Ideogram 4.0
Ideogram 4.0 is the model Ideogram released on 3 June 2026, its first with open weights under Apache 2.0 after three closed generations. Ideogram, founded by former Google Brain researchers, made its name on legible text in images, and 4.0 leans into design: multilingual type, layout control, structured JSON prompts, and 2K output. It is priced by the megapixel at three rendering speeds.
Anvisha Pai, Co-founder & CEO, ModaTested Ideogram · released
›What we asked for
A self-portrait of Ideogram 4.0, an AI image model built for design and typography, as a bold typographic poster: the word 'IDEOGRAM' set enormous in a condensed display face, filled with a gradient from coral to violet, the numerals '4.0' overlapping in outline, a small line reading 'built for design' at the foot, Swiss grid layout on cream.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
At a glance
- Price
- By the megapixel: $0.0075 at Turbo, $0.015 at Balanced, $0.025 at Quality. A 1K image is under a cent to two and a half cents.
- Rendering speed
- Turbo, Balanced or Quality. The ladder below shows all three on the same prompts with time and cost.
- Open weights
- Apache 2.0; you can download and run it.
- Type
- Ideogram's reputation; the poster, logo and infographic samples are the test.
- No edit endpoint on fal
- fal exposes text-to-image only for 4.0, so the edit prompt below could not be run.
Anvisha's take
Ideogram's reputation is text, and on our prompts the reputation held only at the top rendering speed. Turbo produced 'SSESSIONS S'; Quality produced a clean, correct poster. Its own name on the self-portrait came out with overlapping letters, which is not a great look for a type specialist. Away from text it is fine: a usable logo, a correct composition, a tidy infographic. It is also the cheapest model here at Turbo. My rule: never Turbo for words, and Balanced or Quality for the poster-and-logo work it is meant for.
Ideogram 4.0 real output: the same 12 prompts every model gets
Every model on this site gets the same 12 prompts, so you can compare like with like. These are the pictures Ideogram 4.0 returned, one try each, nothing re-rolled or retouched. Generated on . The 11 pictures took 9 to 33 seconds each and cost $0.22 in total.
Spelling, kerning and hierarchy of three lines of set text.
›What we asked for
A concert poster that reads 'MODA SUMMER SESSIONS' in large bold type, with the subtitle 'Friday 12 June, 8pm, Roundhouse' and a smaller line 'Tickets at the door'. Risograph style, two colours, tangerine and navy, grainy ink texture.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
Catalogue lighting, a clean seamless background and a believable contact shadow.
›What we asked for
Studio product photograph of a matte black ceramic pour-over coffee dripper on a seamless white background, soft top light, subtle contact shadow, centred, catalogue style.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
A natural face, correct finger count and hands holding an object.
›What we asked for
Close-up portrait of a woman in her 40s with short grey hair, laughing, holding a red ceramic mug with both hands, natural window light, 85mm lens, shallow depth of field.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
A flat single-colour mark with a legible wordmark and no gradients or photo texture.
›What we asked for
A flat vector logo mark for a bicycle repair shop called 'Spoke & Chain': a single-colour icon combining a chain link and a wheel spoke, with the wordmark below in a geometric sans-serif, black on white.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
Many distinct objects and people in one frame without merging or duplicating them.
›What we asked for
A crowded Saturday farmers market seen from slightly above: at least twelve stalls with striped awnings, shoppers carrying tote bags, a dog on a leash, crates of oranges, a musician with a guitar, bunting overhead, late morning light.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1360,"height":1024}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1360 by 1024 pixels
A named historical style applied faithfully rather than a generic painterly look.
›What we asked for
A lighthouse on a rocky cliff during a storm, in the style of a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print, with visible wood grain texture, flat colour areas and a bokashi gradient sky.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
Six labelled bars at the stated heights, in order, with readable axes.
›What we asked for
A clean bar chart titled 'Monthly active users' showing six months, January through June, with the values 120, 150, 180, 170, 220 and 260, labelled axes, white background, one accent colour, no 3D effects.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1360,"height":1024}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1360 by 1024 pixels
A 21:9 composition that leaves the left third clear for headline text.
›What we asked for
Website hero banner: a wide panorama of a sunlit modern co-working space with plants, the left third of the frame kept as clear wall space for text, warm neutral palette.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":2016,"height":864}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 2016 by 864 pixels
Four numbered steps in the given order with their exact wording, plus an icon each.
›What we asked for
An infographic card titled 'How to brew pour-over' with four numbered steps in this order: 1. Rinse the filter, 2. Bloom for 30 seconds, 3. Pour in slow circles, 4. Wait 3 minutes. A simple icon beside each step, muted palette, clean sans-serif type.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
Appetising, menu-grade food with correct textures and no melted anatomy.
›What we asked for
Overhead photograph of a margherita pizza on a wooden board, fresh basil leaves, one slice pulled out with the cheese stretching, restaurant menu photography, natural light.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
Exact counts and left-right placement of five named objects.
›What we asked for
A glass of water on a wooden table with exactly three ice cubes in it, a yellow pencil resting across the rim of the glass, a blue book to the left of the glass and a red apple to the right, photographed from table height.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1360,"height":1024}, rendering_speed: BALANCED, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1360 by 1024 pixels
Change one object's colour and add a part while leaving background, light and framing untouched.
