Image models compared
Ideogram 3.0 vs Qwen-Image 2.1: the same prompts, side by side
Ideogram 3.0 and Alibaba's Qwen-Image 2.1 on the same 16 prompts, two for each of 8 jobs, from logos to YouTube thumbnails: each image as it was made, what the checks found, what it cost and how long it took.
Based on 32 images made on September 29, 2026 through kie.ai with llmwise's own settings for each model, each checked by Claude Sonnet 5.5. How the images are checked.
Short answer
On our 16 image test prompts, Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 each passed 11, each image checked the same way. Ideogram 3.0 was quicker, 73.5 s an image against 79.9 s. In llmwise a Ideogram 3.0 image counts as 2 Claude Haiku 4.5 messages and a Qwen-Image 2.1 image as 1 Claude Haiku 4.5 message: up to 125 and 250 images a month on Pro.
Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 in llmwise
What llmwise asks Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 for, and what an image of each counts as.
| Fact | Ideogram 3.0 | Qwen-Image 2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Ideogram | Alibaba |
| Made through | kie.ai | kie.ai |
| Output size | about 1 megapixel | 1K |
| Aspect ratios | square 1:1, portrait 3:4, landscape 4:3 | square 1:1, portrait 2:3, landscape 3:2 |
| An image counts as | 2 Claude Haiku 4.5 messages | 1 Claude Haiku 4.5 message |
| Images on Pro | up to 125 a month | up to 250 a month |
Job by job
Ideogram 3.0 passed 11 of 16 and Qwen-Image 2.1 11 of 16. A prompt passes when every piece of writing it asked for is there and every question about the image is a yes.
| Job | Ideogram 3.0 | Qwen-Image 2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Logos | 2 of 2 passed, 12 of 12 checks | 1 of 2 passed, 11 of 12 checks |
| Text in images | 2 of 2 passed, 14 of 14 checks | 2 of 2 passed, 14 of 14 checks |
| Product photos | 1 of 2 passed, 6 of 12 checks | 2 of 2 passed, 12 of 12 checks |
| Photorealistic images | 2 of 2 passed, 11 of 11 checks | 0 of 2 passed, 9 of 11 checks |
| Illustrations | 1 of 2 passed, 9 of 10 checks | 2 of 2 passed, 10 of 10 checks |
| Portraits | 0 of 2 passed, 5 of 13 checks | 2 of 2 passed, 13 of 13 checks |
| YouTube thumbnails | 2 of 2 passed, 12 of 12 checks | 1 of 2 passed, 11 of 12 checks |
| Social media posts | 1 of 2 passed, 11 of 12 checks | 1 of 2 passed, 11 of 12 checks |
The same prompts, side by side
Ideogram 3.0's and Qwen-Image 2.1's image for each prompt, with each question either one was answered no on; a prompt's title links to it in full, with every answer.
A coffee shop logo with its name
Both Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Qwen-Image 2.1's image came 47.9 s sooner (56.5 s to 104.4 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A wheel and a wrench in one icon
Only Ideogram 3.0 passed, not Qwen-Image 2.1; Qwen-Image 2.1's image came 9.9 s sooner (53.7 s to 63.6 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Failed 
- Is there a bicycle wheel in the icon? No: The icon is a plain circle with a short horizontal line, with no spokes, tire or hub, so it reads as a ring rather than a bicycle wheel.
A bakery sign with two lines
Both Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Qwen-Image 2.1's image came 33.8 s sooner (30.9 s to 64.6 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A café menu board with four prices
Both Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Ideogram 3.0's image came 20.6 s sooner (62.1 s to 82.7 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A white sneaker on a grey background
Only Qwen-Image 2.1 passed, not Ideogram 3.0: Ideogram 3.0 made no image.
Ideogram 3.0Failed No image: kie.ai reported that the task failed, both times we tried.
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A perfume bottle and its reflection
Both Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Ideogram 3.0's image came 27.4 s sooner (63.6 s to 91.0 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A bowl of ramen from above
Only Ideogram 3.0 passed, not Qwen-Image 2.1; Ideogram 3.0's image came 34.7 s sooner (83.3 s to 118.0 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Failed 
- Are chopsticks resting across the bowl? No: The chopsticks lie on the table and reach the bowl's lower left edge, but they do not rest across the bowl. They look more like they pass over or in front of the rim than rest on it.
