AI generations by David Gewirtz / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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ZDNET's key takeaways
Google's Nano Banana Pro earned a near-perfect score.
ChatGPT image ranked second; others often mangled text and faces.
Nine tough prompts reveal which AIs are worth subscribing to.
When generative AI first hit the scene in early 2023, we were amazed by two capabilities we hadn't seen before: the ability for the AIs to write comprehensive content, and the ability for some AIs to generate graphics and photo-realistic images.
Clearly, AI models have come a long way in just three years. In my recent review of the best chatbots, I also listed the best free AI tools for generating images. In this article, I'll take you a little deeper into the paid tiers of AI image generation tools.
Also: The best AI chatbots of 2025: I tested ChatGPT, Copilot, and others to find the top tools now
My test suite falls into four main categories: revising existing images, generating original images, adding text to images, and leveraging pop culture. For convenience, I generated all the images across all the tests in 1:1 square ratio, mostly so they could be displayed side-by-side easily.
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