GPT Image 2.5 Flare vs Sunburst, tested side by side

Same prompts, one run each, nothing retouched. Eight tests, from a simple photo to a scientific diagram, plus a background removal, a photo edit and 4K.

Flare

New images from a prompt. Faster in every test, just as accurate with short text.

Sunburst

Editing your photos and rule-heavy layouts. Changes only what you ask for.

Try Flare Try Sunburst

Same price for both models. New accounts get 30 free credits¹.

Flare’s honeybee scale diagram: seven small frames in one row across the middle of the page — **Flare** · 22.8 s

Test 5, the hardest: a honeybee from molecule to hive. Not retouched.

Sunburst’s honeybee scale diagram: seven growing frames climbing from a wax molecule to the hive, with a scale bar — **Sunburst** · 46.5 s

At a glance

Eight tests, from simple to hard

Times include the network, so yours will differ. Flare was faster in every pair.

Test	Flare	Sunburst	What we saw
1 · Realistic photoA short, simple prompt	10.1 s	14.8 s	Both convincing, different taste.
2 · Event posterA title and a subtitle	25.3 s	43.6 s	Every word right in both.
3 · Product adBrand name and two claims	17.5 s	20.4 s	Text exact in both. A tie.
4 · InfographicFive steps, numbered arrows	23.5 s	40.5 s	Both correct; Sunburst closer to the layout.
5 · Scale diagramSeven levels, many rules	22.8 s	46.5 s	Sunburst, clearly. Flare’s sizes were out of order.
6 · Remove a backgroundYour photo to a transparent PNG	19.2 s	35.5 s	Bottle and label kept exactly in both. A tie.
7 · Change one thingYour photo, sofa only	17.8 s	28.4 s	Sunburst: the rest of the room stayed put.
8 · 4K illustration3840 × 2160 pixels	34.6 s	58.0 s	Real 4K detail in both.

Test 1 of 8 · Simple

A realistic photo

One subject, a mood, a camera style.

Verdict: both pass as real photos. Pick by taste; Flare gets there sooner.

Try the photo template with Flare

Flare: a latte with heart art on a dark wooden café table by the window — **Flare** · 10.1 s · close and moody

Sunburst: a latte with heart art on a marble table, flowers and a sunny street outside — **Sunburst** · 14.8 s · wider and brighter

Prompt (Realistic photography template, 3:2)

Subject: a ceramic cup of latte with simple heart latte art, set in a quiet neighborhood café by the window.
Photography style: 35mm, shallow depth of field, documentary style.
Lighting: natural light, mood: calm, early morning.
Detail requirements: ceramic glaze, milk foam texture, slight film grain.
Output: A highly realistic photographic image.

Test 2 of 8 · Text

An event poster with a title

A title, plus a subtitle with a time and a place.

Verdict: every word right in both. Sunburst added a Chinese “noodles” sign you didn’t ask for, so proofread before printing.

Try the poster template with Flare

Flare: vintage poster reading SUMMER NIGHT MARKET over lanterns and a noodle stall, with Fridays · 6–11 PM · Harbor Square at the bottom — **Flare** · 25.3 s · classic, room to breathe

Sunburst: busier vintage poster with the same title and subtitle, a crowd, a Ferris wheel and noodle banners — **Sunburst** · 43.6 s · a fuller scene

Prompt (Poster layout template, 2:3)

Design an event poster themed around a summer night market, paper lanterns and street food.
Main visual: strings of glowing paper lanterns over a busy noodle stall, title copy: "SUMMER NIGHT MARKET", subtitle: "Fridays · 6–11 PM · Harbor Square".
Layout: centered composition, style: vintage.
Colors: deep navy + warm orange, mood: lively, nostalgic.
Output: A high-resolution poster suitable for social media.

Test 3 of 8 · Text

A product ad with a brand name

The brand on the case, two selling points with icons.

Verdict: a tie, every word exact. For your own product, start from a photo of it: see product photos.

Try the product template with Flare

Flare: white earbuds in an open LIGHTLYN case on sage green, with 40H BATTERY and NOISE CANCELLING icons — **Flare** · 17.5 s · earbuds in the case

Sunburst: LIGHTLYN case with both earbuds in front of it on sage green, with the same two icons — **Sunburst** · 20.4 s · earbuds out in front

Prompt (Product commerce template, 1:1)

Generate a LIGHTLYN wireless earbuds e-commerce hero image, featuring a 40-hour battery and active noise cancelling.
Scene: studio shot on a solid sage-green background, shot: close-up.
Material details: matte white ceramic finish, brushed metal accents, lighting: rim lighting.
Additional elements: two selling-point icons with the copy "40H BATTERY" and "NOISE CANCELLING", and the word "LIGHTLYN" on the charging case.
Output: A product display image ready for direct use on e-commerce platforms.

