Ideogram vs DALL-E: Which Handles Text in Images Better?
Verdict
Ideogram v3 is significantly better at rendering readable text in images. DALL-E 3 improved over DALL-E 2 but still struggles with complex text. For text-in-image tasks, Ideogram wins decisively.
TL;DR
If you need readable text in AI-generated images — logos, posters, signs, marketing graphics — Ideogram v3 is the clear winner. DALL-E 3 improved text handling over its predecessor but still frequently misspells words or produces illegible text. For everything else (general image quality, ecosystem), DALL-E has advantages.
Ideogram v3
Ideogram built its reputation specifically on solving text rendering in AI images. Version 3 is the current leader.
- Text quality: Best-in-class, reliably readable
- Style: Clean, graphic-design-friendly
- Access: Web UI + API, available on Maginary
- Pricing: Free tier / paid from ~$7/month
DALL-E 3
OpenAI’s image model, integrated into ChatGPT. Improved text handling but not its primary strength.
- Text quality: Improved (but inconsistent with complex text)
- Style: Versatile, good instruction following
- Access: ChatGPT + OpenAI API
- Pricing: ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) or API ($0.04-0.08/image)
Text Rendering Comparison
| Scenario | Ideogram v3 | DALL-E 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Short text (1-3 words) | Excellent | Good |
| Long text (sentences) | Good | Poor (frequent errors) |
| Logos with text | Excellent | Moderate |
| Signs/posters | Excellent | Moderate |
| Multiple text elements | Good | Poor |
| Non-Latin scripts | Moderate | Poor |
General Image Quality
For non-text images, DALL-E 3 is generally more versatile. It handles a wider range of prompts well and benefits from ChatGPT’s conversational refinement. Ideogram’s outputs tend toward cleaner, more graphic-design-oriented styles.
Use Both on Maginary
Maginary includes both Ideogram v3 and other frontier models in one streamlined interface. Maginary automatically routes text-heavy prompts to Ideogram and general generation to Flux Pro. Upscaling and iterating are all a click away — one platform, best model chosen automatically.
What is Maginary?
Maginary is an AI image and video generation platform that gives you access to multiple frontier models — Flux Pro, Ideogram, Recraft, Google Imagen, Kling, Sora, and more — through a single interface and API.
- ✓ Multi-model: Pick the best model for each job, or let Maginary choose
- ✓ Full editing pipeline: Generate → vary → upscale → zoom out → pan → video
- ✓ API-first: Full REST API for developers and automation
- ✓ No forced subscriptions: Pay-per-use credits, transparent pricing
- ✓ Prompt understanding: Works in any language, infers your intent without over-embellishing