The top alternative to GPT Image 2 API is GPT-Image 1.5, rated 1254 Elo (#3 of 70) in the Image Editing Arena, followed by Nano Banana 2 (1248 Elo) (GPT Image 2 API itself ranks #2 of 70 at 1258 Elo).
GPT-Image 1.5 is the highest-ranked image to image alternative, with 1254 Elo (#3 of 70) in the Image Editing Arena from blind human-preference votes. The full ranking below lists 15 alternatives.
All models here compete in the same human-preference arena as GPT Image 2 API, which holds 1258 Elo at rank #2 — open any model page or a head-to-head compare link for the direct matchup.