Test 4 of 8 · Layout

A five-step infographic

Five modules with icons and headings, joined by numbered arrows.

Verdict: every step and number right in both. Sunburst followed the layout more closely; both added a line or two of their own.

Try the infographic template with Sunburst

Flare: How to Brew Pour-Over Coffee at Home, five numbered steps with plain arrows between them — **Flare** · 23.5 s · arrows without numbers

Sunburst: the same five steps with arrows numbered 1 to 4, a subtitle and small decorative taglines — **Sunburst** · 40.5 s · numbered arrows, three taglines

Prompt (Infographic template, 3:4)

Generate a "How to brew pour-over coffee at home" infographic for the target audience coffee beginners in their 20s and 30s.
Structure: title area + 5 modules (each module contains an icon, a short heading, and 1–2 sentences of explanation; show the information flow between modules with numbered arrows).
Modules: 1 Heat water to 93 °C; 2 Grind 15 g of beans medium-fine; 3 Rinse the paper filter; 4 Bloom with 30 g of water for 30 seconds; 5 Pour slowly to 250 g in circles.
Chart type: Flowchart.
Style: Educational illustration, primary color warm brown, background light color.
Output: an English-language infographic with a clear information hierarchy and high readability.

Test 5 of 8 · Hard

A scientific scale diagram

Six to eight levels, frames of different sizes, a list of don’ts.

Verdict: Sunburst, clearly: sizes in order, frames sized as asked. Flare drew the wing bigger than the whole bee. When it must be correct, the extra 24 seconds pay off.

Try the scale template with Sunburst

Flare: seven similar-sized frames in one strip, labelled from about 1 nanometre to about 12 millimetres — **Flare** · 22.8 s · one strip; wing (~2 cm) larger than the bee (~12 mm)

Sunburst: seven frames growing along a diagonal, molecule 10 nm, cell 10 µm, hair 100 µm, eye 1 mm, wing 1 cm, honeybee 1.5 cm, hive 30 cm — **Sunburst** · 46.5 s · 10 nm to 30 cm, in order

Prompt (Scientific scale diagram template, 3:4)

Generate a scientific scale-zoom infographic for the honeybee.
Structure: 6–8 circular or hexagonal frames arranged in a progression of scales from microscopic to macroscopic.
Each frame contains: a scale name, an insight of 3–5 words, a unit of measurement or magnification, and a highly detailed 3D rendering at that scale.
Connect the scales with thin lines and avoid repeating levels. Use the title "HONEYBEE: AT EVERY SCALE".
Style: scientific editorial infographic, precise macro lighting, clear hierarchy, short, readable text.
Constraints: no generic magnifying-glass icons, do not depict all scales at the same size, and do not cram in long paragraphs of body text.

Test 6 of 8 · Your photo

Remove the background, keep the product exact

A desk snapshot to a transparent PNG.

Verdict: a tie. Shape, dropper and label kept letter for letter, real transparency, clean edges. Both centered and enlarged the bottle; say so if position matters. Flare took half the time.

Remove a background

Original: an amber dropper bottle labelled LIGHTLYN Botanical Face Oil 30 ml on a desk next to a laptop — **Original**

Flare: the same bottle alone on a transparent background — **Flare** · 19.2 s

Sunburst: the same bottle, slightly larger, alone on a transparent background — **Sunburst** · 35.5 s

Prompt (what the background page fills in, transparent)

Remove the background and keep only the main subject. Keep the subject exactly as it is: same shape, proportions, colors, printed text and details. Clean edges with no halo, shadow or leftover background.

Test 7 of 8 · Your photo

Change one thing, leave the rest alone

Recolor the sofa, nothing else.

Verdict: Sunburst. Both sofas look right, but only Sunburst left the rest of the photo untouched, which matters when you edit again and again.

Edit a photo

Original: a living room with a grey sofa, a sleeping beagle and a coffee table with a mug, laptop, notebooks and cables — **Original**

Flare: the same room with a dark green velvet sofa — **Flare** · 17.8 s

Sunburst: the same room with a dark green velvet sofa — **Sunburst** · 28.4 s

What changedBlack is unchanged; the brighter, the more it moved.

Difference map for Flare: the sofa is bright, and outlines of the mug, laptop, notebooks, cables and dog show too — **Flare** · the sofa, plus faint outlines of everything else

Difference map for Sunburst: only the sofa and the throw draped over its arm are bright; the table, dog and window stay dark — **Sunburst** · only the sofa and its throw

Prompt (what the photo editor page fills in)

Change only the sofa to dark green velvet. Keep everything else in the photo unchanged.

