Qwen Image 2.1 Pro API

Introduction

Qwen Image 2.1 Pro Text to Image turns a written brief into images. Pro is Alibaba's hosted tier of Qwen Image 2.1; Alibaba offers it as an API and has not published weights for it. One request returns 1 to 6 PNG images.

Choose a mode by what you have

Key features

Speed

14 to 31 seconds for a single image and 39 to 43 seconds for two 2K images in one call, end to end across our runs. Prompt expansion and thinking mode add time when they are on.

Text in the image

Our magazine cover asked for "AFTER DARK" as the masthead and "THE SILK ISSUE · NO. 07" below it and got both, letter for letter, in both images of the request.

Fifteen ratios, three sizes

Every ratio from 3:1 to 1:3 at 1k, 1.5k and 2k. At 2K:

Pro or Turbo

The request is the same, so you can send one prompt to both and keep the result you prefer. Alibaba has not published a quality comparison between them.

Request parameters

Pricing

Prices are in credits, the same credits you use on the website (1 credit = $0.01). The hold is taken when the task is accepted and settled to the actual charge when it finishes; failed tasks are refunded.

Each task is rounded up to whole credits, so one run at the lowest tier costs 6 credits per image ($0.06).

For an exact number before you run, send the same body to POST /jobs/quote.

Use cases

Editorial and magazine-style covers

Mastheads and cover lines come back as written, so covers and title cards can be produced in one pass.

Product and lifestyle shots

Describe the product, the set and the light; generate a few at once and carry the best into image editing.

Campaign variations

The same prompt at several ratios gives matching assets for feed, story and banner placements.

Prompt guide & pro tips

Turn expansion on for short everyday prompts

A six-word idea gets a fuller scene. direct suits most prompts, agent rewrites in more detail, and thinking mode spends extra time on a better rewrite. Leave expansion off when your prompt is already detailed and has to run as written.

Write in a fixed order

Subject, wardrobe, pose, light, lens and palette, in plain sentences. Name the light source and its direction instead of a mood word.

Quote the words that must appear

Put exact wording in quotation marks, keep each line short and say where it sits ("a masthead across the top", "a small line under the title").

API quick start

Call the Qwen Image 2.1 Pro API in three steps

1. Create an API key. Sign in to PopNow and create a key in the API console. Keys start with sk-popnow- and use the same credits as the website.
2. Send the request. POST /jobs/createTask with model alibaba/qwen-image-2.1-pro/text-to-image and an input object that follows the parameter table. The response returns a task ID straight away.
3. Get the result. Poll GET /jobs/recordInfo with the task ID, or pass a callBackUrl and we post the result to it. Download the output links when the task succeeds.

# 1. Create the task. Keep the Idempotency-Key if you retry after a network error.
export IDEMPOTENCY_KEY="$(uuidgen)"
curl -X POST https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "alibaba/qwen-image-2.1-pro/text-to-image",
  "input": {
    "prompt": "A ceramic teapot on a linen cloth, soft window light, muted palette",
    "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
    "resolution": "2k",
    "num_outputs": 1
  }
}'

# 2. Copy data.taskId from the response, then poll until state is succeeded, failed, canceled or expired.
TASK_ID="TASK_ID_FROM_RESPONSE"
curl "https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY"

Replace the prompt and any links with your own. The API tab has the response, polling and callback reference.

Qwen Image 2.1 Pro API questions

All Qwen Image models

Qwen Image 2.1 Turbo takes exactly the same settings at less than half the price and suits drafts and volume. Pro is the one for the final portrait or cover.

• Qwen Image 2.1 Pro APIUp to six detailed 2K images from one promptFrom 6 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 Turbo APIFast 8-step renders, up to six per promptFrom 3 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 APIOpen model with 2K output and transparent backgroundsFrom 4 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 LoRA APIQwen Image 2.1 images and edits with up to three of your LoRAsFrom 5 credits per image
• Qwen Image 3.0 Pro APIFine typography plus lifelike skin, fabric and glassFrom 6 credits per image
• Qwen Image 3.0 APIReadable signs and headlines rendered into the imageFrom 5 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2 APISimple prompt-to-image and one-photo editsFrom 6 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2512 LoRA APIQwen Image 2512 renders and edits with your own LoRAsFrom 5 credits per image
• Qwen Image Edit 2509 LoRA APIMulti-photo Qwen edits that load your own LoRAsFrom 5 credits per image
• Qwen Image 1.0 LoRA APIOriginal Qwen-Image with clean lettering and your own LoRAsFrom 5 credits per image

Other image APIs

• Nano Banana 2.1 APIGoogle's newest Nano Banana, sharp text and 4K outputFrom 8 credits per image
• Nano Banana Pro APIPlans the layout first: dense text, diagrams and 4K editsFrom 17 credits per image
• GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst APIOpenAI's quality-first model, up to 4K with clean textFrom 1 credit per image
• Seedream 5.0 Pro APIHigh-detail images and edits from up to ten referencesFrom 6 credits per image
• FLUX.2 Max APITop-tier FLUX: photoreal light and exact brand colorsFrom 11 credits per image
• Seedream 5.0 Flash APIQuick Seedream images, edits and layer splits up to 2KFrom 4 credits per image

More about Qwen Image 2.1 Pro

Try it

Qwen Image 2.1 Pro AI Image Generator onlineCreate images with Qwen Image 2.1 Pro in PopNow

Docs

Qwen Image 2.1 Pro model ID and input schema in the API docsPopNow API quickstart: your first request in five minutesImage generation guide for the PopNow APIWebhooks: get Qwen Image 2.1 Pro results without polling