GPT-4o vs. DALL-E 3 Compared: Like DALL-E on Steroids

Just when we all got cozy with Midjourney and DALL-E 3 — thinking it was the gold standard — OpenAI went ahead and dropped GPT-4o. No big promo campaign, no mysterious teaser. Just a casual announcement that, oh by the way, their new model happens to be ridiculously good at creating images.

At first glance, you might think, “Alright, it’s probably just DALL-E 3 with a new coat of paint.” But no, this isn’t just an update. It’s a full-blown glow-up. Imagine DALL-E 3 going through a Rocky-style training montage, learning from its past mistakes, and coming back shredded.

So I did what any curious, slightly obsessive nerd would do: I put them to the test. Side-by-side. Prompt for prompt. From photorealism to pixel art to abstract ideas and even that cursed “room without an elephant” challenge — I threw everything at them.

Here’s how GPT-4o stacks up against its older sibling — and spoiler alert: things get a little one-sided.

What is DALL-E 3?

If you've been anywhere near ChatGPT the last few years, you've probably heard of DALL-E 3. 

It is (or, was, but I’m getting ahead of myself) OpenAI's main text-to-image generation model — a model optimized for understanding context. Developed as a significant leap forward from its predecessors, DALL-E 3 represents a jump in how artificial intelligence can transform textual descriptions into stunning, nuanced visual representations.

What made DALL-E 3 genuinely impressive is its unprecedented level of prompt understanding and image generation accuracy. Unlike earlier models that often produced somewhat abstract or imperfect images, this version can translate complex, multi-layered descriptions into precise visuals.

But hey, don’t take my word for it, instead take my word for it when I was reviewing the model when it first came out. 

What is GPT-4o Image Generation?

When I first heard the news, my first question was “what makes OpenAI’s new image model different from DALL-E?”

At a surface level, not much. The way you can access and use their new model is the same as it always was: through ChatGPT or by using their APIs. The most significant change (and trust me, it is significant) is their capability.

The biggest limitations of AI image generators today are context handling and text generation. It doesn’t matter if it’s DALL-E 3, Midjourney, Firefly, Meta — they often fail when given a long prompt or requests that need a lot of text.

OpenAI’s GPT-4o Image Generator is the change we needed. I mean, just look at this:

That isn’t just acceptable, that’s perfect.

This is why I’m excited to try this one out, but a simple test wouldn’t cut it. Instead, I wanted to compare it against its predecessor: DALL-E 3.

GPT-4o Image Generation vs. DALL-E 3

Photorealism

Prompt: A 1:1 image taken with a phone of a young man reaching the summit of a mountain at sunrise. The field of view shows other hikers in the background taking a photo of the view.

DALL-E 3 is still stuck in that uncomfortable "uncanny valley" where people look like they've been stretched. Background humans scale about as naturally as a fun-house mirror. 

But GPT-4o? This is different. These images look like they were snapped on a smartphone — so perfect that you'd swear a human photographer was behind the lens. It's not just good. It's "did I accidentally download a stock photo?" good.

Pixel Art

Prompt: A pixel art illustration of the Taj Mahal.

DALL-E 3 tries hard — really hard. It generates these flashy pixel art images that look impressive at first glance. Zoom in, though, and the magic falls apart. Pixels blend like watercolors instead of being distinct. 

As for GPT-4o, it's the pixel art purist's dream. Simple, clean, every pixel exactly where it should be. 

Architecture & Interior Design

Prompt: Create an image of the interior design of a Bauhaus-inspired apartment. 

DALL-E 3 apparently missed the memo on Bauhaus completely. Throw a Bauhaus prompt at it, and you'll get something that looks like it was designed by a bat who once saw a Bauhaus poster from really far away. 

GPT-4o nails it. Colors pop — every line is intentional and every shade is calculated. This is Pinterest ready.

Mimicking Art Styles

Prompt: Create an image of a sunrise as seen from a beachfront villa, in the style of Van Gogh.

After seeing y’all make “Studio Ghibli”-style images of yourselves, I’ll admit — I was tempted to do the same for this round, but I opted to go a different (but familiar) route: Van Gogh.

DALL-E 3's Van Gogh? Sure, there are swirls. Sure, there's some blue. But this isn't Van Gogh — this is Van Gogh's distant, less talented cousin. Meanwhile, GPT-4o recreates brush strokes so perfectly you can almost feel the texture of the canvas.

Abstract Concepts

Both models handle abstract concepts surprisingly well. But DALL-E 3 still can't shake that telltale "AI smoothness" — you know, that digital polish that screams "computer-generated." It's like looking at a perfectly waxed floor: impressive, but something's just… off.

Text Generation

Prompt: Create an image of a mileage sign taken by a phone. The content of the sign must be as follows:
Line 1: "Manila" "10.1KM"
Line 2: "Antipolo" "20.4KM"
Line 3: "Batangas" "34.5KM" 
Line 4: "Quezon" "49.44KM"
Line 5: "Naga" "142.4KM"

GPT-4o has perfected AI text generation in images. It’s not just DALL-E 3 — Midjourney, Firefly, Grok — all of them have to play catch-up to be this good. There’s not a single letter missed, artifact misplaced, or number malformed. This is just an image of a mileage sign, and I mean that in a good way.

“A Room Without An Elephant”

Prompt: Create an image of a room without an elephant.

This is a famous prompt in the r/ChatGPT community that famously breaks DALL-E. When you specify an exclusion, due to low contextual understanding, DALL-E includes it in the image instead. You can see the same thing happening above.

Fortunately, GPT-4o doesn’t have the same issue anymore, showing that its nuance is evolving. It’s boring — as it should be.

The Bottom Line

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: DALL-E 3, while good at context, was bad at art. Fortunately, it’s just that GPT-4o walked in and made it look like a warm-up act.

In nearly every category, GPT-4o doesn’t just outperform — it redefines what “good” means in AI image generation. Whether you’re talking realism, art style mimicry, or the absolute nightmare that is rendering readable text in an image, GPT-4o handled it all like it was built for this.

The real kicker? Context. GPT-4o actually gets what you’re asking for — not just the words, but the intention behind them. You say “a room without an elephant,” and for once, the model doesn’t try to sneak a cartoon elephant in the corner. It just… listens.

That’s what sets it apart. It’s not just about sharper pixels or prettier outputs. It’s about understanding. And once an AI model starts doing that reliably? That’s when things get exciting.

So yeah — DALL-E 3 had a good run. But if this is where GPT-4o starts, I can’t wait to see what’s next.