Test 8 of 8 · Size

A 4K illustration, 3840 × 2160

Native 4K, not enlarged. Below, the same area at 100%.

Verdict: both hold crisp detail at full size. Flare kept the tram central; Sunburst gave the town more room, 23 seconds later.

Try the illustration template with Flare

Flare: watercolor of a red tram climbing a street of pastel houses, flowers and laundry lines, with the sea behind — **Flare** · 34.6 s · full 4K

Sunburst: wider watercolor with the tram beside a long stairway, the town on a hill and a harbor full of boats — **Sunburst** · 58.0 s · full 4K

Flare at 100%: the tram roof, windows and laundry painted in fine watercolor detail — **Flare, at 100%** · 800 × 600 pixels from the center

Sunburst at 100%: a balcony with flowers, roof tiles and distant houses in fine watercolor detail — **Sunburst, at 100%** · same area

Prompt (Illustration art style template, 16:9, maximum size)

Create a travel illustration featuring a small red tram as the protagonist, climbing a hillside street in a seaside town.
Art style: Watercolor, linework: Delicate.
Colors: warm terracotta, sea blue and cream, background: complex scene with houses, laundry lines and the sea.
Composition: long shot, emphasizing the tram, the stairs and the tiny details of windows and balconies.
Output: A high-quality illustration suitable for a cover or social media post.

How to choose

Start fast, finish precise

Flare to find the idea, Sunburst when it must be exactly right. You can switch for every message.

Choose Flare when…

You are making something new: a photo, a poster, a product shot, an illustration.
The text is short: a title, a label, a claim or two.
You want many quick rounds.
You need 4K and time matters.

Choose Sunburst when…

You are editing your own photo and the rest must stay as it is.
A product, label or logo must come through exactly.
The picture follows strict rules: scales, steps, numbered parts.
You would rather wait 20 seconds than redo it.

Editing your own photo? These pages start on Sunburst: remove a background · product photos · AI photo editor.

How we tested

Fair, small and repeatable

Same request, one run each

Tested on 24 October 2026 through Lightlyn’s own studio code and servers. Six prompts come from studio templates; tests 6 and 7 use what our task pages write. All 16 images succeeded first time: no retries, no picking, no retouching.

What the numbers mean

Standard size, about 1 megapixel; test 8 at 3840 × 2160. Times include the network. Difference maps compare each pixel with the original. Tests 6 and 7 start from photos we generated, not customer photos.

FAQ

Flare and Sunburst, briefly

What is the difference between GPT Image 2.5 Flare and Sunburst?

Both are OpenAI’s GPT Image 2.5. OpenAI’s documentation describes Flare as built for “fast, high-quality image generation” and Sunburst for “precise editing”. In our tests Flare was 1.2 to 2 times faster, while Sunburst left the unedited parts of a photo untouched and handled the most complex layout far better.

Which one is better?

Neither, overall. For new images from a prompt, Flare matched Sunburst and was faster. For editing your own photo and for diagrams with strict rules, Sunburst was clearly better.

Which one writes text better?

For short text we saw no difference: both spelled every title, label and claim correctly. Sunburst more often added small extras, such as taglines, so read the result before you publish.

Which one should I use to remove a background?

Both kept our bottle and its label exact and returned a real transparent PNG; Flare took about half the time. Our background page starts on Sunburst; switch to Flare in the studio if you prefer speed.

Will AI editing change parts of my photo I didn’t mention?

With Sunburst, in our test, no: only the sofa and the throw draped over it changed. Flare redrew the whole scene with small shifts you notice when comparing.

Do they cost the same?

On Lightlyn, yes. Credits depend only on the image size, not the model; see pricing. Failed generations are refunded.

Can I try both for free?

New accounts get 30 free credits¹ and 3 more with each daily check-in, enough to run the same prompt on both models several times.

Can both make 4K images?

Yes, natively, up to 3840 pixels on the long side. Our 3840 × 2160 test took 35 seconds with Flare and 58 with Sunburst.

Run your own prompt on both

Switch models in the same conversation and compare.

Start with Flare Start with Sunburst

Free credits (the sign-up gift and daily check-ins) are for accounts registered with a common email provider such as Gmail, Outlook, iCloud or Yahoo, or with a school address. Daily quantities are limited, and free credits expire after 30 days.

GPT Image 2.5, Flare and Sunburst are models by OpenAI. Lightlyn is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI. Quotes from OpenAI’s documentation as read on 24 October 2026.