A rainy street at night, one red umbrella
Only Ideogram 3.0 passed, not Qwen-Image 2.1; Ideogram 3.0's image came 69.0 s sooner (62.7 s to 131.7 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Failed 
- Is the person walking away from the camera? No: The person is seen from the side or back and appears to be crossing or facing sideways, so it isn't clearly walking away from the camera.
A watercolour fox for a children's book
Only Qwen-Image 2.1 passed, not Ideogram 3.0; Ideogram 3.0's image came 60.6 s sooner (83.0 s to 143.6 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Failed 
- Is it a watercolour painting, not a photo or a 3D render? No: It looks like a digital painting with soft brushwork and detailed rendering, not clearly a watercolour, photo or 3D render.
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
Three people at one laptop, flat vector
Both Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Ideogram 3.0's image came 41.1 s sooner (63.5 s to 104.6 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A studio headshot
Only Qwen-Image 2.1 passed, not Ideogram 3.0: Ideogram 3.0 made no image.
Ideogram 3.0Failed No image: kie.ai reported that the task failed, both times we tried.
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A fisherman holding a rope in both hands
Only Qwen-Image 2.1 passed, not Ideogram 3.0; Qwen-Image 2.1's image came 32.7 s sooner (30.8 s to 63.5 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Failed 
- Does every hand you can see have five fingers and look natural? No: The hands are clasped and partly hidden by the rope, so not every finger can be counted and confirmed as five.
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A cooking video thumbnail
Only Ideogram 3.0 passed, not Qwen-Image 2.1; Qwen-Image 2.1's image came 81.2 s sooner (43.4 s to 124.6 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Failed 
- Are there flames coming from the pan? No: The flames are on the far left beside the man, not coming from the pan, which only holds food and flying bits.
A phone review thumbnail with a question
Both Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Qwen-Image 2.1's image came 27.9 s sooner (35.7 s to 63.6 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A summer sale post
Both Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Qwen-Image 2.1's image came 40.6 s sooner (23.1 s to 63.7 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Passed 
Qwen-Image 2.1Passed 
A book club announcement, top and bottom
Neither Ideogram 3.0 nor Qwen-Image 2.1 passed; Ideogram 3.0's image came 28.1 s sooner (63.5 s to 91.7 s), and Qwen-Image 2.1's cost $0.015 less at kie.ai.
Ideogram 3.0Failed 
- Is there an open book? No: The book is standing upright with its page edges facing the viewer, so it is closed, not open.
Qwen-Image 2.1Failed 
- Apart from those two lines, is nothing else written? No: The open book's pages show small blurry lines of text, so there is other writing, though it is unreadable.
More image models, compared
- FLUX.2 Pro vs Ideogram 3.0
- GPT Image 2.5 Flare vs Ideogram 3.0
- Ideogram 3.0 vs Nano Banana 2
- Ideogram 3.0 vs Nano Banana Pro
- Ideogram 3.0 vs Seedream 5.0 Lite
- FLUX.2 Pro vs Qwen-Image 2.1
- GPT Image 2.5 Flare vs Qwen-Image 2.1
- Nano Banana 2 vs Qwen-Image 2.1
- Nano Banana Pro vs Qwen-Image 2.1
- Qwen-Image 2.1 vs Seedream 5.0 Lite
Questions
Is Ideogram 3.0 better than Qwen-Image 2.1?
On our 16 image test prompts, Ideogram 3.0 and Qwen-Image 2.1 each passed 11, each image checked the same way. Ideogram 3.0 was quicker, 73.5 s an image against 79.9 s. In llmwise a Ideogram 3.0 image counts as 2 Claude Haiku 4.5 messages and a Qwen-Image 2.1 image as 1 Claude Haiku 4.5 message: up to 125 and 250 images a month on Pro.
Which is cheaper in llmwise, Ideogram 3.0 or Qwen-Image 2.1?
Qwen-Image 2.1: in llmwise its image counts as 1 Claude Haiku 4.5 message, against 2 Claude Haiku 4.5 messages for Ideogram 3.0.
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