Z-Image Turbo API

Q: What is the Z-Image Turbo model ID?

Use z-image/turbo as the model parameter. Requests go to https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations with your AI/ML API key.

Try this model

Lightweight image model for fast generation with Chinese and English text rendering.

Modalities: TextImage
Price: $0.005per Megapixel
Model type: Image generation
Released: Dec 2, 2025

Z-Image Turbo overview

Z-Image Turbo by Alibaba Cloud

It delivers professional-grade image synthesis for commercial and creative applications with speed and efficiency at its core.

Z-Image Turbo specs

Model ID: z-image/turbo
Developer: Alibaba Cloud
Input: Text
Output: Image
Endpoint: POST https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations

Z-Image Turbo API Overview

Z-Image Turbo is a high-performance text-to-image diffusion model, featuring 6 billion parameters and optimized for exceptional inference speed. Its standout strength lies in delivering fast, reliable image generation, ideal for real-time and production-grade applications.

Technical Specifications

Model Type: Diffusion-based text-to-image generator
Input: Natural language prompts (text)

Performance Benchmarks

Z-Image Turbo prioritizes speed without major quality trade-offs, generating images 10-12x faster than larger rivals on mid-range hardware. It consumes far less VRAM (12-16GB vs. 32B+ models) while matching photorealistic output in portraits and text tasks.

Key Features

Excels in photorealism, character portraits, and bilingual text rendering on images.
Robust prompt adherence for structured instructions, with strong hand anatomy and detail retention.
Superior bilingual text rendering, preserving facial realism and aesthetics in complex scenes.

Use Cases

E-commerce: Rapid product mockups and banners with embedded text logos.
Interactive Apps: Real-time dashboards, previews, and UI prototyping requiring instant feedback.
Content Creation: Photorealistic scenes for ads, social media, and marketing visuals.
Enterprise Tools: High-throughput generation for catalogs or personalized imagery.

Model Comparisons

vs. FLUX.2 Dev: Outpaces FLUX.2 (14s vs. 172s generation) on consumer GPUs, using 6B vs. 32B parameters for better VRAM efficiency. Matches photorealism in portraits and text but trails in intricate scenes and hand details.

vs. FLUX.1 Schnell: Delivers higher fidelity in 8 steps versus Schnell's 4-step speed trades, retaining base model quality for commercial use. Superior bilingual text and prompt following, though Schnell edges raw speed on high-end hardware.

vs. DALL·E 3: DALL·E 3 excels in prompt understanding and compositional accuracy, especially with complex instructions. Z-Image Turbo provides lower-latency inference and ideal for high-volume applications.

Use cases

E-commerce: Rapid product mockups and banners with embedded text logos.
Interactive Apps: Real-time dashboards, previews, and UI prototyping requiring instant feedback.
Content Creation: Photorealistic scenes for ads, social media, and marketing visuals.
Enterprise Tools: High-throughput generation for catalogs or personalized imagery.

Z-Image Turbo benchmarks by Artificial Analysis

Human-preference results for Z-Image Turbo in text to image, next to models available on AI/ML API. Data retrieved Nov 3, 2026.

Text to image#65 / 98936Elo · ±11 at 95%AI/ML API price$0.005USD per Megapixel

Text to image

Elo · text-to-image arena

AI/ML API price

USD per Megapixel

Models on AI/ML API

Arena results for models you can call with the same API key.

Text to image

Blind pairwise human votes on images generated from text prompts. Z-Image Turbo ranks #65 of 98.

Z-Image Turbo API pricing

Z-Image Turbo pricing in US dollars
Usage	Price	Unit
Image generation	$0.005	per Megapixel

The final price depends on request parameters such as resolution or duration.

Prices from the AI/ML API price list, checked on Nov 4, 2026.

Z-Image Turbo vs other image models: prices

AI/ML API rates for 5 models, per Megapixel.

AI/ML API prices in USD per Megapixel
Model	Per Megapixel
Z-Image Turbo	$0.005
Flux Schnell	$0.003
Z-Image Turbo LoRA	$0.0085
FLUX.2	$0.012
FLUX.2 Klein 4B	$0.014

How to use the Z-Image Turbo API

View docs

Build with your agent

Give your agent the model details, code and documentation.

