Task: High-CTR thumbnail with readable face + text.
YouTube thumbnails are the one task where in-image text rendering matters more than face realism — and Ideogram v2 is the specialist for that. If your thumbnail style relies on expressive faces without on-image text, Midjourney or FLUX win. Workflow: generate the face in Midjourney, add text in Photoshop/Canva if you want the best of both.
YouTube thumbnail, 16:9, extreme close-up on a 28-year-old man's face, shocked expression, wide-open eyes, mouth slightly open, high-contrast lighting (half-face in warm orange, half in cool blue), bold text overlay reading "I TRIED THIS" in large white sans-serif at the top-left, dramatic MrBeast-style composition, cinematic, 4K, photorealistic.
| Rank | Model | Total /50 | Cost / run |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Ideogram v2 | 46 | 5.0‰ cent |
| 🥈 | DALL-E 3 | 43 | 4.0¢ |
| 🥉 | FLUX 1.1 Pro | 42 | 5.0¢ |
| #4 | Midjourney v6.1 | 40 | 4.0¢ |
| #5 | Gemini Imagen 3 | 36 | Free |
Text was perfectly legible — the one model consistently good at in-image text. Face expression slightly stiff.
Second-best text rendering. Followed every instruction literally including the half-warm/half-cool lighting split.
Better face than Midjourney's expression range. Text improved but still inconsistent.
Most natural face expression. Text was often mangled or placed differently from the prompt.
Decent free option. Text was readable on 3/5 regens.