AlibabaimageBest valueOperational

Z-Image Turbo API

Alibaba's 6B open model — photoreal images in 8 steps for a fraction of a cent

alibaba/z-image-turbo/text-to-image

FromUp to −89%

$0.0017/img$0.015

per image · 1K

Open in Studio API

Try Z-Image Turbo

Runs on your balance at the price shown on the button. Results are saved to your account.

Open full-screen Studio

Prompt*

0/5000

Aspect ratio

Output image shape.

Resolution

1K ≈ 1 MP; 2K ≈ 4 MP (long side up to 2048 px).

Estimated cost…

Create a free account with Google or email — pay only for what you generate.

Your image will appear here

Write a prompt, pick your settings and hit Run. You only pay for successful generations.

What is Z-Image Turbo?

Z-Image Turbo from Alibaba's Tongyi Lab generates photorealistic images with strong Chinese and English text in 8 steps, at about a tenth of a cent per megapixel.

≈$0.001 / MP

Lowest price in the catalog

8 steps

Near-instant

Bilingual text

Chinese & English

Up to 4 MP

1K or 2K output

Small, fast, photoreal

Z-Image Turbo is a 6B open-weights model distilled to 8 steps: lifelike people and products, legible bilingual text, and near-instant results.

Z-Image Turbo pricing

Pay per image. No subscription. Failed generations are refunded automatically.

Tier	Official price	Cheaper Gen.	You save
1K ≈1 MP	~~$0.015~~/img	$0.0017/img	−89%
2K ≈4 MP	~~$0.015~~/img	$0.0066/img	−56%

Official price: Alibaba Cloud Model Studio list price for z-image-turbo ($0.015 per image, Singapore, prompt rewriting off). Prices verified 2026-10-16.

Specifications

Resolutions: 1K (≈1 MP) · 2K (≈4 MP)
Aspect ratios: 1:1 · 4:3 · 3:4 · 16:9 · 9:16 · 3:2 · 2:3
Weights: Open (Apache-2.0)
Released: Nov 27, 2025

Use Z-Image Turbo via API

One request to start a job, one to fetch the result. Same shape for every model.

Full API reference

import os, time, requests

API = "https://cheapergen.com/api/v1"
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY']}"}

# 1. Submit the job
job = requests.post(f"{API}/run/alibaba/z-image-turbo/text-to-image", headers=headers, json={
    "prompt": "A neon noodle shop sign that reads “深夜食堂 LATE NIGHT”, rainy street, cinematic photo",
    "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
    "resolution": "1K"
}).json()

# 2. Poll until it finishes (or pass "webhook_url" and skip polling)
while job["status"] in ("queued", "running"):
    time.sleep(3)
    job = requests.get(f"{API}/generations/{job['id']}", headers=headers).json()

print(job["status"], job["output"]["images"][0]["url"] if job["status"] == "succeeded" else job["error"])

const API = "https://cheapergen.com/api/v1";
const headers = {
  Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY}`,
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
};

// 1. Submit the job
let job = await fetch(`${API}/run/alibaba/z-image-turbo/text-to-image`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers,
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "prompt": "A neon noodle shop sign that reads “深夜食堂 LATE NIGHT”, rainy street, cinematic photo",
    "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
    "resolution": "1K"
  }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

// 2. Poll until it finishes (or pass webhook_url and skip polling)
while (job.status === "queued" || job.status === "running") {
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 3000));
  job = await fetch(`${API}/generations/${job.id}`, { headers }).then((r) => r.json());
}

console.log(job.status === "succeeded" ? job.output.images[0].url : job.error);

curl -X POST https://cheapergen.com/api/v1/run/alibaba/z-image-turbo/text-to-image \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "prompt": "A neon noodle shop sign that reads “深夜食堂 LATE NIGHT”, rainy street, cinematic photo",
  "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
  "resolution": "1K"
}'

Text to Image

alibaba/z-image-turbo/text-to-image

Example prompts

Hit “Try it” to load a prompt into the playground above.

Product photo of a ceramic tea set on bamboo, soft daylight, minimal
Try it
Portrait of a young chef in a busy kitchen, steam and warm light, editorial
Try it

Z-Image Turbo FAQ

Per image by output size (megapixels) — a fraction of a cent at 1K. Failed generations are not charged.

Yes. Z-Image Turbo is Alibaba Tongyi Lab's open-weights model, served on an optimized inference engine for open-source models.

Yes — the weights are Apache-2.0 — subject to our Terms of Service.

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