›What we asked for
Change the coffee dripper to a deep forest green and add a small brass handle on its right side. Keep the background, lighting and composition exactly as they are. (applied to the product on white result above)
ideogram/v4
How the cost under each picture was worked out: fal's Ideogram V4 rate of $0.015 per megapixel at BALANCED for 1024x1024; fal does not return the charge.
Ideogram 4.0 settings that matter
Rendering speed
Rendering speed is a text-accuracy dial, not just a time dial. Turbo spelled the poster's headline 'SSESSIONS S' with a stray letter; Balanced and Quality spelled it correctly, and Quality set it best. The pizza was fine at all three. Costs on the poster were $0.010, $0.021 and $0.035 and times 10, 14 and 29 seconds. For anything with words, Balanced is the floor.
Text in an image
›What we asked for
A concert poster that reads 'MODA SUMMER SESSIONS' in large bold type, with the subtitle 'Friday 12 June, 8pm, Roundhouse' and a smaller line 'Tickets at the door'. Risograph style, two colours, tangerine and navy, grainy ink texture.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, rendering_speed: TURBO, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
Food photography
›What we asked for
Overhead photograph of a margherita pizza on a wooden board, fresh basil leaves, one slice pulled out with the cheese stretching, restaurant menu photography, natural light.
ideogram/v4
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, rendering_speed: TURBO, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
Ideogram 4.0 pricing
| Where | Unit | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fal | 1024 by 1024, Balanced $0.0075 per megapixel at Turbo, $0.015 at Balanced, $0.025 at Quality. fal's example: 2048 by 2048 is $0.03, $0.06 or $0.10. | $0.015 | fal model page, read |
| fal | 1024 by 1024, Turbo | $0.007 | fal model page, read |
| fal | 1024 by 1024, Quality | $0.025 | fal model page, read |
Is Ideogram 4.0 free?
Ideogram's own app has a free plan with a daily allowance of slow-queue generations, and the 4.0 weights are free to download and run under Apache 2.0. The API is paid.
- •Ideogram app: free plan with limited daily credits; paid plans add speed, privacy and volume.
- •Open weights: Ideogram 4.0 is downloadable under Apache 2.0.
- •API and hosts: pay per megapixel.
Ideogram 4.0 on GitHub, read
Where to use Ideogram 4.0
- Ideogram app · Ideogram's own app, free plan included.
- Ideogram API · Ideogram's developer API.
- Open weights · Apache 2.0 weights and code.
- fal · Per-megapixel pricing at three rendering speeds.
- Moda · Available inside the Moda design agent as Ideogram V4.
Generate with Ideogram 4.0 in Moda
Pick Ideogram 4.0 in the Moda design agent, then edit the result as vectors, text and layers rather than a flat image.
Open Moda →What we noticed running Ideogram 4.0
- •A clean single-colour chain-link mark with a spaced wordmark. It dropped the spoke half of the brief. See the logo mark picture.
- •Four headings, exact wording, line icons, nothing invented, with uneven spacing that leaves the last step orphaned. See the infographic with steps picture.
- •Pencil across the rim, book left, apple right, and about three ice cubes; a pass. See the hard composition picture.
- •No edit endpoint for Ideogram 4.0 on fal at the time of reading, so the edit prompt could not be run. See the edit an existing image picture.
- •The self-portrait set its own name in a condensed face with the letters colliding, IDEOGR AM, and the 4.0 outline drawn over the top. Display type at large sizes is not automatically safe.
- •Cheapest per picture on the site at Turbo: under a cent for a 1K image, and about two cents at Balanced.
- •Sizes are honoured to the pixel and priced by area.
Ideogram 4.0 limits and API parameters
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Output size | Presets or any width and height, priced by area. fal API reference, read |
| Edits | No edit endpoint for 4.0 on fal at the time of reading. fal model page, read |
›Every setting, for developers
fal (ideogram/v4)
fal API reference, read
| Parameter | Type | Values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| prompt | string | Any text Required. | |
| image_size | enum or object | square_hd, square, portrait_4_3, portrait_16_9, landscape_4_3, landscape_16_9, or {width, height} | square_hd |
| rendering_speed | enum | TURBO, BALANCED, QUALITY | BALANCED |
| expansion_model | enum | None, Medium, Large Prompt expansion. | Medium |
| acceleration | enum | none, low, regular, high | none |
| num_images | integer | 1 or more | 1 |
| seed | integer | Any integer | |
| output_format | enum | jpeg, png | jpeg |
What Ideogram 4.0 will not draw
Ideogram's terms prohibit generating content that is hateful or threatening, promotes violence or self-harm, harasses, is sexually explicit, is political, or is false, misleading or impersonates another person. fal keeps a safety checker on by default. The political clause is broader than most vendors' and matters for campaign or advocacy design.
Alternatives to Ideogram 4.0
Frequently asked questions
What is Ideogram 4.0?
Ideogram 4.0 is the image model Ideogram released on 3 June 2026, its first with open weights under Apache 2.0, built for design and typography with 2K output and three rendering speeds.
Is Ideogram free?
The app has a free plan with a daily allowance, and the 4.0 weights are free to download. The API and hosts charge by the megapixel, from under a cent per image at Turbo.
Turbo, Balanced or Quality?
The ladder above shows the same two prompts at all three. Balanced is the default; Quality costs three times Turbo per megapixel.
How this page is made
Prices, limits and settings are read from the linked vendor and host pages on the dates shown. Every picture was generated by us through fal with the request shown under it, and the original files are kept unedited. A generation that failed is shown as a failure. Model and vendor names are used to identify the products; no vendor imagery appears on this page.
