What is DALL-E used for?

DALL-E is used for image generation and vision and multimodal work. The family description and listed model capabilities point to those workloads as the best fit.

How does DALL-E compare to GPT Realtime 2?

DALL-E by OpenAI is strongest where you need image generation, while GPT Realtime 2 by OpenAI is the closest related family to check for realtime voice. DALL-E has 2 listed variants, while GPT Realtime 2 reaches up to 131k context, so compare the specs and pricing tables before choosing a production model.

Which DALL-E model should I use?

If price is the main constraint, use the pricing table first because DALL-E does not have complete provider pricing in the local data. For the most capable/latest local choice, evaluate DALL-E 3 with multimodal inputs.

DALL-E Models by OpenAI

OpenAIProprietary

This model family is considered obsolete. Consider newer alternatives in Related Model Families below.

2 models2022–2023

Details

ResearcherOpenAI

LicenseProprietary

Commercial useCommercial use: conditional

Models2

Released2022–2023

Capabilities

VisionAll models

MultimodalAll models

Links

Website

About

OpenAI's DALL-E family is the diffusion-based predecessor to the GPT Image series. DALL-E 2 (April 2022) enabled inpainting and outpainting for editing specific image regions. DALL-E 3 (October 2023) dramatically improved prompt adherence via integration with ChatGPT's instruction-following. Both models are deprecated with OpenAI API shutdown scheduled for May 12, 2026 in favor of the autoregressive gpt-image series.

Archived Variants

Use-when guidance is based on each model's tracked capabilities, context window, release date, and replacement status.

2 in view2 retired

DALL-E 3Archived

Keep only for existing workloads; choose a current variant for new builds.

2023-10image generationmultimodal inputs

DALL-E 2Archived

Keep only for existing workloads; choose a current variant for new builds.

2022-04image generationmultimodal inputs

Current DALL-E variants with use-when guidance and lifecycle status
Model	Use when	Released	Signals	Status
DALL-E 3	Keep only for existing workloads; choose a current variant for new builds.	2023-10	image generationmultimodal inputs	Archived
DALL-E 2	Keep only for existing workloads; choose a current variant for new builds.	2022-04	image generationmultimodal inputs	Archived

Release Timeline

2 release groups

2023-10

1 retired

DALL-E 3

image generationmultimodal inputs

Archived

2022-04

1 retired

DALL-E 2

image generationmultimodal inputs

Archived

Specifications(2 models)

DALL-E model specifications comparison
Model	Released	Vision	Multimodal
DALL-E 3	2023-10	Yes	Yes
DALL-E 2	2022-04	Yes	Yes

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DALL-E used for?: DALL-E is used for image generation and vision and multimodal work. The family description and listed model capabilities point to those workloads as the best fit.
How does DALL-E compare to GPT Realtime 2?: DALL-E by OpenAI is strongest where you need image generation, while GPT Realtime 2 by OpenAI is the closest related family to check for realtime voice. DALL-E has 2 listed variants, while GPT Realtime 2 reaches up to 131k context, so compare the specs and pricing tables before choosing a production model.
Which DALL-E model should I use?: If price is the main constraint, use the pricing table first because DALL-E does not have complete provider pricing in the local data. For the most capable/latest local choice, evaluate DALL-E 3 with multimodal inputs.

Models(2)