1Get your API key

Create API key

export AIMLAPI_KEY="8f2b4c7d9a1e6b3f…"

2Make your first request

curl 'https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIMLAPI_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "model": "z-image/turbo",
  "prompt": "A ginger cat asleep on a stack of exactly three hardcover books in a rainy bookshop window at dusk. Gold lettering on the glass reads OPEN LATE. Warm lamp light inside, raindrops and blurred neon reflections outside, 35mm film photo."
}'

import os
import requests

headers = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['AIMLAPI_KEY']}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
}
payload = {
    "model": "z-image/turbo",
    "prompt": "A ginger cat asleep on a stack of exactly three hardcover books in a rainy bookshop window at dusk. Gold lettering on the glass reads OPEN LATE. Warm lamp light inside, raindrops and blurred neon reflections outside, 35mm film photo."
}

response = requests.post("https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations", headers=headers, json=payload, timeout=120)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())

const response = await fetch("https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.AIMLAPI_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "model": "z-image/turbo",
    "prompt": "A ginger cat asleep on a stack of exactly three hardcover books in a rainy bookshop window at dusk. Gold lettering on the glass reads OPEN LATE. Warm lamp light inside, raindrops and blurred neon reflections outside, 35mm film photo."
  }),
});

if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
console.log(await response.json());

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Z-Image Turbo FAQ

What inputs and outputs does Z-Image Turbo support?

Z-Image Turbo takes image, text as input and returns image.

How much does Z-Image Turbo cost?

Z-Image Turbo costs $0.005 per Megapixel on AI/ML API, billed as you go with no subscription.

How is Z-Image Turbo billed?

Z-Image Turbo is billed per generation, a fixed charge per output rather than by prompt length.

Can Z-Image Turbo take an existing image as input?

Yes, Z-Image Turbo accepts image input as well as a text prompt.

Who created Z-Image Turbo?

Z-Image Turbo was built by Alibaba Cloud.

How do I call Z-Image Turbo on AI/ML API?

Send a request to https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations with z-image/turbo as the model id.

Is Z-Image Turbo available through a single API key?

Yes. Z-Image Turbo is served through AI/ML API, so the same key and endpoint format used for other models applies.

Which languages can Z-Image Turbo render as text within generated images?

Z-Image Turbo renders both Chinese and English text in generated images.

What is the Z-Image Turbo model ID?

Use z-image/turbo as the model parameter. Requests go to https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations with your AI/ML API key.

Start building with Z-Image Turbo

Get API key

Z-Image Turbo API

z-image/turbo

Build with your agent

Give your agent the model details, code and documentation.

1Get your API key

Create API key

export AIMLAPI_KEY="8f2b4c7d9a1e6b3f…"

2Make your first request

curl 'https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIMLAPI_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "model": "z-image/turbo",
  "prompt": "A ginger cat asleep on a stack of exactly three hardcover books in a rainy bookshop window at dusk. Gold lettering on the glass reads OPEN LATE. Warm lamp light inside, raindrops and blurred neon reflections outside, 35mm film photo."
}'

import os
import requests

headers = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['AIMLAPI_KEY']}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
}
payload = {
    "model": "z-image/turbo",
    "prompt": "A ginger cat asleep on a stack of exactly three hardcover books in a rainy bookshop window at dusk. Gold lettering on the glass reads OPEN LATE. Warm lamp light inside, raindrops and blurred neon reflections outside, 35mm film photo."
}

response = requests.post("https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations", headers=headers, json=payload, timeout=120)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())

const response = await fetch("https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.AIMLAPI_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "model": "z-image/turbo",
    "prompt": "A ginger cat asleep on a stack of exactly three hardcover books in a rainy bookshop window at dusk. Gold lettering on the glass reads OPEN LATE. Warm lamp light inside, raindrops and blurred neon reflections outside, 35mm film photo."
  }),
});

if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
console.log(await response.json());

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Z-Image Turbo API

Z-Image Turbo overview

Z-Image Turbo by Alibaba Cloud

Z-Image Turbo specs

Z-Image Turbo API Overview

Technical Specifications

Performance Benchmarks

Key Features

Use Cases

Model Comparisons

Use cases

Z-Image Turbo benchmarks by Artificial Analysis

Text to image

AI/ML API price

Models on AI/ML API

Text to image

Z-Image Turbo API pricing

Z-Image Turbo vs other image models: prices

How to use the Z-Image Turbo API

Build with your agent

1Get your API key

2Make your first request

Related articles

Z-Image Turbo FAQ

Start building with Z-Image Turbo

Z-Image Turbo API

Build with your agent

1Get your API key

2Make your first request

Z-Image Turbo API

Z-Image Turbo overview

Z-Image Turbo by Alibaba Cloud

Z-Image Turbo specs

Z-Image Turbo API Overview

Technical Specifications

Performance Benchmarks

Key Features

Use Cases

Model Comparisons

Use cases

Text to image

AI/ML API price

Models on AI/ML API

Text to image

Z-Image Turbo API pricing

Z-Image Turbo vs other image models: prices

How to use the Z-Image Turbo API

Build with your agent

1Get your API key

2Make your first request

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Z-Image Turbo FAQ

Start building with Z-Image Turbo