearly unchanged. Right visibly reframes and reconstructs much of the storefront and surrounding scene.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Replace only the sign text with exactly "NIGHT OWL". Preserve the original font style, spacing, perspective, sign material, lighting, and everything else.
Multi-reference identity and garment transfer
Better here: GPT Image 2.5 SunburstLEFT is the stronger transfer overall, chiefly because it preserves the person much more faithfully and reproduces substantially more of the reference jacket's defining construction.
- Identity preservation: LEFT does better. Its face, expression, hair placement, head size, hand pose, body proportions, and framing remain extremely close to Reference 1, while RIGHT changes the facial structure and expression slightly and makes the person appear narrower and more distant.
- Jacket match: LEFT does better. It more closely reproduces Reference 2's light-blue denim, thick cream sherpa collar, bronze buttons, pointed flap chest pockets, vertical lower pockets, seam layout, and red sleeve patch. RIGHT changes the jacket to an open-front fit and omits or alters several visible construction details.
- Full replacement: The two sides are even. Both fully remove the black suit jacket and retain the original gray interior background without introducing the ghost mannequin or white product backdrop.
- Physical coherence: LEFT is slightly better. Its sleeves bunch naturally around the bent arms, the hands correctly overlap the jacket near the lower closure, and the garment shares the original scene's soft directional lighting. RIGHT is also coherent, but its open front and reshaped torso depart more from the original pose and fit.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Use the portrait in Reference 1 for the person and the isolated jacket in Reference 2 for the garment. Dress the person from Reference 1 in the exact jacket shown in Reference 2. Preserve the person's identity, face, expression, skin, hair, hands, pose, body proportions, background, framing, and lighting from Reference 1. Preserve the jacket's material, color, collar, buttons, pockets, and sleeve patch from Reference 2. Do not copy the ghost mannequin or white product background.
Coherent scene relighting
Better here: GPT Image 2.5 SunburstLeft is the clear winner. It delivers stronger, spatially coherent golden-hour relighting while preserving the reference scene and objects much more faithfully.
- Warm golden-hour light clearly enters from the left window: Left does better; the low sun is visibly shining through the left window, producing strong golden illumination across the room, while Right also shows warm left-window light but with a less explicit exterior sun source.
- Highlights and shadow directions respond coherently to the new light source: Left does better; window-frame and foliage shadows extend rightward across the wall, table and plant shadows fall away from the window, and highlights appear on left-facing surfaces. Right is generally coherent too, but its large wall projections look somewhat simplified.
- The result is more than a uniform yellow color filter: Left does better; it adds localized sun patches, distinct projected shadows, bright edge highlights, and varied illumination across the floor, rug, sofa, wall, and table. Right also adds directional effects, though its scene has a more broadly uniform orange cast.
- No furniture or decor is moved, added, removed, or redesigned: Left does substantially better; the sofa, table, rug, plant, pot, lamp, window, and room geometry closely match the reference. Right visibly changes the composition and redesigns several objects, including the sofa proportions and cushions, coffee table, rug, plant, pot, and lamp shade.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Change the lighting to warm golden-hour sunlight entering from the left window. Do not move, add, remove, or redesign any object. Update highlights and shadows coherently.
Cross-ratio outpainting
Better here: GPT Image 2.5 SunburstLeft better preserves the centered reference composition while producing a natural landscape extension. Right creates clean surrounding scenery but fails the central placement requirement and changes the original composition more noticeably.
- Final output format and side expansion: Both outputs are 16:9 landscapes with plausible beach, ocean, and sky extending to both sides; neither has letterboxing. This criterion is even.
- Original image centered and unstretched: Left keeps the cabin and scene centered in the expanded frame. Right places the cabin noticeably left of the canvas center, so Left does better.
- Original cabin, shoreline, and internal composition unchanged: Left is closer to the reference in the cabin's size, weathered detail, door hardware, shoreline placement, and overall proportions. Right simplifies and alters cabin details and shifts the whole internal composition left, so Left does better.
- Seams, mirrored filler, and repeated objects: Both extensions blend smoothly into the sky, ocean, and sand without visible vertical boundaries, obvious mirroring, or duplicated objects. This criterion is even.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Expand the canvas to a 16:9 landscape by naturally continuing the beach, ocean, and sky on both sides. Keep the complete original image centered without cropping, stretching, letterboxing, or modifying it.
Product preservation across scene change
Better here: GPT Image 2.5 SunburstLEFT more faithfully preserves the reference sneaker while placing it in a clearly recognizable, physically convincing wet basketball-court scene at dusk.
- Convincing wet outdoor basketball court at dusk: LEFT does better. It clearly shows a basketball hoop, painted court markings, standing water, floodlights, and a sunset sky, while RIGHT shows a wet fenced court at dusk but lacks an equally strong visible basketball cue.
- Silhouette, sole geometry, stitching, materials, and camera angle consistency: LEFT does better. Its overall profile, toe shape, layered sole, front diamond-textured bumper, panel seams, lace arrangement, and three-quarter side angle stay especially close to the reference. RIGHT is also strong, but its upper and sole proportions are slightly less faithful.
- Black geometric side mark preservation: LEFT does better. The horizontal rear segment, rising branch, and descending diagonal retain the reference mark's junction, angles, thickness, and proportions more closely; RIGHT's upper branch appears shorter and its descending branch is positioned somewhat differently.
- Physically coherent contact shadow, wet-surface reflection, and dusk lighting: LEFT does better overall. The sole has firm surface contact, the wet court carries convincing sunset and floodlight reflections, and warm dusk light interacts naturally with the scene. RIGHT provides a more explicit shoe reflection, but that reflection is unusually dark and less structurally coherent beneath the shoe.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Place the sneaker on a wet outdoor basketball court at dusk. Preserve the exact sneaker shape, black geometric side mark, materials, stitching, sole geometry, and camera angle. Add physically coherent contact, reflections, and dusk lighting.
Cost & latency
GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst starts at 30 credits, while Seedream 5 Pro starts at 25 credits, giving Seedream the lower entry cost. In this run's small latency sample, GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst ranged from about 69 s to 155 s per scenario and Seedream 5 Pro from about 39 s to 141 s; these observations reflect this run, not general benchmark speeds.
How we compared & disclosure
We used one fixed prompt per scenario and ran each prompt once with each model, then published the outputs as generated. This is a reproducible fixed-prompt comparison, and both models are sold on Banana Pie.
Banana Pie sells paid access to this model alongside other models in one studio. Our verdicts come from tests run through the same pipeline our users get.