Z Image Base

alibaba/z-image/base

Z Image Base by Alibaba - generate stunning images from text prompts with state-of-the-art AI. Supports multiple aspect ratios, styles, and high-resolution output for creative and commercial use.

Base price
$0.01USD / run
Execution
async
Model type
image
Input fields
4
Production route

Try the model

Playground

Open playground
Input
The prompt to generate an image from.
The aspect ratio of the generated image. Allowed values: 21:9, 16:9, 3:2, 4:3, 5:4, 1:1, 4:5, 3:4, 2:3, 9:16.
The format of the generated image. Allowed values: jpeg, png.
The same seed and the same prompt given to the same version of the model will output the same image every time.
OutputExample

Examples

Select an example to load its inputs and result into the playground.

Model card

Specifications

Pricing

Base price
$0.01 / run

Context & modalities

Input
Schema-defined
Output
image

Capabilities

Chat
Not supported
Vision
Not supported
Reasoning
Not supported
Structured output
Not supported
Function calling
Not supported
Audio input
Not supported

Access

Provider
Alibaba
Model ID
alibaba/z-image/base
Execution
async
Base URL
https://api.sandbase.ai
API
Unified Run API
Endpoint
/v1/run

Human preference

Arena

Elo ratings from blind side-by-side votes, compared with other image and video models.

Rankings sourced from Artificial Analysis Arena

Leaderboard
Text to Image
Rank
#87 of 106
Elo
891 ±17
Gap to #1
−331

Text-to-image arena: people pick the better of two images generated from the same prompt, without seeing the model names.

  1. #82ERNIE ImageBaidu907±10
  2. #83Qwen ImageAlibaba903±18
  3. #84P-ImagePruna AI900±18
  4. #85FLUX.1 Krea [dev]Black Forest Labs896±39
  5. #86Vidu Q2Vidu896±17
  6. #87Z-Image BaseAlibabaThis model891±17
  7. #88GLM-ImageZ AI885±18
  8. #89Lucid Origin UltraLeonardo.Ai877±17
  9. #90FLUX1.1 [pro]Black Forest Labs870±19
  10. #91Lucid Origin FastLeonardo.Ai860±18

API README

Z Image Base

Z-Image Base is Alibaba's 6B open text-to-image model: photorealistic results and bilingual text rendering at a low per-image cost.

Fields

FieldTypeDefaultNotes
promptstring, required—Text instruction.
aspect_ratio21:9 / 16:9 / 3:2 / 4:3 / 5:4 / 1:1 / 4:5 / 3:4 / 2:3 / 9:16—Output shape.
output_formatjpeg / pngpngOutput file format.
seedintegerrandomFix it to compare prompt changes.

Billing

$0.01 per image.

RequestPrice
One image$0.01

Failed runs are not charged.

Prompting

  • Write subject, setting, style, then light and color.
  • Quote text that must appear.

Limits

  • One image per request.

Also on SandBase

Related: alibaba/z-image/turbo/edit, z-image/turbo.

Start building

Send your first request

OpenAI-compatible endpoint with unified authentication and usage tracking.

Production API
Unified Run API endpoint
https://api.sandbase.ai/v1/run
Model ID
alibaba/z-image/base
# The quoted heredoc keeps Unicode and shell metacharacters unchanged.
result=$(curl --fail-with-body --silent \
  -X POST "https://api.sandbase.ai/v1/run" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SANDBASE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data-binary @- <<'SANDBASE_JSON'
{
  "model": "alibaba/z-image/base",
  "prompt": "Grandmother knitting by a window, an empty chair by her",
  "output_format": "png"
}
SANDBASE_JSON
)
run_id=$(printf '%s' "$result" | jq -r .id)
for attempt in $(seq 1 120); do
  status=$(printf '%s' "$result" | jq -r .status)
  case "$status" in completed|failed|timeout) break ;; esac
  sleep 2
  result=$(curl --fail-with-body --silent \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $SANDBASE_API_KEY" \
    "https://api.sandbase.ai/v1/run/$run_id")
done
status=$(printf '%s' "$result" | jq -r .status)
[ "$status" = completed ] || { echo "Generation ended: $status" >&2; exit 1; }
printf '%s\n' "$result"

Choose your model

Compare models

All image & video models
ModelTypeDefault priceReleased
Z Image BaseThis model
Alibaba
Image$0.01 / runJan 27, 2026
AlibabaImage$0.04 / runJul 21, 2026
AlibabaImage$0.04 / runJul 21, 2026
AlibabaImage$0.07 / runApr 1, 2026
AlibabaImage$0.03 / runApr 1, 2026
AlibabaImage$0.03 / runApr 1, 2026

Questions

FAQ

How do I call Alibaba Z Image Base through SandBase?

Create a SandBase API key, then send requests with the model ID "alibaba/z-image/base" to Unified Run API (/v1/run) at https://api.sandbase.ai. The request examples on this page show the exact payload.

Do I need a separate Alibaba account?

No. One SandBase API key and balance gives you access to Alibaba Z Image Base and the other models in the catalog; you do not need to sign up with Alibaba separately.