AI Image Generation Statistics 2026

This page collects AI image generation statistics for 2026.

Our own numbers come from the Oakgen AI Image Index 2026.

It covers 6,369 image jobs run on Oakgen from December 15, 2025 to November 10, 2026.

Every number below names its sample size (n) and date range.

Market, usage and policy figures come from outside sources, each linked to the publisher.

Key findings

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that 96.3% of AI image jobs completed (n = 6,369, Dec 15, 2025 to Nov 10, 2026).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that 3.4% of AI image jobs failed (n = 6,369).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that content policy blocks ended 1.0% of image jobs (n = 6,369).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that 49.9% of completed images were edits of an existing image (n = 5,391).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that Nano Banana Pro edit was the most used image model at 16.1% of jobs (n = 6,369).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that 9:16 vertical was the most common aspect ratio at 27.0% (n = 5,324).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that the median completed image cost 14 credits, about $0.08 at the add-on rate (n = 5,391).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that the median image took 41.7 seconds to generate (n = 6,133).

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that October 2026 had 1,655 image jobs, the busiest month in the sample.

How often does AI image generation fail?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that 96.3% of 6,369 image jobs completed.

3.4% failed.

19 jobs were still processing when the data was pulled.

Content policy blocks ended 1.0% of all image jobs.

Image jobs failed far less often than video jobs. The Oakgen AI Video Index 2026 found an 11.5% video failure rate.

Which AI image models do people use most?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that Nano Banana Pro edit ran 16.1% of image jobs (n = 6,369).

The ten most used models are shown.

GPT Image 2 edit had the lowest completion rate in the table at 76.8%.

Model share reflects what Oakgen offered and promoted during the period.

It is not a market share figure.

Are AI images mostly edits or text-to-image?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that 49.9% of completed, charged image jobs were edits (n = 5,391).

The rest started from text alone.

We count a job as an edit when the model is an edit model.

What aspect ratio do AI images use?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that vertical formats led (n = 5,324 jobs with a set aspect ratio).

"Auto" means the model picked the ratio, often to match an input image.

How much does an AI image cost?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that the median completed image cost 14 credits (n = 5,391).

The mean was 27.1 credits.

We convert credits to dollars at three rates.

The add-on rate is 180 credits per dollar.

The Basic plan is $19 for 4,000 credits.

The Creator plan is $99 for 30,000 credits.

Cost per completed image varied by model (only models with at least 100 charged images):

See AI image generation speed and cost for more.

How long does AI image generation take?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that the median completed image took 41.7 seconds (n = 6,133).

How many AI images are made each month?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 counted image jobs per month on Oakgen.

Months with fewer than 100 jobs are not shown.

These counts show Oakgen's own growth, not the market's.

How often do people rerun the same AI image prompt?

The Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 found that 9.8% of prompts were run more than once by the same person (n = 5,046 prompt groups).

This counts identical-prompt reruns only.

How many AI images do the big platforms make?

This section uses outside sources only.

OpenAI said over 130 million users created more than 700 million images in the first week of GPT-4o image generation in ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025-04-23).

Canva said its AI products had been used more than 27 billion times, with usage tripling over the past year (Canva, The next era of Canva, 2026-04-13).

Canva had reported 18 billion uses in July 2025 (Canva, 2025-07-14).

Adobe said total Firefly generations crossed 24 billion exiting Q2 FY2025 (Adobe, Q2 FY2025 earnings script, 2025-06-12).

HubSpot reports that 45% of marketers use AI image editing tools, and nearly 75% use AI for media creation (HubSpot, State of Marketing 2026). The page does not state a sample size.

Do people want AI images labeled?

Getty Images found that almost 90% of consumers want to know whether an image was made with AI (Getty Images, VisualGPS, 2024-04-30). The survey covered 30,000+ adults in 25 countries from 2022 to 2024, so it predates 2025.

People cannot reliably spot AI media.

A study in Communications of the ACM found detection close to the 50% of a coin toss, about 51% overall (Cooke et al., 2025-10).

Do AI images work in ads?

The evidence conflicts.

A Harvard Business School working paper found that ads with AI-generated images got higher click-through rates, but only when the images did not look like AI (Harvard Business School, AI in Disguise, 2025). It is not yet peer reviewed.

The Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions found that identical ads were rated less natural and less useful when labeled as AI (NIM, 2025-06-26).

How big is the AI image generator market?

Research firms disagree, because each defines the market differently.

Fortune Business Insights says North America held 40.34% of the market in 2025.

Some aggregator sites cite a USD 15.18B figure for 2026. We could not trace it to a source, so we did not use it.

What are the AI image labeling rules?

Methodology

Source. All Oakgen numbers come from Oakgen's production job records.

Period. Image jobs from December 15, 2025 to November 10, 2026.

Fields. We used job status, error type, model, aspect ratio, prompt and timestamps.

Edits. A job counts as an edit when its model is an edit model. The stored mode field was not reliable, so we did not use it.

Credits. We used the credits recorded on the job. When that was missing, we summed the usage deductions in the credit ledger that point to the job. Only completed jobs are counted.

Dollars. We convert at 180 credits per dollar (add-on), $19 per 4,000 credits (Basic) and $99 per 30,000 credits (Creator).

Generation time. Time from job creation to the recorded completion time, or the last update when no completion time was stored.

Reruns. We grouped jobs by person and exact prompt text. Edited prompts count as new prompts.

Suppression. We do not publish any cut with fewer than 100 jobs.

Privacy. We report totals only. No user-level data, prompts or outputs are shown.

Limits. This is one platform. Model share reflects which models Oakgen offered. The sample is small next to the big platforms. Aspect ratio was not set on every job, so those shares use a smaller sample.

Outside sources. We cite each with its publisher, date and link. We did not use figures we could not trace to a primary source.

How to cite this page

You are free to use these numbers with a link back to this page.

Suggested citation:

Oakgen Research. "AI Image Generation Statistics 2026." Oakgen AI Image Index 2026, n = 6,369 image jobs, December 15, 2025 to November 10, 2026. https://oakgen.ai/research/ai-image-statistics

Frequently asked questions

How much does one AI image cost?

The median completed image in the Oakgen AI Image Index 2026 cost 14 credits. That is about $0.08 at the add-on rate, $0.07 on the Basic plan and $0.05 on the Creator plan (n = 5,391).

Are most AI images edits or made from text?

About half and half. 49.9% of completed, charged image jobs were edits that started from an image (n = 5,391).

What aspect ratio is most common for AI images?

9:16 vertical, at 27.0% of image jobs with a set aspect ratio (n = 5,324).