# OpenAI DALL·E 3 — deprecation status

> Yes — DALL·E 3 is retired. OpenAI deprecated it on November 14, 2025 and shut it down on May 12, 2026; API requests to it now fail. The recommended replacement is GPT Image 2.

The image model that finally rendered text inside images legibly and took prompts as prose rather than keyword soup. It rewrote your prompt before generating, which produced better pictures and made exact reproduction impossible — a trade the gpt-image line kept.

## Facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Provider | OpenAI |
| Model id | `dall-e-3` |
| Status | Retired |
| Released | October 3, 2023 |
| Deprecated | November 14, 2025 |
| Shutdown | May 12, 2026 (79 days ago) |
| Last verified | July 30, 2026 |

## Replacement

- **GPT Image 2** (`gpt-image-2`) · recommended — https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/gpt-image-2
  - Quality is a clear step up, but the automatic prompt rewriting behaves differently. Anything with prompts tuned against DALL·E 3s rewriter needs re-testing rather than porting.
  - Parameters it accepts: https://modelparams.dev/models/openai/gpt-image-2

```diff
- "model": "dall-e-3"
+ "model": "gpt-image-2"
```

## FAQ

### When did OpenAI DALL·E 3 shut down?

OpenAI DALL·E 3 shut down on May 12, 2026. API requests to it fail from that date onward.

### What replaces OpenAI DALL·E 3?

OpenAI recommends GPT Image 2 (`gpt-image-2`) as the replacement for OpenAI DALL·E 3. Quality is a clear step up, but the automatic prompt rewriting behaves differently. Anything with prompts tuned against DALL·E 3s rewriter needs re-testing rather than porting.

### Is OpenAI DALL·E 3 still available?

No. OpenAI DALL·E 3 is retired and no longer served — it was shut down on May 12, 2026. Calls to it return an error.

### How do I migrate from OpenAI DALL·E 3 to gpt-image-2?

Swap the model id in your API call: replace "dall-e-3" with "gpt-image-2". Quality is a clear step up, but the automatic prompt rewriting behaves differently. Anything with prompts tuned against DALL·E 3s rewriter needs re-testing rather than porting.

## Sources

- [OpenAI API deprecations](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations) — accessed 2026-07-30

---

Canonical page: https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/dall-e-3
JSON: https://modeldeprecations.dev/api/v1/models/openai/dall-e-3.json