High to max on 100 hero images: GPT Image 2.5 adds $20, xhigh adds $5

Re-rendering 100 hero images on GPT Image 2.5 at xhigh instead of high costs $5 more, and at max it costs $20 more, for 1024-class output on Sume. High is 7 cents per image, xhigh about 12 and max about 27, so the totals are $7, $12 and $27 for 100 images.

The upgrade math

High is the default when you omit quality. The Image API docs give 1024x1024 output estimates of $0.09366 (xhigh) and $0.21072 (max), before input tokens and Sume pricing. Multiply by 1.25 and round up to the cent to get the Sume figure. Because input tokens are added on top and reference images count as input, a reference-heavy edit can land above these numbers.

Where it is worth paying

Only GPT Image 2.5 and its Sunburst twin take xhigh and max. ChatGPT Image 2 does not take them, because its catalog lists only low, medium and high, and Sume rejects a value a model does not list. So the upgrade is a model choice as well as a setting: if you are on ChatGPT Image 2 at 27 cents for high, GPT Image 2.5 at max costs the same 27 cents.

That tie is a useful fact for a migration. At equal price you get the xhigh and max tiers, the 16-image reference limit and a transparent background option. The docs do not publish a quality comparison, so look at a pair of renders before you decide.

• Use xhigh when high is nearly right and a $5 per 100 bump is fine.
• Use max for a short list of final images: 20 of them is $5.40.
• Do not use auto quality for budgets, because auto reserves the max amount.

Order of operations

Draft at low, shortlist, then upgrade only the shortlist. Keep the prompt and references identical between runs so you compare the tier and nothing else.

Budget the whole campaign

Suppose a launch needs 100 hero images and you render each three times before choosing. At high that is 300 images and $21. Do the three tries at low (300 x 1 cent = $3), choose one per hero, then render the 100 winners at max ($27): a total of $30, against $81 if every try were rendered at max. The drafts are cheap enough that you can generate them freely and spend the premium only where the eye needs it.